QuickBooks Pro 2014

Overview

QuickBooks Pro is one of the leading personal finance software packages which also covers business transactions in its Pro and other advanced versions.

The software can help the user create numerous accounts to handle transactions across a range of business accounts. New sales, financial and tax elements can all be correctly accounted for when using QuickBooks Pro.

Business invoices can be generated directly from inside the software which can produce a printed or emailed invoice for a business customer, plus the invoice can be entered into the sales ledger at the same time. Tax records can also be correctly accounted for.

Manage vendors and related expenses for each vendor. Track spending on vendors and projects. Create estimates, invoices and revised statements to keep track of everything. The Income Tracker can help manage both receivables and income. Online banking transactions can also be downloaded directly to save time manually entering each bank transaction. The Company Snapshot is also useful to get an overview of how the business is doing.

There are useful step-by-step tutorials to take the user through each procedure to add new accounts, create invoices, manage multiple accounts, run reporting, and more.

Installation

The software installed without any issues.

There was no malware, spyware, adware or toolbars included with the setup package.

QuickBooks Pro requires Windows Vista SP1, 7, 8, Windows Server 2003 SP2, 2008 & 2012, or Windows Small Business Server 2008. Microsoft .NET 4.0 is included with the distribution.

Interface

The interface for QuickBooks Pro uses a flowchart-type interface with lines that connect related modules. Therefore, one can click on the "Enter Bills" icon to create a new bill. There is then a line pointing downwards to the "Create Invoices" icon, and a second line pointing right to the "Pay Bills" icon.

There is a logical process to the interface, so the user would enter the bill first, then click to pay the bill, rather than write the check which has a separate icon (the reason for this is that the program will not know that the check being written for the same company applies to the bill already received from that company).

At the top of the interface is a menu system and some large toolbar buttons. However, much of the navigation is performed within the main area with the intersecting lines and action icons.

The interface will take quite a while to get used to, as will learning how each process works and in which order to use them. A training course, possibly on video, is likely to be a good idea when learning QuickBooks Pro for the first time.

Pros

• Excellent support for business accounting requirements
• Manage multiple accounts
• Manage incomes and receivables
• Product reports to keep a close eye on business progress
• Company Snapshot report to view the company position
• Includes Tutorials explaining how to perform each procedure when using the software
• Integrate with Word or Excel 2003/2007/2010, Outlook 2003 contacts and later, and send out email via Outlook, Thunderbird or Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Hotmail
• Software tailored to different national markets
• Multi-user access
• 60 day money back guarantee

Cons

• Learning curve is reasonable steep
• Expensive

Alternatives

Sage 50 Premium Accounting is an alternative accounting package. Sage has a number of different versions of their accounting software. The Premium Accounting version offers business accounting support. HomeBank is an interesting alternative for home and business accounts which is cross-platform with versions available for Windows, Mac and Linux. GNUCash is a third option, available for free, which is capable of full accounting functions and is also cross-platform.

Conclusion

QuickBooks Pro is a premier accounting solution for SMEs looking to include multi-user support, vendor and income tracking, and good tax support.