Review by Lon J. Seidman

Let me start by saying that the Mac versions of Quickbooks have been lacking as compared to their Windows counterparts, but things are getting better. When I installed the software this evening it immediately downloaded an 82 megabyte upgrade, so I suspect some of the bugs mentioned in the other reviews have been addressed. I was able to upgrade my file from the 2011 version of the software without incident. I was also able to successfully edit a few transactions and conduct my end of week review without any problem.

There are some interface tweaks from the prior version, including a much improved invoice browser that actually makes sense. Speed is improved and the interface is starting to feel more like a native Mac app and less of a ported Windows implementation. Still if you’re satisfied with the version you’re using, there’s nothing compelling here that makes this a must-have upgrade over a prior version - Unless you upgrade your Mac to Lion or Mountain Lion, as anything earlier than 2011 simply won’t run.

What’s missing? An easy means of transaction importing is topping my list. I run a small media network that shares advertising revenue with several dozen websites. All of that data is calculating in a spreadsheet, yet month after month I have to key in every transaction manually because Quickbooks simply lacks a sane method of importing those transactions. If they ever get around to making a transaction import scheme that works without having to produce precision crafted flat files I’m all in for a $200 upgrade.

Bottom line: if you’re using Quickbooks 2011 or 2012 or are happy with the version you have there is no need to upgrade. You’ll be forced into doing so if you upgrade to Mac OS X Lion or Mountain Lion.