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Accounting software.

Peachtree? I haven't used it since 2005 but it's cheap and easy for basic accounting.

I just track everything in Excel now.
 
I've used both quick books and quicken

Quicken is a lot simpler in my opinion and does more than enough. I used quick books bc we use it in my other businesses but seemed like an over kill for a car wash
 
You can still get QuickBooks Premier software to install on your own PC, but it's $799. I truly hate QuickBooks online after using Premier. You can use online with your phone, but the app doesn't allow for a lot of stuff, like looking up your cost of an item, and using it from the site is incredibly tedious because you have to scroll around. We got a tablet just for QuickBooks online, and you STILL have to scroll around to see a lot of the fields.
 
Same problem here. It's time to update my old laptop and just found out intuit based products are subscription only. Not a huge fan of that but maybe need to convince myself it's worth it.

I still do things the old fashioned way- I'm writing a check for most bills and reconciling my accounts on quickbooks with paper statements but don't use any online banking features. I do pay some bills with a credit card because of 2% cash back which usually gets me about $75/month back. In an effort to streamline things and save time I need to modernize. I do keep the revenue and expenses two car washes competently separate so I can generate individual P&Ls. A friend of mine says that quicken home and business does everything that I need and allows online banking that keeps him updated and reconciles in just a few minutes. Anyone have any other suggestions?
 
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Earl Weiss said:
Says $799 / year!
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I don't think you have to pay every year unless you keep updating to the newest version each year. As of 2019 you only had to purchase once. You wouldn't get updates to things like payroll, but the rest worked the same. In 2016 I was working for a distributor who was still using the 2003 version when they finally bought new computers and the latest version.
 
MEP001 said:
I don't think you have to pay every year unless you keep updating to the newest version each year. As of 2019 you only had to purchase once. You wouldn't get updates to things like payroll, but the rest worked the same. In 2016 I was working for a distributor who was still using the 2003 version when they finally bought new computers and the latest version.
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2019 was the last year you could do that and now it is all subscription based. Even the desktop versions like you are talking about where you download the software are rented from them. I believe there is a license that expires after one year and has to be purchased again and downloaded to keep access to the very software that is already on your computer. In my opinion it is a crock of crap and I can't stand subscription products unless there is a really good value to be had. We are using QB Desktop 2013 and for the last few years it crashes almost every time we use it.
 
I seemed to have managed to get a 2018 desktop version to accept all companies by downloading the on Line QB Doctor to to convet older QB program Files.
 
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Not a good fit for everyone but using the Microsoft 365 Pro that includes Access along with an older version of Access makes sense for us. As much as I squirm sometimes with Microsoft ... to their credit older versions (2002) of Access still work in even Windows 11. There are some file conversion considerations if you want to settle in & make the files 100% compatible with their latest version with Microsoft 365.

IMHO ... it makes more sense than Quickbooks even for payroll. The workaround is to use the equations within the most current Pub 15 (Circular E) from the IRS. Spreadsheets work ... but it is nice to have more structure sometimes along with having one's entries immediately saved within the file! BTW I tried both Quickbooks & Quicken & the lack of flexibility got on my nerves something terrible.

A niece who recently became a CPA said that Quickbooks is the standard for accountants ... which I respectfully took her advice & recommendation ... with a grain of salt factoring in the specific subscription yearly expense.
 
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