QuickBooks Pro 2005 for Mac Reviews

• A nice improvement over QB6, but still underpowered...

  
  By A1OC7BPAAGPMY9 on 2004-11-30
  I actually kind of like this program. Accounting is a pretty awful task, but QuickBooks makes it fairly painless. It's pretty intuitive, and it's a pretty good program. I was very happy with version 6 for Mac, so I was happy to upgrade. After using it for a day or two, here are my thoughts.
  
  Pros: Intuit has made commendable efforts to bring the look and feel more in line with Panther. Much of the program seems to have lost much of its OS9 baggage and now looks right. It's still pretty crash-proof and very solid. Formatting invoices has leapfrogged the PC version (finally!) now that you can use a PDF for your template. Unlike the PC version, you can (still) email invoices without going through proprietary hoops. The improved PC compatibility is a godsend (my tax people use the Windows version of course) and all of the 'lists' (so central to QuickBooks) have been improved--you can hide unused items, sort the list, etc. All wonderful and much-needed improvements.
  
  Cons: I would love to have all the features PC users pay the same price for!!! Mileage tracking, where is that? Why can't I create a partial invoice (say, 1/3rd of my estimate to a client) like the Windows version can? Where are the video tutorials? There are simply tons of extra things you get in the Windows version that you can't get in the Mac version, even though Intuit charges the same price for the software.
  
  That said, I have both PC's and Macs in my office, and we chose the Mac version, after trying both. Though it has more features, the PC version is a nightmare to use! I'd rather just track my mileage in an Excel spreadsheet than sit at that PC for another hour a day! But hey, don't listen to me, I find most PC applications to be that way. Basically, I think QuickBooks Pro 2005 for Mac is a great product, and I'm happy to support a vendor that put out solid and useful software for the Mac.
  
  

• Rebate is phony

  
  By A1B3GNO9C8YX0N on 2005-02-11
  The terms of the rebate aren't listed here but once you get the pakage you will see in the fine print that it is only for people who are UPGRADING from a previous version of QuickBooks.
  
  

• An absolute joke

  
  By A1QVL7TV01IOFM on 2004-12-18
  As an Intuit user since 1988 (that's right, 16 years) I simply can't imagine a company that could do a better job of managing an outstanding product into abject failure.
  
  Whether Quicken or QuickBooks, Windows or Mac, these products have drifted steadily downhill since 2000. They code is more bloated and bug filled with every new "release".
  
  QuickBooks 2005 for Mac? Let's see....no Online Banking function; No Payroll Integration. I'll go no further....it's as useful as an Excel program without the ability to calculate cell formulas.
  
  Save your money.
  
  

• Not as advertised:MAC to PC problems.

  
  By A2BRLK0FRFMLUH on 2005-04-06
  If you are planning on round-tripping between your Mac and a Windows version (i.e. between your accountant or bookeeper's PC using a windows version of Quickbooks Pro- DO NOT PURCHASE this product! Unfortunately, there are two major flaws with Quickbooks 2005 7.0. The first and most dangerous is that the more you round trip the more corrupt your data will become. Secondly, if you have memorized reports you will have to errase them before round tripping and they will not be saved.
  Unfortunately Quickbooks does not tell you this before purchasing- infact they advertise this easy conversion between Mac and PC as a selling feature for their product.
  If you do not need to have your accountant or CPA manipulate your data on their PC, then the program is a good attempt to make a Windows style program into a MAC-like product.
  
  

• I can't believe there's no online banking support!!!!

  
  By A1TG7189XVJNFE on 2005-04-23
  This just blows my mind. My cheapo Quicken (actually bundled free) has had great online banking support for years, but pricey Quickbooks PRO does not? What is that? This is 2005 -- I can't fathom how they could possibly release this product without online banking support. It's not like they don't know how to do it.
  
  Other than that I really like it. I'm using it anyway as there isn't really an attractive alternative in my opinion, as they must know...
  
  
• Another lackluster Mac effort from Intuit.
  By A2PU6EYSEAC7DZ on 2004-12-31
  When I asked the customer service rep (CSR) when they were going to attempt feature parity with the PC version, he told me they put so much effort into getting it to look right that there was no room for: cash flow analysis (how hard would this be?), FedEx and UPS shipping, auto logs, and too many more things to list. The CSR said there were "a lot of thngs the PC version would do that the Mac version would not do. Payroll is another application that some reviewers have said would never post properly to QuickBooks. Other reviewers mention lack of online banking features.
  
  I have used MYOB Account Edge(Mac) for years and it is a good application, but it ages differently than Quickbooks, and I am tired of fighting (and paying) my accountant over that. My copy of QuickBooks Mac is going back and I am taking my accounting functions over to the dark side.
  
  
• back to the stoneage!
  By A2CP4OA7L3N8EF on 2005-01-31
  I just got a new mac. Very pleased with its performance! I have been using Quickbooks 4 on Windows. While the mac version of quick books had some nice features (lack of Quick books ads, not so many navigation buttons that go to the same place) I did not like the fact that I had to manually type in the customers information all over again if the ship to address was different than my company. Might sound trivial, but when you create purchase orders all day long it adds alot of time. Also, no shipping feature. Have to manually type in your shipping addresses somewhere else because Quick books for mac does not have it! Custom invoices and purchase orders are not that custom. You have to use their form, can't change the size of the columns, You can insert a logo but have to put it where they put it! You can change the fields. The text is so small that you have to sit about a foot away from the puter to see it. With my other programs for mac I can go in and change the font size in that program. With Quickbooks I have to change my whole screen resolution. I called Quickbooks and was told that I could pay 100.00 for a month support or I could pay 350.00 for a year of support. I asked if this support would make the drop ship auto fill work and she said no. I said for 700.00 shirley I can find another program that works properly to start with! She said I could exchange the program for Quickbooks 5 for windows and just use my old PC for Quickbooks, and maybe by next year they would have better features of quickbooks for mac. I asked for a refund. She said I could send it back in 60 days if I wanted. Probably so I would forget about it and not return it. Seems like I read a 30 day money back garautee somewhere!
  Overall, I am not pleased with my 300.00 investment. If I could rate this program with NO stars I would!
  
  
• NoBooks Is More Like It
  By A34PR233GHXDQO on 2005-04-01
  Don't buy it. If you're on Mac, spend your money on PC emulator and use the PC version of QuickBooks. The Mac version doesn't seem to be designed to be used as a bookkeeping system for a business. You can't print deposit slips. You can print a deposit summary, but the bank is funny about requiring an account number and a routing number.
  QuickBooks won't do payroll updates for the Mac version, so you have to jump through more hoops to get signed up with yet another vendor, then you get the software vs. software argument: "It's not our problem, it's theirs." "No, it's not our problem, it's theirs."
  And that's the first day. I understand it gets worse from there, but I'm not sticking around for the ride.
  Intuit has kindly set up an online forum so users can "share creativity" for working around problems. I thought that was what programmers were supposed to do. I thought I was supposed to spend my time running my business and using the software, not "fixing" it. But hey, maybe someone will buy that line and believe it's her fault the program is a dog.
  Intuit has taken a page from the Gates book and gone MS one better on the QuickBooks for Mac version.
  
  
• Not ready for prime time: more is less
  By A3G636VJDBZ6X7 on 2005-03-03
  Intuit has hyped this new release a lot, but it falls well short of deserving the praise. The 2005 QuickBooks for Mac would be a definite improvement if there weren't so many little glitches and annoyances in it. Most disturbingly, accounts and numbers pull disappearing acts - they simply don't display on the screen sometimes. How confidant can you feel when you're looking at a Profit and Loss statement that has no numbers on it?
  
  Even though the menus are touted as being redesigned to closely match those in the PC version of QuickBooks, some things are still maddeningly hard to find. And too many basic features are still unavailable. Intuit should have kept this under wraps a bit longer and made sure it worked before they foisted it off on users eager for an improved product. Let's hope they address the bugs promptly in a maintenance update.
  
  
• Quickbooks for Mac
  By AYWTTQ6NMF3E9 on 2005-07-21
  I use QuickBooks for Windows and really want to get rid of my
  Windows machine. I purchased Quickbooks for the Mac and
  was STUNNED by the LACK of functionality of the product.
  Intuit continues to treat the Mac as the ugly step child.
  Quickbooks for the Mac without any online functionality such as internet banking is a joke. I am stuck with Quickbooks for Windows for now.
  
  
• Quickbooks for Mac fails to impress
  By A28T61D075CKAQ on 2005-07-28
  Because we have recently become totally Mac-based, we transferred our Quickbooks from an older PC to our new Mac G5. While Quickbooks is pretty effortless on the PC - allowing payroll to be processed directly from the single software - the Mac system requires other complimentary software - Aatrix Top Pay - to accomplish that simple task. This awkward and Byzantine requirement makes the investment pretty useless to us and something we regret spending the money on and taking the time to incorporate. It is really disappointing.
  
  Bernie Krause, PhD
  President
  Wild Sanctuary, Inc.
  
  
• Terrible Software
  By A2YJKNWZ6732EM on 2005-01-29
  This new version is a complete joke if you need an accountant to check things over and make changes. Unlike the windows version, the mac version cannot create an accountants copy. This means that you can't make any changes to the file (like add new entries) until you get the revised file back from your account. In contrast, the windows version has had the ability to do accountants copies for years. This alone makes the program borderline useless in my opinion.
  
  
• Not Mac friendly - QB4 better
  By AYHK83HFDZE4H on 2005-10-04
  If you are only upgrading from Quickbooks 4 for Mac because of printer problems running under classic in OS X, I suggest you live with constantly having to reselect the printer. An upgrade to 2005 will fix the printer problems, but it's not worth it.
  
  We "upgraded" from Quickbooks 4 for Mac and were not too excited. QB4 felt like a MAC application, 2005 feels like a PC port. I knew from the advertising that there were really no new features that made it worth the money, but running QB4 under OS 9 (in the classic environment) was a problem for us, since it would loose track of the assigned and available printers.
  
  The menu organization is less intuitive. For example, Inventory Activities is in the Vendors menu, and GL Journal Entries is in the Banking menu. Graphs are buried in amongst the reports, rather than a top level graph menu.
  
  The names for things you put on the company toolbar are now limited to 9 characters.
  
  The top menu crowds out the standard Apple items normally on the right.
  
  We can get used to all that. The main complaint is QB 2005 expects you to have a large screen. All the fonts and window displays are much larger. Needlessly so, in my opinion. This wouldn't be so bad except the window resizing is limited and columns in the windows cannot be resized.
  
  For example, the Items window doesn't fit on our screen and we can't see the item numbers and the scroll bar at the same time. You can't resize the width to make it fit (like every other mac application, except some games), nor can you reduce the 2 inch column for quantity on hand (which looks like it would allow about 40 digits). Being able to customize the columns displayed in the items window would do it, but that isn't available.
  
  
• QB Pro 2005 for Mac is a worthwhile purchase
  By A8CIOV36C4PYH on 2005-10-24
  I am doing bookkeeping and budgetting as well as analysis of past records for a nonprofit PTSA.
  Quickbooks has been super-helpful in sorting things out. It translated all of the old PC files from QB Pro for PC flawlessly. We were up and running in minutes.
  By the way, you can download a one month trial version from the Intuit website and give it a try before you purchase. It is a fully functioning copy of the software. I did that while I waited for delivery of the software from Amazon, so there was no need to wait for the copy in the mail.
  Super good value, esp. if you can take advantage of the rebate.
  
  
• Doesn't completely suck
  By A1TQGV2VK2E9T4 on 2005-11-03
  I started a new business and bought Quickbooks, like I was told too. While it isn't extremely intuitive and lacks some functionality, it doesn't completely bite either. Note, I don't use payroll and have a simple business.
  
  I bought Simple Start for Windows since Mac users complain about the gap in features, and that is true, but the Windows version isn't different at any essential level - it is just as confusing and difficult to customize, convert to Excel , etc; as the Mac version. I will probably not upgrade due to the lack of upgrades, but this is still the best accounting program for Mac I found. I'm guessing all of these programs suck (stupid accounting).