SlowBooks, DifficultBooks, QuagmireBooks
Yes, I am talking about the 2009 version of QuickBooks Pro. For many reasons, I need this software to take care of the books of a non-profit organization. However, it never ceases to amaze me how vendors like Intuit take perfectly good features and screw them up. In the old days, Lotus 1-2-3 used to put out versions that were demonstrably inferior to their earlier versions. I took this only as long as I could until something better came along and then switched never to return.
Ah, if I had that option with QuickBooks. Unfortunately, there are some integrated features they have that other accounting packages are missing. However, it’s not about their virtues that I rant. It’s about their faults.
In this day and age, it’s easy to download credit card charges for VISA or MasterCard accounts. It’s the interface between those downloads and entering them into QuickBooks that falls way short. After you download credit card information from the bank and want to match it to entries in your books, QB shuts down all parts of its program, not allowing you to see what you’ve already entered. So, here’s what happens (assuming you have manually entered credit card charges as you get slips):
(1) QB says a charge is “unmatched” even though it’s in the register already with a proper name (e.g., Sam’s Club).
(2) QB shows charges you’ve already downloaded and matched as “unmatched” causing you to have to have a list (handwritten or printed) of all transactions already matched so you can “delete” the duplicate ones QB wants to enter.
(3) Intuit has a quick fill for names, accounts, etc. in Quicken and QuickBooks. However, it does not work for the interface for credit card charges. So, even with new charges you have not entered, you have to scroll through all your vendors to pick the correct one and then scroll through your entire chart of accounts to pick the account you want to charge.
The result of all this is duplication of effort, poor interface, and getting angry. Oh, in QB 2008 (where there was a different interface that worked just fine) there were no problems.
A couple of months ago when I was having these problems and thought, perhaps, there was a cure, I called customer service. The nice man there told me lots of people were complaining about this and I should write a feedback note to Intuit, which I did.
In December, Intuit announced they were releasing an update to QB Pro 2009 that would fix all this. Ah, I thought, a solution. However, the patch doesn’t solve any of the problems. I called customer service again today and again was told I should write to Intuit with my complaint. I have done this. We’ll wait and see what happens. I don’t hold out any hope.
Ah, if I had that option with QuickBooks. Unfortunately, there are some integrated features they have that other accounting packages are missing. However, it’s not about their virtues that I rant. It’s about their faults.
In this day and age, it’s easy to download credit card charges for VISA or MasterCard accounts. It’s the interface between those downloads and entering them into QuickBooks that falls way short. After you download credit card information from the bank and want to match it to entries in your books, QB shuts down all parts of its program, not allowing you to see what you’ve already entered. So, here’s what happens (assuming you have manually entered credit card charges as you get slips):
(1) QB says a charge is “unmatched” even though it’s in the register already with a proper name (e.g., Sam’s Club).
(2) QB shows charges you’ve already downloaded and matched as “unmatched” causing you to have to have a list (handwritten or printed) of all transactions already matched so you can “delete” the duplicate ones QB wants to enter.
(3) Intuit has a quick fill for names, accounts, etc. in Quicken and QuickBooks. However, it does not work for the interface for credit card charges. So, even with new charges you have not entered, you have to scroll through all your vendors to pick the correct one and then scroll through your entire chart of accounts to pick the account you want to charge.
The result of all this is duplication of effort, poor interface, and getting angry. Oh, in QB 2008 (where there was a different interface that worked just fine) there were no problems.
A couple of months ago when I was having these problems and thought, perhaps, there was a cure, I called customer service. The nice man there told me lots of people were complaining about this and I should write a feedback note to Intuit, which I did.
In December, Intuit announced they were releasing an update to QB Pro 2009 that would fix all this. Ah, I thought, a solution. However, the patch doesn’t solve any of the problems. I called customer service again today and again was told I should write to Intuit with my complaint. I have done this. We’ll wait and see what happens. I don’t hold out any hope.
posted by Bud Hirsch at 6:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home