Rating: 
Summary: Popular doesn't mean approval
Review: In response to the previous review in support of Intuit, the writer stated 'Doug Sleeter, a QuickBooks expert of renown says, "These reviews certainly do not reflect the general opinion of users. If it did, the product would not be nearly as popular in the market."'Windows is also the #1 operating system, but many would agree that that doesn't make their company great. The reviews definitely do give the story of the average user - whether they keep using it anyway or not. After many years in working with them from Quicken, Quickbooks, and Turbo tax, I have to say that they provide the WORST customer service of any software or online provider that I have come across. The lack of customer service comes across in their upgrade strategies, the way they accept feedback (or don't) on their website, and their support both in chat as well as paid service. The only other company that I have come across that comes even close to providing the same terrible service, is AT&T broadband. Do I keep using Intuit products anyway? For now, yes. Do I continue searching and hoping for an alternative so that I can get away from this company? YES! Many, many years ago when I bought my first copy of Quicken it was to get out of the chains and lack of service by Microsoft. However, Intuit has amazingly become even worse than their original competitor. I would *love* for Intuit to turn themselves around, but I don't believe it will happen and I am waiting for the day when I can purchase competitive products.
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Summary: No customer service
Review: Please start with a different accounting software. Intuit locks you into their expensive payroll updates that you could input yourself if they would let you. Manually typing in the government info for payroll checks every payroll doesn't sound like good computing.... but $169 a year sounds like "GOOD PROFIT." I like the program... but extremely dislike the management. Moving to another program. Unhappy
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Summary: Quickbooks Pro 2003 Multi-user has many problems
Review: Quickbooks Pro 2003 single user is a good product. I am now a multi-user and in a nut shell, it is slow and the second copy crashes frequently. I received an update and encountered numerous problems in the customer job:list with the balance column not working the way it should. If you enter an invoice the balance disappears from the Customer job list balance column but appears in the Quick Report and Open Balance. There may be many happy users but they aren't in multi-user mode. I am definitely shopping for another alterative. I was told by one of their clerks that they have 52 million customers and I guess one customer doesn't mean much to them so I will take my business to someone who thinks that every customer is important.
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Summary: Response to QuickBooks Pro 2003 Negative Reviews
Review: I am surprised to read how virulently anti-Intuit many comments in the QuickBooks Pro 2003 customer reviews there are, how low the ratings of the product are, and the lopsided number of negative reviews. The emotional outcry seems to have taken a life of its own. Doug Sleeter, a QuickBooks expert of renown says, "These reviews certainly do not reflect the general opinion of users. If it did, the product would not be nearly as popular in the market." I recognize the frustration and anger the reviewers expressed about using QuickBooks and many of their concerns are compelling. I would like to address some of the criticism and clarify several issues that they mention. I have been a full time independent QuickBooks consultant for over ten years and during this period I have worked with and trained hundreds of clients one-on-one. The complaints about QuickBooks generally point toward its design and utility, payroll fees, and the cost and quality of support. BASIC NECCESSITIES Complaint: Several people said that they want a basic business program that deals with the "real necessities" of a small business. They described QuickBooks as "bloatware" and too complicated.
Response: What are real necessities for one type of business could be redundant and too complicated for other types of businesses. The basic tasks and simple layout of registers and forms (invoices, checks) in QuickBooks have remained the same since the early Windows versions. User preferences are customized to turn on or off functions and displays.
Historically Intuit has had a philosophy about QuickBooks of "one size fits all." It has been remarkably successful because of its versatility and is used in many industries. Now Intuit is bringing out various editions of QuickBooks that is designed for specific businesses, for example the new Contractor Edition is very popular. Many good business software programs are able to exchange data with QuickBooks. PAYROLL FEES
Complaint: Reviewers complained that now they have to pay extra for QuickBooks to do payroll and buy an upgrade if their version is QuickBooks 2000 or older.
Response: Intuit has offered a payroll tax table service for at least seven years. There has always been a charge for the service. The original service was called TTS (Tax Table Service). The company later came out with Basic Payroll Service, which has since been renamed Do-It-Yourself Payroll Service (DIY Payroll). Users do not have to upgrade their QuickBooks every year to do payroll. Although owners of version QuickBooks 2000 and older are required to pay for a new upgrade if they want to continue using DIY Payroll, the benefit of new features like emailing invoices, report enhancements, 3rd party software integration, remote access, and sales orders makes upgrading to the latest edition of QuickBooks worthwhile. SUPPORT
Complaint: There are many comments about the cost and quality of support.
Response: Paying for software support is a fact of life in today's economy, the same as expenses are incurred in maintaining a car. The cost of QuickBooks is inexpensive and if you factor a support plan into the purchase price, the savings by reducing your accounting fees and better financial management is still a good deal. QuickBooks has made finding "how to" information easier by including links to answers in most of its windows and with a comprehensive support database that can be accessed from within the program. Attending a QuickBooks class and visiting support groups on the internet like at Yahoo! help reduce the financial outlay for support.
My experience is that by showing patience and respect to the support specialist at Intuit, and by defining the issue well often brings good results. Intuit can and will make many improvements to QuickBooks. The fact is that the vast majority of users appreciate the many benefits they gain by using QuickBooks because it simplifies complex accounting tasks and it is one of the most user friendly software products ever made.
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Summary: Quick Books 2003 - ....
Review: Some improovements in the tax calculations, but very poor in modified accounting entries. Owner's manual shows very little, free "help" on line doesn't address important basic navigation and tasks in the software. Technical Customer Support available only after payment of a minimum twelve months support contract.
Customer feedback nonexistent. It was a wrong choice.
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Summary: Author of QuickBooks for Dummies Comments
Review: I kind of feel compelled to wade into this firefight because some readers will know me or of me and maybe, just maybe, I can be a little more credible than some of the other reviews. Before I get to that, however, let me make a couple of disclosures. First, I am the author of both QuickBooks for Dummies and Quicken for Dummies (so that might make you think I'm going to pander to Intuit), however, I am also the most prolific computer book writer in the world. (More than 150 books, most of which aren't on Intuit products.) Second, I'm a CPA (in Seattle area) and what I do is help small businesses do their taxes and get going with QuickBooks. Enough on that. Here are my considered comments:
1. SUPPORT...Tech Support from Intuit does, to me, seem kind of expensive compared to the old days when support was free. And I, too, have had the experience of calling with what I'm sure is a software bug--but then having Intuit say, "Dude, you got to pay." So that .... But I also know that many, perhaps most, of the problems that people have with QuickBooks stem from inadequate accounting skills or QuickBooks knowledge. In my opinion, then, the blame goes both ways. Yes, Intuit should be better in the way they manage their support programs. But customers should expect to pay for what often amounts to consulting and training. My suggestion? Buy a support program (they have several) and just consider that support program cost part of the cost of owning QuickBooks. You're still getting a great deal. 2. PAYROLL... As I've written about in my books, payroll has been a less than satisfactory component of QuickBooks. Part of that, again, is QuickBooks. But you have easy and relatively inexpensive payroll solutions that you can use in place of QuickBooks payroll if you have troubles. E.g., you can go to outside payroll service bureaus (like ADP and Paychex) where you're almost guaranteed to get good service. You'll pay probably several hundred to a couple thousand dollars a year for this service (depending on the number of employees and the frequency of payroll). But you know what? If you're having trouble getting your payroll done correctly, the service bureau route is a good approach. Tangential comment: If you add a good support program and work with an outside service bureau, your accounting costs do go up. But you know what? If you're running a small business with employees, you got to have a good accounting system. And a good accounting system costs money. 3. BUGS AND SUCH... I haven't found QuickBooks 2003 to be particularly or uniquely buggy. 4. FEE-BASED ADD-ONS... I agree with this point. But it's a bit like complaining your kids won't pick up their bedrooms. Yeah, it's an annoyance, but truthfully it's not really much more than that.. 5. FINAL COMMENT... OK, even considering everything said here and all the problems one has, QuickBooks is still a GREAT PRODUCT! It's easy to use. It's inexpensive (even after you add costs for support and payroll) as compared to the old days where you needed to hire a bookkeeper or CPA to do your books. And it can be a powerful tool for better managing your business. Steve P.S. If somebody has a quick question about QuickBooks, it's okay to email me. I don't know if it's kosher to stick my email address into this post so won't. But you can easily search on my name and locate contact information...
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Summary: The worst version of QB ever
Review: I am a former QB advisor but quit when they wanted $1000 a year from me to maintain advisor standing. Every time you blink on this software there is a charge. I manage this software for a number of clients in all aspects of its applications and was forced to QB2003 for payroll updates. Gouging at its worst. This new version is the slowest it has ever been, crashes frequently and even when I email them with lists of complaints and bugs from the many upgrades I have done, they do not respond and downright lie to me. I would switch to an alternative accounting application in a heartbeat. Contempt for their customers seems to be the company mission statement of Intuit and I am actively pursuing an alternative to these parasitic incompetents.
Rating: 
Summary: Agreed: great program, strange company
Review: (preface: i do NOT have QB2003, i'm a user of 2001 pro, but was thinking of upgrading then after reading this, i changed my mind... too bad, anyways i'll talk about 2001)... i love this program, learned the ins and outs of it on my own... like anything once you get used to it, for a small business, its relatively easy. i've never used another program and am currently using pro 2001. i don't use the payroll features because frankly they frighten me, i can understand the payroll service fees but their support is so bad that i won't go near it every time i really want too make the change over. The other thing that bugs me is they can sit around and think of great ways to improve the program to make themselves more money, but a simple thing like adding a 'cut, copy & paste' feature to the Notepad and To Do list, seems like it will never happen. seems like they should be concentrating more about putting out a good product and decent support system and keeping a good name for themselves for many years to come rather than nickle & diming it right now. man i hate greed. still would recommend quickbooks to a small business person like myself tho, especially if you were like me a few years ago and still doing everything by hand. i guess we'll see how long the recommendation with this product will last though.
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Summary: I was forced to buy this
Review: I have been a Quickbooks user for 5 years. It is not the best written application and crashes much more frequently than it should. I was forced to buy this edition so I could continue to get payroll upgrades. Intuit has a habit of doing that. Two years ago they forced me to buy tax upgrades and pay for State upgrades despite the fact Texas doesn't have a payroll tax. I am looking for alternatives so I won't be forced to pay yet again next year.
Rating: 
Summary: Exceptionally Poor Product
Review: I have owned the "Pro" version of this product for all of two weeks. If I can still get a refund, I will. Here are my list of problems: The application crashes often in my windows XP environment. I have 40 other applications on my machine and not one of them has crashed. Quickbooks touts that it is compatible with ACT! and Outlook, but only with older versions of either applications. I went to install the Timer and while it installed on my machine fine, I was amazed to find that the only way to make copies of the Timer for legal distribution was on a floppy. I don't have a floppy on my machine. I have never needed one before Quickbooks 2003. I am willing to pay for support on a "pay-as-you-go" basis, but then I expect such service to be 24-7 not 6-6/M-F. This application is going out of date, Quick. I am not impressed. (Also, Kathy Levin's 'The Offical Guide' has less value than the enclosed manual. Skip this, too)
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