I have used QuickBooks for almost 16 years and would not change to any other accounts package. Because it is windows based it is very easy to use. I am based in a university setting and we have six business units on campus. It is very important we can view our financial reports for individual units or as one overall report for the company. QuickBooks allows us to create reports to suit the reporting structures within our company. These reports are instant. The facility to export these reports to excel is crucial when preparing weekly and monthly reports for the board of directors. We now e-mail our remittance advices as it is more cost effective. You can also generate a report and by customising the report you can compare it to prior year figures, showing variances in an instant. Budgeted figures may also be input.  Auditors can take an accountant copy to work on which is beneficial to both the auditors and the user.

Invoices are easy to create and look professional. QuickBooks allows me to import our own logo into the invoice template. Branding is a large part of our marketing campaign on campus and QuickBooks allows the accounts department to contribute to this by the ability to customise the template. I like the fact when I e-mail invoices they are in PDF format. The reports generated for Customers and Suppliers are very informative, allowing the user to drill down into any figure for further detail. The payment date on customer invoices allows me to see when a customer has paid and similarly the pay bills function for suppliers allows me to see unpaid invoices.

I process a lot of journals on a weekly and monthly basis. I find it very beneficial that a journal can be memorised so that you don’t have to set up the reoccurring journal every time you want to post it. This saves a lot of time and ensures there is consistency with a journal posting. One of the main features for me on QuickBooks is the ease at which you can go between reports already opened in different windows. I am constantly going from one report to another and because I can leave all reports open at the one time, saves me time. The facility to close off the period is very important as it prevents historical data being changed. Only the administrator has the authority to do this.

QuickBooks is very easy to use and very versatile. For non-accounts personnel, the naming of the reports is easy to understand and not in ‘accounting terminology’. It is very easy to correct a mistake. The fact there is support available to help with any query is invaluable. There is also a help function in QuickBooks should you wish to try and figure out your query first.

I highly recommend QuickBooks and would welcome any questions should anyone like to find out more information.

Kind regards,

Breda Geraghty

Office & Accounts Manager
NUIG Students’ Union Commercial Service Ltd