I've been using QuickBooks Pro 2007 since, well, 2007. Having a software background you would think that I would like QBP, but I hate it. And now, to compound my annoyance I cannot import files from my bank, they only support the 2010 and later file format.
I'm very good with Excel and I'm really close to just creating my own darn spreadsheet, but before I do that I'm looking for suggestions. I did scan the archives and it's been a while since I could see this question asked, so any new ideas out there?
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From just 4 people I've learned a lot and will have a great resource if/when I need to update my bookkeeping. I'm using Quickbooks, but very few of the bells and whistles because I'm just reconciling from my download from my bank every month and then at the end of the year try to make sense of it and include cash info and then send it to my accountant. I am fearful of not running everything by an accountant. Too many of my friends in this business have been audited. Thanks for this info.
I empathize with you, as I was just as frustrated with Intuit a month ago with their 3-year online support policy. My Quicken 2009 was no longer going to be supported and I really didn't like it anyway so did a thorough search for a good alternative. I FOUND THE PERFECT ALTERNATIVE IN MONEYDANCE. It's the best $49 I have spent. It got great reviews everywhere I looked.
http://www.moneydance.com/
It can run on almost any operating system and uses the same data file on all platforms! My Quicken Home & Business data (several years worth) imported SEAMLESSLY to Moneydance on my PC and I was able to get up and running immediately. I liked it so much I also put it on my Mac with the same results, so now I can do my finances on EITHER computer! It supports direct connect dowload from most banks and for those that it doesn't, you can pull the info into Moneydance by downloading it yourself from the bank's website. All transactions come in and wait to be "accepted" just like in Quicken/Quickbooks (I have used both). You won't be sorry. I have been an intuit customer since 1986 and am so glad I finally found a great alternative!
Wow, that sounds like a good option.
I did download GnuCash and so far it looks good from an accounting standpoint. I was able to load the qfx files from my bank right in and I now have all of my 2011 data in there and I will start doing tax reporting stuff tomorrow.
Moneydance does seem to be very similar to GnuCash. If this doesn't work out I will take a closer look at MoneyDance.
Next step - figure out inventory management.
Quicken Home & Business is a good alternative. It doesn't have all of the inventory features that QuickBooks has, but it does have invoicing and a pretty good reporting feature set. It also supports many more financial institutions than Quickbooks. You have to run it under Windows, so if you are on a Mac, that means BootCamp, Parallels or VMFusion. I run it on a Macbook Pro with Parallels 7 and Windows 7. It works pretty well that way.
If you mainly track your accounts and cash flow, QH&B works well. It's still an Intuit program, with all of Intuit's baggage: lumpy support, version upgrades that don't fix bugs, funny interface, wanky printing. But if you can live that, it's an alternative.
Thanks Jim - I don't have a Mac and I can get that one at Costco for $70 so that is less money the QBP upgrade ($100 after rebate at Costco).
Since I upgraded my computer last summer I am finding that a lot of the Open Source applications have gotten good and I've been able to avoid giving more of my hard earned money to the behemoth software companies. Rather than buying Office I use Open Office and it works beautifully. With that in mind I'm considering GnuCash as well.
Unfortunately Quicken doesn't have a free trial.
QHB 2012 $61.74 at Amazon with free shipping. QHB 2011 $52 at Amazon.