Is QuickBooks Right For My Business?

If you spend a lot of time manually calculating figures or writing out long forms, you’ll be surprised by the time you can save by operating your business with QuickBooks.  With easy to use forms and lists designed to help eliminate repetitive data entry, QuickBooks is the most efficient and accurate way to manage your firm’s financial and accounting operations.

"Automate and Simplify -- QuickBooks helps you save time on frequent tasks like invoicing customers, managing payroll, paying bills and tracking expenses." - Intuit 

QuickBooks handles cash transactions, monthly invoicing, tracking and paying bills, tracking inventory, paying employees, and applying sales tax.  It can produce a variety of reports to give you insight into weak areas of your business.

Although you don’t have to be an accountant to use QuickBooks, you do need a basic understanding of computers.  It’s also recommended that you hire a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor to help you set up and tailor QuickBooks to your company’s specific needs, and make sure that all your accounting is configured properly for tax time.  Small Business Accounting Services (Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor – see phone number below) offers a free initial phone consultation, and affordable pricing for sole proprietorships and nonprofits.

The price of this software depends on the level of QuickBooks you select.  The suggested retail price of the Basic Edition is $199.95.  Please refer to the chart on the back of this page for info on the various program levels available.  

Most users agree that the benefit they receive from their investment in Quickboooks far exceeds their expectations.  By eliminating many clerical errors, organizing and managing tax liabilities, and helping users keep “on top of” everyday tasks, this software makes it easier than ever for you to manage your business efficiently and profitably.

 ___________________________________________________________________________

This information was provided by Small Business Accounting Services (SBAS), a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor in Knoxville, TN.  Phone: (865) 670-9064  E-mail: sbas@comcast.net.  The table on the reverse was derived from the “QuickBooks 2004 Comparison Chart” “2003 Intuit Inc. All rights reserved.” This information is not for distribution. All references to Microsoft products are registered with the Microsoft Corp. Please respect all copyrights and registrations.  SBAS does not claim responsibility for misuse of these rights and registrations.

___________________________________________________________________________

 The material in this publication is based on work supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration under cooperative agreement SBAHG-04-S-0001. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Handout Accounting /Financial 2004 - 9

 QuickBooks 2004 Product Comparison

 

 

Premier

Pro

Basic

Online

Easily Manage Basic Accounting Tasks

•  Print checks, pay bills, and track expenses

•  Invoice customers, track payments and sales tax

•  Create purchase orders and track inventory

•  Instantly generate reports and graphs

•  Manage payroll processing and direct deposit

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Organize Information in One Place

•  Centers for company, customer, and vendor info

•  New Business Checklist with key steps and resources

X

New

X

New

X

New

X

New

Easy to Learn and Use

•  EasyStep start-up interview

•  Easy-to-use Help in-product

•  Easily reconcile and “undo” last reconciliation

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Tools to Increase Efficiency

•  Number of simultaneous users

•  Print packing slips and labels for easier mailing and shipping

•  E-mail forms and reports and save as PDF’s

•  Quickly generate purchase orders and invoices from estimates

•  Works with Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and other applications

5

X

X

X

X

5

X

X

X

X

 

20

 

X

 

X

More Customization Options

•  Professional form designs and customization options

•  Include more details on invoices

•  Customize prices with up to 100 price levels

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

X

 

Track Information with Greater Accuracy

•  Time tracking, job costing and estimating

•  Automatically create a budget

•  Cash Flow Projector

•  Vehicle Mileage Tracker

•  Loan Manager

•  Fixed Asset Tracker

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

X

X

Tools to Achieve Better Results

•  Build a business plan

•  Create a forecast

•  Expert Analysis Tool

X

X

X

 

 

 

Tools to Meet Specialized or Complex Needs

•  Advanced accounting features and controls

•  Access your data remotely

•  Build and track inventory assemblies (finished goods)

•  Generate purchase orders from estimates and sales orders

•  Set “Per Item” price levels

X

X

X

X

X

 

 

X

X