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Subject Author Date
Which Version of QuickBooks do I need? Carla Fong 01-05-2008
Posted by Carla Fong on January 5, 2008, 4:34 pm
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Hello all -

It will soon be time for us to migrate from OneWritePlus to a currently
available and supported program since I'm guessing that Payroll
deductions will be changing this year or next.

It's not only that I'm accustomed to the vagaries of OneWrite, its that
it just seems so 'smart' in the way it does the sort of stuff that we
need in our business.

Worst case I could continue using OneWrite forever for accounting and
just use a third-party payroll program... or resurrect a PR that I wrote
a hundred years ago. No, let's not do that..

OneWrite was absorbed into Peachtree a while ago and we bought the
'upgrade to Peachtree' package from them, but I'm wondering if someone
else's software might be more to my liking. (The OneWrite to Peachtree
'data transfer' was/is not seamless or painless and if I'm going to
spend that kind of money on an accounting/payroll program, I'd like to
be sure it's not stupid.)

I just purchased QuickBooks Payroll that comes with a starter edition of
Quickbooks - the basic accounting package seems very light on cash
entry, linking to the General Ledger and just about everything else I'm
accustomed to.

Here's what I'd like, is there a version of QuickBooks that comes close?

1: Weekly entry of daily cash register closings. We're a cash business
(motion picture theatre) and we accumulate daily reports and want to
enter them once a week or so. With OneWrite I have a 'customer' thats
'Boxoffice' and another that's 'snack bar' and I can quickly enter the
day's receipts and the appropriate GL account is linked to the
'customer' and the appropriate GL entry is automatic and simultaneous.
The 'starter version' of QB seems to want to do a cash invoice for every
transaction, and it doesn't seem to want to assign the revenue to a
'revenue specific' GL account. (i.e. 'customer 'boxoffice' revenue
always goes to GL account 'Admission Revenue', etc.)

I'll admit that I didn't get too far into trying to use the QB product
because it was not intuitive as to how to accomplish these mappings of
transactions to GL accounts.

2: In A/P, a OneWrite customer card has a standard GL associated with
it, so for example 'Ace Garbage Collection Company' and "ABC Electric
Utility" vendor transactions are automatically posted to the 'Utilities'
GL account. (but that can be easily overridden when entering invoice
details)

3: How good is the linking of QuickBooks Payroll with the accounting
package?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Carla







Posted by Laura on January 5, 2008, 7:01 pm
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>
> Hello all -
>
> It will soon be time for us to migrate from OneWritePlus to a currently
> available and supported program since I'm guessing that Payroll deductions
> will be changing this year or next.

Payroll deductions change every year or at least the Federal Income tax
tables do. If you have not updated your payroll tables in a while your
federal income withholding has been incorrect for 2007.

Is there any way of updating the payroll tables & formulas in OneWrite?

> It's not only that I'm accustomed to the vagaries of OneWrite, its that it
> just seems so 'smart' in the way it does the sort of stuff that we need in
> our business.
>
> Worst case I could continue using OneWrite forever for accounting and just
> use a third-party payroll program... or resurrect a PR that I wrote a
> hundred years ago. No, let's not do that..

A good third party payroll company is paycycle. I've heard horror stories
about ADP and Paychex. Both of which are very expensive. Bank of America
also offers low cost payroll for their banking customers. I have read that
it is Paycycle hiding in the background. If payroll is the only reason for
switching then I would find a payroll solution instead of a new program. Why
fix what ain't broke. <g>

> OneWrite was absorbed into Peachtree a while ago and we bought the
> 'upgrade to Peachtree' package from them, but I'm wondering if someone
> else's software might be more to my liking. (The OneWrite to Peachtree
> 'data transfer' was/is not seamless or painless and if I'm going to spend
> that kind of money on an accounting/payroll program, I'd like to be sure
> it's not stupid.)

Since you brought up Peachtree, I will try and give you a comparison of the
2 programs. One caveat to my comments is that I prefer Peachtree over
Quickbooks. I do not find either program "stupid". Each have their pros and
cons. If you want control over your accounting or think like an accountant
than Peachtree is probably a better choice. If you want a program that some
feel that it is easy to mess up because you don't have a lot of control over
the accounting then go with Quickbooks.

You might look at Peachtree again. It has a lot of the features that
OneWrite has. You can also do your payroll manually if you don't want to
purchase the payroll service. If you only have a few employees or your
payroll is basic then the manual route works fine and is quick to set up.

I would not bother doing a data transfer to your chosen program. Most
conversion utilities cause more work than it is worth. I would start a new
company using the 12/31/07 trial balance from OW and go from there. If you
can dump the vendor/customer info into excel you can easily setup an import
of this information into Peachtree and, I believe, Quickbooks.

> I just purchased QuickBooks Payroll that comes with a starter edition of
> Quickbooks - the basic accounting package seems very light on cash entry,
> linking to the General Ledger and just about everything else I'm
> accustomed to.
>
> Here's what I'd like, is there a version of QuickBooks that comes close?

I would stear clear of the QB Starter edition. It is too basic a program for
most people's businesses. If you want QB then get Pro.

If you want Peachtree either Pro or Complete will suit your needs. BTW,
Staples and Office max run a rebate program several times a year that
enables you to get Pro for free.

> 1: Weekly entry of daily cash register closings. We're a cash business
> (motion picture theatre) and we accumulate daily reports and want to enter
> them once a week or so. With OneWrite I have a 'customer' thats
> 'Boxoffice' and another that's 'snack bar' and I can quickly enter the
> day's receipts and the appropriate GL account is linked to the 'customer'
> and the appropriate GL entry is automatic and simultaneous. The 'starter
> version' of QB seems to want to do a cash invoice for every transaction,
> and it doesn't seem to want to assign the revenue to a 'revenue specific'
> GL account. (i.e. 'customer 'boxoffice' revenue always goes to GL account
> 'Admission Revenue', etc.)

You can do a Sales receipt for a customer. In QB Pro & Peachtree you can
also memorize it to reuse it each week. You can also set up a detailed
journal entry that you memorize so that you have better control over the
accounting.

> I'll admit that I didn't get too far into trying to use the QB product
> because it was not intuitive as to how to accomplish these mappings of
> transactions to GL accounts.

With QB you have to set up Items that point to the G/L accounts for all
income related activity. For expenses you specify the account on the form.
In Peachtree you specify the G/L account on the screen for both income and
expenses giving you greater control over the accounting. Using Items in
Peachtree is typically only used for Inventory purposes.

> 2: In A/P, a OneWrite customer card has a standard GL associated with it,
> so for example 'Ace Garbage Collection Company' and "ABC Electric Utility"
> vendor transactions are automatically posted to the 'Utilities' GL
> account. (but that can be easily overridden when entering invoice details)

QB will "remember" the last account used for a vendor. You can not specify a
default G/L account for a vendor. You can do this in Peachtree in the vendor
and customer profiles.

Also, the starter program will not allow you to enter a bill to be paid
later. If you need to use A/P then you need at least the Pro version of QB.
Even the Items used to map income to the G/L are limited to simple setups.
No inventory. No way to memorize transactions that I can see.

> 3: How good is the linking of QuickBooks Payroll with the accounting
> package?

Most people like the QB payroll once they have it set up. It does require
that you know how your payroll should be set up. It also does a lot of
account mapping in the background which may or may not be to your liking. I
prefer knowing exactly what accounts are being used and I want full control
over the mapping but that's just the way I was taught bookkeeping.

Peachtree also has a payroll program that integrates nicely with the
program. I find it easier to setup than QB. It also now has the ability to
print plain paper payroll tax forms.

> Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Hope this gets you thinking about the programs. Download trial versions of
both programs so that you can get a feel for how things work. Or research
payroll options.


Posted by Allan Martin on January 5, 2008, 8:27 pm
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The entry level version of QuickBooks is given away for free, no charge,
zip, Nada. The old adage you get what your pay for could not be more true
when it comes to this version. Big Al will say no more on this topic.



>
> Hello all -
>
> It will soon be time for us to migrate from OneWritePlus to a currently
> available and supported program since I'm guessing that Payroll deductions
> will be changing this year or next.
>
> It's not only that I'm accustomed to the vagaries of OneWrite, its that it
> just seems so 'smart' in the way it does the sort of stuff that we need in
> our business.
>
> Worst case I could continue using OneWrite forever for accounting and just
> use a third-party payroll program... or resurrect a PR that I wrote a
> hundred years ago. No, let's not do that..
>
> OneWrite was absorbed into Peachtree a while ago and we bought the
> 'upgrade to Peachtree' package from them, but I'm wondering if someone
> else's software might be more to my liking. (The OneWrite to Peachtree
> 'data transfer' was/is not seamless or painless and if I'm going to spend
> that kind of money on an accounting/payroll program, I'd like to be sure
> it's not stupid.)
>
> I just purchased QuickBooks Payroll that comes with a starter edition of
> Quickbooks - the basic accounting package seems very light on cash entry,
> linking to the General Ledger and just about everything else I'm
> accustomed to.
>
> Here's what I'd like, is there a version of QuickBooks that comes close?
>
> 1: Weekly entry of daily cash register closings. We're a cash business
> (motion picture theatre) and we accumulate daily reports and want to enter
> them once a week or so. With OneWrite I have a 'customer' thats
> 'Boxoffice' and another that's 'snack bar' and I can quickly enter the
> day's receipts and the appropriate GL account is linked to the 'customer'
> and the appropriate GL entry is automatic and simultaneous. The 'starter
> version' of QB seems to want to do a cash invoice for every transaction,
> and it doesn't seem to want to assign the revenue to a 'revenue specific'
> GL account. (i.e. 'customer 'boxoffice' revenue always goes to GL account
> 'Admission Revenue', etc.)
>
> I'll admit that I didn't get too far into trying to use the QB product
> because it was not intuitive as to how to accomplish these mappings of
> transactions to GL accounts.
>
> 2: In A/P, a OneWrite customer card has a standard GL associated with it,
> so for example 'Ace Garbage Collection Company' and "ABC Electric Utility"
> vendor transactions are automatically posted to the 'Utilities' GL
> account. (but that can be easily overridden when entering invoice details)
>
> 3: How good is the linking of QuickBooks Payroll with the accounting
> package?
>
> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>
> Carla
>
>
>
>
>
>


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