QuickBooks Simple Start Can Help Very Small Businesses

Learn more about another QuickBooks Online option, called at QuickBooks Simple Start, its free but has limited functionality. i.e. limited to 5 customers(but unlimited vendors). I  have seen this accounting software  work for a few of my very small business clients, who use it to summarize their business activities for their tax returns.I have just installed three Simple Starts or Macs. To learn more about Simple Start and to compare it other versions just click here to get Simple Start.

Some people really find it useful and it's really free. Like all QuickBooks Online products it works with any PC and Macs.  Grab it now !

QuickBooks Online No Cost Offer? - Pros and Cons

Like any other consumer I was interested in knowing exactly what was being offered for free by QuickBooks. An old finance professor of mine in an introductory finance course taught us the “no free lunch theorem”, which basically states that, there are no free lunches. I think what we have here, is a quick lunch rather than a three course meal. This article will address the pros and cons of QuickBooks online free version which was launched in October 2009.

Like any other optimist, I'll begin with the pros before the cons concerning the QuickBooks Online free version software.

Some of the positive aspects are as follows:

• Easy set up which includes many sample chart accounts with different companies in different industries.
• It is web-based which provides anytime and anywhere access and includes automatic backups at the Intuit's servers.
• The ability to print expense checks.
• Basic financial statements with some other supplemental reporting capabilities
• iPhone compatible with read-only rights and the ability to invoice customers on the fly.


Some of them that negative aspects are as follows:

• It is only limited to five customers.
• Lacks the ability to use form 1099s.
• No statement of cash flows -- this is important, because this financial statement portrays the sources and uses of your business’s cash from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
• Only one user access and your accountant does not have free online Internet access.
• Does not export to Excel.

When you're using this software you're actually using the bare-bones version of QuickBooks which is called QuickBooks Online Simple Start. For a detailed analysis of all of the features please feel free to click this link and you'll be directed to Intuit's website(you will be asked to sign in to use the website) that compares and contrasts the different features of QuickBooks Simple Start as compared to QuickBooks Online Basic and QuickBooks Online Plus.

As I mentioned above the setup is relatively easy, however there is one aspect that deserves discussion and a word of caution. The setup begins with a simple registration, completion of a company profile which includes selecting an industry, classifying your source of revenue as a customer, client, patient, etc... Towards the end of this process, Intuit requests billing information, i.e. Credit card information which they clearly state that it will not be used unless you purchase the software. To Intuit's credit this is very clear on the website after you press the submit button and you receive a receipt indicating that the price is free.

So in summary, unless you have a very small business with less than five customers or it's not important to track revenue by customer, then this version might be suited for your purposes. In addition, another use of the software would be to perform a write up of the accounting transactions which generally occurs after the fact, which means it's not used for real-time purposes. An example of a write up, would be to prepare the year-end tax return or to prepare a financial statement long after the transactions have occurred .

Notwithstanding the above, since there is no expiration period for the free use of the QuickBooks Online Simple Start, it does provide a good mechanism to test and more importantly use QuickBooks Online for more than 30 days. It should also be noted that QuickBooks Online Basic and QuickBooks Online Plus, both offer a 30 day free period to test drive the software. My experience is that 30 days may not be sufficient. So the remaining option is to either use the free 30 day period for QuickBooks Online Basic and QuickBooks Online Plus and if you need more than 30 days then purchase QuickBooks Online Basic for $9.95 a month or QuickBooks Online Plus for $34.95 a month. This is a viable option, since the software can be purchased on a month-to-month basis. The website clearly states “No contract, cancel anytime”.

Learn more about how QuickBooks Online can help your business and why not obtain this free accounting software before Intuit ends this free offer.

Intuit - Affordable New Tax Software For Small and Home Based Businesses Tax Preparers

In September 2009, Intuit released a new web based tax software called Intuit ProLine(TM) Tax Online Edition (beta) for tax preparer's and those individuals that need a comprehensive, low-cost and Web based 1040 tax program. This software is designed for low volume users whose customer base does not justify an expensive PC or networked tax software. Similar to other web-based software programs, and similar to QuickBooks Online, this program permits the tax preparers to work any time from anywhere providing they have web access. Intuit has many years experienced in the tax preparation business and has its TurboTax ,Pro Series ,and Lacerte brands. Intuit understands its customers' needs and has the foresight to know that many of the tax software applications are heading towards "cloud computing" and this tax software is another example of a Web enabled program.

How it Works- Behind this program is the concept of simplicity, and Intuit accomplishes this by setting up 3 basic workspaces for the tax preparer. These workspaces are "input"," review" and "file". The "input" workspace is where the preparer enters tax information such as W-2, 1099, Schedule A and B,etc ..It is easy to find the proper form. When you open up the form you're able to make multiple data entries by using a list and total feature in the software. The second workspace, is the "review" section which provides the preparer with a diagnostics summary and a list of tax suggestions. The third workspace, is "file", which permits the tax preparer to electronically file the return or to print out the tax return for manual transmission to the IRS.

In the past, tax preparers have purchased TurboTax software and pirated the tax software to prepare hundreds of tax returns by using TurboTax. In order to capture and capitalize from this market, Intuit designed a low cost tax software for a preparer that wants to prepare a tax return in the dining room of a client or their own dining room or from any location with web access. The value proposition is that this software is low priced and simple to use. Although the Intuit website currently offers the beta software for 2008 at no cost, I've been unofficially informed that Intuit will sell the software on a pay-per-use basis of $16 per tax return. This price is not currently shown in the Intuit website.This tax software becomes an affordable alternative for the tax preparers whose practice cannot afford to purchase the Pro Series or Lacerte brands.

Some of the features of the software include the following: (a) 1040 only- single user (b) Pay per return (c) E - file or paper file for two states. It is expected that by the end of the 4th quarter 2009 that filing will be available for most of the other states. (d) Data conversion (e) Status tracking with the IRS (f) Notes and listing features and totaling capabilities embedded in the various forms and schedules(g) Diagnostics and suggestions and (h) Support from Intuit Like any other new software, the concerns at this point relate to the fact that the software is still in beta.

Notwithstanding the hundreds of users that have beta tested the software, there are invariably issues arising from any new software release and, only with the passage of time can the software achieve its expectations. Also, like any other web enabled software the connection and performance is dependent on the web connection, and quite frankly may result in sluggish performance. Also despite the Web-enabled software, there are taxpayer's homes that may not have web access which would prevent the tax preparer from entering the tax information "on the fly". Not a major issue, since the preparer can prepare the tax return later, or back in his or her the office or home.

I commend Intuit for producing a web-based tax preparer software for new low volume users as well as making it easy for those individuals that have used "pirated" versions of TurboTax in the past, to legally use a low-cost and affordable tax software.

Sandor Lenner,CPA has provided accounting services for companies for 35 years. He is also a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and provides QuickBooks support and business accounting services. As an Intuit Authorized Affiliate, he can offer you discounted QuickBooks and Intuit software. He works as a part-time consultant  for Susan Missal Lenner, P.A.

Converting QuickBooks for Mac to QuickBooks Online

Several months ago Intuit, the manufacture of QuickBooks, released a new version of QuickBooks Online that runs with the Safari web browser. This new version of QuickBooks presents a multiuser alternative for existing users of QuickBooks in a Mac environment, as well as future users of QuickBooks for Mac. It is now possible for Mac QuickBooks users to run multiuser versions of QuickBooks for a reasonable monthly price, and have unattended backups and software updates included in the monthly price.

Besides the Safari interface, QuickBooks Online has been optimized for the iPhone. The iPhone app is basically a read only application, however some added features exist for customer, vendor and employee information as well as the ability to create and send invoices. Another benefit for Mac users of QuickBooks is that there is no longer a wait for updates to the Mac version of QuickBooks.

Installing QuickBooks Online (without the need to convert QuickBooks for Mac files to QuickBooks online files) is relatively easy and straightforward. However, it gets a bit complicated when you need to convert an existing QuickBooks for Mac file to a QuickBooks Online file. Intuit does a reasonably good job of facilitating the online installation.

Manually converting your QuickBooks for Mac file to QuickBooks Online is not that difficult, as long as you carefully follow the instructions and generally takes about 30 minutes. You cannot directly convert your QuickBooks for Mac file to QuickBooks Online. There is an intermediate step that requires you to convert your QB Mac file to a QB Windows files and begins with the drop down menu in QuickBooks Mac. The process begins, by selecting the File menu and then selecting “Back up to QuickBooks for Windows” within the QuickBooks for Mac software. Upon completion of this process, the file is sent to QuickBooks and you receive a notification when the process for converting the QuickBooks Mac to QuickBooks Online is completed. Initially, I was surprised to observe that this process is performed at the Intuit level rather than in real time. A suggestion to facilitate this process, is that in the event you do not receive timely notification of completion from Intuit, I suggest that you contact tech support and ask them to look into the status of your conversion and request that they expedite it for you. Generally, when I have called tech support, and they are very accommodating. They will facilitate the process, although they generally do not give any time guarantee and attribute the potential delay to their busy servers.

Overall the manual conversion process takes approximately 30 minutes (exclusive of the Intuit conversion) and my clients have been happy with QBO. One client was disappointed that the vendor type classifications are not available in QuickBooks Online. The workaround for this is to use one of the fields in the vendor profile as the vendor type. So far, my clients are happy to have multi-user access, the ability to work from anywhere and unattended and automatic backups, despite a slightly sluggish performance attributable to the web connection.

Two words of caution, the first of which is that QuickBooks Online currently does not support inventory applications and the second, that the conversion may require the services of your accountant or CPA to affect a smooth and orderly transition to the QuickBooks Online platform.

As long as you understand up front the limitations of QBO, then you should find the QBO platform acceptable and more importantly, a helpfully financial tool to operate and monitor your business.

3 Important QuickBooks Online Add-Ons that You May Need to Run Your Business

There are three QuickBooks Online Add-ons that are important to the way you operate and manage your business. This article will discuss three QuickBooks Online add-ons and will provide you with information that you need to consider in order to make an informed business decision about purchasing QuickBooks Online. This article will inform you of some additional expenses that otherwise may not be clear to you prior to buying QuickBooks Online.

By way of background, the three types of QuickBooks Online products discussed are QuickBooks Online -free, QuickBooks Online Basic,and QuickBooks Online Plus. Please refer to my other articles that compare and contrast the functionality of QuickBooks Online Basic and QuickBooks Online Plus.

Add-On for Credit Card Sales From Customers - In order to approve, process, and record credit card sales you need to purchase QuickBooks Online Merchant. Accepting Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other credit card types can attract new customers, help you get paid faster, and save you time in collecting payments. This ability to accept credit card payments is called a merchant account service. With the QuickBooks Online Merchant account, you are able to authorize and process credit card transactions with either QuickBooks Online Basic or QuickBooks Online Plus. This feature automatically records sales from customers, effectively, in real time, thus eliminating the need to manually record credit card sales in your QuickBooks accounts. For this feature, there is a onetime set up fee of $59.95 and a monthly fee of $19.95, along with standard credit card discount and authorization fees. By purchasing from a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor there are substantial discounts available for these services.

On the plus side, the use of QuickBooks Online Merchant does save you money because you do not need to lease phone lines and lease terminal hardware or software. It is also important to note that for in store credit card sales, a merchant service card reader does not work and the use of a credit card reader requires QuickBooks desktop software, 2002 or higher. Intuit designed their product so you do not have to use a credit card reader. The alternative is not that bad, you have to manually type in the credit card number and enter the customer sale information typically included in an invoice. A few seconds later, you are informed if the customer payment is approved by the credit card company. (Even some national department stores still have manual processes. Yesterday, I was in a national department store, and they took my credit card and manually inserted the card for the credit card imprint.)

Add-on for Payroll - Payroll for QuickBooks Online is sold separately and is not included with either QuickBooks Basic or QuickBooks Plus. However, Intuit, offers the following solutions as of the date of this article (a) QuickBooks Online Basic ($9.95 monthly) and payroll ($9.95 monthly)or (b) QuickBooks Online Plus ($34.95 monthly) and payroll ($9.95 monthly),sometimes Intuit offers a 20% discount for Plus version. When you purchase QuickBooks Online Plus from a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor there is an additional 20% discount available to you, which in total is a 40% savings. QuickBooks ProAdvisor discount pricing are subject to change.

Add-On for Inventory - Generally speaking, neither QuickBooks Online Basic nor QuickBooks Online Plus offers an inventory accounting package. Some companies keep their inventories in Excel and record inventory amounts monthly in QuickBooks Online. Alternatively, you can purchase inventory add-ons such as OE Companion which offers inventory accounting with a 30 day free trial or you can obtain inventory add-ons from the Intuit Market Place by going to the Intuit website. I have not reviewed any of these add-ons and make no representations or warranties as to their compatibility, effectiveness and suitability for your needs. On a plus note, Intuit is working on an inventory add on.

This article was written for the purpose of providing information to any prospective purchaser of QuickBooks Online. The article is introductory and does not attempt to assess your specific business needs. Diligence should be undertaken to carefully evaluate your particular needs by either your accountant, CPA, or a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor before you purchase any software application or add-on.

A Comparison of QuickBooks Online Basic to QuickBooks Online Plus

QuickBooks Online has three levels of online accounting choices: Simple Start(free version), Basic, and Plus. Before making your decision to use QuickBooks Online, you should decide between QuickBooks Online Basic or QuickBooks Online Plus. This article will discuss the differences between these two QuickBooks Online options. Ultimately, you are responsible for ensuring that you select the correct version which should be tailored to the business that you operate. There is also a free version called QuickBooks Online Simple Start. The free version was not considered for this analysis because of its limited capabilities. QuickBooks Online Basic will be collectively referred to as "BASIC" and QuickBooks Online Plus as "PLUS". Each major difference and brief comment regarding the option's capability is discussed below. The following article discusses the capabilities that work only with PLUS.

Importing -Plus allows you to import your Simple Start Edition, QuickBooks Online Basic, QuickBooks Pro or Premier Edition file(s) into PLUS only. Unfortunately this import feature does not work with a Mac.

Estimates - Estimates are important to avoid misunderstandings and can be created and then seamlessly imported to an invoice for billing. This feature is only available in PLUS.

Online Banking - Payments and receipts do not have to be entered into your QB register when you use Online banking. Instead of entering then, you only have to review them. When you download from your bank, QuickBooks is able to compare the bank's transactions to your transactions in QuickBooks and identifies differences. Plus assists you in managing your cash flow, because you know which checks have cleared the bank, which helps you understand how much money you have in real time. This feature is only offered in PLUS.

Exporting - With PLUS you can export transactions and balances to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This feature is critical for further analysis of your business.In other words, you can derive information otherwise not easily available to you. It's an important feature, that should not be be overlooked, since it adds greater reporting and after the fact analysis capabilities.

Class tracking - Within Plus classes provide a system for categorizing transactions that goes beyond the normal ways of assigning transactions to expense or income accounts. With classes, you can categorize each detail line on a transaction. This lets you write one check to the office supply store for items bought for two different business units and still track the business unit for those purchases. For example, suppose you have a consulting business and an installation business. Class tracking is ideal for you if it is typical to have purchases and sales that include both types of work. By specifying the appropriate class on each detail line, you can run a Profit & Loss by Class report that will tell you if your consulting business is more or less profitable than the installation business.

Business tracking - This feature is only in PLUS. You can use businesses to categorize data from different locations, offices, regions, or outlets of the same company. By assigning a business to each transaction as you enter it, you can later see businesses on reports. Assigning businesses also lets you efficiently manage groups of transactions.

Time tracking - With Plus you can enter your time into a time sheet when you bill by the hour i.e. consultants, website developers, SEO's, freelancers, sole proprietors, etc. This feature is only offered in PLUS.Invoicing - Adding fields to track more information on transaction forms is only in PLUS. You can create your own custom fields to include on sales forms.

Reporting and Financial Statements - BASIC provides 40 standard reports whereas PLUS provides over 65 standard reports plus customization and formatting. A comprehensive analysis in a chart format of the reporting differences can be found at Intuit's knowledge base for comparison of the QuickBooks Online Products.

Budgeting - You can use a budget to estimate future income and expenses. Moreover, PLUS budgets' uses a format similar to a spreadsheet, with a horizontal row for each of your income and expense accounts, and vertical columns for each month or quarter. This feature is only in PLUS.

1099 Reporting - The regulations of the Internal Revenue Service require that a taxpayer issue a 1099-MISC form to its workers for nonemployee compensation providing the payer is a trade or business and the payments are to a noncorporate entity were $600 or more for services rendered. This feature is only offered in PLUS.

Number of Users -BASIC provides access for one person and your accountant (2 users). However, PLUS provides access for 3 users PLUS your accountant for a total of 4 users. Plus can be expanded to 25 users for an additional cost, which is reasonable.

QuickBooks Support Services - BASIC includes support by email which is provided by Intuit as compared to PLUS support which includes callback and chat support and email support which is also provided by Intuit. PLUS support is better, but with BASIC you can resolve your questions by email.

Pricing - BASIC costs $9.99 per month as compared to PLUS which retails for $34.95 per month . However, if you purchase PLUS through a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor you can purchase it for $21, which reflects a discount 40% discount, which is currently in effect at this time. Discounts and prices may vary in the future.

Summary - BASIC works satisfactorily for smaller companies, whereas PLUS works well for small to midsized companies. Prior to making your decision, you can test drive the software for 30 days for either or both BASIC and PLUS and, then decide which is the best software platform for your business. They are other disadvantages when considering BASIC and PLUS to a Desktop QuickBooks i.e. Pro, Premier, etc. The most significant disadvantage is that the Online versions do not provide inventory functionality. You may be able to overcome this disadvantage by purchasing an inventory add on. Prior making a decision of software selection its important for you to have a discussion with your CPA or accountant concerning which QuickBooks Online accounting package is best suited for you and your business.

Learn how QuickBooks Online provides the essential online accounting tools to manage your business and the freedom to access your financials from your office, home, or the on the road,. Sandor Lenner, C.P.A. has provided accounting services for over 35 years. He is also a Certified QuickBooks Pon the road,visor and your offices as a part-time consultant for a Miami Accounting CPA firm.

How QuickBooks Online Can Help You Save Money?

QuickBooks Online(basic) or QuickBooks Online Plus can save you money,time,streamline your accounting process and maintain a proper set of books for you and always be assessable in real time no matter where you are, as long as you have internet access. You can save money if you or a family member does the bookkeeping. QuickBooks Online also provides many basic business reports that will help you understand and operate your business. QuickBooks Online gives you a real time online accounting system and reduces your bookkeeping costs, if you or someone in your family does the bookkeeping.

You can also work from home,be on vacation, or work anywhere as long as you have a PC with an internet connection. And besides saving you money, you can have accurate and timely information anytime you want.

Its just this simple:
1) Pay your bills with a check generated from your computer
2)Pay your employees. You can also offer them direct deposit
3) Prepare bills and send invoices either by mail or email
4) Make and record the deposits
5) Reconcile your checkbook

Why pay a bookkeeper to do, what you or someone in your family can do. The result is that you can substantially reduce or eliminate a bookkeeper. With QuickBooks it's simple and cost effective. Millions of companies use this accounting software. It can grow with you and the entry level version is affordable.QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Online Plus can be set up and monitored remotely. It works interchangeably with a PC or a Mac.

There is no need to pay a bookkeeper for something you can do. No need to outsource, just do it yourself and save money.Unless you have a large accounting department, then discuss this issue with your accountant or CPA who is knowledgeable of QuickBooks. Even the Online payroll add on is affordable and easy to use.

Your accountant or CPA can review your journals, general ledgers and financials from their office and provide answers to your questions in real time, or even correct mistakes also in real time. The web enable functionality gives your CPA or accountant the technology to quickly answer your questions as they arise.

Before you do anything, it's recommended that you consult with your accounting professional or CPA who can properly evaluate whether QuickBooks Online or a remote access platform is best suited for you.

Learn how QuickBooks Online provides the online accounting tools to manage your business and the freedom to access your financials from anywhere. Sandor Lenner, C.P.A. has provided accounting services for over 35 years. He is also a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and works as a business advisor for a Miami Accounting CPA firm and provides QuickBooks support and QuickBooks help.