Every small business owner wants to keep careful track of revenues and expenses. The days of the green journal ledgers and hand-written receipts are over with the advent of accounting software and the personal computer. But which package is right for you? Do you need extremely customized software or will a program like Quickbooks work for you? Do you need help with the Quickbooks you have already chosen and installed?

For most businesses, Quickbooks is a capable and efficient program, but not for all. It would do me no good to try to persuade you that QB is for you when it isn't. If you are using FIFO or LIFO to keep track of your inventory, QB is not for you. If you don't know what FIFO or LIFO is, you aren't using either. If your business involves a floor plan financing agreement such as a furniture store or a used car lot, even Intuit admits that Quickbooks cannot help with that. There are simply too many variables that don't fit into the software without 'forcing' some 'creative' accounting.

Choosing the Right Software Package

Intuit, Inc, makers of Quickbooks software have several different packages in their software line. You have your choice from Quickbooks Simple Start (cheapest) to Enterprise Solutions (most expensive) before you make that investment you may want to consider a consultation with your local Certified Quickbooks Pro Advisor. It can be just as big a mistake starting out with the most expensive version as it is starting out with the cheapest. Starting out with the cheapest software package the Simple Start allows you to 'grow' into needing a more flexible version. But there are limitations on the Simple Start, those businesses with inventory or fixed assets may find working with the Simple Start program very difficult. Yes it allows you to do both, but there are no sub-accounts in the Simple Start package. You cannot send a copy of your books to an accountant and you don't have a complete range of reports you can generate either.

Quickbooks Basic

The Quickbooks Basic package is a little more than the Simple Start and will help keep track of revenues, expenses, and be able to create some reports based on that information. But if you are keeping track of inventory, payroll, or any other more complicated accounting then you will need to consider Quickbooks Pro or Premier.

Quickbooks Online Edition

The latest addition to the Quickbooks family is the online version. It has the same capabilities as the Pro version below, with the added benefits of additional users and convenient online access from multiple locations. There is a monthly service fee ranging from $6 to $20 a month. This version will do payroll, revenues, expenses but will not do inventory. As of 2008, this version still cannot do inventory. The major disadvantage to this package is the continued cost every month which I believe is more than offset by the major advantage which is that you will never have to upgrade your version of Quickbooks, you will always have the latest version.

Pro Vs. Premier Vs. Enterprise Solutions

Most businesses can use the Pro version, which is about 30% less than the Premier. If you are not using inventory, sales orders or purchase orders, the Pro version would be perfect. Almost any service industry can use the Pro package and benefit from it with no problems. The Premier version is on the higher end and allows you to track inventory, sales orders, back orders, purchase orders, etc. Rarely if ever will a business need to use the Enterprise Solutions which is capable of keeping track of 100,000 customers and 100,000 vendors with up to 20 users. Enterprise Solutions is a great package, but there are many multi-million dollar businesses that are doing just fine with Premier.

Point of Sale Package

The Quickbooks POS package is for businesses that want to keep close track of inventory and be able to have the all-in-one capabilities of being able to print bar codes to help save time and effort on reordering inventory, sales, and cashier training. There are so many variables in choosing a QB package that it would be hard to list them all but you need to ask yourself a few questions.

• Do I want to be able to store my accounting information online in case of computer crash?
• How many people will be using my QB at the same time?
• Will it be on a network, or on individual computers with different users?
• Do I anticipate steady growth in my business or will the demand outpace my software?

Calling a professional in your area for a QB Consultation will save you money! Most QB mistakes occur during initial setup, and these mistakes can be costly to correct, find an expert to help you! Most companies do not make full use of the QB software they already own, simply because they haven't been shown how to use it.

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Choosing the Right Quickbooks Software Package