QuickBooks Professional 2004

Rating:
Summary: SAY NO TO QUICKBOOKS, before it's too late.
Review: Our business has been using Quickbooks Pro since about '97. This is a powerful program that I would replace with another if I could find one. Once you're hooked on Quickbooks it's like a drug--not that you have much pleasure or satisfaction--that gets destroyed at every turn. You will have to buy the full upgrade each year in order to keep your tax info. up to date--unless you want to do it all by hand while you thank you lucky stars that you paid 245.00 for your powerful automated financial software just a few short months ago. By the way, don't try using this software on more than one computer at a time--it is designed to prevent you from enjoying this luxury. You'll have to buy the 5-user edition for $450.00. Service? First you'll wait, then you'll pay through the nose for any help with the many glitches and anomolies in the system. The one thing they're good at is making money--getting you hooked--and getting you to pay. I can't believe that I am still using this infernal program--upgrading again for 129.00 plus dollars just to keep my tax tables, W-2s and tax forms updated--since I haven't found an adequate replacement for QB yet. It would be nice if our corporate moaning would reach the ears of Intuit--but don't count on it; actually at this point, in the interest of justice, I would much rather switch to another company. Don't get hooked. SAY NO TO QUICKBOOKS before it's too late.

Rating:
Summary: Useless
Review: QB 2004 is useless for a non-accountant. It seems to be designed to sell add-on services, not perform a function. The idea that any reasonably experienced business person can not, without professional assistance, use this program is a indicative of just what a joke it is. A complete cottage industry has grown up around providing help with QB. That should have been my 1st warning not to buy this program. The fees charged by QB should have been the 2nd warning that this is not a program for the general user.

I'll go back to pen and paper beforre I pay QB for support of a program for which I have already paid them. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Pocket Quickbook
Review: Quickbook is really a fanastic product although there is much disapprovment on the review site. Quickbook is great, just that Quickbook is trying too hard to squeeze evey cents from the existing customer with their distractive advert. Whatever, Quickbook is one of the best buget accounting software in the market. If you use it enough, you may find something missing in Quickbook. Its usefulness is limited to the office. Now you can extend your Quickbook to PDA such as PocketPC.

If you are in a retail business, Pocket Quickbook enables you enter bill and receive your inventory. You no longer confined to your desktop to use Quickbook. You have the convenience to scan a product and know immediate how many you have sold last night, last week or even last month. And you then make a purchase order. Easy? You can be as information productive as 7 Eleven even if you own only 1 outlet!

If you are in a service business, Pocket Quickbook enables you to issue invoices to customer away from the desktop. Be it at your showroom, your customer site or your favourite Starbuck! Get instant information on your customer payment, balance and contact out in the field.

Visit http://www.doitech.com/member.htm to download the trial version now! It is free. If you like most customer who beg for a similar accounting software but without the "hazard" of Intuit, then write an email to [e-mail] They have a accounting software that could import most of Quickbook data. You can tell them what you use most often on your Quickbook. What are the necessary functions that you need. Your input determine the new accounting software that uses your old Quickbook data without all the advert service and priced at only US$49/-. Importantly it make Quickbook PDA convenience...

Thank you...


Rating:
Summary: QuickBooks - quickly unsupported
Review: QuickBooks 2001 is no longer supported. I assume that Intuit will drop support at the rate of one edition per year. It is more like leasing the software for 3 years, not buying it. Even the extra cost features became unusable.

Rating:
Summary: Quickbooks 2004 Pro
Review: QuickBooks 2004 Pro is modest improvement over the incredibly lame version that QB2000 was. The problem with the preceding statement is that Intuit is finally, albeit very slowly, brining QuickBooks up to the level of functionality that most professional grade software has had 3-4 years earlier. Given the price they charge for the package one would assume a very polished, professional level package which in my opinion is not the case.

Moreover the requirement of having to integrate with Internet Explorer and the corresponding reduced security settings makes it a significant security issue particularly in professional and business settings. As a professional IT consultant I need a basic package to track my business and have adopted QuickBooks by default early on believing it to be a good package given the popularity. A condition that has proved largely false unfortunately. The best I can say is that the package does get the basics I need done and given at the moment I don't have the time to review and test other alternatives I'm stuck with using this.


Lastly, as others have indicated, I really don't care for the constant self promotion Intuit has integrated into the package. I wouldn't object to something perhaps in the help area that lets on see other offerings etc. by choice. The inclusion of self promoting links within the package that appear as possible links to help areas is both annoying and modestly deceptive.
Intuit has garnered a large market share in the lower end accounting arena. They would do a good service to their longer term prospects and to their clients by making significant improvements in the package and COMPLETELY ELIMINATING the need to integrate with Internet Explorer.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed in Intuit's policies ruining a great product
Review: The ability to email invoices and statements to customers and then provide them with a login page to view their history should have saved me lots of time and money. If I am to upgrade to a new version of Quickbooks and then pay a monthly fee for the deluxe online billing service, the only thing I expect is the full functionality they advertise and a professional image that it would portray.

Instead, their Terms of Use state that, "From time to time, Intuit may promote and/or advertise other products and services through the Online Service, including but not limited to placement of Content and/or links to other sites or resources within Online Service forms, invoices and statements."

They have the right to advertise to me all they want, since I was a regular customer of their products, however trying to market through invoices and statements is ridiculous. They need to use their quickbooks users to advertise for them, not potentially bring down my reputation with my customers.

My review focused on this since it was the single reason I got the software and subsequently returned it. Don't get your customers hooked on something and then have to pull it. Export your quickbooks data to a database and have someone set up a SSL webpage for your customers to view their invoices and statement. Access or Filemaker would both work for this task.

The rest of 2004 pro was fine, but not worth the upgrade.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money, don't buy it
Review: The Canadian version is full of bugs. Customer service is not helpful but will always try to sell you other products or technical support instead of fixing the problem.

They do not respond to e-mail. Tax table does not update.

Save your money and don't buy the software. The problems are too many to list.

Rating:
Summary: Not so Friendly
Review: This is the first time I am using the Quickbooks software package but I have to say it is a real peice of junk. Has anyone in this company heard of user friendlyness? For example there's no undo button so if I make a mistake I have to create an offseting entry, I really wish there was somthing else (different software package) I could use but I don't even know where to look. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Rating:
Summary: I agree with Bill above.....
Review: This program is great...at first, then you get lured into it and the bugs keep getting more and more annoying until you are forced to upgrade. We started using the payroll service a few years ago and now to change would be a big nightmare, so we pay every year for upgrades and tech support for all the little "bugs" they put in the program. It seems that at about a year the "bugs" get really annoying and the program itself keeps prompting you to upgrade, asking if you need improved performance and such, which you do because I think they program it to get more sluggish so you upgrade and you are stuck. If you don't want to pay forever and ever, stay away from Quickboooks.

Rating:
Summary: Would pay more to have USA-based support
Review: Two parts of my review, because Quickbooks is really a combination of Software and Services:

1. The software

A mature blend of features that for many, will get the job done. Lots of critical things left out such as tear-off-slip report for invoices and far too few custom reports.

2. The support. Ok, here we go:

To their credit, in 1999/2000 I made 3-4 calls to the call center for both technical and customer support related issues and was so impressed that I actually told others how good it was - and remember it today. The reps were humorous and helpful, and seemed to "relate" to my needs as a QB user.

Now, in 2004, "John" (with an INTENSE Indian Accent) required me to spend 70 minutes on the phone, while repeating "Just a moment, thank you for your patience, just a moment, I'm getting that information, just a moment, please hold,..." and ON and ON and ON until I had a headache from the netherworld.

And you'd think a 70-minute call would be over some intensely complex technical issue... BUT... this was a call to the billing department to ask about a charge I didn't recognize! I had my statement, card number, charge code, and amount in front of me. AND THEY NEVER COULD HELP ME. I hung up the phone without having my problem solved and disputed the charge with the Credit card company.

The charge dispute process took 7 minutes. Flat. Done. Thanks FirstUSA for keeping your support top-notch.

Back to Intuit:

Hold a moment. Thank you for holding. One moment. Thank you for holding. I'm getting that information. [click]

Intuit is penny wise and pound foolish. They have compromised so far on support by outsourcing that it had made me switch AWAY from Quickbooks for good.