How do you keep your books in order?

16 replies
hey guys, i was just wondering how do you all keep track of your expenses/purchases/income/invoices etc?

do you use software or do you just use an excel template?

can somebody recommend software that is easy to use for a beginner,i dont want anything overcomplicated packed with features ill never use, just something thats simple to use

cheers

alan
#books #order
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    I got my accountant to train my wife and I on quickbooks. It is really quite simple now that we got some help, and it only took about 2 hours of training.
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  • Profile picture of the author KPKP
    Quickbooks is an expensive, easy to learn, and easy to use solution.
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  • Profile picture of the author AmyBrown
    Originally Posted by KPKP View Post

    Quickbooks is an expensive, easy to learn, and easy to use solution.
    Surely you meant inexpensive.

    A third for Quickbooks. I run 3 offline businesses in addition to online and I'd be lost w/o it. I forward the files quarterly to my accountant and she takes care of the rest.
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    "Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast."
    Tom Peters

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  • Profile picture of the author jacktackett
    I use a combination of quick books and excel. I do as much work as possible before taking everything to my CPA to do my taxes. This cuts down on his hourly rate.

    I also pay for 1 hour of his time about September to review and see if there's anything I should do to minimize my taxes or chance of an audit.

    --Jack
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  • Profile picture of the author flamingleaf8
    I would say excell will do the job. Very easy to do. and it does computations, and graphs...
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  • Profile picture of the author tomcam
    I use Quickbooks Online and a bookkeeper. Quickbooks Online is dissimilar to its offline cousin and inferior in every way, except that I work from all over the place so web-based is important.

    I also spend $30,000 on bookkeeping and filing services to track receipts, deal with state tax issues, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author tomcam
    I use Quickbooks Online and a bookkeeper. Quickbooks Online is dissimilar to its offline cousin and inferior in every way, except that I work from all over the place so web-based is important.

    I also spend $30,000 on bookkeeping and filing services to track receipts, deal with state tax issues, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author HR_MBA
    excel is handy. also be sure to keep a hard copy in a physical ledger, you never know what might happen to your computers data
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    • Profile picture of the author Alan Mc Donald
      seems like quickbooks is the software of choice, ill check it out

      but.. if i did want to use an excel template, is there somewhere i can buy templates (i havnt used excel in years)

      or would someone be willing to share an excel template?

      thank you

      alan
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      • Profile picture of the author Graham Maddison
        I set up a free basic accounting spreadsheet a while back and offered it to fellow warriors for a limited period.

        If you missed it last time round, you can grab it here now.

        Free accounts spreadsheet

        Graham

        Originally Posted by Pattaya-Addict View Post

        seems like quickbooks is the software of choice, ill check it out

        but.. if i did want to use an excel template, is there somewhere i can buy templates (i havnt used excel in years)

        or would someone be willing to share an excel template?

        thank you

        alan
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    • Profile picture of the author NTN
      Banned
      Quickbooks. Works great.
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  • Profile picture of the author bechelle
    Quick books offers a free simple version of their software.

    Small Business Accounting Software from Intuit QuickBooks

    HTH
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  • Profile picture of the author Rose Sorrells
    I think a small business owner should stay away from the sole use of spreadsheets, especially if the business grows. Start right, with the correct setup in QuickBooks (or another program), and go (and grow) from there.

    Contingent on where you bank, your transactions will automatically sync with QuickBooks, which makes matching and statement reconciliation a breeze.

    Another tip- if you're working with a CPA, it's far easier for the CPA to import the QuickBooks file with accounts properly mapped to the corresponding tax lines vs. submitting a spreadsheet that the CPA will have to then use to manually enter numbers into his/her tax program. Redundant and makes for errors. Just food for thought.

    No spam intended, but I am a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who offers clients up to a 40% discount on QB products. I work remotely, too, should anyone ever need any help;o)
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    • Profile picture of the author gianne2705
      I manually keep my statements in an excel form.With a small business,i'm still making ways to less my expenses.With the software,i heard quickbooks are good in handling the computations for a business.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alan Mc Donald
        thank you for sharing you template graham

        So rose how much is quick books pro inclding your 40% discount?

        its seems there are different versions of quickbooks for different countries, does this mean each of them are tailored to each countries, like tax rates, VAT rates etc
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