QuickBooks Enterprise

QuickBooks Enterprise

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is an affordable accounting product suitable for businesses with up to 250 employees. The Enterprise edition is a 10-user system that will run in a Windows environment. A Pentium level processor is recommended, and your machine will need to have 280MB of free space and 128MB RAM.

All QuickBooks products are designed for non-accountants, and QuickBooks Enterprise is no exception. This type of design can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on your perspective.

The Enterprise Edition comes with “Customer,” “Vendor,” “Employee Organizer,” “Banking” and “Business Services” tools. While the first four are self-explanatory, the “Business Services” module provides links to various available financial services and products and includes things like Merchant Account, Service Integration and Credit Check.

If you don’t wish to use the navigator screen, you can access any of the system modules and features by using the drop-down menu at the top of the screen or via the customizable icon bar or the Open Windows list.

You can set up company information by entering the data manually. Alternatively, you can use the “Easy Step Interview” feature to set up company information. To save time, you can skip the interview feature, enter minimal information to get your company up and running, and return later to complete company setup as time permits.

QuickBooks Enterprise doesn’t offer a sophisticated time and billing option. There is a time/activity entry that can track time for a single individual. To set up a billing fee schedule, you have several options, one of which is to click on the “Lists” option on the menu bar. You can choose the type of billing you wish, such as “service.” Then you only need to add a description of the service, the rate that is attached to the particular service, and the G/L account number you wish it to post to. You also can specify the G/L account by name. This procedure can work effectively for standard billing, but might prove to be ineffective for services that carry more than one rate.

The “Vendor” module pays bills effectively. Again, the data entry screens in this module are slightly awkward, so entering bills quickly will not be an option, especially when first using QuickBooks Enterprise.

When paying bills, the “Pay Bill” screen is informative, with invoice due dates sorted by one of four different criteria you can choose. Additional information found on this screen include your current checking account balance, any credits the particular vendor might have, and an option to pull up the detailed bill before paying.

The best feature in QuickBooks Enterprise is the Employee Organizer, integrated seamlessly in the “Employees” module. This is a terrific human resource tool that easily records and monitors employee information, including salaries, raises and promotion dates. The employee organizer also will track detailed leave of absence information, including start and end dates, and reason. The employee termination feature lets you enter detailed termination information, including unemployment eligibility, voluntary termination and eligibility under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. There also is detailed information on employment law, and links to various forms and sample reports. Some of the reports require Adobe Acrobat to open, others can be opened in a word processing program.

QuickBooks Enterprise offers an optional payroll program that interfaces with the employee organizer. There are three levels of payroll programs available — QuickBooks Do It Yourself Payroll, QuickBooks Assisted Payroll and Intuit Complete Payroll.

Report options in QuickBooks Enterprise are quite extensive, with reporting options (customer, vendor, etc.) chosen in the appropriate module, then the report type (balance sheet, P&L, etc.). Customization is limited, but all reports can be exported to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. A nice feature is the ability to run financial reports by customer.

With its increased flexibility, QuickBooks Enterprise now offers extensive compatibility with other software products. The support plan offered for QuickBooks Enterprise is quite expensive at $1,000. But you also will receive automatic upgrades, a data recovery option and a 10-minute response guarantee. You also are assigned a dedicated support person. On the up side, an extensive “Help” feature, a detailed manual and available online help means most users will probably not have to access the support option.

QuickBooks Enterprise is a good start-up system, particularly for firms with at least 10 employees. If you don’t need a specialized billing system, or wish to use it for accounting and employee management and use another system for attorney time and billing, you will not be disappointed with this product.

Intuit Inc.
(800) 811-8943
www.quickbooks.com

Price: $2,500; $3,500 for Full Service Plan
Windows 95/98 or higher

Reviewed by Mary Girsch-Bock, a technical writer and independent software consultant based in Albuquerque, N.M.

Feb/Mar '03 Issue

PROS
A terrific “Human Resource” module that interfaces with QuickBooks optional payroll services.

CONS
Cluttered screens and too many available user options can be initially overwhelming. Data entry screens in some modules are not particularly user friendly.

VERDICT
I would definitely recommend QuickBooks Enterprise, particularly for smaller firms that don’t have a complicated billing structure.