How easy can it get? - Quickbooks bookkeeping software package, Version 2 for Windows and DOS - Evaluation

Nation's Business, Dec, 1993 by Albert G. Holzinger, Ripley Hotch

Intuit has released a new version of the best-selling bookkeeping program for small business, Quickbooks.

Version 2 for Windows and DOS does all it can to make accounting chores simple. And it succeeds.

The version for use with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows graphical user interface (GUI) looks very much like Quicken, which is the flagship product of the Menlo Park, Calif., company. But it is far more capable. One measure of capability is how easy it is to get started with a new accounting program. Quickbooks does not require you to choose whether you will use a cash or accrual basis. You don't even have to enter account balances (except for your checkbook, of course).

You can go back and fill in those balances or fill in all of the transactions you want from whenever you choose as a starting date. There are plenty of sample charts of accounts for different kinds of businesses. Setting up is fairly simple.

The Windows version is pretty much matched by the DOS version, though in Windows everything on the screen is updated as you work.

The authors note that Quickbooks is not for companies with large or complex inventories; nor will Quickbooks eliminate all need for contact with a CPA.

Quickbooks hides all of the accounting mystery behind simple terminology and procedures. For example, you record sales and then make a deposit to your checking account. The program creates a holding account so there will be the proper double entry. There is still a general journal, and those who wish can still enter debits and credits directly.

The use of the holding account solves a major problem for many small-business bookkeepers: how to handle credit card transactions. Essentially, you make two deposits, one into the holding account and the other into your checking account when the credit card payment comes to you. Because there are account balances for all of the accounts, you can see fight on screen what is due to you from any holding account. When the payment comes in and you make the second deposit, you deduct the fees, and Quickbooks keeps track of it all. It isn't that you can't do the same thing in other accounting programs. You can, but it takes considerable skill to do so.

Quickbooks makes entering repetitive data as easy as it can be. If you have several items that you regularly include on an invoice, you start typing the name, and Quickbooks fills in the rest.

Reports are attractive and excellent, and they include a number of graphs and charts. You can call up the detail behind any transaction in a report. We particularly like the cash-flow projections, which get quite accurate after several months of transactions.

Quickbooks lets you track jobs and budgets for individual jobs. It will also track reimbursable expenses as you incur them, so you can pass them on to clients.

Quickbooks does not have a payroll module, though it includes lines for payroll and benefits. You can also buy Intuit's payroll product, Quickpay, separately, and it will work with Quickbooks.

When we looked at Quickbooks almost two years ago, we felt it was a revolutionary product with great potential. Users agreed, but often found the program too rigid. That will never be said about Version 2.