Features

• Financial management software for small businesses
• Easily pay bills, print checks, track expenses, and much more
• Customize 100+ pre-designed forms to create a unique look
• Exchange data with Microsoft Excel and 325+ other software applications
• Track employee time and job costs; compare estimated costs to actuals

Features

• Financial management software for small businesses
• Easily pay bills, print checks, track expenses, and much more
• Export reports to Microsoft Excel; customizable reports
• Transfer data from Quicken for Mac or QuickBooks for Windows
• Takes advantage of more Mac OS X features, including iCal and .Mac

Features

• Entry-level automated accounting for small businesses
• Bill paying; check writing; invoicing; bank reconciliation
• Basic inventory; payroll; 100+ customizable reports
• Peachtree Today for an instant snapshot of business financials
• New-company setup wizard; 20+ demos; multiple help options

Reviews (1)

DON'T BUY: requires "activation"!!!!
I guess Best Software is ignoring all the flack that happened with
other companies (remember Intuit's TurboTax 2003?) and decided to
implement an activation scheme with their software. I, as a
legitimate purchaser, am being punished. If I want to upgrade my
computer, it is unknown whether I will be "allowed" to do so by
Best. If I'm still trying to use this application in a few years
when Best no longer supports it, I can't imagine them allowing me
to reactivate it in case my computer crashes, I want to upgrade,
etc.

Note that this activation scheme is not noted anywhere on the box.
You first find out about it when you break the seal and read page
TWENTY-TWO of the "Getting Started Guide" (probably because they
know if they'd lose sales if they put on the box "You can only use
the software once you register with us, and then if you crash or
up upgrade your machine you might not be able to use it after
that, depending").

As I do much work in the field, I need to have a copy on my laptop
in addition to the one on my desktop. I do not use the two copies
simultaneously, yet this appears to be prohibited. So, for a
program I *PAID* for, this is turning out to be a poor deal.

I will now look at other business accounting packages to see if
they offer similar features as PT, without a brain-dead revenue
maximization scheme (i.e., activation). I'd prefer to stick with
PT, as I like many of the features they provide and have been a
customer for many years, but if Best insists upon treating EVERY
ONE OF ITS CUSTOMERS like THIEVES and CRIMINALS, then I'm
switching. Fortunately, they offer a no-risk 60 day money-back
guarantee, so they WILL be giving me my money back. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

QuickBooks Pro 2003 includes everything found in QuickBooks Basic, plus advanced tools for managing your business finances. QuickBooks Pro 2003 includes estimating, time tracking, and integration with over 100 business applications. It's also multi-user capable so up to five people can work on the same file at the same time.

Choose from over 100 ready-to-use, professionally designed invoice, estimate, statement, and other form templates conveniently available on your QuickBooks CD-ROM. Now you can add color text, shaded boxes, multiple text comments, logos, and images, anywhere and in a variety of sizes. You can automatically create your budget using actual income and expense data, and enjoy greater flexibility and confidence when backing up your data.

With improved customer statements, you can now print the statements you need with the information you want.

Be sure to visit our QuickBooks Software Add-Ons Storefor software products that have been developed by members of the Intuit Developer Network. QuickBooks software add-on s are applications that integrate with this and other packages of QuickBooks financial software to save you time and increaseyour productivity.

Reviews (54)

Time consuming to install and negligible improvement.
The installation is tedious and non-obvious. Moreover there is no succinct description in the documentation as to how to migrate files from version 2001. The default installation script for Windows XP did not function without some modification. And Norton Personal firewall must be turned off, while down loading all the patches and up-dates of which there are many. The only reason to buy this product is because Intuit's 2001 version will not function with contemporary versions of Internet Explorer, therefore if you use a current version of Explorer, and are doing a re-install of the product, you are forced into the up-grade, which for my business, offers no, as not any, value added, features.

QuickBooks Pro 2002
Well, I have just spent 2 hours reading reviews on various Quick Books products,and was very supprised at the number of negative reviews. I have used Intuit products for years. I was using tax software back in the days of Mac-in-tax (before Intuit owned it). I do income tax preparation and keep my business records on Quick Books 2002 for windows. I don't know how I could survive with out their products. I also use Pro Series for income tax preparation, as well as Turbo tax for all the "freebes" I do for family and friends. (All of which are Intuit products). I can not recall ever having any of them crash.

In another life when I was Controller for a large Corporation, we had to buy new software to solve the Y2K problem. The company purchased the Great Plains Dynamics package. The up front cost with trainning and set up was $50,000! That's right, 50 THOUSAND, and I was never able to get a financial report from it. I had to "run" the general ledger, then pick the data out and enter it in Excel to get a financial statement. Then, I discovered Quick Books when I started my own business. I was amazed that for a few hundred dollars I had a very compent accounting program that gave me INSTANT financial reports in almost any configuration I could think of. I will admit there is a learning curve to using the software, but you have that with any new software. I was able to teach myself how to use the software,(no calls to tech support though there were times when I really wanted to). With a little work, I was soon very proficient with it. The information is availible in the documentation. However, that route is not for the faint of heart. I would recommend that new users who can afford it get some tranning before striking out on your own.

All in all I must say that all of Intuit products, or at least the ones I have used are excellent,and very inexpensive when compaired to many alternatives. But that is only my personal opinion, but one that comes from experience, and I don't even own the stock, but that is another story.

Avoid QuickBooks if possible
My experience with the company has been extremely negative. Buy this software only if you are comfortable with the lease concept of paying for software, and if you're willing to work with a company that does not really care about its customers.

This product forces customers to purchase expensive "tax table updates" every year and then, when Intuit needs an extra jolt of income, to purchase an update of the entire product - hence QuickBooks 2003. Once you're in their software, it becomes difficult to change, so Intuit is able to arbitrarily set its price for the "updated tax tables" and product updates, and it does, relentlessly, in its favor. If the company would explain the concept up front, it would be ok - simply say that the software is leased every year for a certain fee. But it isn't sold that way. Beware - their method of automatically charging customers' credit cards every year for the update is aggressive - when you work with Intuit, you definitely need to read the fine print.

QuickBooks - quickly unsupported
Support even for the add-ons that require a monthly fee stops after 3 years. Do not think of this as a purchase, think of it as a 3-year lease.

Quick Rip-Off Books
I'm a tax professional and have recommended QB to over 100 business clients over the years. Last year I upgraded my own QB to 2003 so that I could continue to review clients bookkeeping in my office. BOY WHAT A MISTAKE! The worst part is the payroll interface which is a complete rip-off. I downloaded my "free" tax table which was included in my 299.99 price but now I can't run my year end payroll reports without subscribing to NEXT years tax table! Tax tables are FREE to the public in PUB 15 from the IRS and are only updated ONCE a year. Most states only update once a year if at all so the line about constant change is bogus. The only constant is Intuit's need to collect money. They added insult to injury by telling me that they could bypass the need for tax table update if I would pay $75 and up to speak with a techie! That borders on extortion. I am switching to Peachtree (located in Atlanta with support 'MADE IN THE USA')and am suggesting that my clients do the same as I will no longer review any accounting prepared using Quickbooks! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Saves me money
This payroll runs year after year and that saves me money. It prints the checks and tax forms, but not the state tax forms. After setup, running the checks takes a few minutes. And I can run a payroll anytime I want. Love the printed manual. ... Read more

Product Description

Peachtree Simply Accounting 2005 Basic.Simply Accounting 2005 Basic was designed for fast moving businesses. It's easy to learn and use, yet powerful enough to keep up with all your accounting needs. Whether you sell products or services, Simply Accounting Basic has all you need to run your business. It automates everything from making purchases to making sales and everything in between. It's even flexible enough to meet the most demanding payroll requirements. ... Read more

Features

• Track projects; over 100 industry-specific starter templates
• Easy-to-use accounting tools for running a business
• Manage customers and suppliers; run business reports
• Handle employee payroll; generate checks and invoices
• Productivity tips and advice for 100+ business types

Reviews (2)

Accounting Idiot
I currently use Ver. 2004 and have not upgraded to v. 2005 but I can say that I love this software.It is inexpensive and does everything you need it to do.

I only took one accounting class (hated it) almost 15 years ago so I knew very little about how to keep my own books.I just started my own business and thought I should have some formal record of my financials even if my accountant would have to clean it up later.Simply accounting had wonderful tutorials on CD (included) and I was able to go directly to what area I needed help with.I have to admit that I had to start over with a new company a couple of times because I messed up some entries, but that was because I am not an accountant and didn't want a bunch of adjustments to correct entries.

I read the other review and yes, you do get a pop-up window that asks if you are sure you want to enter something older than 7 days, but you can change that in the options.I don't have a lot of paperwork yet so I probably enter documents in maybe once or twice a month and I have NO problems with these infrequent entries.

I even created my own personalized invoices, POs, receipts, etcthat match my letterhead.I can email or print these out for clients.It sends emails through Outlook.

The best part is the wizard.When you set up a new company, the wizard will ask you what type of business you are running and then develop an account list based on that.I was able to add and delete my own as I went along.

If you believe you can be taught accounting, give this program a try.

Hard to use and unforgiving of errors
I've used Simply Accounting for my small business for 12 months. It is a decent basic accounting package with all the features you would expect. However, it is hard to work with and extremely unforgiving.

The first problem is that Simply Accounting assumes that you will always enter all transactions in ascending date order, and that you use the program at least every week. The root cause is Simply Accounting's concept of the "current session date". The program complains if you enter any transaction that is more than 7 days before or after this date. It also complains if you then try to move the session date to another date more than 7 days away -- as if this were some major accounting heresy. So if you are going through your paperwork catching up on your accounts at the end of the month, this gets incredibly annoying very quickly.

Secondly, if you ever have the temerity to enter one transaction that precedes any other, you get another warning that the earlier transaction will affect any reports you might have run. Gee, there's a surprise. There is no way to turn this annoying warning off. So you'd better order all your paperwork by date, or else suffer death by a thousand clicks to dismiss this warning message every time.

Thirdly, if you make a mistake entering a transaction, there is no way to go back and correct the transaction. You can reverse transactions, but this means adding a second transaction to back out the old one and a third for the corrected transaction. I understand that this is important for audit trail purposes, but make it possible to collapse the audit trail into a single transaction. If you're just fat fingered like me or forget to change the date from the last transaction (this happens to me a lot), your accounts become littered with incorrect transactions and their reversals -- three transactions for each mistake. If renders any kind of reporting on account transactions almost useless, because the debit and credit columns are swelled by (irrelevant) transaction errors and their corrections. I'm a one-man business -- I don't need an audit trail to show that I messed up the date of a payment or invoice. It obscures the view of how well/badly my business is actually doing.

The user interface compounds these problems. For most transactions, you want to enter the date, the payee or payor, the amount(s), and the account(s) to book the expense/revenue against. However, the forms are not laid out in this order on the screen. You'll need to navigate by mousing and clicking extensively to get to these fields and enter the relevant information. This is why it's so very easy to get the wrong date for a transaction -- not only is the date field not the first on the form, you need to press Tab more than 6 times to get there from the payee/payor field. To enter the account efficiently, you'll need to have memorized its 4 digit code. No, you can't start typing the first few characters of the name of the account and have the software auto-complete. If you click on the pick-list of accounts, they are ordered by account code and not alphabetically, which makes it vastly harder to find the account you want to use.

Finally, the software assumes you are fluent in accounting jargon, terminology and practices. It claims to have a mode where it uses "non accounting terms" but this is more confusing than using the actual terms themselves. There's no help for novice business owners -- you'll need to get a basic grounding in account-keeping because the software and manuals offer little to no help. ... Read more

Features

• Improves every step of even the most complex billing cycle
• Create alerts to keep from overlooking important information
• Easily design professional-looking bill templates
• Customizable control panel; 2-way integration with Microsoft Outlook
• User-friendly interface; ideal for anyone who bills for their services

Amazon.com Product Description

QuickBooks Premier 2003 features the most comprehensive set of tools for small business financial management. In addition to the benefits and features of QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier provides you with tools to help your business achieve better results.

Discover innovative tools to create a customized business plan. Instantly analyze your historical QuickBooks data and answer simple, step-by-step questions to automatically create a three-year projected balance sheet, profit and loss, and statement of cash flow. A new forecasting feature helps compare your forecast to your actual income and expenses.

Greater customization helps you meet the unique needs of your business. With QuickBooks Premier 2003 you have the ability to create sales orders and track back orders to manage inventory more accurately. And, now you can create a finished good as its own inventory item by specifying which pieces of your current inventory you need to produce to increase your inventory-tracking accuracy.

Discover anywhere, anytime flexibility with QuickBooks Remote Access in QuickBooks Premier 2003. Now you can work on your QuickBooks files from home or the road.

Be sure to visit our QuickBooks Software Add-Ons Store fo\ r software products that have been developed by members of the Intuit Developer Network. QuickBooks software add-ons are \ applications that integrate with this and other packages of QuickBooks financial software to save you time and increase you\ r productivity.

Reviews (4)

Best Accounting Software for Business
I am a professional accountant who worked with all kinds of accounting software. Quickbooks Accountant Edition 2003 has all the functions that both small and medium size business can use. It even has contractor functions, not much different from Timberline that is 100 times more expensive. With basic understanding of accounting, almost anyone can use the software. All other drawbacks such as necessity to purchase additional software to process payroll is negligible compared to the cost of more expensive accounting software. The quality of this software is excellent. Never pay the software producer for consulting, because Quickbooks is very simple to use and almost self-explanatory.

Quick! QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition 2003
An interesting introduction to Accounting software. I had been using quicken and the jump in user knowledge needed was tremendous. Intuit is decidedly unsupportive when it comes to product instructions and support and I will be looking elsewhere for my next software package. It is possible that I will use continue to use QB but I would reccomend that new QB users start out with a less expensive version. The "more accurate estimating" is all user inputed and while better than anything you find in quicken I believe QB Premier advertisement overstates its usefulness.

I cannot emphasize enough that Intuit charges you for support with regaurds to its product which is costly to begin with. That came as a particularly nasty surprize.

QB premier contractor series contributed in many positve ways to how my business runs and the job costing procedures are excellent, helpful, and informative.

A great program if you need all of its features
I've been using Quickbooks in its various forms since version 1.0 (for DOS!). So by now I consider it indispensable. But Quickbooks 2003 Premier Contractor's Edition is quite pricey, even with the rebates. I would only recommend it for larger companies with at least a few employees. Many smaller contracting companies (such as mine) would manage very well with just Quickbooks Pro 2003. Also, if you haven't used previous versions of Quickbooks before, (when it had less features) it might be best to start out with the simpler versions. Its help systems are very extensive but if you need any assistance from Intuit be warned that they charge for it either per request or by a yearly subscription, which I feel is a bit of a slap in the face considering the cost! The extra features such as the Change Orders and Contractor specific Job analysis and reports could be helpful but for me at least that remains to be seen.

PERFECT for ALL Accounting Functions
This package is perfect for the Accountant, the Bookkeeper or the Owner of a Small to Medium Size Business that likes to use most Accounting functions/reporting etc.

As the "QuickBooks Guru", I use this particular version for all my clients no matter if they have Pro, Basic, Contractor or Premier Version. The reporting functions are built in, so there is very little modifying if at all.

Between the new templates, add on features, invoice functionality (much better)---and naturally the remote access feature that makes a great training feature between my clients and myself !

The people that are disgruntled either have had poor set up,or are not understanding the ease of the program. I customize every client specifically to their business, and I have had NO complaints when they get their Income Statements, updated books, Bank Reconciliations...cash flow reports, Job Costs, Time tracking etc.

If you KNOW QuickBooks, this is the program to BUY! ... Read more

Features

• Manage your finances more efficiently -Schedule your bill payments, collect recurring payments or service fees, or create a check draft for immediate deposit
• Track all accounts, check payments and receipts online from one location
• Import records from financial software or print filled out checks directly through QuickPass
• Send checks by email, or create new drafts by phone and fax
• Draw from 300 hand-crafted images to add to your checks, with Check Designer PRO

Features

• An easy-to-use, complete accounting solution for small businesses
• Get up and running in minutes using wizards
• Over 100 industry-specific templates to choose from
• Handle payroll in-house; prepare invoices; write checks
• Track projects; manage inventory; build a Web store; and more

Reviews (3)

Back it goes!
I bought this software because it's cheaper than Quickbooks, and actually rated better (or so it says on the box). Although I hate several things about Quickbooks, I will be returning this and shelling out for it. The description you read here, and on the box, makes it sound like converting from Quickbooks is a breeze. Not so! I was under the impression that you would back up your QB info and then transfer it to SA. Nope...you actually "export" every little file from QB onto a disk, then "import" it to SA...and that just includes lists and your chart of accounts, that doesn't mean that it loads an up-to-date Accounts Receivable or Payroll ledger. That's all stuff you get to do by hand! Sorry, but I just don't have that kind of time, and to be honest with you, this software doesn't even seem worth it. Now, if I was just starting up a business and had never used a higher-end software like QB, or if I had a few weeks to do nothing but enter info from QB to SA, that would be one thing, but please! Consider this more of a low-budget accounting software...and remember, you get what you pay for!

Be Ware
After purchaing this software to change from Quickbooks, I learned the information in Quickbooks is not as easy to convert, and only converts names, etc. Also the customer service is also non-existant. After sitting on hold forever. I could get the software to work, kept giving me errors, keeping me in a continual look to keep entering information and than giving me an error. I sent the software back since I was unable to use and was unable to get the software update and tax update refunded. Be careful

Better than Quick Books
Beats Quick Books hands down at a much lower cost. ... Read more

Features

• Customer information system for small businesses
• 1-click access to customer data and project management tools
• Respond quickly and accurately to customer needs
• Integrates with QuickBooks and Microsoft Outlook
• Easy to set up, learn, and use; FAQs on every screen

Reviews (7)

It worked for us
We are using Customer Manager, to build out customer database. We all submit customer contacts names, titles, phone numbers, and e-mail address. We have not experienced any of the bugs the other have mentioned. One thing is Intuit provides automatic update to the software in the same fashion as it does for Quickbooks. Meaning, as corrections are made you get them uploaded.

I periodically take my copy of the database file, and update our Quickbooks file.

Like Quickbooks only 5 users can share one database "file". But Unlike Quicbooks, the database file called the "depot.file" is a community file which each user syncs and updates to in order to get the other community memember additions; one at a time.

You can also use Customer Manager to set-up To-do's and set assignments and for other users. It track of open and closed jobs, set deadlines, provide alerts etc.

You can customize the data your keep by adding fields to track customer by.

You can also group what you are managing, just not customers. You can group by customer, vendor, supplier, employee, etc.

For the price it worth exploring.

Just awful...
The feature which allows one to sync between different running versions of Customer Manager is cumbersome and full of bugs. The software uses a 'sync depot' to share information. Each copy of Customer Manager shares any changes it made with the 'sync depot.' Each other version then receives any changes from the sync depot and sends its own changes back to the sync depot. Each sync must be initated manually, and it is a bit slow. Customer contact information often get corrupted via this sync depot, usually resulting in Customer Manager crashing. According to Intuit Customer Service, they are still working out the bugs in the sync system, and a new release won't be out until next year.

Customer Manager also allows you to keep track of 'projects.' However, it would be nice if these projects were imported from Quickbooks' Jobs list. Instead, one is left with double the work of typing project information.

There are many other quirks with this particular software, but they are too many to list here.

The idea behind this software has a lot of potential (i.e. sharing information with Quicbooks). However, it seems more like a beta release, and the programmers at Intuit have a lot more work ahead of them. I would steer clear of this one for now.

Skip It
This product has great potential but nothing more.

It's basic to say the least and while the project management and notes-keeping capabilities are useful if you don't want something at the other end of the scale like Act! or Maximizer, it's probably going to serve your needs if you're running an even moderately busy business.

I bought Customer Manager because I found everything else I tried (see above) to be overkill and frankly cumbersome. Customer Manager seemed to be (from the product information on Intuit's site) exactly what I was looking for, a lightweight contacts database with the awesome bonus of synchronising with Quickbooks.

The reality is that the database leaves much to be desired as far as organising contacts and my version of Quickbooks Pro 2003 does NOT synchronise with it because it's the Canadian version. Intuit's Web Site still does not specify that only the US versions of Quickbooks are compatible and I have never even had the courtesy of a reply from Intuit about it, despite three very polite requests for an update.

LOL ...it doesn't do anything!
I have used ACT! and Qbooks for years. I needed an upgrade to ACT! but received very poor reviews for ACT! 6.0. Intuit always gives a quality product so I bought This Customer Manager.

The advertising makes it sound so powerful but I cannot find much to do with it. It is like Intuit sold a shell they were developing to recapture development costs.

Its kind of funny in a sick sort of way .. but I can't find much functionality in this product at all. It really doesn't do anything except list your customers and... nothing!

QuickBooks Customer Manager
The product is available with a coupon for $20 off from Office Depot, but they don't see since it says discontinued. Could that be because it is filled with problems that need to be worked out including that it didn't work past 12/31/20043??? Sounds like the old y2k problems except it isn't 2000 anymore! ... Read more

Features

• Create and print your own custom business and personal checks -- including bank code number on the bottom
• Manage your finances to view your net worth, upcoming payables and receivables, schedule your bill payments, exchange transaction files and synchronize your financial data and bank account information
• Obtain your customer's bank details via the Internet, phone or fax to create a check draft for immediate deposit
• Automatically collect recurring payments or service fees
• Built-in payee database, address book and contact manager for keeping important information at your fingertips

Features

• Balance checkbook, organize finances, and print custom checks
• Create and manage checking, savings, credit card, and money market accounts
• Monitor spending; track cash flow; print business and payroll checks
• Reconcile bank statement in minutes; see all account balances at a glance
• Works with Checksoft Home and Business, Quicken, Microsoft Money, and QuickBooks

Reviews (1)

QuickBooks compatibility
This product claims compatibility with QB but doesn't deliver. QB will not export data in a format acceptable to Checksoft; Checksoft will not import data from QB. Tech support is a joke ... $25 for first 10 minutes ... forget it. I spent too many hours this week trying to get this to work and it just isn't worth it. ... Read more

Features

• Very easy to use - Menu Driven With Screen Prompts - No need to Import or Export data
• Collect payments from an unlimited number of bank accounts at different financial institutions
• Automatic Pre-Note Incorporation
• Compatible with all Banks and Credit Unions that follow the NACHA standards
• Create a NACHA formatted ACH Origination File ready to be processed by your Bank

Features

• Very easy to use - Menu Driven With Screen Prompts - No need to Import or Export data
• Distribute pays to an unlimited number of bank accounts at different financial institutions
• Automatic Pre-Note Incorporation
• Compatible with all Banks and Credit Unions that follow CPA standards
• Create a CPA formatted 80, 105 or 1464 byte Origination File ready to be processed by your Bank or Credit Union

Features

• Very easy to use - Menu Driven With Screen Prompts - No need to Import or Export data
• Collect Payments from an unlimited number of bank accounts at different financial institutions
• Automatic Pre-Note Incorporation
• Compatible with all Banks and Credit Unions that follow CPA standards
• Create a CPA formatted 80, 105 or 1464 Byte Origination File ready to be processed by your Bank or Credit Union