Review by Jerry Saperstein

Back about a million years ago, when I operated businesses with around 50 employees and hundreds of products. I would have drooled over a product as capable as QuickBooks at this low a price. I bought an IBM System 36 for more than a hundred thousand 1980s dollars and spent tens of thousands more on accounting software that didn’t hold a candle to QuickBooks Premier. Heck, my super-expensive software wouldn’t even do payroll: had to use an outside service for that.

Today I operate as a one-man consultancy. I have no products to inventory, no employees to account for: I have none of the problems and challenges QuickBooks was made to address.

Frankly, I’m sorry that I don’t. I’m a data junky and I love all the reports QuickBooks can produce. But for my little business, the simple Schedule C produced by Intuit’s junior product, Quicken Home & Business does just fine.

Because my work as a forensics expert requires that I know about many, many aspects of technology, I do a lot of product testing, including in this instance, QuickBooks. Installation is straight-forward. But the learning curve is steep. Fortunately there are many books, videos, trainers, articles and consultants to help you find your way.

Overall, QuickBooks has developed a massive franchise because it works. It may not be without problems, but it works and is a far better value than the software that coast me tens of thousands of dollars to do less years back.

Jerry