Q:

Subject: QB upgrade

Kerry,

 

We have to upgrade QB 2003 to keep payroll support.   Have you looked at 06?  Would you recommend 05 or 06 version?  Seems like I saw a blog but cannot remember what it said.  Thanks,

A:

I’ve only been using the new QB 2006 program in full for a little while.  After getting used to the new style interface that it has, it has been working reliably for me. 

I had lots of problems with the 2005 programs on my main computer; but I’m pretty sure those were due to conflicts with one or more of the several other versions of QB that I have installed on my main computer in order to be able to work with client files from older programs.  I never had those kinds of problems on any of the other computers where I installed the 2005 programs, but didn’t have a lot of earlier versions also installed.

Since Intuit officially abandons their programs every three years, it would be best for you to go ahead and get the 2006 program so that you will have another full three years before you are forced to upgrade again.

I will be posting comments and advice on working with the 2006 programs on my main website.

Good luck.  I hope this helps.

Kerry

 

Since we do require all of our business clients to have their info properly entered into any version of QuickBooks, I try to keep my info on how best to use QuickBooks as current as possible.  I have set up a special page with just my comments on the differences in the QuickBooks 2006 programs from earlier versions.

For users of Apple Macintosh computers, it seems that the powers that be at Intuit still don’t have any interest in having you use their QuickBooks programs.  Once again, the bundle of different versions of the 2006 program that we QuickBooks Pro Advisors were sent did not include a copy of the Mac version, while it did include several copies of the lame Simple Start program and the Point of Sale, which few people use, as well as a coupon for the Online program, which I have used for a client and still feel is vastly inferior to the desktop programs. As I have said on several occasions, Intuit could at least allow us to request a Mac program to help our clients that use that platform if they don’t want to automatically send it in the annual software update package.   

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From Ohio CPA Dana Stahl:

Subject: Tax reform panel

 

Mr Guru – I spent this morning reviewing & organizing some of my files.  I came across a comment from your blog dated 1/10/05 concerning the President’s Tax Reform Panel.  Your comments were quite prophetic, indeed, as the Panel’s final product & recommendations (at least as I understand it) are nothing more than tinkering with the tax code around the edges, but no “real” reform.  That would involve scrapping the whole damned mess & starting over.  So, your skepticism was well-founded on how the Panel would not really change anything.

 

Dana Stahl, CPA

Sandusky, OH

My Reply:

Dana:

As I constantly have to remind people who get their hopes up each time a tax reform agenda is announced, we’ve been down this road countless times, with the same results.  A tax code as insanely packaged as we have can’t be fixed patchwork style without completely removing it and starting from scratch with something new.  We just continue to end up with different variations of Frankenstein monsters.

Kerry

 

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