Recently I found a bookkeeping system on the website www.businessinbluejeans.com. Suzanne had it developed for her needs as a business owner. She didn't find Quickbooks quick or PeachTree use friendly. She is selling it for $27.00. The price is very reasonable but I'm wondering it it is a good idea to get this unique system rather than purchasing QuickBooks. My clients ask me if I know QuickBooks only because of the popularity of the name and program. What do you think?

Janet
eBusinessOnlineSupport

Hi Janet,
Personally, I would choose a brand name to an unknown system. Why? Well, I think that it's far more easier to learn a brand name system [i.e. they'll have online support] as well as having the option of downloading a demo or a free, simple program to get you started! In the UK/Ireland, there are 5 main brands for accounts, they are Sage, TAS Books [you can get FREE software for both of them!], MS Office Accounts [again you can get it FREE - there's one for the US as well!], Sort My Books and The Big Red Book [both of them you get a free trial, then you pay about $300 for the software]. We also get quickbooks but not many companies use them - you can download a simple version of Quickbooks for FREE as you're in the US!

Also, find out more about the unknown system. Is it a reputable company? does it fulfill what you want it to do? all of these factors are important when finding an accounting system.

Hope I've helped!
Regards.

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com

I think you will find that a majority of small businesses in the US DO use QuickBooks so it would be beneficial for you to know it as well.

I am assuming you have an accounting background and will be offering bookkeeping services which is why you are interested in bookkeeping software. If you DON'T have a bookkeeping background, I highly discourage handling accounting services for clients. It is really easy to make errors in data entry and it can be costly and time-consuming to track those errors down at year end. I have earned quite a bit of money fixing data entry errors for small businesses that had a non-qualified person setup and/or handle their data entry in QuickBooks only to have their accountant reject the books at year-end or charge a ridiculous fee to straighten them out.

And, even if the accounting services are just for you, I recommend having either an accountant of a qualified bookkeeper set up the books and show you proper data entry for the basic invoicing/payables.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"