What accounting software should I use for my business?

This is a question I am often asked by small business owners. Frequently, my answer will be QuickBooks. So, here's why you should use QuickBooks. First of all QuickBooks dominates the small business accounting software market. But, it does more than just bookkeeping. When used correctly and completely, QuickBooks provides information essential to managing a business.

For example, QuickBooks can provide insight into how different parts or your business are contributing to its overall health and objectives by answering questions like: How do my financial results compare to prior periods? What is my profit on each product or service and which customers are most profitable? Who owes me money and who do I owe? How can I optimize my cash flow?

QuickBooks is adaptable to small business needs in managing general ledger, receivables, payables, inventory, job-costing and payroll functions using established double-entry accounting standards. All reports offer extensive flexibility in extracting and filtering information in virtually any format the business owner requires. Adding to its functionality, QuickBooks can also import data directly from many industry specific  accounting applications which extends its versatility in retail, construction, medical and other areas. Plus, if your business begins to outgrow QuickBooks, you have the very easy option of expanding into QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.

Unleashing the full potential of QuickBooks requires a correct setup and a clear vision of what information you need and how your business is likely to evolve over time. That is why planning, knowledge and experience are so important in designing the proper setup to best meet the needs of your company. Nowhere is this more important than in designing the chart of accounts which provides the basic financial foundation upon which everything else is built.

However, even with its many strengths, QuickBooks is not suited for every small business. Knowing when these exceptions apply will save you money, effort and frustration in not choosing QuickBooks. The insight of an experienced professional can be invaluable in identifying these situations. Therefore, I'd recommend you first discuss the options with me as I can save you much grief in the long run.

http://www.lesterbahrcpa.com/Why-Use-QuickBooks.html

Lester Bahr, CPA, Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.