Customer Reviews

QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition 2008 [OLD VERSION]

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Yes, the non-profit version is better than the standard version. But how much better? I haven't decided. The terminology is still all wrong. Donors have to be labeled as "customers." You can't assign people to multiple categories. For example, if you have a vendor who also donates to the organization (very common in the non-profit world), you cannot list them in both categories under the same name. So you have list them in one category as "Jane Doe" and in the other category as "J. Doe" or "Jane S. Doe" or "Jane Doe 1." The process for accepting donations and applying them to a particular donor is far too involved. As far as I can tell, you have to make an invoice, then "receive payment" from them, then show that the payment has been deposited (and yes, you have to open up three different windows and put in the info three different times to accomplish this). That's way too many steps to go through for every single donation! I'm very tech savy and can intuitively figure out most programs (and I know Quickbooks, I've been using it in this business for the last 3 years). But for this version, I've ordered a help book. I hope it will help me address most of these issues (the program doesn't come with any manuals, and the in-program help section is 90% useless). I sense that this program should be able to do all the things it promises - like tracking donors and helping with thank you letters - but I haven't been able to use these options in a practicle way yet...

QuickBooks, at least in my short experience, is not what it pretends to be. The idea in any business (whether it is for profit or non-profit) is to get the job done in the least amount of time possible correctly. From several perspectives, this application fails.

1. Productivity. I am a keyboard person, meaning I can type very fast, and I prefer to use the keyboard whenever possible to get the job done quickly. QuickBooks is not for the "let's get this job done ASAP correctly" person. There are too many useless fields that you have to tab through. There are too many holes you have to jump through. Before using it, I was told it would be very intuitive. Oh really? It may be, but it sure as hell isn't for someone who doesn't have much time. Another application I used could largely get you from A to Z without having to lift a finger, and all pertinent information was in one place. With QuickBooks, you go from one window to another to access basic information.

2. Checks. After writing checks, there is no way to print out a report to see if all information was covered correctly. You have to press your face against the monitor to make sure all numbers were entered correctly. The application I spoke of in the earlier paragraph could print out a report, and I could check off each piece of information to verify that all entered information appeared right. Don't give me the "Well, make sure you enter it correctly to begin with" line. You often pick up on mistakes after it's off the computer screen and on paper.

3. Templates. I don't know what the additional, community templates are like, but the standard templates are pretty unprofessional. They are bleak, and offer very little.

4. When you need information quickly, don't expect QuickBooks to be of help. If customer calls with very little information, I should be able to use that information to look up an order. Unfortunately, it appears that I can't use a customer's PO number to find an order. You can ask the customer who received an invoice for the invoice number, but customers frequently do not have invoice numbers (for whatever reason that may be). Give me the ability to work with as little as possible, quickly.

5. It's bloated. There's too much on one screen you won't need. I should be able to access just what I need when I need it. If there's something else I need at a later point, I can access it then.

6. A client cannot be a customer and vendor at the same time. Why?! That's bizarre, but whatever. If Max Computers sells us XYZ, and we sell it ABC, it should be a vendor and a customer! Forget about trying to add another business as a customer and vendor. If you try to, you will specifically be told to alter the name of one of them so that the system won't consider them one. In other words, if you want Max Computers as a vendor and customer, you have to enter Max Computers as the customer and Max Computers, Inc as the vendor. It's an annoyance. There are lots of other annoyances with QuickBooks.

There is more, but whatever you do, get a trial period or something to test it out for yourself. Don't just jump into buying it. Trying it out for free won't hurt you, but making a rash decision can and will!

If you are looking for software that has good dynamic reporting for your donors this is NOT it. I was able to get the same reports out of Quicken for my donors. I have to manually change each donors name to appear on the top of their report. When you have over 100 donors and need to provide them frequent donation reports, this is not efficient. I reported this to Intuit. Maybe they'll improve this feature in the future.

I am the head of a small non-profit with one product, a DVD which came out in September. My accountant and I sat down with QuickBooks for non-profit, prepared to set up system that would work for our situation. She is an advisor for Intuit. Three hours later, we still couldn't make it run. The only NOnprofit feature is the title. It is completely based on an industrial model of inventory, labor, etc. I finally returned it and got a refund, but that didn't include what I paid the accountant (who gave me a break, but had to be paid for her time.)

I've been using QuickBooks nonprofit for the last year and I've got to say it is a pretty poor program overall. There are some mind-numbingly stupid things about it that make me want to rip my hair out.

First off, IT DOES NOT PRINT USEFUL DONOR RECEIPTS/GIVING SUMMARIES. There is simply no way to create an easy to use, printable donor statement that includes a mailing address and can be used in a windowed envelope. To achieve that, you will need to purchase a third party mail-merge program from "beyondtheledgers" (google it). For a $300+ piece of software SUPPOSEDLY designed for nonprofits, this is UNACCEPTABLE.

Other problems include the oh so 1990s tabbed fields. As other reviewers have noted, using this program will require constant switching between mouse and keyboard as tabbing through useless fields takes a ton of time. Even worse is that the program cannot be customized to get rid of superfluous elements or fields. You cannot permanently remove fields that you will never need, nor is there a way to create a solid set of defaults that will auto-enter the majority of your information. Manual, old school data entry is what you can expect from QB nonprofit.

This is a piece of software that is frustrating to use, is missing key, essential functions for nonprofits, and that is dated to the extreme. If you handle a large number of donations for a church or other entity, getting good giving summaries for your donors is a nightmare. I've used three different software programs for tracking donations (Church Windows, Membership Plus and QuickBooks nonprofit) and QB is the only one missing the function to print giving summaries. Also, it is the most expensive by about 3x.

If you're looking for a full suite of financial tools for a non-profit, QBs does offer a pretty comprehensive set. However, it is cumbersome to use, cannot be modified to suite user preferences, and cannot print meaningful giving summaries. Skip it unless you absolutely have to have the more detailed tools it provides. If all you do is track donations, this program is a waste of good money.

I have used Quickbooks Pro for a few years, but am not a heavy user. While I am still learning all the details of Quickbooks Nonprofit, it sure looks like a standard Quickbooks product with a different name. How this specifically helps a non-profit so far escapes me.

I am very disappointed with this product. It is not easy to use. The online banking feature, which is supposed to be a huge timesaver is horribly cumbersome. Sometime in the last month something changed with either my bank or quickbook and now it doesn't work. If you need any help, it requires $79 to get someone from India to sell you a maintenance plan.

I would rather find an excel template to create income statement and balance sheets than this bloated, cumbersome, unproductive waste of time.

Very difficult to use. It is recommend that you sign up to take a class in order to use this program. If I had know it would be so difficult to use I wouldn't have made this purchase. It should come with a book or helps without the extra expense of a class.

I feel the software is very confusing for a beginner, or one that has never used this type of software before. I think once I find out how to properly input info into the software, It will be awsome.

SO FAR THE PROGRAM IS WORKING WELL.
HAS USED THIS PRODUCT BEFORE & WOULD RECOMMEND IT MOST HIGHLY.