10 Reasons Why You Should Use QuickBooks

QuickBooks™ is the ideal business accounting software for small to mid-sized business owners.

1. You save time on bookkeeping and paperwork because many of simple bookkeeping tasks are handled automatically making it easier to run your business.
   
   
2. You can easily generate the reports with the information you need, so you always know where your business stands. You instantly know whether you're making money and whether your business is healthy.
   
   
3. You save money because QuickBooks™ is so affordable. You can use it to run a $5 million or a $25 million business for a few hundred bucks. PC accounting software is truly one of the great bargains in business.
   
   
4. Your business can grow with QuickBooks. QuickBooks™ will help you design a business plan to use when trying to secure a small business loan or line of credit or to plan for the future. QuickBooks™ will create a projected balance sheet, profit and loss statement and statement of cash flows in the format recommended by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
   
   
5. You can customize QuickBooks™ to work the way you want. QuickBooks™ is specifically designed to be flexible and adaptable to a wide range of small businesses. To broaden its appeal, QuickBooks™ has recently added customized accounting packages for Contractors, Retailers, Health Care Professionals, and Non-Profit organizations.
   
   
6. You can rest assured knowing that QuickBooks™ is a stable, reliable and proven product. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses throughout the world have chosen QuickBooks™ as their accounting software. You can't go wrong with a software program with such an extensive installed user base.
   
   
7. You save typing time and errors by sharing data between QuickBooks™ and over 100 business applications. You can even share data with popular programs, such as Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook and ACT.
   
   
8. You will get paid faster with QuickBooks™ online payments. E-mail an invoice or statement and with QuickBooks Online Billing, your customer can easily pay you with a credit card or bank account transfer. No more waiting for the check in the mail!
   
   
9. You can easily accept Credit Cards. With QuickBooks™ Merchant Account Service, you can accept credit cards with ease. QuickBooks™ Merchant Account Service is the only credit card acceptance service integrated with QuickBooks software, which means you don't have to enter the same data twice. No additional software or hardware is required. Your customers can use Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.
   
   
10. You can pay your bills and bank online. Setup your current bank account in QuickBooks, and you're ready to pay your bills without licking envelopes, sticking stamps, or printing paper checks. Just write checks in QuickBooks™ as you normally would, then click a button and your participating bank does the rest! Pay anyone in the U.S. from your credit card companies to your pizza service. Online Banking also lets you download your monthly statement from your participating bank directly into QuickBooks™ for easier reconciliation.
    

What Are the Four Versions of QuickBooks™ for Small Business?

Having covered the basics, it’s time to move on to the meat of this review—the details on all of the versions of QuickBooks™ small business accounting software.

We’ll not only break down the answer to the basic questions—like “What are the four versions of QuickBooks?” and “How much does QuickBooks™ cost?”—we’ll cover every single sub-version of each version of QuickBooks™ small business accounting software, along with all of the details you’ll need about those.

So, without further ado, let’s dive into all of the details on QuickBooks™ for small business.

QuickBooks™ Review: QuickBooks™ Self-Employed

The most basic and affordable QuickBooks™ small business accounting software you’ll be able to get your hands on will be QuickBooks™ Self-Employed.

This accounting software will be most ideal for freelancers and independent contractors. What can this QuickBooks™ small business accounting software offer entrepreneurs who are making things happen on their own?

Let’s take a look at what the two different versions of QuickBooks™ Self-Employed can offer.

QuickBooks™ Self-Employed Tax Bundle

The Tax Bundles version of QuickBooks™ Self-Employed will include all of the capabilities of QuickBooks Self-Employed, along with the added bonus of heightened tax capabilities—for a cost.

• Pay your quarterly estimated taxes online
• One federal and one state tax return

QuickBooks™ Review: QuickBooks™ Desktop

If you’re looking for a QuickBooks™ small business accounting software that functions far away from the “cloud,” then look to QuickBooks™ Desktop rather than Online. This QuickBooks™ software will allow you to house your accounting software solely on your business computer.

Of course, you won’t be able to access your QuickBooks™ account from wherever, whenever, with QuickBooks Desktop as you would with a cloud-based QuickBooks™ small business accounting software.

But for business owners who see the cloud as a security risk, this is a small price to pay.

If this sounds like just what you’re looking for, check out the details on the two versions of QuickBooks Desktop.

QuickBooks™ Pro

With this version of QuickBooks™ small business accounting software, up to three users will be able to:

• Track income and expenses
• Invoice
• Run 100+ reports
• Send estimates
• Track sales tax
• Manage bills and outstanding accounts payable
• Track time and inventory
• Manage and pay 1099 contractors

QuickBooks™ Premier

When upgrading to QuickBooks™ Premier, you'll have the following capabilities:

• Track income and expenses
• Invoice
• Run 150+ industry-specific reports
• Send estimates
• Track sales tax
• Manage bills and outstanding accounts payable
• Track time and inventory
• Manage and pay 1099 contractors
• Perform financial forecasting
• Take advantage of industry-specific features

QuickBooks™ Review: QuickBooks™ Online

Alternatively, if you want your QuickBooks™ small business accounting software to have ultimate convenience and accessibility, then your best bet is QuickBooks™ Online. Unlike QuickBooks™ Desktop, this cloud-based accounting software will be accessible from wherever, whenever you need it QuickBooks™ Online is by far the most popular version used by many small businesses.

There are three versions of this QuickBooks™ software that each cater to the specific needs of various business sizes, so let’s take a look at the details.

QuickBooks™ Online Simple Start

Aside from QuickBooks™ Self-Employed, QuickBooks™ Online Simple Start will be one of the most affordable accounting softwares on the market. But its price tag doesn’t mean that it won’t be valuable for your business’s finances.

With this QuickBooks™ software, one user will gain access to all of the following capabilities:

• Track income and expenses
• Create, send, and track invoices
• Download and automate transactions
• Print checks and record transactions
• Easily import data from Excel or QuickBooks™ Desktop
• Capture and attach paper receipts
• Allow up to two accountants to access your data
• Integrate with your favorite applications

The next step up for this QuickBooks™ software is QuickBooks™ Online Essentials.

QuickBooks™ Online Essentials

With QuickBooks™ Online Essentials, you’ll will be able to access the following features on top of those that QuickBooks™ Online Simple Start discussed above comes with:

• Recurring invoices
• Manage and pay vendor bills
• Enter and schedule bill payments ahead of time
• Compare your sales and profitability with industry trends
• Control what each of your users can access
• Track billable hours according to customer
• Handle multiple currencies

QuickBooks™ Online Plus

Finally, to access all that QuickBooks™ Online offers, you’ll have to go for QuickBooks™ Online Plus. This QuickBooks™ software will add on the following capabilities to your QuickBooks™ Online account for up to five users:

• Create and send purchase order
• Quicken doesn’t offer
• Prep and print 1099s
• Give employees and subcontractors access in order to enter hours
• Create budgets that estimate future revenues and expenses
• Use class tracking to categorize income and expenses
• Track sales and profitability for each of your locations

QuickBooks™ Review: QuickBooks™ Enterprise

Last but certainly not least, QuickBooks™ Enterprise will be the QuickBooks™ software most hospitable to the needs of larger businesses. This QuickBooks™ software will come with three subscription plans—Silver, Gold, and Platinum—all of which are available both in desktop and cloud-based versions.

If you opt for a desktop version of this QuickBooks™ software, then you’ll have to pay an annual fee to access it. If you decide to go with the cloud-based version, then you’ll have to pay a monthly fee.

Each package for QuickBooks™ Enterprise will be able to accommodate up to 30 users, though you will have to pay more with each user you add to your account.

Let’s get an idea of what QuickBooks™ Enterprise has to offer your business.

QuickBooks™ Enterprise Silver

The most basic version of QuickBooks™ Enterprise will be the Silver package. For accounts with only one user attached. With QuickBooks™ Enterprise Silver, you’ll be able access the following perks:

• Industry tailored software
• More than 6x the capacity of other QuickBooks™ small business accounting software
• QuickBooks™ Payments
• QuickBooks™ Priority Circle Program
• Advanced Reporting

QuickBooks™ Enterprise Gold

If you decide to go for Gold, then you’ll gain access to even more capabilities through QuickBooks Enterprise.

So, what makes this version of QuickBooks™ Enterprise worth its extra cost?

Well, with the Gold package, you’ll be able to access payroll capabilities for unlimited employees along with all of the capabilities that come with the Silver package.

QuickBooks™ Enterprise Platinum

Finally, the top tier of QuickBooks™ Enterprise will be the Platinum package. With the Enterprise package, you’ll gain access to advanced inventory and advanced pricing along with all of the features that come with QuickBooks™ Enterprise Gold.