Anything out there that is better than QuickBooks?

[nealrm]

I would really love finding something that is better than quickbooks for invoicing and handling payroll taxes. Does anyone having any suggestions. Please do not suggest anything like Excel or some junky freeware program. I need something that really works and keeps up to date on taxes.

[Wozcreative]

What do you mean by better? What is it that the software is missing/you aren't happy with? If I'm not mistaken, it is the most recommended software out there for accounting purposes.

[nealrm]

I want to be able to customize the statements to provide a format that is easy to read. I want to be able to import data into the system without having to jump through 3 programs and third party add on that have to been rewrite every update. I want to be able to easily fix mistakes. I want it not resize it's window everytime it pops up a question. I want it to be able to have multiple clients in a single company, each with their own email address and information. I want to be able to bring in paypal payment easily.

Has anyone used Peachtree?

[Freelancier]

I've tried to use Peachtree. QB is organized around running your business like you run your checkbook. Peachtree is dyed-in-the-wool double-entry accounting, so it's more rigorous and harder to deal with. It's imports/exports are worse than QB's.

QB allows you to have sub-customers on every customer record (they call it a "job", but it's really a subcustomer in the database).

I look around periodically for myself and my clients. I haven't found anything better than QB so far... unfortunately.

I do love Intuit Online Payroll (formerly PayCycle) for handling my payroll needs.

[Harold Mansfield]

I've never even considered looking for anything other than QB.
(Man, that is some strong branding and market share now that I think about it)

[MyITGuy]

Quickbooks Payroll - $25 bucks a month and you will spend less than 15 minutes a month doing payroll, paying taxes and submitting forms.

Invoicing - Check out Freshbooks.com I've heard allot of good things about it (Looks like there is an add-on for paying estimated taxes as well).

[Fulcrum]

I use Accountedge for the books. Invoicing, payroll, banking, purchases, a/r tracking and aging, as well as inventory. It's the new MYOB program and I thought the price at around $3-400 was reasonable.

[billbenson]

Take the table structure from Quickbooks and write your own php scripts for the reports you need. While I know some here will say 'why reinvent the wheel' but if you have custom report needs, I think over the long run it makes sense. At least that's what I do, and it's one db that has everything I need to know about orders, quotes, etc. If I need a special report, I just write a script for that.

[nealrm]

How are you getting into the table structure for Quickbooks??

[billbenson]

I didn't. I just put everything I can think of in a few different tables. I made some errors along the way and have to add a new column so its always a work in progress, but it works pretty well for me. There may be some scripts out there where you could find a good starting point.

Also, assuming you currently use quickbooks, look at all of the reports you currently generate. Thats the data you need and probably more that Quickbooks doesn't store.

Also, the problem with a program like Quickbooks, they try to be everything for everybody. I bet there is a lot of overhead in there that you will never need.