The Nonprofit FAQ

What about Quicken or Quickbooks?

"Andrew" asked in the NONPROFIT discussion list in July, 2003: Has anyone else picked up the new QuickBooks Pro for Nonprofits and begun looking it over? I've been looking all over the Internet for comments. I haven't found any concrete information except what Intuit is saying on their web site, probably because it is so new. See: http://quickbooks.intuit.com/qbcom/jhtml/skins/prod_ovw.jhtml?ssaPath=qb_2003_win_premnonpr_1user&productGroup=premier&priorityCode=0273400000 Linden Michaels responded on July 5, 2003: Unfortunately, the new QB for Non-Profits is of no use to anyone that has used QuickBooks in the past. The ONLY change/addition is a Nonprofit Navigator & drop down menu that has links to the various QB areas in 'terms' that might be helpful to first time users. For example, using the Navigator - if you click on the link "Donors/Grants (Customer)" it takes you to the Customer List. It has a link for "Entering Pledges (Invoices)" which takes you to enter new Invoices... There is a new "Nonprofit" drop down menu at the top that has the exact same options as the "Nonprofit" Navigator. There are some pre-programmed reports that makes life easier if you are not familiar with customizing your own reports. But you could manage these same reports in QB '99. Otherwise there is no functional difference between QB Premier and QB Premier - Nonprofit Ed. This product is nothing compared to NonProfitBooks and had I paid the extra money for it I would have been highly incensed! We currently use QB Pro 2002, and had a trial version of Nonprofitbooks at one time that we decided against using, strictly because of the additional cost. Don't take my word for it, you can call Intuit and request a trial version of the software. 800-4intuit is the general sales line and I think you can call 888-320-7276 also, they are the sales people you speak with prior to buying a tech support plan. Tom Bruckner wrote in usnonprofit-l (the predecessor to NONPROFIT) in the early days of the list: I wonder if anyone has worked with either Quicken or Quickbooks, plus Quickpay? This note was posted to NONPROFIT (http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/nonprofit) on 10/15/02: "Several months ago, I was evaluating accounting solutions and found that this was going to be another expensive software investment. However, I found out about a solution called 'Nonprofitbooks' that works with Quickbooks. We decided to go with it since the cost was less than $1000. Looking back, we are glad we chose Nonprofitbooks. We ended up saving thousands of dollars for a system that can handle all our requirements." (See http://www.nonprofitbooks.com/ -Ed.) There is also a book that walks you through using QuickBooks for keeping accounts for a nonprofit organization. It's available through CompassPoint in San Francisco. See http://www4.compasspoint.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=380 (These comments appear also in http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/05/09.html - Ed. Walt Daniels (wdaniels@bestweb.net) offered this update on May 23, 1999: Here is some information that applies to QuickBooks 6 and 99, both of which I have some experience with. QuickBooks has changed considerably since the reports below. It is now at QuickBooks 99. This version is fully capable of networking, auditing (approved by at least our CPA and auditors), account numbers if you want them, and most importantly fund accounting (you use what QB calls classes). Perhaps it strongest feature however is its ease of use and support. We have a frequently changing set of student workers who fulfill orders that pick it up quickly. We had no problem finding a parttime bookkeeper who already knew the program extremely well. Our controller can make necessary changes by saving an accountants copy, working on it and sending it back for integration into the base. She does this all remotely without every coming into the office. Phyllis L. Panzeter (phyllis@realitycheckonline.com) wrote on April 16, 2001: "I am a QuickBooks Professional Advisor specializing in nonprofits. There is little support out there for setting up and using QuickBooks by nonprofits, however it is the ideal program for nonprofit accounting. I have recently published a Nonprofit Guide to QuickBooks which is short and simple to use." Details at http://www.appguides.com. (The guide costs $19.95 plus S&H with various options available. --PB) Earlier comments included these thoughts: Molly Gallagher replied: I used Quicken and Quickpay at my previous job. It's where I learned to be a bookkeeper. It is fairly easy. Part of your problem - or not - may be how big you are. It is meant for fairly small companies. I do know I had to call their help desk and they were extremely knowledgeable. I would think that somewhere there is a phone number (on the back of the software??) that you could call and ask questions of. I'm not exactly sure what the needs of a non-profit would be over a small business, but I think it's worth a shot on your part. It's one heck of a lot cheaper than most of the other accounting packages that are available. Enrique Morales (enrique.morales@aalas.org) added on Tue Nov 15, 1994: I'm presently going through the process of switch our acct s.w. within our organization. I've looked at QUICK-BOOKS, which is geared towards the bz, but lacks 2 vital components to our org.: 1) networkability, & 2) accounts using account numbers instead of just descriptions. These are the only two major problems. We've decided to go with PeachTree for Windows 3.0 because 1) ease of use, 2) acct # with the ability to mask by dept/div, 3) networkable........ I've been using Quicken for my personal finances for years without a problem. I know Intuit provides great support. Ron Platt (rplatt@leeds.tiac.net) added on Nov 23 1994: In the FAQ it is suggested that Quicken or QuickBooks would be a useful business accounting alternative to a full blown fund accounting package. DON'T use Quicken. Any CPA worth their salt will warn you against this as Quicken (and QuickBooks) does not have a secure audit trail and you can alter any transaction after it has been posted! This type of program would (and should) get an NPO into some difficulty with an external auditor, and if they contract with a federal or state source this would be a major material finding and the gov't source would want it changed. PB wrote 6/21/95: The latest upgrade (3.0) of QuickBooks for Windows includes an audit trail feature as an option. The documentation notes that using this feature will slow the program down (and, surely, make for larger data files). Reposted with additions and corrections 5/24/99; updated 10/18/02 -PB -- PB