Alternative to QuickBooks for a small (1 man) S-Corp?
I'm currently using a 2009 version of QuickBooks Pro for my S-Corp accounting needs. They recently sent me a letter "suggesting" I upgrade to the 2012 version ($200+) as many of the features of the 2009 version will no longer work, such as downloading statements from my bank.
Are there any cheap/free alternatives out there? I've always had the opinion that QuickBooks is completely over the top for a small consulting business like mine. I will say that I do like these features of QuickBooks and would hope to find them in another package:
- Produce Profit and Loss statements and Balance sheets to give to the accountant at end of year.
- Download statements from bank in QuickBook format and automatically enter them into quickbooks. I still have to go through and pick categories for each item and do some work, but it's a lot easier than entering everyting by hand.
- I like the existing categories within Expenses, Income, etc. and the ability to create new ones.
There's tons of features in Quickbooks I don't use (payroll, generating invoices, check generation, etc.) I don't even do the double-entry bookkeeping. As far as I'm concerned, it's income, or it's an expense I pay right away (no liabilities). Even for payroll, I enter it as an expense, and have been told this is fine. I realize that bigger businesses need all of this but I don't.
I did see some info about GNUCash. Anyone have experience with this or something else? Or, if you have an urge to sream out, "Stick with QuickBooks dummy! $250.00 is nothing! All the free stuff is crap" feel free to do that too. I can take it :)
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[GnuCash](http://www.gnucash.org) is great, but even $500 may be a justified expense to keep using something you both like and know. – Kenny Evitt 12 years ago
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I have tried a few different one when I started out slickpie, kashoo, quickbooks, zohobooks, wave and xero accounts. For me Slickpie.com so much better than Quickbook. It's exactly what I need. Simple and easy to use. I can send invoices automatically anywhere and anytime, repeating invoices are easy to set up with it. Highly recommend it. – Erin Cox 8 years ago
4 Answers
Try GnuCash. www.gnucash.org - Free!
GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.
Feature Highlights:
- Double-Entry Accounting
- Stock/Bond/Mutual Fund Accounts
- Small-Business Accounting
- Multiple Currencies
- Reports, Graphs
- QIF/OFX/HBCI Import, Transaction Matching
- Scheduled Transactions
- Financial Calculations
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I've been using to keep my own books for years now and it does everything you'd need it to do! – Kenny Evitt 12 years ago
maybe wave accounting? I am trying it for my businesses.
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And how do you like it? How do they make their money if the product is free? Ads? Extra services? – Dave 12 years ago
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We have used Wave accounting for over a year. Love it! There are non-obtrusive recommendations for things like with Mint.com. I would highly recommend giving it a shot. – Ryan Doom 12 years ago
I use QuickBooks online and use all the same basic features you mentioned. It costs $40/month so not cheap, but no issues with versions/upgrades either. You can also setup multiple accounts with varied permissions which comes in handy when you want your accountant to access just what he/she needs.
I would suggest QuickBooks Online SimpleStart. It doesn't include Payroll and since you don't need that feature, it doesn't make sense to pay for it. Also, it is only $12.95/mth with a free 30-day trial.
