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On Premisis Bookkeeping Software?

2/1/16       
David R Sochar Member

QuickBooks is driving me nuts with its movement to a 'pay monthly forever' type service instead of simple ownership of the software or 'on premises' software. I do not need to pay bills while I fly to the Super Bowl, or check the profit margins while in the bathroom. I work at my desk - one place, where all that can and should be.

After the last forced change away from Windows XP, I was told by QB to move it all to my Mac and all would be well. It has been a nightmare of huge proportions, with me spending well over 100 hours trying to get it to work, and then trying to keep it running. Even then, I have to subscribe to a payroll system that is clunky and cumbersome at best.

I am changing from a S corp to sole proprietorship, so now is a good time to make a change. I just want to own the software, do payroll for 2-3, calculate payroll taxes, print checks, basic stuff. No inventory, no job tracking, no depreciation - simple.

Does anyone have any experience with or suggestions of who/what to look at?

2/1/16       #2: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
ranliker

I do not. But I am keenly interested in this topic. My wife just updated our Quickbooks payroll tables for the year. Ouch. I think I need to buy shares in quickbooks. I think the time is ripe for some strong competition.

2/1/16       #3: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
Mark Elliott Member

I'm using the online version right now myself. The only advantage it's given me is I can work from anywhere because it's cloud based.

It's no different then what Microsoft wants you to do with their 365 subscription model for Excel, Word and the rest of their suite.

But I don't like what I'm being charged for QB online.

I've seen the adds for a start up called Freshbooks. It's still based on a subscription model but may be less costly then QB.

If someone has any experience with Freshbooks I would to hear some feedback from you.

Mark

2/2/16       #5: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
Gary B.

David,

I know what you mean. It seems everyone including AutoCAD is going a subscription based model or Software as a Service (SaaS). Not sure if this is good or bad, but it's definitely changing. We use AccountEdge from MYOB and are happy with it. It is still a stand alone, own it type of software. It has various modules depending on what you need, starting at $350.

2/2/16       #6: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
Harold morantz

Website: http://morantz cabinets.com

I am new to office accounting software. I just bought quick books pro for around 200.00. I own it now, but have not opened the box yet. What's wrong with buying the software outright? Please enlighten me as I can send it back. Harold.

2/3/16       #7: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
ranliker

Owning outright is what I prefer. But quickbooks about forces one to upgrade every three years. And every year we buy the payroll tables service, for doing our own payroll. The price of that service is now $400/year. Software seems to be getting more expensive at a rate much greater than inflation. And while improvements are made, I don't realize a commensurate benefit. My opinion. Yours may differ.

2/3/16       #8: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
Gary B.

Ranliker,

It's a double edged sword...I too like the idea of "Owning" the software. Though, if you look at any EULA agreement, you never truly owned it anyways, but that's another topic in itself.

But, we now have legitimate copies of AutoCAD 2003 on the shelf in our office...because they are all but useless. So, if you own it, obsolescence is a factor to consider. I do prefer to keep up with software upgrades, though sometimes it pushes me out of my comfort zone. It feels as though I'm just getting used to software when it's time to upgrade again. Some days I miss the two tools I relied on heavily when I first started....a pencil and a pad of paper...though i could never keep up with that anymore.

2/3/16       #9: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
ranliker

I look at things, I think, much like you do, Gary. I don't mind my Cabinet Vision maintenance/upgrade expense because we use it heavily. I use Word, Excel, Access, etc., heavily and pay for new versions every now and then. Even for this software, the productivity gains from new versions aren't that great, and the cost seems to be going up substantially with the new cloud paradigm. Then for software we don't use that heavily, for us that would be AutoCAD LT, we have pretty much ruled out ever buying it. (In the past we would buy it every several years.) In a nutshell, it seems to me that the price of software is greatly increasing under the new "cloud" method.

2/3/16       #10: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
David R Sochar Member

This is more rant than anything....

I have used QB Windows since about 1997. While I disliked the every 2-3 years forced upgrades and costs/hassles associated with them, I loved what QB did for me. Sturdy, easy to use, and reliable, I spent time with it everyday.

It has been around for years and can't be that complicated. Some one should be able to have the same thing for a couple hundred bucks with annual upgrades for changes in payroll tax laws. You buy it, you own it, use it as you like.

But their Mac version (2015) is nothing but a patched up afterthought, but I do own it - paid $250.00 as a "Special Rate". You cannot get payroll information without going online to a different site and whole different thing. That part is subscription, $39.95 a month for two employees. I have never even set up the taxes on that side of it since it is way too complicated, some Indiana tax will not run, and I just don't have the energy to do so. Online is the only place where you do payroll and figure taxes, get reports, etc for payroll. For the previous many years, this was all in the same program, same windows, same place as the whole of QB.

The transfer to Mac and start up (no more than 15 minutes they said) took 38 hours over 3 days and was a nightmare that nearly killed me. They gave up on it 3 times, and said I should consider going back to XP. I am obsessive compulsive about my data, and there were times I wondered if it would ever work again.
And it doesn't - or at least it is not the same. Slow, odd and foreign feeling, it is nothing like the nice quiet, quick QuickBooks I used to take comfort in daily. Made me feel good about my business. Now I avoid it, I am uncomfortable and still using help almost everyday. I think this is in part due to the fact that they want me to move to QB Online, the monthly pay forever solution. I'll walk before they convince me to do that.

Imagine walking into your shop one morning, and all the equipment is similar, but different makes, and in different locations. Your hand tools have all been moved, and are no longer in a logical or handy placement. Light switches and thermostat are moved, and work differently. No fun.

Years ago, I heard that if anyone says they "have to do it this way because of the software", then they were sold bogus software. Now it seems to be the norm - adapt to their product or move on.

2/3/16       #11: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
Mark B

Have they added job costing to the online version? I'm actually not that opposed to the online since the portability would be nice in my case, but I like using the job costing.

2/5/16       #12: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
chipbored

It's going to sound like t's going against what your asking for but Xero is a great option.

It IS cloud based and it IS a monthly subscription charge but the thing with accounting software is that YOU NEED to keep it up to date anyway and it ends up costing you more than what a monthly subscription would.

I changed over to Xero from MYOB about 2 years ago and the improvement in efficiency were ridiculously good. Even if the "access anywhere" thing doesn't excite you other features are great, reconciling accounts takes at most 1/4 of the time it would take you now. You can leave notes and ask your account to log in and check on what you have done. Updates are small and frequent and happen without you having to get an upgrade disc and load it on your computer. If you wish to have a book keeper 'off site" they can log in from anywhere.

Don't know much about fresh books but it sounds like it's in the same sort of league.

Good luck.

2/5/16       #13: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
ranliker

I haven't heard of Xero. Thanks. To Cloud or Not To Cloud isn't my main complaint. Mine is the cloud pricing model seems generally to be a lot more expensive.

2/6/16       #14: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
Rich Kuban  Member

Website: closetexperts.com

My wife studied Quickbooks and became a certified Pro Advisor for a couple of years. We worked with Quickbooks in our business for a while before that. Our experience is Intuit is rapidly working to force people to QB online, as it provides steady cash flow and locks people in. What became apparent to me, is QB seems to be more of a database program and less a spreadsheet. My opinion is that is a fundamental flaw.

We tried QB for Mac first and soon abandoned it. We switched to the windows version and ran it through Parallels Desktop with Windows 7. Intuit will support a program version for 3 years and then require you to upgrade period. Amazing that QB says you can do set up in 15 min. You can, but you will learn you set it up wrong.

If you are new to QB, you will be well served to interview Pro Advisors to find one knowledgeable in your industry. You will pay the right one around $400 to set it up right the first time and avoid untold hours in your time or accountant fees to unraveling the cascading problems caused by incorrect initial set up. This is where a good Pro Advisor is worth their weight in gold. You can then hire the person for month end and quarterly entries a few hours a month.

Payroll is ALWAYS a separate issue in QB. You can set up excel spreadsheets to do payroll calcs and make entries into QB to avoid the payroll service. A workaround (common in QB) that can save you money. The caveat is you better be pretty accurate, because doing so can come back to haunt you. Easiest if you have few employees, and better if they have consistent pay.

To the comment of why is basic bookkeeping after all these years so difficult to find software for? First government regulations add untold complexity every year. Second, every business owner thinks their simple way of bookkeeping is the best. Start a discussion about where or how to document transactions, and you will be amazed at the difference in opinions. Every business customizes the way it handles accounting to fit their preferences.

2/8/16       #15: On Premisis Bookkeeping Software? ...
Paul Downs

No real opinion on Quickbooks other than it could be a lot better, particularly cash management. My question is for those doing their own payroll: why? I pay Paychex to do it and I'm darn glad I do. Sure, there's still some record keeping involved, but I don't have to worry about changes in tax law/reporting. Just this morning I got an email from Paychex telling me how they had revised their W-2 reporting to prevent fraudulent tax filing. They did it, I don't have to worry about it. A couple of years ago Congress passed a special tax credit for new hires. Again, Paychex made it easy for me to implement the credit, saved me a couple of thousand bucks. I don't want to worry about all of the minutiae of payroll tax filing - I did that for more than 20 years, including through QBs service in the 90s, and Paychex is way, way easier. Just my two cents.

Paul


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