Bookkeeping on Macs

[Executive Online Solutions]

I have a client who is a psychotherapist, working out of her home. She is extremely disorganized, so needs a lot of support!

Currently, she has no accounting or bookkeeping system at all (I'm not sure what her accountant thinks of her at tax time!). She has asked me to set up a simple system. Ordinarily I would just suggest QuickBooks, which is what I've always used, but she has a Mac - and QuickBooks for Macs seems to be far more expensive than the PC version.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good, basic, simple accounting software that she could use?

So far, she is not a "virtual" client, as I go to her office/home. Eventually this may change - is any software transferable back and forth from Mac to PC?

Thanks for any suggestions!

[HouseGirl]

Let me preface this by saying that I have never used a Mac. However I do have a client (for whom I process payroll) who uses QuickBooks for Mac and loves it.

That being said QuickBooks for Mac (or at least the version my client has) does not offer an assisted payroll option. So if that is (or could be) a concern for your client you may want to do some further research to find a more suitable solution.

Leslie

P.S. My client who uses QuickBooks for Mac also uses Paycycle.com (which exports directly into QuickBooks). And although both my client and I enjoy the simplicity of Paycycle.com we've found the reporting to somewhat simplistic.

[Tomekia Lloyd]

Here's a suggestion for her. Purchase a previous year's QuickBooks, since they are highly discounted. Trust me, there are not many critical changes from year to year. They do some little enhancements and make a big hoopla to have another reason for you to repurchase the software. One of my contractor clients is still using 2005 version and he hasn't had any problems.

Another alternative is to look into QuickBooks Online, even though in my opinion, it's not as great as the desktop version.

Hope that helps.

[Executive Online Solutions]

Good idea. Where's the best place to purchase? E-Bay?

[BrightBooks]

Have you considered processing her quickbooks for her on your PC? You can send her any reports that she needs. Changing the file between PC and Mac always seems to end up with missing information the more times the file is transferred.

[Executive Online Solutions]

That might be a possibility, although currently the whole idea is being shelved. Seems she's really not interested in any kind of formal solution - and I'm currently thinking of letting her go as a client (not for that reason; there's a whole story there!). But, thanks for the suggestion.

[Time Retrievers]

If you decide to go further, I use QuickBooks for Mac and love it! It is very easily transferred between Mac and PC. One particular client and I do it each month and have never had a problem! eBay has very good pricing for older versions that are less expensive.

[WorkSmart]

Though it seems you no longer need the information for your client, I thought I'd offer my experience for anyone else who works with Mac users.

I have used AccountEdge from acclivity (formerly MYOB) for nearly 20 years. I started using it for managing my own business and now am using it for clients. It is very powerful. It is much like QuickBooks, but I find it to be more intuitive. They do offer a payroll add on. It is very popular in Australia and offered by may Australian VA's. It is priced much like QuickBooks.

I have also read very positive reviews about iBank, but have not used it myself.

Leanne
WorkSmart

[It's Your Time]

Hi Sharon - if you decide to move forward - I had a mac but as my VA business grew it became apparent I had to switch back to PC. Living in Canada there is no accounting software for a Mac. Before the switch I installed Bootcamp which allowed me to logout of my Mac environment and into a Windows environment thus run a PC version of Quickbooks on my Mac.

Depending how complicted her books are - Freshbooks might even work for her.

[Time Retrievers]

I just started processing my client's Quickbooks for Mac on her office computer from my office computer using LogMeIn. I can actually print a reconciliation report to her printer in her office! So far, it seems to work really well.