Quickbooks

I was introduced to Quickbooks by my accountant and have used it ever since. At some point, any business will probably benefit from a proper accounting package. Yes, you can get by with spreadsheets, or something designed for personal household accounts - I've even been asked to use entirely manual ledger systems, with long sheets of paper, cards that sat on top, and carbon paper! You can use any of these, but you'll be wasting time, reducing the amount of management data available to you, increasing costs and making it more likely that errors will occur.

Decent accounting software will give you instant and accurate access to your financial past, present and future. Numbers can be effortlessly crunched to the satisfaction of the most pedantic bank manager or tax inspector. Want to know how much V.A.T. you owe to date in a period? Need to see exactly how much your staff have been spending on entertaining, or who exactly are you biggest customers and suppliers? Its all there, just waiting for you to ask the question.

But do remember that you are dealing with a computer, so the normal rule applies - garbage in, garbage out! Any tradespeople will probably have their stock horror stories about muggles who have had a go themselves, instead of calling in the experts. I spent some time working as a sub-contractor to an accountant, converting shoe boxes full of receipts and piles of unsorted invoices and statements into functioning accounts systems. One electrician had tried having a go at Quickbooks, the result was pretty much the same as if I had tried to wire up a house. It would have been easier to start all over again. If in doubt, just use someone to help you set the system up, run an occasional check and to be on hand should you have any queries or problems.

As an experienced user of this software, these are all services I already offer to clients.

Decide how much work you want to do in house, and how much you would like me to cover, then pay accordingly. I've been asked to cover everything from providing a full, on call service based on a monthly retainer, to just handling V.A.T. returns and covering holidays. Your choice.

Please contact me if you would like help or support with Quickbooks