Customer Reviews

Peachtree Complete Accounting 2006

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been around my share of software in my time, both on Mac and PCs. But I have never, ever experienced such a user-UNFRIENDLY bit of software as Peachtree Complete Accounting. Navigation is not at all straightforward, actually there is nothing about Peachtree that is remotely straighforward! Even attempting to register the product was a nightmare.

I was setting this up for the company I work for and it began to look like it was going to take a year just to enter all of the banking and vendor information. And unfortunately, Peachtree considers bills such as utilities, as a vendor, so you are forced to enter meaningless infomation such as Net Terms and SHIPPING just to be able to key in your electric bill.

I could go on and on about how horrible this software is, but...

While struggling with this, I decided to order Quickbooks Pro and use them both so I could compare. Hands down, Quickbooks was just so much better in every respect.

Now, I'm sure there are some die hards out there who just can't say enough about how good this product is, but trust me, if you aren't a CPA and you don't have the time to mess around with a poorly designed software package, just skip Peachtree, it's not worth the aggravation.

This program is very inflexible and rigid. On board Help files are very limited and I've never dealt with another company who seems to care less about supporting their product as you can tell just by trying to find out where to write or call. Unless you're paying the bucks for a support plan, you're toast. However, given the price of the software, which is expensive, you'd think some consideration would be given to users. If I ran my company the same way Peachtree support is managed, I'd be bankrupt.

We've been using Peachtree for some time, but this will probably be the final year. For a relatively new release the large number of items in the Sage Knowledgebase indicates some serious issues with this release.

My notes:
Multi-user capacity is now down to a maximum of 5 users. Makes running an accounting department difficult. You will most likely have to have users share user names and passwords. Bye bye to any audit trail. If you consider your business larger than a small company - buy some other software.

Installation is a pain and may the gods help you if you make a mistake. Data path errors can only be corrected by removing then reinstalling the software. Come on Sage. You have got to be kidding me here.
Be aware that your machines will need version 2 of the dot net framework so install that and it's updates before you tackle Peachtree install.

You can not change Peachtree users while anyone else is in the system. You need exclusive access apparently. Of course, since you can only have 5 users disruption can only be minimal.

Version 2008 is significantly slower than previous versions.

In a multiuser environment installation of updates and tax updates can change your shared data. Always backup your company(ies) first.

Version 2008 interface is horrible. I used to think the 2005 version bad, but would love to have it back know.

If you need the Tax Service, be aware that you will be forced into upgrading Peachtree every 2-3 years.

I couldn't disagree more with the reviews bashing this software. I've worked with numerous accounting software packages and this is my favorite. My opinion is Quickbooks is a MUCH more difficult to use, and not at all intuitive. Do not be persuaded by these horrible reviews. Peachtree is a stable, complete and well respected software package.

With any software there is a learning curve. Quickbooks, because of it's wide following, tries to be everything to everybody. It is overly complex, and not easy to learn. Peachtree focuses on small business, virtually exclusively. It doesn't make accounting overly complex like Quickbooks. The reality is, you must have SOME accounting knowledge to use either product effectively. While Quickbooks might "seem" easier to the untrained, the reality is, if you're untrained, the end product will be garbage. Just because it's easy, doesn't mean it's right.

If you learn this product, not only will you be able to handle your accounting, it will be right. Just because the masses are heading to Quickbooks, doesn't make it better..... Think for yourself. This IS excellent software.

Good luck....

My client had me upgrade them from version 2004 to 2007. 2007 worked the first time, then failed to run. 2007 also locked us out of the old version with a looping error message that required Task Master to kill. Sage technical support was unresponsive. I uninstalled 2007 and then 2004 worked fine. The client is considering conversion to another accounting program.

This software is a professional level tool for persons educated and trained as accountants. Not for novices or small business owners trying to do their own accounting work.

Peachtree is awesome. I've used it for years!! I just tried quickbooks pro 2008...and I hate it. I can't imagine why anyone would use it over Peachtree...it must be the promotion, because it's certainly not the product. I'm staying with Peachtree Complete!!

Peachtree is a proven product with a long track record. I have used them for years and upgrade every two years or so. But, as the ownership has changed, their focus on revenue means that customer service is short changed. You will never get through to customer service. If you call, you will be put on interminable hold. They will never return an email and there is no mechanism to leave a return phone number. So, if you have problems, you are on your own.

I've used Quickbooks and Peachtree. Peachtree is usually less expensive. But that is not important. What is important is that Peachtree was designed correctly from the ground up. If you do some research and find out about the design of Quickbooks, you will discover that it was designed and set up incorrectly. It uses one big gigantic database for all entries in all years. This is a huge mistake for an accounting system unless you are a very small company indeed. I can't speak to the top-of-the-line enterprise programs. But the consumer level Peachtree is a REAL accounting program which evolved from highly sophisticated (and very, very expensive) accounting programs in the DOS era, whereas Quickbooks can be thought of as an accounting program that grew out of a check-balancing personal finance program. Quickbooks can't be ignored since it is so popular. But Peachtree is a bargain since it is a much better program with more features for the money.