Cisko

I'm on the process of getting started but am not too user friendly with the computer and I need to purchase an accounting program
what programs do you guys use and how user friendly are they to a computer illiterate like my self?

bujaly

My only question... Do you know the language of accounting??

Quickbooks Pro if your concerned with price or Quickbooks Premier Contractors addition for a niche acct program.. Also, go to your nearest community college, they should have a course for 101 quickbooks...

__________________

MattCoops

we use the DOME weekly accounting ledger book
and have a microsoft excel weekly spreadsheet that mimics the same thing

__________________
Matt; tile contractor in Charlotte, NC
704-605-0907
Tweeting @MattCupan | read my articles

Cisko

price is not an issue if im gonna put some money in my initial start up I want to put it on something that works and am also gonna have to take some night classes to learn the program or pay someone to teach me to use it.
I want to do all my accounting
if anyone takes the ship down its going to be the captain

OntheHill

I use Quickbooks Pro too, and I find it pretty easy to use, but I'm pretty computer-savvy since I use them in my work The vendor who did my business cards turned me on to it though and I know from working w/her that she's not so great with computers.

Jason W

Quick Book Premier is what we use. Defiantly take some classes, it's worth it. If you can afford the little extra, it's really nice to have the person teach you on your system/computer. They will get you set up, trained, and running.

Good luck

__________________
http://vtrenovations.com/
Vermont Historic Preservation Group

CatAlii

We use QuickBooks Premier for Contractors. It works well, serves our needs and has some nice features like Progess Invoicing, customizable forms, built in Merchant Account interface, etc.. It definitely helps if you understand basic accounting principles and double entry bookeeping but even if you don't the help and books available are very easy to understand. I wouldn't say it is perfect - they only have a Windows version and the application is a bit slow to open but I have no major complaints, most good things to say about it.

__________________
Cathy

Cisko

I just talked to my banker today and he gave me a really good lead and if any one else is in the norcal area this might be helpful.
sbdc.net the small business development center is state run and offers workshops for new businesses from the basics to exactly what I was looking for accounting classes.
I talked to a rep and he advised me to sign up for the basics of business class 40$ and after attending and paying for the initial class they offer FREE one on one business planing and all sorts of help that I was actually going to drop some serious bucks for all for Free!
am sure most states should have similar programs out there you just have to do some searching around I love the internet!

bujaly

Yes, the SBDC is all over, but I didn't know they offered QB classes. At least I don't think they did 4 years ago. I'd be interested to see how technical they get with it. Honestly, learning QB was easy, it was the initial 101 and 102 acct classes that took my head for a spin. I didn't realize acct was another language..

__________________

bujaly

Oh Yeah!!!! Go To Buy.com For Quickbooks!!! I Just Bought Qb Pro 2008 For $90... There Suppose To Only Sell It To "students", But Whatever.. Aren't We All Students Of Life?

__________________

True North

I like your style!

Susan Betz

We use Quickbooks Pro but had the accountant set up the books. That way he knows what's going on and can quickly answer questions.

__________________
Fences of Distinction, Ocala, FL
http://www.fencesofdistinction.com

Double-A

I did some searching on some threads on this subject and what was said before is still good advice.

http://www.contractortalk.com/showpo...6&postcount=22

http://www.contractortalk.com/showpo...24&postcount=3

http://www.contractortalk.com/showpo...14&postcount=8

http://www.contractortalk.com/334744-post7.html


I guess the biggest point I'm stressing here (over stressing?) is that your accountant has other things on his mind besides your everyday needs. Make sure you get what you need from your accountant and your accounting software, or save your money. There is nothing worse than spending good money on a job poorly done and having to live with it (or fuss with it) day in and day out.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Cisko

I signed up for the business basics class for next tuesday.
ill update on progress on the workshops as I go along

as far as things go it looks like quickbooks pro is a crowd favorite!

Double-A

I prefer QuickBooks Premier Contractor. I has a few more useful features for contractors, but Pro is a good product as well.

Premier Accountant 2008 is what we just upgraded to. It was the same price (or $10.00 more, I forget) as the Premier Contractor. The biggest difference is that you can toggle the Accountant version to mimic any other version of QuickBooks 2008. We also have the payroll module for it and love it. Makes payroll quick and painless.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

8ft2by4

Cisko,

How involved of a piece of software are you looking for? What do you ultimately need or want it to do for you? Accounting, estimating, scheduleing, etc? These decisions will ultimately guide you to the software required to perform well for your business.

JerseyJoe

We do mostly remodling and some repair, etc. How helpful is Quickbooks Premier Contractors? Can I cross reference all my info- for ex., can I chg an estimate to an invoice, and then have the amount of the invoice go into an accounts recievable?
Do you know anything about Goldenseal? It's supposed to be fully integrated.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

PMI

For the accounting side we use Quickbooks Pro because it is a simple program that our accountant sets up the account ledger and just points us where to apply things, if we are unsure we post to misc. account and then she reallocates to the correct account when she comes in monthly or quarterly. This keeps all our relevant tax return information in order & clean for the tax side of things. We use a separate program for everyday customer work orders, scheduling, estimating, invoicing, purchase orders, mapping, etc. (It is a simple to use, web based solution so any of your employees, subs, etc. can complete the work efficiently & they don’t necessarily have access to the accounting system unless you allow it.)

Vince_B

I had a Quick Books certified CPA set QB up and then paid her to tutor me.

Once it's properly set up it's very easy to enter transactions.

The benefit of using QB is that the program is going to be around and the majority of book keepers know the it.

qdslse

QuickBooks Pro here too!

__________________
L. S. Ebert
www.artistictouches.net