Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Not easy to learn, not intuitive (no pun), but does the job
I've been a software developer for 40 years, and I wrote a General Ledger program for the PC 15 years ago. So then, why did I buy QuickBooks? Because I wanted to accept credit card payments, and QuickBooks is a LOT cheaper than one of those dumb credit card terminals. However, QuickBooks was written by the "be reasonable - do it our way" school of software development; the program is NOT intuitive (no pun intended), so the learning curve is significant. The program starts out in "interview mode" and asks you questions without telling you the impact of your answers. Once you get your company and chart of accounts set up, the program is quite flexible. I found the program's "Help" facility one of the best I've seen in PC software.So, after reading all these negative reviews here, I decided to get a copy of Peachtree Accounting 2003 and compare it. 1. QuickBooks offers subaccounts (very useful); Peachtree doesn't. 2. QuickBooks doesn't require account numbers; Peachtree does. This makes QuickBooks much easier to use, and easier for non-accounting types to learn. 3. Working with the Chart of Accounts is much easier in QuickBooks than Peachtree. 4. Reports seem easier to set up in QuickBooks than Peachtree, although that could just be my experience. 5. Peachtree offers a brief accounting tutorial; QuickBooks doesn't. 6. Peachtree installation is easy and straight-forward, but it won't install common files on a Samba-based network drive, and downloaded updates are only stored on the local drive. QuickBooks works fine with Samba-based network drives, and makes a point of putting downloaded updates on a sharable drive. 7. Reinstalling QuickBooks after you've updated the program is a pain, as your company data file cannot then be read by the freshly reinstalled QuickBooks. Unfortunately, the only way to re-update the software is to load a company file. So, you've got to load one of the sample files, upgrade, and then load your company file. Confusing and DUMB. I'm not at all impressed with Intuit as a company (especially TurboTax), but this program is significantly better than Peachtree (the only other program out there I know of that can process credit card payments online).
Rating: - Assistant Professor, CIS
This is the first time I have used the software. I have not read the documentation or any books associated with quickbooks. I do know a little bit about accounting and the double entry concept. I was able to set up a trial company with vendors, customers and employees with all associated income, expense and equity accounts. I took a Friday evening and a Saturday morning to explore most of the menu items. I even tried the online version and will sign up and use it once it has most of the features I need for the startup company I am forming.
In a nutshell, I found it extremely easy to use. I like the merchant account, payroll service and credit card options that go along with the software and will sign up for them. I do not find the fees excessive and certainly reasonable for the time they save. I plan to come back and add another review in 3 months after it has been battle tested. The software has passed my initial testing with flying colors.
Rating: - Realistic representation
As a number of people here have mentioned Getting started can be a challenge, BUT that isn't necessarily the softwares fault. True accounting practices are NOT necessarily intuitive to the un-initiated. If you have no experience in the paper based world of keeping books then don't expect this software to make it easy for you to do it on a computer. This product does make is much much easier than it could be. If you've not had experience keeping books than get yourself a book on basic book keeping / accounting practices. Also buy yourself a book beyond what the manufacturer puts out as a 'manual'. I used Gail Perry's Using QuickBooks 2002 to train my wife to run QuickBooks and although it wasn't exactly what I'd call 'hand holding' it was thorough.BOTTUM LINE: Realize your short comings and plan ahead, keeping books for a company is'nt just balancing a checkbook and keeping track of your credit card bill. If you are truely going to get powerful and useful reporting, which can propell your business forward, you'll have to put some time into learning to keep your books.
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