The Benefits of QuickBooks

Updated July 2020

When it comes to accounting software, business owners are met with a large selection. QuickBooks is recognized for producing easy-to-use software with versions that accommodate enterprise-level businesses to solopreneurs. 

Bernard Roesch evaluates the benefits of QuickBooks and provides insight that will help you make a choice that works best for your business. For example, Bernard draws business owner’s attention to features.

“Make an assessment of what is really necessary and make sure the accounting software has those features. Some businesses use sales orders extensively, and others don’t. So, it would be a shame if you pick a piece of software that does not support sales orders…”

Why Is QuickBooks Popular?

QuickBooks was not widely accepted at first, but it did what it continues to do, which is a huge reason for the accounting software’s success. Intuit listens to feedback and implements recommendations into future versions.

To date, the QuickBooks suite offers something for any businessperson, whether they’re a solopreneur or desire enterprise-level accounting software. QBD Enterprise is sought-after for its huge number of features and ability to arrange reports. 

QuickBooks Online makes it easy for mid-size businesses to share and organize files while not having to pay an enterprise-level price. 

QuickBooks Self Employed is the perfect solution for a self-starter who still needs to separate personal and business banking.

What Are the Benefits of QuickBooks?

1. QuickBooks makes tax preparation easy for an entrepreneur or a small business. The software is easy-to-use for those who are inexperienced in preparing tax information to pass over to a bookkeeper or accountant.
2. Intuit consistently releases improvements to the software through subsequent versions. Also, there are several categories of the QuickBooks software that caters to the solopreneur up to enterprise level businesses.
3. QuickBooks makes it easy to access and share files whether you’re using a desktop, laptop, or smartphone.
4. The software is full of shortcuts so a business can save time and effort.
5. QuickBooks is attentive to ratings and feedback and has shown that customer suggestions are heard and often implemented into subsequent versions.
6. Financial data remains safe and secure due to automated backup.
7. Aside from videos and articles from Intuit, a number of QuickBook tutorials are available in video and textual format.

Pros and Cons of QuickBooks

Pros

• The library of integrated tools allows for shortcuts so you work smarter while spending less time.
• Its rise in popularity and accessibility can only inspire its producers to invest further development and features.
• Considering some industry-specific software can be incredibly expensive, QuickBooks is a great bargain, one of the best values in accounting software.
• Financial data safe and secure due to automated backup.
• QuickBooks is intuitive. The software was made for those who don’t have an accounting background. Any businessperson can use it.
• New features are added all the time so it’s hard to compete with its current and ongoing capabilities. 
• QuickBooks can be accessed from any type of modern device. Accessibility is never an issue.

Cons

• The added bells and whistles are only useful to those who know how to use them. While the software does have a ton of capabilities, some may not put forth the event to learn how to use them.
• As with above, you can save a lot of time and energy via shortcuts, yet they need to be learned through tutorials, which requires some investment in learning how to use the software.
• You may find that your business is able to get by leveraging basic accounting software, or consider if you need a bookkeeper to oversee your QuickBooks accounting. So, in some cases, a software purchase may not be the best solution.

How to Choose a Version of QuickBooks

1. Ensure the software has key features that you need. For example, if you need to use sales orders as part of your accounting process, it’s important to make sure that the software supports this. Another example is inventory tracking. If inventory tracking is important for your business, you need to be sure to choose an accounting software that supports it.
2. While there may be new upstarts in the accounting software market, it’s important to choose a software that will be around for years. This ensures you don’t end up in a situation where you’re forced to move to a different system. Also, a more supported software will have more bookkeepers available to help. You will need bookkeeping support to streamline your accounting process.
3. There are a wide range of accounting software options on the market with vastly different pricing, so choose the level of software that fits your budget. Don’t buy cheap yet don’t think you need to go enterprise-grade.

There are basically two levels of accounting software – small business accounting software and enterprise options. In the small business accounting software category, you have QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Online, etc. Most of these have the features that a small business will need. Also, some have mobile app support that makes accounting easy to access on the go.

The next level after small business accounting software is a more enterprise-grade accounting system. Enterprise accounting software offers more functionality and deep customization but requires much more support to get up and running and to maintain over time.

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We at MISSION have a lot of experience using QuickBooks and helping others choose the best version of accounting software for their team. We’re here to provide guidance in choosing a version of QuickBooks, training your team to use the latest accounting software, or overseeing a migration with other business software.