We asked accountants if QuickBooks has broken client accounting - and boy, did you have a lot to say! We had over 5,700 respondents to our nationwide poll, and over 2,600 accountants also submitted comments.
Quantitative Results
You can view the full quantitative results by clicking here. A couple of highlights:
- 69% said that they spend a significant amount of time cleaning up errors that clients make in QuickBooks, while only 11% disagreed with that statement.
- 46% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "QuickBooks gives too much control to my clients", while 33% disagreed with that statement.
- 17% strongly agreed with the statement "QuickBooks has broken client accounting", while 24% strongly disagreed.
Your Comments
Now for the best part - below are about 100 comments that represent all sides of the QuickBooks issue. (The respondent's zip code is in parentheses.) If you didn't get a chance to vote, use the comments box below to let us know what you think!
QuickBooks is the CPA's biggest enemy. They kiss up to CPA's and at the same time take all the business they can from the public accountants. They act like they are our friend, but in reality they are our competitor. And they charge us to send them business. If they can figure out a way to provide traditional accounting services directly to their clients, they will do it. It's just a matter of time. (84123)
Do we want to go back to the days of shoe boxes? (06903)
Accountants have made it easy for clients to choose QuickBooks - we haven't taken the time to explain why the numbers matter. Shame on us, not QuickBooks. (94559)
"Fire Your Accountant" has turned into a $1B industry of fixing QB setup, QB training and QB error fixing. If I saved time from fixing errors, I could provide real Value-Add services, strengthen relationships and get more clients. (08857)
"We must deal with reality as it is, not as we wish it were." - Jack Welch. Quit whining, and figure out how to make a profit providing the services clients actually want to pay you for. (43219)
90% of my clients have no clue how their businesses are doing because their books are always a mess. Instead of helping them make better decisions for their future, I spent all my time trying to catch up in fixing their errors from their business past. By the time the financial data of the past is cleaned up, it's too late to change the course of their business disasters. (91607)
All the different versions of Quickbooks makes it difficult to assist clients and have software available for our staff. (40202)
Before QuickBooks, clients were mucking up using all types of complicated bookkeeping software that we couldn't access, so QB has been a huge benefit. (90210)
Client training make a world of difference. (14221)
Clients always expect the accounting fees to be less because they think they've done all the work getting info together for us. (44663)
Clients always have been able to make mistakes. QB just lets them do that more efficiently now. With QB controls it's also easier for me to find those mistakes. (27104-4208)
Clients should have control over their own businesses, and QB allows that. However, they should not be allowed to do the set up as most of them have no clue how to do it correctly. (68114)
First question IRS asks is if bookkeeping was done on QuickBooks - good reason NOT to use it. (37040)
I am really on the fence. On one hand, our CPA firm would become mostly a bookkeeping practice if we took over all the duties of entering data ourselves, however, the ridiculous mistakes that cause everyday irritations and hours of re-doing clients files can cause lost time and revenue. Not sure which way I'm leaning on this. (11946)
I don't really care if clients have more control. BUT... our clients with QB mess up their books too often, and QB makes lousy accounting decisions without telling the user. If the user isn't an accountant and QB makes large mistakes, then bad surprises can happen when the books need to be fixed. (50309)
I don't want to be a bookkeeper, I am a CPA. I want to spend my time helping my clients with their business needs. (10583)
I find clients are able to weird and wonderful things within quickbooks and then expect me to maintain what they have started regardless of whether it is correct or not. (98282)
I find the amount of time spent finding and adjusting client errors is insignificant. After a couple months, I know each client's idiosyncracies. (92625)
i just wish my clients knew the difference between an asset and liability when they make entries in quickbooks. (61938)
I love QB! It has brought me clients and helps my clients stay in compliance and helps me keep on top of their transactions. (80911-3813)
I love QB. It's an excellent and affordable accounting system. I do make money when my clients make mistakes. But then I train them how to do it right the next time. (30290)
I refer to Quickbooks as numerical vomit. We generally increase our prices if Quickbooks is used. (60175-6200)
I set all of my clients up on QuickBooks. I do NOT let them set up themselves. (65340)
I set up Accounts/Categories for my clients and tell them to not make new ones without consulting me or at least emailing me what they are doing. I have a few special Accounts/Categories for them to use when they don't know which one to use so I can just look at those few special Accounts/Categories to quickly reclassify entries correctly. (46901)
I specialize in setup training & support of QB - QB IS my practice :) I love to empower my clients to understand the finances of their company. (98014)
I think it is foolish to debate this issue. If we don't help our clients with what they use, the clients will find someone else who will be happy to. (32217)
I think that Intuit should offer QB Pro Advisor service with the purchase of the software. Intuit would then have to hire local Advisors to go out for initial consultations to assist with setting up and training. (87508)
I would like to have a white label version that allows me to customize it. (94538)
I would rather clients make a mess of QB than not use a computerized accounting package and have to enter all of that data each time we compile their financial statements or try to do their tax return. (30022)
I would rather fix errors than do 100% of the data entry (49444)
In last 10 years I've changed my model from bookkeeping to consulting. Sure QB broke client accounting, but I don't miss it at all. (49686)
Intuit broke client accounting by marketing its product as a replacement for professional accounting advice that went way beyond basic bookkeeping. (37602-5769)
Intuit has become a monopoly and the fees are too high for their software programs, including the tax software. (77845)
Intuit is the trojan horse of the 20th century to the accounting industry. Look at how Intuit markets Turbo Tax to both paid preparers and individuals charging vastly different amounts for the same program. (73159-6356)
Intuit took a very good program, Quicken, and created a monster with no controls, no real retained earnings, no ability to adjust payroll, AP and AR accounts. (78749)
It seems like every time we get a back up file from a client, they go back to the prior year and make changes. QB makes some easy jobs much harder than they have to be. (02917)
It's an elephant: you either learn how to lead, follow or get out of the way otherwise you get stepped on. (33311)
It's gotten WAY too hard for a client to transfer files to us; the combination of our clients messing it up and also the frequency of us getting read errors on our side after we spend 30 minutes converting and opening a file- it's incredibly frustrating and a waste of productive time! (33704)
It's ironic that ProAdvisors pay dues, educate themselves, yet QuickBooks constantly competes with those same ProAdvisors (example-payroll services, etc) in the marketing they do inside their program, on their website, and even on the ProAdvisor portal. In my opinion Intuit/QuickBooks crosses a line of integrity. (59601)
It's like being a doctor, if people go and injure themselves despite your advise, you will be there to patch them up. (91011)
I've found that fixing clients' mistakes takes as long as doing the accounting myself in many cases. (45432)
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, in comes a client dumber than the one before them!! It's getting impossible!! (02903)
My clients have no idea, none of them do the classes. We are always fixing the mistakes. (12449)
Not only has QuickBooks broken accounting, Intuit isn't responsible for the mistakes it allows clients to make! Intuit should be held accountable when it allows a client to change prior year data. (63301)
Not user friendly for professional CPA's. Gives some clients false sense of security. (27511)
Only 50 percent of my clients who use QuickBooks use it with any degree of accuracy, and only because they have in-house bookkeepers who are well versed in accounting. The worst don't know a debit from a credit, or a balance sheet from an income statement, and the results are sadly predictable. Yes, I make extra money correcting their work, but some days it's just not worth the aggravation. (70663)
Our clients' ability to enter their own transactions frees us up to bring them greater value. (44122)
Our firm has been certified as a QuickBooks Pro Adviser for years. We began using it when it was a DOS program. All of our clients' bookkeepers are well trained on QuickBooks. We could not operate our practice without it. (36609)
People starting a business believe QB's advertising and therefore do not call us in at a time when they need us the most. (94588-4337)
QB encourages closer client/CPA communication, it's important to keep current with the client's changing business needs. (78101)
QB gives the uneducated, untrained client a false sense of understanding accounting - the client is often shocked by the bottom line after an accountant makes adjustments. (80228)
QB has given accountants a great oppurtunity to become valuable to their clients in other areas. If they do not, someone else will. (29142)
QB is changing the way we think about accounting and accountants need to break their paradigms to offer coaching and training to clients in order to help them adapt to behind the scenes (built from transactions) accounting. After all, most accountants are locked on a system and processes developed in 1492AD! (67220)
QB is CPA unfriendly because it requires that I have each annual QB version. I stopped using QB years ago. Have clients print TXT files for me. (30329)
QB online is a great tool for efficient accounting. No exchange of files, mismatched data. (85044)
QB should stress at purchase the importance of working with an accountant right away. (54449)
Quick Books used by a good bookkeeper is truly a valuable tool. (44115)
QuickBooks allows us to work corroboratively with our clients which has allowed us to increase revenue and keep happy clients. (49506)
QuickBooks can be a great tool, but boy, do clients really screw it up! (60012-1809)
QuickBooks fools the client into thinking they're a bookkeeper because it's so user-friendly. Client thinks they can save money by doing their books themselves but in actuality they create a mess. (27892)
QuickBooks gives some smaller clients a greater understanding of how they are spending their money. (27596)
QuickBooks has generated more billable hours for me rather than less. (97031)
Quickbooks has given small business owners a false sense of the economic realities of their business. (98133)
Quickbooks has ruined the accounting and writeup profession. (70460)
Quickbooks has ruined the accounting profession by competing directly with the profession. (78022)
QuickBooks is a great source of revenue: training, fixing, set-up, the list could go on. (33458)
QuickBooks is a monopoly. Its prices for products and services are too high. I am waiting for the day when there's a viable competitor. (80112)
QuickBooks is distorting the image of an accountant & the profession. (47304)
QuickBooks is for children and crooks. It allows backdating postings without audit trails. It is not for serious accounting. In sum, "QuickBooks sucks!" (92011)
QuickBooks is good for what it is - a bookkeeping tool. It makes a good starting point for an accountant who wishes to prepare statements or tax returns. (90403)
Quickbooks is great for people who do not understand accounting and a nightmare to those who do (07731)
QuickBooks is so user friendly that clients truly think that they are doing everything right. We have a very hard time convincing them otherwise. (78746)
QuickBooks is the biggest problem with our firm. Our clients that use it think its great because it lets them do anything. We spent so much time fixing their errors and they wonder why our bills are so high. The phrase that sums it all up is "QuickBooks is very abuser friendly." (27511)
Quickbooks is the worst accounting program I know. (83709)
QuickBooks lack of security and audit trail make it unacceptable (33431)
Quickbooks leads clients to believe they can handle their own accounting and not use a professional. It's a great example of the old saying, "garbage in, garbage out." (53222-1528)
QuickBooks needs to quit nickel and diming my clients on yearly updates. (50010)
QuickBooks online is even worse. (22301)
Quickbooks should refine their software so that clients can not change past years. (81301)
Quickbooks takes me from accounting to planning. I love it. (35406)
Quickbooks tends to lead small buiness owners to think they "know it all" (26003)
Show your clients how to enter transactions into QB! Charge for the consulting time! Your practice should be about your clients, and helping them to have an easy-to-use accounting system that can give them quality information on which to base management decisions. It's not about you being "in control"! (20116)
Small business clients don't see the value in us "fixing" their errors - they purchased accounting software to reduce their bills, even though their bill for housekeeping is sometimes higher than ours. Then we have to explain our bills, which takes up even more time and leaves the client feeling we are not billing fairly. (55313)
The biggest problem is that clients all have different versions not compatible with my system. I'm migrating my clients to the cloud to alleviate this problem. (02459)
The interesting thing about QuickBooks is the security or lack of it. Financial periods which are seemingly closed can be reopened and that is a major frustration of mine. (92630)
The object should be to take over and replace the client bookkeeper. (87508)
The price of QB is too low. Clients spend $200 to get into trouble, then pay CPA rates to get out of trouble, which could be thousands of dollars over a fiscal year. (89451)
The problem with quickbooks is that it is a bookkeeping program trying to be an accounting program. (33065)
The time I spend correcting mistakes is time taken away from helping clients understand & improve financial performance. Quickbooks is the worst accounting package I have ever worked with. (75007)
Their screwups are my revenue. (90254)
There should be more controls in Quickbooks. The client does have free reign. (94612-4711)
This is just a change in revenue sources. Clients appreciate us more when we fix their QB and give them private bookkeeping lessons than they did with write up. They often viewed write up as a commodity. (48917)
To limit client mistakes, we password protect prior periods, and we always instruct clients not to even attempt preparing reconciliations as mistakes are difficult to undo. Otherwise, we're experiencing pretty good results when clients do their own entries into QB. (60029)
True, we get additional revenue for fixing client errors in QuickBooks, but if the program were working as intended there shouldn't be client errors. (83301)
Ultimately it's the clients business, not ours. (04083)
We are extremely frustrated most of the time with QB. (93905)
We believe that empowering our clients to take charge of their accounting helps them be better business owners and managers. Yes, we have to spend some time training and explain how to keep accurate accounting data, but it can prove helpful to provide timely accounting and reporting business managers and owners are directly involved with. Without that connection it really isn't servicing the business, it's only serving the accountant. (53717)
We recommend QB to our clients and do training with them. Some clients struggle and we need to fix their mistakes but for the most part they do well with it. (17331)
We use QB strictly as a source for data - we frequently describe it as a glorified check book. We create our own compilations. (90815)
Yes, I get paid for correcting their mistakes, but usually it's when I am caught in the crunch of taxes and would really prefer the extra hour of sleep. (32765)
You cant fight change! Learn quickbooks and show your clients how to use it better. (02660)
You'd rather do the accounting manually? Really? (94574)
Looking for a viable alternative to QuickBooks? The award-winning Accounting Relief from AccountantsWorld puts you back in the center of client accounting. In Accounting Relief, you and your clients work collaboratively in the same online environment, with you serving as their financial coach and advisor. This new Accountant-Centric model of client accounting eliminates many of the key challenges you currently face in your practice, including client bookkeeping errors and file transfers. Click here to learn more.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 04:39PM 