I've used Quickbooks Pro for my small firm for many years, and found it fairly easy to use and powerful. There is a Professional Services add-on option that's supposed to customize it for architects and similar firms, but I don't think it's worth the money. A couple caveats:
* We've always done invoices on Excel and then re-entered them in Quickbooks. Originally this gave us more control of formatting, and let us keep track of different billing rates for different clients. I think Quickbooks has added more capabilities in these areas over the years, but we've never switched back.
* Although Quickbooks would do most or all the federal tax forms, I do have an accountant do that stuff, just so somebody with actual expertise is looking in on us once in awhile.
* The most recent edition of Quickbooks that I purchased (2010; we don't upgrade every year because not that much changes) added a really annoying and time-consuming phone verification process when you first set it up, mostly so they can market other services to you. I hope they've stopped that, or my next purchase may be my last.
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David Esau AIA
Cornerstone Design Inc.
Ann Arbor MI
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2011 09:39
From: Ronald Weston
Subject: Quickbooks Pro vs. other accounting software
I am considering purchasing Quickbooks Pro accounting software to use in my new small practice. I would welcome feedback on Quickbooks Pro, or other software that AIA small practitioners might recommend. Thank you.
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Ronald Weston AIA
Weston Architecture
West Orange NJ
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