Rating: 
Summary: NO Quickbooks multi-user on Macintosh network
Review: A nasty little secret - Intuit does not support multi-user access in Quickbooks for Macintosh, so a small business with 2 - 3 people can't all have the financials open - must use one at a time, have to close out to let someone else open the system. Very disappointing! They seem to have no interest or commitment to fixing this flaw.Also the web version only works on PCs, so that isn't an option either. Good package overall, but this is a killer problem for us - we're looking to switch to something else - MYOB, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly Disappointing
Review: As a long-time small business owner in the technology sector, I have seen my share of good and bad software and Quickbooks Pro 6 for Mac ranks right up there with the worst of the rollouts. The program is chock full of bugs, it is unstable, and although all of this is well documented, there are no fixes or workarounds provided by Intuit.
The interface for the payroll program that accompanies this software is quirky, counter-intuitive, frustratingly temperamental and the tax table costs are above and beyond the operating cost of the software and they are excessive. Although the software can be made to work, it is an arduous, tedious, and mind-numbing experience.
Intuit's "support" of this product is maddeningly incomplete and difficult to use unless you pony up the cash to purchase a kinder and gentler experience from them. Personally, I strongly object to this situation where the software has mission-critical bugs and crashes on a regular basis with or without loss of data and yet Intuit essentially forces you to purchase support by holding out the hope that you can get the software working properly through some personal assistance.
Despite my misgivings, I certainly gave this software the boyscout try--dutifully purchasing "support" and trying all of the inane solutions the support team could come up with--all to no avail. I'm told that their team is working on my problems and a solution will hopefully be available in an upcoming release--whenever that may be. Unfortunately, I have a company to run, so I am writing off all of my time and effort and retreating to other more reliable solutions. So, after a long and frustrating journey, I am writing this to serve as a lighthouse to others so that you may perhaps avoid crashing on Intuit's rocky coastline like I did.
Rating:
Summary: thank you 'centuryvii' for your review
Review: I have been using version 5 for a couple of years now but would like the ability to download my bank statements since my banking institution is offering this for free for a year. However, after reading centuryvii's review I don't think I will be upgrading since Pro 6 doesn't offer this feature as well.
I was on the phone for quite some time with QuickBooks/Intuit but never did get a straight answer to this question.
I was hoping that downloading would be able as it is with Quicken but unfortunately...
Rating: 
Summary: Be careful before you buy Quickbooks
Review: Not a bad software, but the caveat is that you MUST pay every year to upgrade in case you are planning to get new TAX TABLES. After your software is only one year old, it WILL NOT run the new TAX TABLES. Believe it or not.
Rating:
Summary: No to the payroll part of this software
Review: QuickBooks for Mac does a nice job in all respects except payroll. Do not buy this if you want to use the add on payroll software, TopPay by Aatrix. It has failed me miserably. Year end reports are incorrect and I have even had to resort to hand writing pay checks! Customer service can not be relied upon. I cannot stress how much time I have wasted trying to find and correct mistakes made in payroll. DO NOT BUY THIS IF YOU WANT TO USE PAYROLL.
Rating: 
Summary: Review of QuickBooks 6.0 for the Mac
Review: QuickBooks Pro 2004, produced by Intuit, is a software program that allows you to manage the fiscal side of your business, such as invoices, estimates, timesheets, and payroll, among other things. It also has the ability to export to Microsoft Excel, allows for automatic backups, and, of course, the much welcomed file conversion capability from previous QuickBooks' formats. The QuickBooks line has always been highly respected in the financial field, and I was eager to dive in and begin running it through its paces. The computer requirements, according to the overlay emblazoned upon the front of the software package, is Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X as an operating system; however, Intuit's website states more defined "recommended" requirements of the operating system, i.e., Mac OS 9.2.2, Mac OS 10.2.7, or Mac OS 10.3 as the minimal OS. The recommended system RAM is 128MB, the required hard drive space is 100MB. In addition, a CDROM and color monitor capable of supporting millions of colors and a minimum resolution of 1024 X 768 is needed. Requirements for use of an "add-on" product named Aatrix Top Pay may vary from what is used by QuickBooks Pro 2004. Installing QuickBooks Pro 2004 is relatively easy, just insert the CDROM, the contents should then automatically appear on the desktop once the CD spins up, and then simply double-click the "QuickBooks Pro 6.0 Installer" icon and installation begins. Here is where I discovered the exacting requirements of an operating system needed to run QuickBooks. I attempted to install QuickBooks onto my Macintosh running Mac OS 9.1 but the installation stopped itself and informed me that Mac OS 9.2.2 is required. Okay, easy enough to fix but I really wanted to use it on that particular Mac and I did--and still do--not want to upgrade to Mac OS 9.2.2, so I ejected the CD, walked over to my iMac, and began the installation process over. After installation, I double-clicked the QuickBooks icon and was greeted with a registration screen warning that the program requires registration before your 25th use of QuickBooks. After I selected the remind-later option, I was presented with the actual program screen. Keeping in pace with the Macintosh graphical user interface, the interface is nice and simple, and really easy to navigate. This simplicity carries over to your options, which are to open a user's guide, sample file, or existing file, or to create a new file. That is as straightforward as it gets. QuickBooks Pro 2004 is very configurable. Once you are up and running, if there is anything you do not understand, an answer may usually be found in the provided user's guide or the online FAQ file at their website. And, yes, you can even call for telephone technical support which varies from annual support plans to a per-incident charge. It's up to you. In fact, I find the program so user-friendly--and it is not surprising because of its long history in the industry--that it seems to fit users with varying degrees of experience. Any user level from beginner to expert should feel quite comfortable navigating through the application. As a few examples of the user-friendly orientation of the program, I provide the following overviews. One of the main tasks of business owners is building and viewing reports, and this program offers of one of the easiest report builders because it's built in! Payroll is actually handled by Aatrix Top Pay, utilizing the information in your QuickBooks file, and the way it works with QuickBooks is among the best examples of ease-of-use. Invoicing is just a click away. You select items to bill your customer from within the appropriate heading's contextual drop-down menu and QuickBooks fills in the rest. One thing I do like is the capability to "personalize" messages in a document, i.e., bill, invoice, etc., so you can include a simple "Thank you for your business" or anything else you would like to say to your customers. You choose what customer messages to include from a drop-down, and, yes, you can add or delete messages at will. Nice feature. Bottom line: Does QuickBooks Pro 2004 perform well? Yes. Do I recommend it? Yes.
Rating:
Summary: Review of QuickBooks 6.0 for the Mac
Review: QuickBooks Pro 2004, produced by Intuit, is a software program that allows you to manage the fiscal side of your business, such as invoices, estimates, timesheets, and payroll, among other things. It also has the ability to export to Microsoft Excel, allows for automatic backups, and, of course, the much welcomed file conversion capability from previous QuickBooks' formats. The QuickBooks line has always been highly respected in the financial field, and I was eager to dive in and begin running it through its paces. The computer requirements, according to the overlay emblazoned upon the front of the software package, is Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X as an operating system; however, Intuit's website states more defined "recommended" requirements of the operating system, i.e., Mac OS 9.2.2, Mac OS 10.2.7, or Mac OS 10.3 as the minimal OS. The recommended system RAM is 128MB, the required hard drive space is 100MB. In addition, a CDROM and color monitor capable of supporting millions of colors and a minimum resolution of 1024 X 768 is needed. Requirements for use of an "add-on" product named Aatrix Top Pay may vary from what is used by QuickBooks Pro 2004. Installing QuickBooks Pro 2004 is relatively easy, just insert the CDROM, the contents should then automatically appear on the desktop once the CD spins up, and then simply double-click the "QuickBooks Pro 6.0 Installer" icon and installation begins. Here is where I discovered the exacting requirements of an operating system needed to run QuickBooks. I attempted to install QuickBooks onto my Macintosh running Mac OS 9.1 but the installation stopped itself and informed me that Mac OS 9.2.2 is required. Okay, easy enough to fix but I really wanted to use it on that particular Mac and I did--and still do--not want to upgrade to Mac OS 9.2.2, so I ejected the CD, walked over to my iMac, and began the installation process over. After installation, I double-clicked the QuickBooks icon and was greeted with a registration screen warning that the program requires registration before your 25th use of QuickBooks. After I selected the remind-later option, I was presented with the actual program screen. Keeping in pace with the Macintosh graphical user interface, the interface is nice and simple, and really easy to navigate. This simplicity carries over to your options, which are to open a user's guide, sample file, or existing file, or to create a new file. That is as straightforward as it gets. QuickBooks Pro 2004 is very configurable. Once you are up and running, if there is anything you do not understand, an answer may usually be found in the provided user's guide or the online FAQ file at their website. And, yes, you can even call for telephone technical support which varies from annual support plans to a per-incident charge. It's up to you. In fact, I find the program so user-friendly--and it is not surprising because of its long history in the industry--that it seems to fit users with varying degrees of experience. Any user level from beginner to expert should feel quite comfortable navigating through the application. As a few examples of the user-friendly orientation of the program, I provide the following overviews. One of the main tasks of business owners is building and viewing reports, and this program offers of one of the easiest report builders because it's built in! Payroll is actually handled by Aatrix Top Pay, utilizing the information in your QuickBooks file, and the way it works with QuickBooks is among the best examples of ease-of-use. Invoicing is just a click away. You select items to bill your customer from within the appropriate heading's contextual drop-down menu and QuickBooks fills in the rest. One thing I do like is the capability to "personalize" messages in a document, i.e., bill, invoice, etc., so you can include a simple "Thank you for your business" or anything else you would like to say to your customers. You choose what customer messages to include from a drop-down, and, yes, you can add or delete messages at will. Nice feature. Bottom line: Does QuickBooks Pro 2004 perform well? Yes. Do I recommend it? Yes.
Rating: 
Summary: I'd rather run Windows than Aatrix
Review: Running Aatrix payroll is anything but user-friendly. Aatrix goes out of their way say how Mac-friendly they are, yet the integration into QuickBooks is not seemless. I gave up, and switched my license to Windows 2000 running under Virtual PC on my Mac.
QuickBooks for Mac itself is the same as it's always been - a very forgiving accounting program with a decent interface. If you don't need payroll, I'd give it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: NO Quickbooks multi-user on Macintosh network
Review: Small business owners need to be aware that this program uses Aatrix Top Pay for the payroll function. The payroll package has a goofy user interface, but what bothers me is that you need to pay Aatrix about $130 a year to get tax table data updated. The program has no options to the tax table information. It strikes me pretty steep to pay $130 yearly for updates to the tax tables. The payroll function also makes mistakes on printouts of the check stubs when checks need to be reprinted. It also drops summaries of amounts paid year to date when something like a bonus is not included in a pay period. Aatrix did not reply to eMails regarding these bugs. I have searched for another pay package that can be used with QB Pro 6 for the Mac, but no one else provides a solution. The Aatrix gets by on payroll, but has definite problems and you will pay over a hundred a year for software updates. There are no other software options for Payroll in Quickbooks Pro 6 for Mac.
Rating:
Summary: Regarding the Payroll component
Review: Small business owners need to be aware that this program uses Aatrix Top Pay for the payroll function. The payroll package has a goofy user interface, but what bothers me is that you need to pay Aatrix about $130 a year to get tax table data updated. The program has no options to the tax table information. It strikes me pretty steep to pay $130 yearly for updates to the tax tables. The payroll function also makes mistakes on printouts of the check stubs when checks need to be reprinted. It also drops summaries of amounts paid year to date when something like a bonus is not included in a pay period. Aatrix did not reply to eMails regarding these bugs. I have searched for another pay package that can be used with QB Pro 6 for the Mac, but no one else provides a solution. The Aatrix gets by on payroll, but has definite problems and you will pay over a hundred a year for software updates. There are no other software options for Payroll in Quickbooks Pro 6 for Mac.
|
