quickbooks alternative?

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#1
ShawnE  
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Probably really an old topic. But stuff changes out there

I use QBO and Desktop 2021. 2022 went to a subscription model, so a few of my clients said no thanks (the ones with QBD)
I have the proadvisor - so I get the payroll for QBD.

QBO - A few clients stuck with - franchise requires. But they outsource payroll. so no big deal
QBD - a few clients I use that on my desk or theirs - and I do some payroll for the single paycheck owner scorp - or 2 paychecks

QBD - crashes now - A LOT. Open close. Use tool spend half the morning to baby it back to life. Same on other CPUs. Open it and it crash closes. Clients feel they are pushing 2022 by nerfing 2021. Maybe

ANYONE find a great alternative out there?? Some with payroll, most with invoices, and all with custom COA.
 

#2
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OH
Zoho, Xero, and one or two others, but QB has such a large market share.
 

#3
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I use Moneyworks from Cognito Software in New Zealand. It is truly cross-platform and it just works.

It is purely accounting software. There are three desktop versions and two cloud versions. The low end is simple. The high end, which I use for clients, is high-end financial and management accounting software that is highly customizable, especially if you have programming knowledge.

Yes, I know I bang on about this software a lot but if you can live without an integrated payroll module, it is a fine piece of software. Pricing is either subscription or a one-off fee and annual support fee of about $70. I’m on vacation so that may be a few dollars out.
 

#4
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ShawnE wrote:QBD - crashes now - A LOT. Open close. Use tool spend half the morning to baby it back to life. Same on other CPUs. Open it and it crash closes. Clients feel they are pushing 2022 by nerfing 2021. Maybe


Beginning to wonder if they are pushing everyone to QBO. Mine crashes upon opening about 80% of the time. Just processed this pay period's payroll for our office and received an error message. Had to have QB support resolve the issue on their end. It all had to do with adding a new bank account for an employee to send part of his check to. Apparently this has been a known issue with QB since May of 2021. Their response is (straight from their support website):
Currently, we have an ongoing investigation (INV-46520) about getting the error message when sending payroll. Rest assured that our engineers are working diligently to get it resolved.

Huh? 15 months and they haven't fixed it? Get real. :roll:

I'm looking at a viable alternative as well. I absolutely abhor QBO. Will try multiple options before ever considering it. Really liked the Moneyworks suggested by SumwunLost but need payroll. Need to look more into Zoho or Xero, but prefer a desktop option. These look cloud based.
 

#5
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For anyone with Sch E rentals that doesn't need a robust bookkeeping platform like QBO or Xero I always recommend Stessa. It has a free tier and a paid tier, and generates reports that are more than adequate for return prep.
 

#6
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Unless a super simple business, there is NOT an alternative to Quickbooks, IMO. They all suck except for VERY simple businesses. Trust me, I really dislike Intuit and yet I continue paying for Quickbooks and Lacerte.
 

#7
wel  
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MichelleSCPA wrote:Beginning to wonder if they are pushing everyone to QBO.


They absolutely are pushing everyone to QBO. From a business perspective, they have sold a lot more QBO subscriptions than QBD licenses for several years, and QBO is recurring revenue. Their QBD subscription model is an attempt to get recurring revenues from their QBD offering, but most QBD users aren't happy about the concept.

QBO users pay their fees month after month, and generate a lot more revenues for Intuit to continue development. More and more business owners are wanting a cloud-based solution.

Long-time QBD users love QBD, but the simple fact is that Intuit hasn't been generating sufficient revenues from QBD to put significant resources into continuing its development. I don't think that QBD will be sunset in the next 5 years, but I'd be surprised if it goes much longer.
 

#8
smtcpa  
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They have been for many years.

MichelleSCPA wrote: Beginning to wonder if they are pushing everyone to QBO.

I'm looking at a viable alternative as well. I absolutely abhor QBO. Will try multiple options before ever considering it. Really liked the Moneyworks suggested by SumwunLost but need payroll. Need to look more into Zoho or Xero, but prefer a desktop option. These look cloud based.


I really like QBO. Once I watched a few QBO videos about 5 years ago on how to use it properly, it really is the best option out there. Other options are subscription based too; the only one I would consider is Xero but it is strange in a few ways like their bank recs. But they are subscription-based too. It is the new normal.
 

#9
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wel wrote:
MichelleSCPA wrote:Beginning to wonder if they are pushing everyone to QBO.


They absolutely are pushing everyone to QBO. From a business perspective, they have sold a lot more QBO subscriptions than QBD licenses for several years, and QBO is recurring revenue. Their QBD subscription model is an attempt to get recurring revenues from their QBD offering, but most QBD users aren't happy about the concept.

QBO users pay their fees month after month, and generate a lot more revenues for Intuit to continue development. More and more business owners are wanting a cloud-based solution.

Long-time QBD users love QBD, but the simple fact is that Intuit hasn't been generating sufficient revenues from QBD to put significant resources into continuing its development. I don't think that QBD will be sunset in the next 5 years, but I'd be surprised if it goes much longer.


"Intuit to continue development" - I think you meant continues to reap more profits...but in all seriousness they do continue to make improvements to QBO. It's light years better than it was 5 years ago.

However, it's light years behind QBD, which frankly doesn't need development. My old practice is still on the 2007 version it's virtually unchanged from my new practice operating on 2022 (which I only update to keep bank imports working). New versions of QBD have rarely been about development or improvement and have always been about new dollars. But I get it, they have a business to run.
 

#10
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My biggest gripe with QBO is lack of control with payroll relative to Desktop. I have control over basically everything in QBD for payroll, whereas in QBO it is way too automated and incredibly difficult to override anything. I have ditched QBO payroll for all clients and I just reverted back to QBD payroll for my own company. I just do simple journal entries in QBO to get the info in the ledgers.
 

#11
JR1  
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I finally dumped ALL QBD installs after too much of my life spent in tech support or lack thereof trying to get the damn thing to even open. Ended up with a pc reset at year end, lost a lot of important things. Finally said no more, cancelled ProAdvisor.

If client must use QBD, I access via Splashtop, fantastic and cheap program that works! Or move them to QBO, which I hate, but at least it runs.
Go Blackhawks! Go Pack Go!
Remembering our son, Ben Jan 22, 1992 to Aug 26, 2011.
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