Anything out there that is better than QuickBooks?

[nealrm]

I would really love finding something that is better than quickbooks for invoicing and handling payroll taxes. Does anyone having any suggestions. Please do not suggest anything like Excel or some junky freeware program. I need something that really works and keeps up to date on taxes.

[Wozcreative]

What do you mean by better? What is it that the software is missing/you aren't happy with? If I'm not mistaken, it is the most recommended software out there for accounting purposes.

[nealrm]

I want to be able to customize the statements to provide a format that is easy to read. I want to be able to import data into the system without having to jump through 3 programs and third party add on that have to been rewrite every update. I want to be able to easily fix mistakes. I want it not resize it's window everytime it pops up a question. I want it to be able to have multiple clients in a single company, each with their own email address and information. I want to be able to bring in paypal payment easily.

Has anyone used Peachtree?

[Freelancier]

I've tried to use Peachtree. QB is organized around running your business like you run your checkbook. Peachtree is dyed-in-the-wool double-entry accounting, so it's more rigorous and harder to deal with. It's imports/exports are worse than QB's.

QB allows you to have sub-customers on every customer record (they call it a "job", but it's really a subcustomer in the database).

I look around periodically for myself and my clients. I haven't found anything better than QB so far... unfortunately.

I do love Intuit Online Payroll (formerly PayCycle) for handling my payroll needs.

[Harold Mansfield]

I've never even considered looking for anything other than QB.
(Man, that is some strong branding and market share now that I think about it)

[MyITGuy]

Quickbooks Payroll - $25 bucks a month and you will spend less than 15 minutes a month doing payroll, paying taxes and submitting forms.

Invoicing - Check out Freshbooks.com I've heard allot of good things about it (Looks like there is an add-on for paying estimated taxes as well).

[Fulcrum]

I use Accountedge for the books. Invoicing, payroll, banking, purchases, a/r tracking and aging, as well as inventory. It's the new MYOB program and I thought the price at around $3-400 was reasonable.

[billbenson]

Take the table structure from Quickbooks and write your own php scripts for the reports you need. While I know some here will say 'why reinvent the wheel' but if you have custom report needs, I think over the long run it makes sense. At least that's what I do, and it's one db that has everything I need to know about orders, quotes, etc. If I need a special report, I just write a script for that.

[nealrm]

How are you getting into the table structure for Quickbooks??

[billbenson]

I didn't. I just put everything I can think of in a few different tables. I made some errors along the way and have to add a new column so its always a work in progress, but it works pretty well for me. There may be some scripts out there where you could find a good starting point.

Also, assuming you currently use quickbooks, look at all of the reports you currently generate. Thats the data you need and probably more that Quickbooks doesn't store.

Also, the problem with a program like Quickbooks, they try to be everything for everybody. I bet there is a lot of overhead in there that you will never need.

[Freelancier]

How are you getting into the table structure for Quickbooks??

Intuit has a developer's library for QB that provides info on how to access QB's data or have QB call your own web service. It's free to access, you just need to sign up.

[Harold Mansfield]

Have you checked out Freshbooks?
They offer a 30 day free trial:
FreshBooks - Online Invoicing, Accounting & Billing Software (http://www.freshbooks.com/)

[Brian Altenhofel]

Intuit has a developer's library for QB that provides info on how to access QB's data or have QB call your own web service. It's free to access, you just need to sign up.

https://developer.intuit.com/apiexplorer?apiname=V2QBD

Great when you have an e-commerce website that needs to integrate with Quickbooks. ;)

[OBGregg]

My company offers business management software - and the one bit of advice we repeat over and over again is: Don't do your own accounting. Accounting is painful for non-accountants and it's a poor use of your time as a business owner/manager.

QuickBooks is an excellent package - that's why it dominates the market. Accountants love it.

Good, cloud-based, alternatives I would recommend:
- Freshbooks.com
- Waveaccounting.com (they have a payroll option as well)
- Xero.com

Again - the best approach is to hire an accountant and direct your energies towards growing your business.

[nealrm]

https://developer.intuit.com/apiexplorer?apiname=V2QBD

Great when you have an e-commerce website that needs to integrate with Quickbooks. ;)

There has to be something a heck of alot easier than that.

[Brian Altenhofel]

There has to be something a heck of alot easier than that.

What's simpler than a RESTful CRUD API?

[nealrm]

I think it's just how the documentation of the call is written. REST call are normally straightforward, however the documentation in this case is poor. It would be nice if there was a PHP example.

[billbenson]

I'm assuming you have looked at Hotscripts?

[hayden]

We use ZERO Accounting. They have an arrangement to pull in data from CommBank automatically along with 3rd party integrations for shopping carts etc including pay pal. I would check them out.

[nealrm]

I am reviving this thread. I am still looking for a decent accounting package.

Requirement:
1) The software doesn't crash repeatedly.
2) It has real support that can solve problem (which should never happen in the first place)
3) It allows for truly custom statements (Not the window dressing the QB likes to say is customization)
4) It allows for online payment by customers
5) It can handle hundreds of invoices a month in a manner that does lack me a month to enter the invoices.
6) The software was written by someone that didn't flunk out of programming school

[turboguy]

I am reviving this thread. I am still looking for a decent accounting package.

Requirement:
1) The software doesn't crash repeatedly.
2) It has real support that can solve problem (which should never happen in the first place)
3) It allows for truly custom statements (Not the window dressing the QB likes to say is customization)
4) It allows for online payment by customers
5) It can handle hundreds of invoices a month in a manner that does lack me a month to enter the invoices.
6) The software was written by someone that didn't flunk out of programming school

In your second post a couple of years ago you asked about Peachtree. Peachtree is now known as Sage. We have used Peachtree/Sage for nearly 20 years. It is one of the most popular accounting packages but less popular than Quick books and probably quicken but they do have the capability to handle very complex businesses. Way back when we started using Peachtree we needed an accounting program that would handle assemblies which Quick books could not do at the time but can do now. That was our primary reason for picking the one we did.

I will try and answer your questions but before I do I will give you a little overview of what we do in our business. I would guess that we do about 300 - 400 invoices a month. We are a manufacturing business so when we sell a machine our accounting package has to take various quantities of perhaps 60 different items out of our inventory to build the machine. We do our payroll which is probably more complicated than many businesses since we deal with production bonuses, sales commissions and other factors. We also process our credit card sales through Sage and do get a fairly competitive rate. We use Sage's Quantum version with a 5 user licence. So, on to your questions.

1. The software crashing has not been much of an issue. I won't say we never crash but it is probably once every 2 years.

2. Their support has been excellent. They respond quickly and have always fixed any issue we had. If the issue was complex they basically go into our computer remotely and fix the problem but in more simple issues they guide us step by step to fix the issue.

3. Most everything in Sage/Peachtree can be customized. Without knowing what customization you want I can't answer this fully but I think it will be easy to do what you want.

4. This question I can't answer with certainty but I believe that should not be an issue. We do take online payments but since many of our sales need to be shipped motor freight and we need to contact a number of freight companies to find the best rate we prefer to process our credit cards sales manually. I would guess that whatever shopping cart you are using will be more the factor in this but most any should take Sage as a processor if you go that route.

5. That number of invoices should not be an issue since we have been doing that for years. Assuming the customer is a repeat customer and the item(s) you are selling are inventory items to process a sale you open the sales window, enter a few characters of the customers name and a search box takes you to that area of the the customer list. You select the customer. Then you go to the invoice section, enter the quantity of the item he is buying and another search box will let you search for the item. When you find the item you select it and as long as there isn't anything such as special pricing it will finish the invoice including tax if it is taxable. You may have to enter the freight or shipping charge unless you don't charge freight or have a standard shipping charge. Print it and you are done. So basically all you have to do is let it know who is making the purchase and what they are buying.

6. Both the software writers and the support staff seem very knowledgeable.

I will had that it lets you analyze whatever data you want in about any way you could dream of.

[Bobjob]

I am reviving this thread. I am still looking for a decent accounting package.

Requirement:
1) The software doesn't crash repeatedly.
2) It has real support that can solve problem (which should never happen in the first place)
3) It allows for truly custom statements (Not the window dressing the QB likes to say is customization)
4) It allows for online payment by customers
5) It can handle hundreds of invoices a month in a manner that does lack me a month to enter the invoices.
6) The software was written by someone that didn't flunk out of programming school


We switched from QB Online to QB Enterprise Silver Edition. Our QB is hosted through RightNetworks. I use Mac computers but the software is PC. I believe it's called running parallel?

1) It hasn't crashed since we began using it (about four months ago).
2) Support is okay but sometimes you have to get lucky with who you are posing your question to, some know more than others. One problem I had took three calls, dealing with three people and about three total hours.
3) You can customize the statements. This is what I had my three hour problem with, as the customizing process was not logical at all.
4) Not sure but probably. If not they probably offer an app for it.
5) Not a problem
6) Well... You have to learn how to work it, it is not always logical. Sometimes you have to figure out a work around.

Enterprise that we use looks and feels like 1998 computing, which I do not like. It is not user friendly overall but can be in some instances (just few that help me). It can handle complex inventory and assemblies, which I love. I would not recommend hosted like we are doing. It's just one extra BS ya gotta deal with and when you don't know computing it's difficult to communicate with them. It lacks some features that seem logical but are not present. Example : When I go to inventory section and call up a part number, it doesn't give me the complete part description, only a little of the description. I can see the entire description if I go to "edit" but that's an unnecessary step. There is room to show the entire description. When I begin a invoice it will say "use one of these quotes" but I'm unable to view the quotes, so I can't tell whether to use one or not. I should be able to click on them and view them. Scrolling through information. I want to pull up a customer and easily view and scroll through all orders he's placed with me. I haven't found a way to do this yet. It says it is Version 16 so I'm concerned that these simple edits haven't already been addressed.

For what I'm paying for it I'm not happy, but it does the job.

[nealrm]

I would be interested in how much you can customize the statements. Can you do a statement that is similar to those you get for a credit card. Basically I need a summary section, a section that list all the invoices (with memo field) and a section that lists payments again with the memo fields.

[turboguy]

That is probably more customization than it can do but my guess is you could do a statement that showed all transactions (charges, payments, invoices, credits). I will try,to look at this a little later and see what can be done.

[Bobjob]

I would have to see an example of exactly what you want to be sure but I believe you can.

[nealrm]

Something like this:

Prior balance: $100.00
New Charges: $100.00
Payment: $50.00
Current Balance $150.00


Payments for Jan 1 - Jan 31
date Check # Desc amount
1/10/16 12345 memo 1 $25
1/15/16 89743 memo 2 $25

Total Payments -> $50


Invoice for Jan 1 - Jan 31
date Desc Amount
1/5/16 description 1 $75
1/30/16 description 2 $25

Total invoices -> $100

[Bobjob]

I'll have to research it a little bit. I'll respond as soon as I can.

[fossfolks]

Apache OFBiz is an ERP I'm about to dig in to. The community just shelved POS, as not many folks are using it, but the rest of it looks solid. I have gotten as far as installing on a Linux server with a MySQL backend (which means you can write any old query you want and hit the db with whatever language you can throw at it -- PHP, straight up BASH, etc -- if you need a report that's not in the software to begin with) and just using the stock "sandbox" date. I'm about a year from knowing what i'm doing, I imagine. There are folks around the country who will help you set this up. If you don't like the one you initially go with, just fire them and get a different consultant. I'm hoping to actually be one of these folks in another couple years. My wife is getting her Masters in Social Work, I'm learning OFBiz.
There's also Postbooks. I know it's a sort of replacement for QB, but runs on a PostgreSQL db (again -- you can hit this db with whatever queries you want, just pick a language you can package them in). I think I've installed it a couple times, but got sidetracked. It's been a couple years.
By the way, I'm an open source proponent. I'd much rather see someone use an open source app where their data isn't locked down, even if it means a bit of a learning curve.

[Bobjob]

Neal, even though QB statements are modifiable, I don't believe you would be able to have them look exactly the way you want them to.

[nealrm]

Neal, even though QB statements are modifiable, I don't believe you would be able to have them look exactly the way you want them to.
Thanks, that is sort of what I thought. They are modifiable in a limited fashion.