Small Business Financial Software

[jmmphotography]

What small business financial record keeping software do you use and do you

like it? I've heard of Quicken and Quickbooks, but I just saw Bookeeper 2007

listed for a fraction of the cost of the other two big names- is it not as good

or just not as well known?

[mikael_karlsson]

If you're on a Mac, Billings is outstanding for photographers and other creative people that

needs to be able to bill by the hour or increment, by project, etc.

 

Quicken Smart Start is fairly cheap and comes in an on-line version as well as a regular.

[ted_hendy1]

I'm doing very basic bookkeeping, but for me Quick Books Simple Start is all I need. I got mine at Staples about four months ago when it was offered at 89.99 with a rebate for 90. Can't beat that price.

[jims grabshot]

I am a CPA (39 years in the "bean counting" business) and an amateur photog (34 years). Hopefully, I can bring some accounting expertise to the table.

If you know what you are doing, Quickbooks will be sufficient. We have a lot of clients who use Quickbooks, some for rather sizeable enterprises.

Another option is "Peachtree" (owned by Sage accounting software). As an accountant I like Peachtree a little better because it puts a little more discipline on you as to how you do things. But, everything you can do in Quickbooks, you can also do in Peachtree, or the other way around.

Either one will work for a starting business. They will track your billings, receivables, payables, revenue, expenses, etc., and (if you do things properly) tie these in to your "general ledger".

With either one, the information will only be as good as what you put in. Both of them will let you make mistakes - so be careful - it can be VERY expensive to pay someone else to straighten things out.

Do not try to save a few bucks on buying accounting software. What you pay in time and effort to learn things and straighten out the "mess" will far exceed the difference in cost (as long as you stay under $1,000).

Get the demo version of the software and work with it for 30 days. See if the workflow makes sense to you, and you can understand what it is doing.

Try both Quickbooks and Peachtree.

I would stay away from "Quicken" - it is basically a check-writing program - not a real business record keeping program. It is OK for some things, but will not properly track assets, liabilities, etc. If you are running a business, you need a real business program (either Quickbooks or Peachtree).

[scooter0071]

I have used quickbooks and I felt it was very easy to use and had every feature I needed. My business was in the computer field but from what I know of the program it should serve very well in a photo business.