Quick Poll - MYOB or Quickbooks

[Dardee]

I have found that Quickbooks is much better at tracking jobs. If you are running a business where you require to track the income and expenses on a job by job basis then Quickbooks does this a LOT better than MYOB. I also would much prefer to use Quickbooks payroll programs than MYOB.

On the plus side for MYOB it has a much better registration system. The GST capturing and reporting is much better, as is the reporting in general.

I don't think either program is particularly easy to use for someone with little or no accounting knowledge. This is what gets a lot of people into trouble. I have had to totally rebuild clients files after they have tried to do their bookkeeping themselves. It has taken hours to redo all their work and would have been easier and cheaper for them if they had just got someone to do it for them to start with.

[cutecub00]

I've used Quickbooks for 4 years with no complaints to make.
I have a brand new copy of quickbooks, and I must say I'm so happy with it. Again, it is so easy to use, to record payments and to manage my accounts.The interface in Quickbooks is much nicer.
quickbooks point of sale

[copywriter]

As an accountant, i know we absolutely hate dealing with clients that use Quickbooks. If we had our way, everyone would be on MYOB. If you choose to go with Quickbooks expect to pay more to your accountant, i have worked at a few accounting firms and most hate dealing with quickbook files and they are much less competent (from an accountants perspective) with the program compared to MYOB. (ie more billing hours for you)

[beancounter]

We get asked this question over and over by clients - there is no "one size fits all" answer to this question

Bookkeepers, accountants and clients alike will rave on about their "preferred" accounting software package

You could easily be at Bathurst watching the 1000 listening to people arguing the pros and cons of Holden Versus Ford

We hear the same types of discussion with Quickbooks and MYOB

Bookkeeping is bookkeeping is bookkeeping - both MYOB and Quickbooks have addressed the same issues, maybe in slightly different ways

Same as the PC versus MAC discussions - some people like one system, others hate it

Each week we work with both systems - they both have their pluses and minuses - depends on the particular nature of the business - but more importantly - the operator

GIGO - Garbage in - Garbage out - if the chart of accounts isn't set up correctly, if the data isn't entered correctly, then the results will not be correct regardless of which accounting package you use

As stated previously, MYOB seems to have dominated the Australian market - though they are failing dramatically with their client relations and losing business because they have lost the focus of their core business - the new management team has taken the shift from the product support to the almighty dollar

There seem to be more bookkeepers skilled in MYOB than Quickbooks in Australia - but that doesn;t necessarily mean its a better product

[Dardee]

Rightly or wrongly that is the way it is.

MYOB is much more highly regarded by many Accounting firms.

[Jill]

MYOB

Both my accountant and I prefer it that way. It does everything I need.

PS re the Bathurst comment... pffft Holdens are just better than Ffffffff.. them.

[cutecub00]

Can anybody having updates about quickbooks 2007..i had this version for upgrading..but i don't know is it good for using all my accounting needs?any help would be appreciated.
point of sale quickbooks

[nominal]

This is an old thread but I could not resist the SEO benefits :-)

Plus it makes for such interesting reading to hear people complain about MYOB and QuickBooks.

And lastly being a community of small business you do tend to stick with the big brand names...

we provide a small business accounting software which is easy to use, cost effective, built especially for Australian small businesses, does time billing & payroll and has the most advanced PayPal accounting system in existence.

[RapidEntryBiz]

I've grown up with MYOB but the more I use Quickbooks, and it was a very steep learning curve for me so its possible to learn its 'ins and outs' very fast, the more I like it.
Cost is a factor that cant be overlooked and what I don't like about both of them is the annual upgrade/support/tax tables fee of around $500. Now that the Australian tax rates have stabilized (Kevin's 3 year upgrade finalised in 2011*) it'll be easier for small businesses to use older versions of these programs if they wish.
Its depends on what you need as to which one is better suited to your business although you can adapt any system to suit, especially when you couple it with that brilliant program, Excel.
There are now 4 players in the market though, not just these two; you have to add Saasu and Xero to the debate.

*to my best knowledge, don't quote me

[Rhys]

Guys,

What an awesome thread, an oldie but a goldie. So much passion, so much emotion, over bookkeeping software. Which is great, because it is a topic that is pretty critical to all our businesses.

Clearly a number of people have had some really poor experiences. Not going to address individual issues raised, I think most of these have been addressed along the way (plus some contributors have reached very firm conclusions that I guess will not be easy to shift).

Two comments though:

1. A couple of people make the comment that you should find out what your accountant uses, and use that. I disagree.

Yes this is a factor, but your accountant is not the most important user of the system - you are.

Your accountant uses it once a year (or maybe 4 times if they also do your BAS), you use it every day. You need to make sales, record purchases, track inventory, pay employees and a whole bunch more besides. You are the one who needs to get information out of the system to help run your business day by day, you are the one that needs a system that is easy to use. Figure out what system meets your needs the best.

And yes include the impact on compliance costs in your decision, but that is just one factor in figuring out what is the right solution for you.

2. Since the thread started the world has moved on somewhat, so in my opinion the question is not Ford v Holden, but rather it is the equivalent to asking do you prefer VHS or Betamax? Because for most of us the answer to that question is neither, they have both been superseded by newer technology.

Rapidentry makes the point below that you can now add Saasu & Xero to your list of solutions to review, I agree. In my opinion (another strongly held view here) for small business the benefits of being on the cloud leave all of the server based applications for dead.

So if you are still using a server based solution (or thinking of impementing one) you might want to have a look at some of the cloud options before you decide.

Cheers, Rhys