PeachTree vs Quick Books

[AZ-Tax]

I am considering hiring a person part time to handle books thru tax season. The person I am considering has an associates degree in accounting and was educated with PeachTree. I use QuickBooks. What kind of problems if any will I have with this person using QuickBooks?

[joanmcq]

You might want to switch to Peachtree. Peachtree is a real accounting program, unlike QB. Also, the IRS hasn't been trained in Peachtree.

Just sayin'

[RitaB]

Agree with Joan

I have used Peachtree for 100 years now. Years ago I tried to do something on Quickbooks at a client's office, and I got so mad I could spit. It seemed like the DIY tax programs to me - you know, like "the user MUST be an idiot, so let's dumb this down" or something. I don't know, maybe it was just me because it was different than what I was used to using.

[geekgirldany]

QBs would more than likely be very easy for the person to learn. I don't dislike Peachtree it is just that I have used QBs for so long I can't change.

I got a new client probably two years ago and he had been using Peachtree and wanted to switch to QBs. Well I had to use Peachtree to do his prior years returns. I tried to import the Peachtree into QBs but did not work. I was spending so much time on trying on Peachtree that I finally told the client he needed to get an accountant well versed in Peachtree software.... I just could not use it.

[Roberts]

Quickbooks has something like 10x the size of Peachtree when it comes to sales(last I saw). That doesn't make it better but it certain makes it more relevant to more clients.

[Gretel]

I am considering hiring a person part time to handle books thru tax season. The person I am considering has an associates degree in accounting and was educated with PeachTree. I use QuickBooks. What kind of problems if any will I have with this person using QuickBooks?

Let me share with you what problems I had when I started using QuickBooks. I don't know anything about Peachtree but was used doing accounting using "real" accounting programs. I hated QB because it tries to make things easy for clients and accountants, and, in a way screws up both.

With QB it's not cut and dried debit and credit, especially on report (you probably know that), so coming from a real accounting program will cause some problems of understanding what's going on. Depending on the person this might be easy or not. It was not easy for me and I spend quite a bit of time learning and, more than anything else, trying to understand how QB think and works.

You might either consider requiring your employee to learn more about QuickBooks on her own or plan in for a learning curve.

[JoshinNC]

QB sucks

That is why your formally educated potential employee was educated utilizing a real accounting system, Peachtree. You should switch, not your employee.

[Gretel]

That is why your formally educated potential employee was educated utilizing a real accounting system, Peachtree. You should switch, not your employee.

The original poster did not ask for help which software to use. There are a lot of reasons for the use of QuickBooks. Mostly, clients use it to run their business and if taught well can do a pretty good job using it. Bookkeeping is only a small part of QB and QB has a lot of tools to offer for running a their biz.

If someone doesn't want to deal with QB, fine, stay away from it. But this is not what the poster was asking.

[neallove]

Use quckbooks and the new person will be fine. The people that complain about quickbooks
never bothered to learn it. You can do anything with quickbooks. Just learn it.

What makes a person think they can just sit down at the computer and go to work. You must learn the system. Think of the learning you did with Word and Excel.

[S T]

my 2 cents

Had a small electronic mfg client on Peachtree contact me to take over the accounting and tax returns, since I am a QB user for many years, I could not make sense of Peachtree. I had use of the program, but could not make it work, Even tried to convert to Quickbooks, that didn't work so well, but was better, I could never make the Peachtree Accounting or reports give me the needed info for the year end and taxes.

It was one of my worse nightmares - finally advised the client they needed some one that was a Peachtree person and also versed in MFG to handle their accounting and taxes. It would have been about a $15,000 year account

I will stick to QB for now

Sandy

[outwest]

This debate is endless..

and I've summed it up as:

The good thing about Quickbooks is you can change anything, the bad thing about QuickBooks is you can change anything.

The bad thing about Peachtree is it's harder to change anything, the good thing about Peachtree is user's can't easily change things.

You can pretty much have that good/bad observation about the two programs on reporting, range of features, user interface and so on with no real winner.. Every characteristic is both a good thing and a bad thing depending on what is done with it.

As to the original poster, strictly from a marketing perspective, there are more Quickbooks opportunities. Learning Quickbooks in addition would make them more marketable. As long as they don't develop a "it's not like Peachtree and I don't like it" attitude, they should pick it up quickly.

BTW, I also think that if a user doesn't cultivate a "it's not like Quickbooks" attitude, Peachtree is not that hard to pick up either.

Been there, done that..

[Bees Knees]

What it boils down to is...people tend to like the program they are use to using. Those who learned Peachtree early on like Peachtree. Those who learned Quickbooks early on like Quickbooks.

I learned Peachtree and like it because I know how to get it to do what I want it to do. I've thought about learning Quickbooks because alot of my clients use Quickbooks. But then, I don't feel like I should be the one to go into their books and fix things. I just tell the client whats wrong and make them fix it. If they want me to do anything with their books, I either do it all, or none of it. I'm not in the business of teaching people how to do bookkeeping.

[Golden Rocket]

Anything Goes

You can do anything with quickbooks.

Neal this is exactly the problem. You can do anything, including screw up everything the tax preparer has to have. QuickBooks is the greatest user-friendly package ever created.

And that, by itself, is good and an effective selling point. But like the old Cole Porter song, "Anything Goes." Backdated entries after year is closed and tax return filed. Hundreds of accounts when a couple dozen will do. 8-9 subaccount levels when two would do fine. The list goes on and on.

Very similar to another product by the same company, TurboTax.

Buy our TurboTax and you're just like an EA.
Buy our QuickBooks and you're just like a CPA.

And, of course, the real kicker, "You can do anything you want...."