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Accounting Software: Is it for You? posted by Peter J. Patsula

Review of Intuit's Quicken 2001 Home and Business.

After months of procrastination, I finally cracked the plastic seal of my Quicken 2001 home & business software package. If I had not committed myself to writing this article, I probably would have left it longer to gather some more dust.

To be truthful, I have never really liked accounting software nor setting up accounting systems, because after all is said and done, it seems the only purpose of such systems are to keep track of how much money I owe Uncle Sam. It has also been my experience that most accounting software packages, no matter how user-friendly they claim to be, always seem to have a steep learning curve and demand too much attention to maintain throughout the year.

To make matters worse, for many small businesses, a Revenue and Expense Journal, and a good filing system, is all you really need to solve your accounting problem. So why bother?

I really don't have a good answer to this. But with more and more accounting packages providing support for electronic tax return submission (e.g., Quicken Turbo Tax), it seems that computer software may indeed be the best route to go in the long run, even for a small business. So I took the plunge and installed Quicken 2001.

Here's what I discovered:

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LOTS OF FEATURES BUT STEEP LEARNING CURVE

Quicken 2001 has more than enough features for a small business. You can set up banking and investment accounts, estimate your annual taxes, plan your kid's college, keep track of your household assets, keep track of business expenses and income, organize your payroll, and run dozens of reports. It all looks fairly comprehensive but the end result is that it is all quite daunting. Immediately, I was struck with the time investment needed to learn how to perform even simple accounting tasks like entering an expense. My first reaction was to uninstall the program and save my hard drive for something else.

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LOTS OF ONLINE LINKS BUT IT IS QUESTIONABLE WHETHER THESE REALLY ADD VALUE TO FOR THE USER?

Although, I like the idea of getting more value for the buck, I don't want to waste time sifting through sales pitches. I also don't want to feel like Intuit doesn't have my best interests at heart and are instead thinking more about their bottom line than mine.

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EVERY YEAR YOU MUST UPGRADE.

Every year, Intuit offers a newer version of its software: Quicken 2000, Quicken 2001, and now Quicken 2002. Instead of perfecting their existing engine, they simply add new features. It would be far more useful to make the basic engine faster, reliable and more user-friendly. If a small business owner invests in an accounting system, they want a system that will last for years, be bug free, be simple, and absolutely stable (just like the trusty Income and Expense Journal).

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COMMENTS FROM AMAZON REVIEWERS

After testing out some of the features of Quicken 2001 Home and Business, I was beginning to feel I was wasting my time. I checked Amazon to compare some of my conclusions and this is what other reviewers reported:

*****

"I have used Quicken Deluxe and QuickBooks since 95 and have loved them. I made the horrible mistake of upgrading to Home and Business. After a week I have not had any success integrating my online bank accounts or brokerage accounts. Intuit has cluttered the interface with pay for services that you do not need. This software seems to be driven from the marketing department and not the engineering department. I am dissatisfied."

"The manual is a shill for spending more money on web services you don't need."

"It is among the most vague things I've ever tried to use."

"There are obvious glitches in the file management tools. This frightens me -- this is my livelihood, after all, and not some game. The IRS will not let me blame Quicken if I make a major mistake."

"Very disappointing, grinding experience on the learning curve. Extremely un-intuitive, Intuit."

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CONCLUSION
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Is computer software for you?

If you like installing new software, keep your eyes peeled for trial versions of Microsoft's "Money" and Intuit's "Quicken." Test each version before you buy because you may find them more unpleasant and burdensome than you might have been led to believe.

Personally, I don't think Quicken is user-friendly enough (and from what I've ready "Money" isn't much better). I think Intuit has missed the boat and should redesign their software to more closely follow existing accounting systems. I would like to see software that simply provides me with a list of accounts, such as revenue accounts, asset accounts, expense accounts and investment accounts all on ONE PAGE. I click on the Quicken Icon. I click on the account. I enter the amount. That's it! I should be able to set up my accounting system in five minutes after installation. If I want more information, I can then click on a number of reports to better interpret the results: simplicity with depth! This is the secret to creating a "usable" accounting software solution.

I also think that the designers shouldn't look down on us users and attempt to save us from having to master basic accounting terms. Software designers should use their design skills to make it easier for users to learn "traditional" accounting terms.

I'm not happy with Quicken and will not use it. But I will keep my eyes peeled for more usable packages. Till then, let the dust bunnies grow.

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