Having struggled with QB Pro for several years now – I am looking for something that will keep track of husband’s construction business (jobs and accounting) Window based program and it has to be simple – I am a dispatcher not a computer geek…
This is a small business – mostly framing – but lately the guy has gotten a few bigger jobs – like a daycare, a duplex and a ten plex all coming this summer. We normally have 2-3 full time guys and one part time – but during the summer we have 6-8
So I am looking for something that does it all – so he can see how the job went money and time wise – and tells me how many bills i can pay this week, plus get me through the tax process in march a bit faster than it currently takes with the cluster I take to the poor guy.
So far I have looked at Turtlesoft, Buildsoft and Buildworks ( the last two being awful pricey) any luck with these – or any other that you think I should look into?
Please HELP!!
Replies
I use QB as well. My business partner who is also my wife, is also a tax attorney. This is what she had to tell me.... "LEARN TO USE THE DAMN SOFTWARE". In short, there may be no easy way out. The upside is, once you become real familiar with it, it becomes much quicker and easier.
Best of luck
dl
Edited 6/27/2002 6:46:37 PM ET by DeadLoad
Have to agree with Deadload, it QB Pro works pretty well once you get a handle on it. Try finding a local accountant, who uses it. Mine is a certified training center. They really shortened the curve for me, and at very little cost. Plus, they can handle all the tax issues off a disk from me. He makes the adjustments, then I load them into my files. Good luck.
Brudoggie
Roybuilt, I'm not sure what you'll find out there that will be any simpler other
than moving down the Intuit product ladder to using plain old QuickBooks. If
that's the way you want to go I would suggest you get Karen Michell's book Quicken
for Contractors. Also before you make any switch you may want to checkout
the books she's writtenContractor's
Guide to QuickBooks Pro if you haven't already. It might get you over whatever
obstacles you are facing now with the program. Just make sure you get the right
book for the right version of the program. There is also a good forum on the
JLC site for QuickBooks users moderated by Karen Mitchell so the online third
party help is there that might not be there for any other program you may switch
to.
I'm not sure Goldenseal from TurtleSoft is any easier I think it's just different.
Same thing goes for AccountEdge
by MYOB which is what I just switched to from QuickBooks. I'm on a Mac so that's
what helped dictate my choice but I do know AccountEdge has a version for Windows.
As for Buildsoft and Buildworks the are moves up the ladder to more all around
Integrated Solutions. If you are frustrated with QuickBooks I think switching
to either one of them would drive you nuts. You might also just want to read
through an older discussion on this site on Accounting
Programs to get a wider overview of what the people here think.
QuickBooks, AccountEdge, Goldenseal,...there not rocket science. I wish there
was a pill that I could take that would make me lose 50 lbs this summer but
it just doesn't exist. I'm going to have to work at it myself. I think you just
need to spend time learning the program, it's a pretty good system.
"Do not go where the path may lead, go
instead where there is no path and
leave a trail."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I use Master Builder Solo From Intuit. Wow, What a step up from QB Pro. You've got to have a big brain to get started, but what great things you can do later once youve learned it. Im pretty good at it and im just scratching the surface. I was offered a job at Intuit twice during a Tech support call the other day. (I think that they were just kidding, If not they are scratching the bottom of the barrel.
I think that QB Pro is the right software for you. I hate it too but then, like most builders, I hate bookkeeping and paperwork. Therefore, I have never put in the time to really learn it. I use CAD to do design work all the time and love it so I learned it quickly in spite of the learning curve so I think it may be a matter of personal discipline to actully read the manual of take some courses and master what you have. It has lots of tricks and plenty of power.
I agree with most of the above... QB Pro is about as easy as it gets... and Quicken is easier..but they both require a commitment...
the only bookeeping that used to be easier was one called One-Write Plus.. but when it got bought up by NEBS and went from DOS to Windows.. it turned into junk..
we finally settled on QB Pro after about 3 others and we went up the QB Pro curve... but found I was spending to much time doing the books..finally found the right person.. comes in once a week for about 2 hours.. then finishes the weekly bookeeping in his office..uses the latest version of QBPro...works for about 4-5 other companies... i pay him an average of 7 hours..
we also have a payroll service..i pay them $18 a week.. payroll takes 60 seconds to enter the time and fax it to the service.. the checks come 2 days later.. they file all state and federal forms.. they pay all state and local payroll taxes..we haven't paid one single fine or tax interest payment since going to the service
at the end of the year i give all of the QB reports and quarterly payroll reports to our accountant for tax filing..
freeing up all of the bookeeping time allows more time for design, estimating , field supervision and production...
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I had the same problems with QB as you do. I did some research and found a program that is excellent for a company like yours, it's called Mcrosoft Money 2002 Deluxe and Business. It categorizes everything by customer, vendor, totla sales, whatever I want. It has P&L statements as well as cash flow forecasts and everything In between. Plus it was only 80$ alot less than QB. Good luck!
Edited 7/16/2002 9:54:29 PM ET by Barnee