Customer Reviews

Quickbooks(R) 2003: The Official Guide

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I spent a long time in a bookstore reading through books on Quickbooks when I first installed the software. I knew in 1 minute this was the book I had to buy (from Amazon, it was cheaper than at the store).

Anyone counting on the other books is struggling harder with Quickbooks than those of us who were smart enough to buy this book. Kathy Ivens writes as if she knows you, and knows exactly the questions you have.

Her hints and tips about setting up the software are pure genius. She explains the bookkeeping theories behind every suggestion she makes.

This book is replete with real-life bookkeeping tasks and the best way to perform them - and why you should perform them that way. When she gives choices about doing transactions, she explains exactly what the ramifications are of each choice - so you can make decisions based on your own business, and your own bookkeeping needs.

This is a brilliant example of how to write a book about using software.

As a CPA and consultant, this is the book I tell my clients to buy. The author doesn't hesitate to discuss the inconsistencies and missing ingredients of the software, but then she provides some astonishing and useful workarounds. This book is more than a guide for using this software, it's a great reference for small business bookkeeping.

I looked this book over trying to find out:

1)How to apply paymentint with and deal with a non-intuit merchant account (to take credit cards).

No help

2) I tried to learn more about customer:jobs and how to apply a single payment from a customer across more than one job.

No help.

This book handles all the things that one can readily get from the manual that comes with quickbooks, but in a more hand-holding way. That's nice, but I'd like a bit more. The items above should be pretty common problems but they are ignored in this text.

If you are doing more than simple intro things, this book comes up short.

The best thing about this book is all the great information that isn't available from QuickBooks -either the help files or the support site. Miss Ivens shows you how to work around the QuickBooks limitations, how to do things the help files say aren't supported in Quickbooks, and even gives realworld examples to make it easy to do the same things on your own books.

Her writing is clear as crystal and very conversational, so it's a pleasure to read the book. My accountant loved the fact that she explained what QuickBooks is doing in the background with the General Ledger when you create transactions. He went out and bought himself a copy, and is now recommending it to all his clients.

This book, filled with great tricks to get more out of Quickbooks, is also a good basic primer on understanding bookkeeping. This is the only book you need if you're running a business with Quickbooks - you can throw away the books that came with the software.

This book lacks the detail that I expect for a companion book to the manuals. It is best described as an alternative to the bundled manuals but in no way superior.

As a new business owner, I needed a financial software to handle all my accounting. Quickbooks and this book was the answer for me. The book is easily organized, with an appendix and topical listing and explains enough to me to accomplish the task at hand. While other reviewers find this book limited in detail, as a new business owner, this book worked wonders for me.

The time that you will save using the shortcuts in the book will pay for the cost of this tome many times over. Yes, much of the basics in here are covered adequately in the manual but the truth is that even one time-saving idea from this text can easily justify its purchase.

For the power user the are many notes on how to get more from your quickbooks pro. Saving the cost and pain of migration to a more advanced package also makes this text worth while.

There are separate sections for Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Payroll. These sections will walk the novice through account set up and statement creation. The Tips, Cautions, and Notes will insure that you will not create conflicts in your books that will befuddle your accountant and cause your audit expenses to rise. Worth the time and effort to read if you use this software package.

There are a few tips and shortcuts in the book that are handy but don't look to it to help you figure out how to use Quickbooks to customize your business. There are few examples of how the various features can actually be used and, most dismaying of all, no analysis of how the things you're instructed to do actually affect your accounts.

This book rates with the likes of Adobe's manuals which are famous for talking about features but not giving you "How to" instructions. (At least it doesn't keep referring you to another page!)
Typical of this level of instruction writing are statements such as-"Use the Write Checks window". There is no such window normally visable. You have to go to - Banking -then choose Cheques. This is a minor example but you get the idea. The book is not "Task Orientated". Yes, there are some step by step instructions, but most of the instructions are in paragraph form and presume you know how to reach the "Write Checks window".
It has a great deal of information and could be useful if you are an intuitive person when it comes to computer programs.

A great guide. I would buy from seller again. The book is in great shape and I received it in a timely manner.