QuickBooks Review: Is It Right for Your Business?

You’ve heard a lot of hype about QuickBooks software but never seen it for yourself. The following evaluation is designed to help you determine if QuickBooks is right for your business.

QuickBooks Review: What Do Users Say about QuickBooks?

If you are trying to decide whether QuickBooks is the right solution for your business, you must first review its attributes in relation to the needs of your company. One of the best ways to do this is to check out a QuickBooks review and read over the basic information provided about the software package’s capabilities and expandability. In order to save you time and the hassle of a Google search, we have summarized key comments from various user reviews to give you an overview of the different levels of QuickBook products.

One of the most common complaints customers mention is the registration process, which requires a phone call (depending on the version you are using) that goes on forever and involves waiting on hold, pushing several buttons, and a lot of frustration and wasted time. If you don’t call, however, the registration screen will pop up every time you open the software.

According to the many QuickBooks review materials out there, the accounting system is based on a standard double-entry system and design, with data entry functionality. What this translates into is that you’ll be able to create invoices and receive payments and have the information from these documents automatically update any associated accounts rather than requiring you to enter the information separately. At the same time, the invoicing capability in this system is somewhat limited in functionality and is not created for those who are not very computer-literate.

A QuickBooks review on the Internet is often quick to point out that the program doesn’t have an artificial distinction between income/expense accounts versus balance sheet accounts, but that it does display different types of accounts in different ways. These reviews make it clear that it is difficult and confusing to edit the data on these accounts. One other chief complaint voiced often is that while you can customize some parts of the invoices, like the layout of the fields and which ones show up, you can’t adapt them for different types of billing. You also must calculate specific prices per item.

So what type of business is this software well-suited for?

In many cases, larger businesses will want to use something that is more adaptable and customizable than QuickBooks, with a number of additional options and special attributes. In fact, this package is limited in the number of licenses available, and your large business may need something stronger and larger to be effective. On the other hand, very small businesses may not have the budget or the experience with accounting software for such a complex package.

A medium-sized business with reasonably experienced accounting software users who are looking for minimal customizability and maximum value can benefit from the use of QuickBooks, especially if they are not looking for a great deal of interactivity with other software, aside from simple Microsoft Office output files (like Excel or Access). Small businesses that need a software package with minimally adaptable invoices, payroll activity, and sales tax records capabilities, will also find this to be an acceptable solution.