Expense and Income Tracking

AustrianOak82

AustrianOak82

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I am currently in the market for some kind of software to track the following:

Expenses (products, rent, insurance, other miscellanous expenses)
Income (what I am taking in and from who, payment methods, etc)

I got a copy of Quick Books Pro but it is not what I am looking for. I need something much simpler. I just need to be able to track what money comes in (and from who) and what money goes out. Need this information to be able to be sent to a tax professional at the end of the year but also to track everything accounting to a T.

Anyone have any suggestions other than the Excel spreadsheets I have been using? Thanks!
 
Take a look at Quicken Home & Business. It is a much simpler version of QB pro designed for homeowners and small business ( a lot cheaper too!!)

Mike
 
Many years ago (mid 90s), I used My Invoices & Estimates but I don't think it does any expense tracking. Maybe you can track your expenses with some other program. I switched to Quickbooks within a few months after having an accountant teach me how use it.
 
AustrianOak82 said:
I am currently in the market for some kind of software to track the following:

Expenses (products, rent, insurance, other miscellanous expenses)
Income (what I am taking in and from who, payment methods, etc)

I got a copy of Quick Books Pro but it is not what I am looking for. I need something much simpler. I just need to be able to track what money comes in (and from who) and what money goes out. Need this information to be able to be sent to a tax professional at the end of the year but also to track everything accounting to a T.

Anyone have any suggestions other than the Excel spreadsheets I have been using? Thanks!
Click to expand...

What do you mean track everything accounting to a T?
 
AustrianOak82 said:
Need this information to be able to be sent to a tax professional at the end of the year but also to track everything accounting to a T.

Anyone have any suggestions other than the Excel spreadsheets I have been using? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I suggest you learn how to use Quickbooks, because most accountants know it and understand it and you can just ship them your data file.
Yes it has a steeper learning curve but you can grow a lot as a business and never have to buy another program.
 
IMO QB Pro is one of the best out there. You can get someone that is a certified QB person that can set up you accounts and expenses. I did and it's been great. I can make my own invoices and I can track all of my sales and expenses and I can reconcile every month with ease.
 
QB really does make life easier for both you and your accountant. The Pro version has a lot of extras you probably don't need.
 
BitterGreg said:
What do you mean track everything accounting to a T?
Click to expand...

Pretty self-explanatory.

Ccrew said:
I suggest you learn how to use Quickbooks, because most accountants know it and understand it and you can just ship them your data file.
Yes it has a steeper learning curve but you can grow a lot as a business and never have to buy another program.
Click to expand...

That is part of the reason why I chose it. Just seems like a lot more than I need.

Kamakaz1961 said:
IMO QB Pro is one of the best out there. You can get someone that is a certified QB person that can set up you accounts and expenses. I did and it's been great. I can make my own invoices and I can track all of my sales and expenses and I can reconcile every month with ease.
Click to expand...

All I really need this for is to track what I purchase, what I pay for insurance, what I pay for shop rent, and what I take in from customers. I would also like to be able to save their information. I don't need to tie to my bank account or anything like that. I went through QBP for a few hours and couldn't find out how to do any of the above. I have no reason to print invoices. Either I have the wrong program or I need to do what others said and find someone to train me on it. Thoughts?
 
My wife is a CPA and curse clients who dont use it. Find a local CPA or beter yet a very good book keeper (will be cheaper) and pay to have them teach you a few times. Put it on a lap top you can go to there office they can teach you how to use it on your own machine help you set it up. Then you go home use it for few weeks or month then go back with questions and to learn more advanced reporting after you have few month info in it to look over. If you have a CPA you use for your taxes they may do it or recommend someone who does. Could also look into night course at local university or Community College.

You need to start using it if you are a full time business, even if its a side thing if you are reporting your income you want to track your write offs for your taxes.
 
AustrianOak82 said:
Pretty self-explanatory.



That is part of the reason why I chose it. Just seems like a lot more than I need.



All I really need this for is to track what I purchase, what I pay for insurance, what I pay for shop rent, and what I take in from customers. I would also like to be able to save their information. I don't need to tie to my bank account or anything like that. I went through QBP for a few hours and couldn't find out how to do any of the above. I have no reason to print invoices. Either I have the wrong program or I need to do what others said and find someone to train me on it. Thoughts?
Click to expand...


When it comes to computers, cameras or anything tech....I can tell you that Homer Simpson is smarter than me!! IMO if you do not try to learn QuickBooks Pro (your current system) you are actually hindering your business. As all the posts here say that CPA's and Accountants use this program. QB is made by Intuit. CPA's use their Tax programs and send their reports to the IRS with a program made by Intuit. I don't know what the percentage of market they have, however, I know my CPA uses it as he let me know.

Get someone to teach you. Once you learn, you will be happy. Spending more money for another program and may have the same problems is something that does not make sense.

Good luck on whatever decision you make.
 
trashmanssd said:
My wife is a CPA and curse clients who dont use it. Find a local CPA or beter yet a very good book keeper (will be cheaper) and pay to have them teach you a few times. Put it on a lap top you can go to there office they can teach you how to use it on your own machine help you set it up. Then you go home use it for few weeks or month then go back with questions and to learn more advanced reporting after you have few month info in it to look over. If you have a CPA you use for your taxes they may do it or recommend someone who does. Could also look into night course at local university or Community College.

You need to start using it if you are a full time business, even if its a side thing if you are reporting your income you want to track your write offs for your taxes.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's my thing. I am PT and only do about 6-8 a month. I wasn't sure if this was what I needed to try and learn to use.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 
I use Excel (free) and made up my own spreadsheets to account for everything. It's a learning experience so if time is of the essence it may not work for you. If you do try and use it I suggest getting the book titled "Teach Yourself Visually" by Nancy Muir. My version is the Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Good luck.
 
I was going to suggest Excel too. Your tax person can get your sheet by email and plug in the numbers they need from it. When I had a car audio business all the tax guy wanted at the end of the year was the summary anyway. $ in and $ out to where.
 
AustrianOak82 said:
Pretty self-explanatory.
Click to expand...

The fact that you think it is, shows its not. The first thing to remember is a tax person and a bookkeeper/accountant do not always have the same priorities. Are you tracking this for tax purposes, or knowing the performance of the business? As mentioned, someone that is doing your taxes wants all the information from you to input it and complete the return. Quite a few couldn't care less if it is right or not, as their hands are washed of any issues because you provided them with the info. The bookkeeper "should" be concerned with making sure everything is in the correct spot to ensure your P&L and Balance sheet show the true performance of the business.

Quickbooks has quite a lot of functions, but that doesnt mean you have to use them, and you can even hide quite a few.
 
I use excel. I downloaded a balance template that works pretty well, I just tweaked it to fit my needs and it automatically adds and subtracts my totals for me. I've attached a snapshot of what I made. This is only for my own tracking just so I can see when I have profit or losses each month, you can add more fields and categories to suit what you'd like to log. If you'd like a copy to use just shoot me a pm.

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