Accounting software is never going to be sexy. We didn't find Quickbooks QBi 2008/2009 sexy, but we did find the latest incarnation of the well known brand to be a great program and a worthy upgrade.
Quicken's got one of the best known "names" in accounting software, along with firms like MYOB, and the 2008 refresh of its Quickbooks line of accounting packages does have a certain amount of visual sheen added to it. Users of previous versions shouldn't find it too baffling — this isn't the same kind of change that Microsoft did with its Office packages — but the streamlined interface, which places most common tasks at the top bar of the Customer, Supplier, Employee and Report centres — does make it a decent option for new Quickbooks users as well.
It's clear as well that Reckon, the local Quicken distributors, have taken a page out of Microsoft's book when it comes to product variance. The QBi range is available in seven different variants — eight if you count the accountant-specific version — from the $139 "EasyStart" package, which limits your customer base and function set, right up to the $4500 Enterprise version. There's even variance within editions; the Premier edition can be set up with tools and reporting requirements for different industry types as needed.
Setting up Quickbooks QBi is a relatively straightforward process, with a simple business wizard for first-time users, and the ability to import existing company files if you're an existing Quickbooks user. We performed the latter step, at which time we were encouraged to backup our older file — a very sensible step — before converting the company file. The new file took very little time to create, at which point our existing accounts structure was preserved in its entirety. For those coming new to the program, it's quite simple to create bank structures, customers and suppliers, and the layout encourages logical — if rather accountant-centric logic, but that's understandable in context — business processes.
The QBi edition of Quickbooks uses a SQL database structure, which is claimed to make it considerably quicker for transactions, especially if you've got a complex company structure. It's backed up with this by the inclusion and integration of Google Desktop. While there's a reluctance for many businesses to use Google's tools and thus give up some of their private information, Reckon representatives told us that the implementation of Google Desktop within the QBi range only impacted on the PC desktop itself, with no financial information going back to Google itself.
The other new addition to the QBi series is a portable company file option. This is a more heavily compressed file — and notably a bit slower when you're restoring it on an exterior machine — but with the idea for larger businesses that you'll be able to fit the company file onto a Flash drive for portability purposes.
There's a sting in the tail to Quickbooks, and it's one that Reckon clings to with a certain amount of ferocity; the program requires online product activation at regular intervals. We're not big fans of activation, a process that usually just annoys customers and can lead to big problems if the activation process fails for reasons outside the user's control. When you're talking about a package which controls your money, that worry is even more pronounced. We wish Reckon would drop the product activation, but it doesn't seem likely any time soon.
If you're an existing Quickbooks user, the newer sleeker interface and much improved SQL database makes Quickbooks QBi an extremely worthwhile upgrade, even if you're running on a much older Quickbooks engine. Those looking for an accounting package with the end of the financial year looming are probably leaving it a little late at this stage, but still should find the QBi series easy enough to get to grips with, as long as you've got some basic accounting knowledge to bring with you.
Question: When is an upgrade an upgrade?
Answer (according to Quicken): One new button.
Watch out! the last time I bought an "upgrade" quickbooks for around $800, the first upgrade for three years, the only real change was a single button allowing you to put your icon onto a staff paycheck. $800 for an icon? In three years? They didn't even bother to change the color scheme!
When I approached the company about this it was obvious that whilst the staff are good, the management just doesn't care. They obviously think that the Australian market is not really worth much effort. I have seen a few comments from others that were burned this way last time. and they were equally unhappy.
I would not mind quite so much if the expenditure didn't represent a weekly wage, or if the software did not have some obvious weaknesses, including very poor inventory, and a "cash" based report that is not really "cash" based., an inability to change some reports into alphabetical order, instability, especially when running vista, a CRM addon package that is just not worth the memory, inability to import or export transactions and several hundred other deficiencies that has spawned an addon industry. Quicken have done good work on this package when they first introduced it, but have been riding that work for several years.
The reviews I have seen of this new product has definitely not changed the above.