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Permalink Reply by Maia de Raat on February 18, 2011 at 4:12pm

I have been struggling with the same sort of  thing - creating my invoices in Illustrator and keeping lots of paper files - I was considering buying a copy of Quick Books. Quick Books sells for just under $150 at MacMall.com, so that;s approximately 16 months worth of Outright. Since no one else has chimed in here I think I'll try posting a query about Quick Books and maybe you and I will both get more answers that way ~

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Permalink Reply by Marjorie Hill on June 10, 2011 at 10:57am

I used Outright for last year's taxes,and still had to do lots of paper stuff to get all the info right for the accountant. Have also worked with QB in the past, although everything has to be set up correctly from the start in order for it to work well, and I still needed an accountant to sort out some of the details (probably caused by my aversion to bookkeeping).

I'd really like something simple and streamlined, too. If you find something, shoutout!

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Permalink Reply by Jessica Molnar on June 10, 2011 at 3:22pm

This has been a major hurdle for me!  I just started using Freshbooks (http://www.freshbooks.com/) for estimates, invoices and time tracking.  So far I love it.  My business is itty bitty right now, so I just use the free version.  I tried Outright, but they lost me as soon as they got rid of the free option.  Accounting Spot (http://accountingspotonline.com/membership-options-page/) is a good resource with lots of free downloadable spreadsheets geared specifically toward small indie businesses. 

 

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Permalink Reply by Jessica C. White on June 11, 2011 at 9:23am

Same thing happened with me and Outright! I thought it was the perfect option, something so streamlined and simple (and free!), but I was a little irritated when they suddenly started asking for payment. I probably would've been fine with the cost if I knew about it up front :)

 

After a lot of research and asking a bunch of questions, I went ahead and purchased Quickbooks - got an older version based on some reviews I read online (and also to save some money), and installed it, but now I'm stuck at setting it up. There's some terminology I don't understand, and it's all a bit overwhelming, so I closed it and went back to filing papers in my expandable folder. I've just found a local class on using Quickbooks and I think I'll sign up for it so I can really start using it finally. I think once it's setup, I should have no problem with using it regularly (at least that's from I've heard from lots of other small business owners).

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Permalink Reply by Hollis Fouts on June 17, 2011 at 9:09am

Hi all. Every small business owner I've talked with about this recommends QuickBooks. They say it's horribly time-consuming to set up, but once you do it's all there and easy to enter stuff. So, I guess it's front end time to save ongoing time. I hear QuickBooks also merges beautifully with TurboTax which may help in tax prep (ugh).

Just passing along what I've heard - hope it helps.

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Permalink Reply by Dondrea Brownlow on June 17, 2011 at 5:49pm

As an accountant I wholeheartedly agree.  QuickBooks will save you tons of time going forward.  And if you decide to hire an accountant later, the transition will be seamless.

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Permalink Reply by Angela R. Stewart on June 24, 2011 at 11:04pm

I use Quickbooks! In the past I used Peachtree..

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Permalink Reply by Maia de Raat on June 26, 2011 at 4:54pm

An alternative to classes might be to find someone versed in Quickbooks to do the set up for you and then show you how to use it - I have an out of work friend I was thinking of paying to do this for me. While I hate the title “Quickbooks for Dummies” also does get good ratings on Amazon.

After my first post on this discussion I did a bit more looking around, but didn't like the fact that the online options seemed to have you over a barrel and could easily change the terms on you like what happened to you with Freshbooks. One problem with buying Quickbooks seems to be that they have a built in obsolescence at least according to the complaints I read on Amazon but if you factor in how long it works before you need to upgrade it is still cheaper than paying the monthly fees for the online options.

 

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Permalink Reply by Gary Johanson on June 30, 2011 at 12:20am

We are still in our pre-start up stage at G. Johanson, Printer, but I ran an Optical Clinic on Quickbooks 6.0 for years, and I intend to use it for my printing operation.  The initial walk through set-up should be pretty self explanitory, but admittedly Quickbooks probably did not have custom printing as a focus when they developed it.  But then, neither did they have an Optical Clinic, and we did just fine.  We did stumble a bit over terminology (for instance, anything that deals with money, either receiving, paying, owing or holding, is an "account".  Gotta get used to that.) - but discovered that there is really nothing you can screw up that cannot be "un-screwed" later.  I would suggest getting a book on whatever version QB you plan to use.  Even if you get something as old as QB6, tutorials are available on eBay for a couple bucks that can walk you right through the process.  Nicest thing about QB is that an accountant can walk right in, set right down, and be right at home with your financials.  To integrate directly with TurboTax, however, you may wish to get the newest version.

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