Does anyone use Quickbooks for their business? I have had it for almost 2 years now and just can’t seem to fully get a feel for it. I use it for writing checks, estimates and invoices but that is as far as I have gotten. It seems that it would be fantastic if you put the full program to use but I can’t get there on my own. The program was expensive as is the training courses. The money spent would be well spent if it worked. A few people just told me to use a spreadsheet to track expenses, etc. My business is growing quickly and I need an efficient way to track expenses, profit and loss, etc. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Bob
Replies
I use QB, as do quite a few contractors, but I don't think it's particularly good for a construction business. My use is limited to accounting: I write checks, receive payments, run payroll, look at job cost reports, etc. I estimate in Excel. My feeling is that if you want a better product you need to look at stuff like Master Builder, CHS, or others that are contractor-specific. I have used Master Builder (several years ago, when I worked for another outfit) and it it far above what QB can do.
I tried doing quickbooks on my own a while back. I gave up quickly and have my bookkeeping outsourced. Once or twice a week a send her a package with timesheets, invoices, statements, bills to be paid and two days later she sends me all that stuff back with checks to be signed and mailed and posted stuff to be filed. At that time, I go online and review several reports we constructed together so I know where we are at.
She also does my payroll and all withholdings. I pay $500 a month for great turnkey service. I would pay that much just for payroll services alone through a company like Paychex. She also generates all the reports I need during insurance audits. At tax time, she sends my accountant a CD with that year's file and they prepare my taxes from that.
Where abouts in Westchester are you. I was born and raised in Mahopac
Bruce
Edited 12/9/2007 8:39 pm by Hiker
I am currently working on a project in Purchase/Harrison. Most of my work is in lower Westchester. Not sure how long it has been since you have been to Mahopac but it has changed a lot. As home prices rose to ridiculous levels in Westchester the middle class kept moving North and now Mahopac is not so cheap. There has been a lot of new development - homes, shopping, business, etc. Take Care
Bob
I have not set foot in Putnam County in 18 years. I would love to get back up north, but have not had the time.
As Shelternerd pointed out, having others help you with your books can actually help you improve your business. My bookkeeper does work for several construction companies and always has some great insights into the next level of challenges we will face as the company grows.
Best of luck
Bruce
I started with Quicken, then up to QB and then to QB Pro, I can understand having trouble with any and/or all of them, they are not the know all end all for business. If you have trouble with accural accounting with the spread sheet then you will have the same with QB. I have been in the building business since the mid 60's and the best advise for anyone that I could relate to is find a local college that offers accounting classes and take a night class. One semester and you will have solid bacis and QB will be a breeze. I know, you don't have the time for a night class, but you don't have to ace it just understand it. I have been helping people set up QB for a number of years, it works and saves $ but you need to spend the time to do the input. Between my wife and I we have 1 corp and 3 sole prop. businesses and I do the end of the year taxes on one Saturday. That alone is worth it to me.
It seems that I just need to invest the time in learning what I need to know about accounting. I like the idea of delegating the task to someone else. The money spent would be well worth it - just like a good sub. But I think I need to learn a little more so that I don't get taken by someone due to my own ignorance.Thanks All
Bob
I use Quick Books pro and have been really happy with it especially the version before this one. I think they took a big step backwards in 2007 and have had a hard time getting the credit card downloads to work as smoothly as the last version (which is no longer supported by their payroll service so functionally worthless.)
If your company is growing I think you need to get it on a real accounting system so you can pull profit and loss and work-in-progress reports and manage your cash flow etc. etc. Its also good to get multiple levels of oversight. I have a book keeper who comes in once a week for four hours, an accounting coach who reviews our work once a month and prepares monthly taxes. and a high priced accountant who does a thorough review once a year and provides business coaching along with the annual tax return. All this keeps me from needing full time office staff and actually improves the accuracy of my accounting while improving the way I run my business and plan for the future.
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"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
You should look at MYOB Account Edge. It is always rated among the top accounting programs. I've used it for over 15 years and really like it.