Posted by Bret Edge on December 29, 2009 at 10:44 PM
My wife is trying to decide between two business accounting software platforms: Accounting Edge and Peachtree Complete. Which of the two would you recommend? It needs to be robust enough to grow with the business.
We're both on Macs which means that if Peachtree is the way to go she'll have to buy Windows and Parallels to run it. But, if it's the obvious choice we'll suck it up.
Your comments are appreciated!
Posted by Neil Corman on December 29, 2009 at 10:51 PM
Are you using an accountant? If so have you talked to them to see what they prefer. It is common to send the business file at the end of the year or other needed times during the year to your accountant so you will want to make sure that you have the correct tool.
Posted by Tom Kennon on December 29, 2009 at 11:36 PM
Bret, you may want to look into Quickbooks Pro for Mac. We use the windows version at work and it is very powerful and adapts to many applications.
Posted by Carol Nichols on December 29, 2009 at 11:40 PM
Bret, I'm a CPA and can tell you that I have no clients who use Accounting Edge or Peachtree Complete so I am not familiar with them. Why the choice between these two? I'm not saying that either one is a bad choice - I wouldn't know. I can tell you that almost all accounting offices use PCs (not Macs) and that most clients use QuickBooks (at least in my area of the country). If you want to be able to give your accountant a disk/file at the end of the year, then as Neil suggested, it would be important to find out what software and operating system they use. If you are just used to printing out reports for your accountant, then this may not be necessary.
Posted by Jack Garrett on December 30, 2009 at 12:48 AM
I'm a big supporter of Quickbooks and Quickbooks Pro. I think most accountants can work with it.
Posted by Wyn Knapp on December 30, 2009 at 6:51 AM
Here a just a few comments re software selection...
Assuming you use an accountant to prepare your tax returns, I'd suggest reviewing the question with him/her.
I'd echo the comments above supporting Quickbooks. It seems to be the Standard software selection for most small businesses. If you were to consider others, I'd suggest you answer the question...I feel compelled to select the software because...
Intuit provides Quickbooks software in both Windows and Mac versions. You may be able to convert back and forth if your accountant insists on a data file. Caveat: check this out--I did just a cursory reading on Intuit's website.
I'm using Parallels and Vista on Apple because I'm compelled to run a Windows tax preparation software. Parallels/Vista works OK but, in a perfect world, I'd prefer not to have two operating systems on a computer.
Again, a brief conversation with your tax accountant may give you a clearer view.
Good luck, and if you want additional comments you can email me.
Wyn Knapp, CPA and wannabe photographer
La Jolla CA
Posted by Dottie L Lloyd on December 30, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Bret,
I am also a CPA and worked in Public Accounting for many years. (you would have never known that in Utah huh?.....ha) I had no clients who used Accounting Edge but did have a couple that used Peachtree. Most of my clients used Quickbooks and I also use Quickbooks here at work. From an accountant standpoint, Peachtree is great, if you know and understand accounting. If has a lot of reporting/control capabilites that Quickbooks does not, but is not as user friendly as Quickbooks is right out of the box. Quickbooks is easy to learn and a LOT of people are familiar with it. One thing I do not like about Quickbooks is the ability to go back into a previous year and change data. Unless you are sure what you are doing, you can give your accountant/tax preparer a real headache with it....ha! But overall I would recommend Quickbooks. If you have any questions just give me a call and I will be glad to go over either one with you.
Dottie
Posted by Mel Ladewig on December 30, 2009 at 10:12 AM
I'm not a CPA (my wife is), but I specialize in PeopleSoft software, specifically their Enterprise Performance Management, Supply Chain Management and Financials suites (though I've been increasingly exposed to HR as well in recent years). These are multi million dollar systems.
Some things I would consider key technical features:
Robust BACKUP and RESTORE capability - Backup is easy, but what happens if you need to restore from backup.
Solid reporting and query capability - what good is storing data if you can't get it back out with flexibility. Query/report output to excel is a good feature to look for.
Ability to integrate with other software (excel upload for instance), but XML integration is increasingly important.
Ability to migrate to a more powerful package should growth dictate a change.
Posted by Jack Garrett on December 30, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Bret,
You don't mention what your wife is planning to use this software for...not that it is any of our business. My thought is if it is for your home or small business (photography and such), you should be fine with the Quickbooks we are mostly in favor of. If it is for some major accounting thing, then you would most likely want to talk with your accountant. Quickbooks is so darn easy that even I can figure it out! In a lot of instances, you can even link it to your bank and reconcile very easily.
Posted by Sarah Marino on December 30, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Bret –
Another vote for Quickbooks. While I am not an accountant, I am the director of a nonprofit with about $1 million a year in revenue (with lots of complicated earned revenue transactions, multiple payment streams, etc). Quickbooks is perfect for us and a lot of smaller and larger organizations that we work with on a regular basis. It is easy to use, intuitive, and can pull all of the reports we need to manage our finances. I am starting a small business in the new year that I expect to grow fairly quickly (I hope!) and I will be using Quickbooks for it, too.
Posted by Bret Edge on December 30, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Thank you for all the responses! The software is needed by my wife for a company she started called Adventure Tykes. It is an online store selling outdoor gear for infants and toddlers. She needs to be able to manage inventory as well as finances. She is under the impression that Peachtree does both whereas it doesn't look like Quicken offers any inventory management capabilities.
Based on that, do you all think Quicken is still the best alternative? Maybe with a stand alone inventory management system? I have no idea as I've never had to manage inventory for a business.
Thanks again!
Posted by Erik Stensland on December 30, 2009 at 2:38 PM
Bret, I use QuickBooks Premier and that DOES include inventory management.
Posted by Bret Edge on December 30, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Thanks, Erik. All these responses convinced her to order and use Quickbooks. We really appreciate all the input!
Posted by Neil Corman on December 30, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Sounds like you have made a decision. Amazon has it for a pretty good price right now as well. You can also get a free 30 Day trial on the Intuit website.
Quickbooks for Mac does have inventory management. The one thing it does not have is the ability to have groupings or assemblies within the inventory. Thus you can't inventory at the parts level and then sell at the higher level which doesn't seem to be too much of an issue with the business your wife will be opening. The PC version of the software does have the ability to do this I believe at the Premier level.
Posted by Ken Wyatt on December 31, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Brett, there's been a lot of complaints from users of the Mac version of Quickbooks. It's apparently -not- the same software as the PC version. Also, Intuit has never supported the Mac version as well as the PC version. There may also be conversion issue between the PC and Mac data files. I'd get the PC version and run it using Parallels.
Discussion
14 repliesWe're both on Macs which means that if Peachtree is the way to go she'll have to buy Windows and Parallels to run it. But, if it's the obvious choice we'll suck it up.
Your comments are appreciated!
Here is a link:
http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/accounting-software/mac-accounting-software.jsp
Assuming you use an accountant to prepare your tax returns, I'd suggest reviewing the question with him/her.
I'd echo the comments above supporting Quickbooks. It seems to be the Standard software selection for most small businesses. If you were to consider others, I'd suggest you answer the question...I feel compelled to select the software because...
Intuit provides Quickbooks software in both Windows and Mac versions. You may be able to convert back and forth if your accountant insists on a data file. Caveat: check this out--I did just a cursory reading on Intuit's website.
I'm using Parallels and Vista on Apple because I'm compelled to run a Windows tax preparation software. Parallels/Vista works OK but, in a perfect world, I'd prefer not to have two operating systems on a computer.
Again, a brief conversation with your tax accountant may give you a clearer view.
Good luck, and if you want additional comments you can email me.
Wyn Knapp, CPA and wannabe photographer
La Jolla CA
I am also a CPA and worked in Public Accounting for many years. (you would have never known that in Utah huh?.....ha) I had no clients who used Accounting Edge but did have a couple that used Peachtree. Most of my clients used Quickbooks and I also use Quickbooks here at work. From an accountant standpoint, Peachtree is great, if you know and understand accounting. If has a lot of reporting/control capabilites that Quickbooks does not, but is not as user friendly as Quickbooks is right out of the box. Quickbooks is easy to learn and a LOT of people are familiar with it. One thing I do not like about Quickbooks is the ability to go back into a previous year and change data. Unless you are sure what you are doing, you can give your accountant/tax preparer a real headache with it....ha! But overall I would recommend Quickbooks. If you have any questions just give me a call and I will be glad to go over either one with you.
Dottie
Some things I would consider key technical features:
Robust BACKUP and RESTORE capability - Backup is easy, but what happens if you need to restore from backup.
Solid reporting and query capability - what good is storing data if you can't get it back out with flexibility. Query/report output to excel is a good feature to look for.
Ability to integrate with other software (excel upload for instance), but XML integration is increasingly important.
Ability to migrate to a more powerful package should growth dictate a change.
You don't mention what your wife is planning to use this software for...not that it is any of our business. My thought is if it is for your home or small business (photography and such), you should be fine with the Quickbooks we are mostly in favor of. If it is for some major accounting thing, then you would most likely want to talk with your accountant. Quickbooks is so darn easy that even I can figure it out! In a lot of instances, you can even link it to your bank and reconcile very easily.
Another vote for Quickbooks. While I am not an accountant, I am the director of a nonprofit with about $1 million a year in revenue (with lots of complicated earned revenue transactions, multiple payment streams, etc). Quickbooks is perfect for us and a lot of smaller and larger organizations that we work with on a regular basis. It is easy to use, intuitive, and can pull all of the reports we need to manage our finances. I am starting a small business in the new year that I expect to grow fairly quickly (I hope!) and I will be using Quickbooks for it, too.
Based on that, do you all think Quicken is still the best alternative? Maybe with a stand alone inventory management system? I have no idea as I've never had to manage inventory for a business.
Thanks again!
Quickbooks for Mac does have inventory management. The one thing it does not have is the ability to have groupings or assemblies within the inventory. Thus you can't inventory at the parts level and then sell at the higher level which doesn't seem to be too much of an issue with the business your wife will be opening. The PC version of the software does have the ability to do this I believe at the Premier level.