QuickBooks or alternatives?

ballabones wrote: ↑ My accounted suggested I get quickbooks online but I cant believe the pricing. I need it mostly to organize expenses... any suggestions to get the one time purchase version or another??

Quickbooks for the win.

It’s the gold standard for a small Biz cuz it’s easy to use for the Average Joe, and is basically a “Bookkeeper in a Box”
Back in the day before Quickbooks … if you had a small Biz
You either hired a Bookkeeper = Expensive
Or you had your Accountant figure it all out at the end of the year for many many billable hours = EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE
(Aka Shoebox Receipts Accounting )

Which BTW … you could still do if you are too cheap to spend the money upfront for this software

Nice thing about Quickbooks from a year end perspective
Is it’ll make your time with the Accountant filing your Tax Returns far less hassle
They’ll be able to breeze thru the forms at their end

Less time
Clean slate
Less money for the Accountant’s time
But most importantly
LESS HASSLES WITH CRA

Just do it

It’s one of the best investments you can make in your small biz

I guess the question would be why the online version and not the downloadable software which seems cheaper in the longer run?

ballabones wrote: ↑ I guess the question would be why the online version and not the downloadable software which seems cheaper in the longer run?

Not 100% sure of that answer

Something maybe you should ask your Accountant … WHY they recommend / prefer one over the other

Only thing I could think of … is perhaps it has to do with the transfer of info from your office to theirs ???

Check out Wave Accounting (LINK)

It's online accounting software for small businesses. Was a Toronto startup, then bought up by H&R Block so big money behind it. Free for most users. They make money by charging for payroll and EFT payments from their software, but general invoicing and bookkeeping is free.

Sounds perfect for you if you already have an accountant and you just want to organize your expenses and print reports for them instead of giving them a shoebox of receipts.

ballabones wrote: ↑ I guess the question would be why the online version and not the downloadable software which seems cheaper in the longer run?

I would highly recommend Quickbooks.

However, I would highly recommend getting the desktop version and avoiding the subscription-based one. Personally, I like to own what I use and that way I feel like I am more in control of my costs and my work. JMHO.

Another +1 for quickbooks online. I've been using it for a good 5+ years for a dozen small businesses. Extremely user friendly, and when you keep it updated it makes year end filing / tax / etc so much simpler for your accountant. I do share access with the online version to other users / owners as well as a few accountants. Not sure how the desktop version compares in that regard.

But I also wouldn't rule out Wave or other potential products too.

I use Wave for my rental properties, Amazon FBA business and personal expenses. It has all the functionality that I need for now and is free.

Check out Manager (https://www.manager.io/features/). The desktop version is free, while the cloud version is subscription-based. For comparison between desktop and cloud versions: https://www.manager.io/compare/

Appreciate everyone's help. I tried to check out Wave but I'm assuming it saw my IP was out of the country and now thinks my business is not in Canada so just keeps redirecting me to Zoho Books. I'll have to try again with a new email when I'm back in the country or try a VPN tonight.

Just a reminder from an ex-IT technician. Are you okay with the risk involved in using an online SaaS provider? You're okay with it if the company gets hacked and you lose your data and/or all your business information is floating around the Internet?

Are you sure you don't want to use a PC-based program instead of an online one?

shplad wrote: ↑ Just a reminder from an ex-IT technician. Are you okay with the risk involved in using an online SaaS provider? You're okay with it if the company gets hacked and you lose your data and/or all your business information is floating around the Internet?

Are you sure you don't want to use a PC-based program instead of an online one?

While that's a valid concern if you put all your business's information online, the accounting information is for bookkeeping/recordkeeping. It's not an audited financial statement where everything has to be true. If someone is worried, they can create an account using a different email address and call the company "AppleTesla Inc", but enter real transactions. When OP prints off the reports to give to their accountant to prepare their tax returns, etc. they just say "just ignore the company name, but everything else is correct". Because Wave is free, you don't need to give them a credit card, bank info, etc. or anything else that can be tied to your real company.

Re: losing your data, just save a PDF of your general ledger every month or so.