
Best Desktop Accounting Software
Pros
Ease of use and it allows you to add multiple businesses or personal accounts.
The price is what it should be for accounting software. Excellent Support, I used the support two times and was very impressed with the customer service.
Cons
No way that I know of to recover the password vault.
quicken is inexpensive but has errors
I liked the price and the short learning curve to get up and running. I liked the flexible reporting available. There was a lot of trouble importing transactions which is why I stopped using it. It wouldn't import automatically and I had to download from the bank and Paypal and then upload.
Pros
I liked the price and the short learning curve to get up and running. I liked the flexible reporting available.
Cons
There was a lot of trouble importing transactions which is why I stopped using it. It wouldn't import automatically and I had to download from the bank and Paypal and then upload.
Serious improvement is only possible with serious measurement
These days we all have multiple accounts: checking, savings, investing, real estate, retirement, etc. All these accounts are necessary in today's world, however, keeping track of them all is a serious problem. Quicken is a tool that will bring all of these accounts into a single dashboard and help you stay on top of all the changes. While Quicken is an older piece of software and will probably never see a full rewrite to make it more modern, it is the only option for serious personal finance and it works well enough to get the job done.
Pros
It allows me to stay on top of my finances by downloading transactions from all my accounts into a single dashboard. It allows me to answer any question I have about my finances.
Cons
It is slow! Simple tasks like reconciling an account can be aggravating as the hourglass icon comes up way more often then it should for a simple task. I have run this on a modern Intel Core i7 processor and it is still a dog. You definitely need to be patient with this software.
have to hold your nose to deal with thieving Intuit (maker of quicken)
it sucks; see the cons.
Pros
works most of the time but not always as upgrades have frequently broke my configured reports
Cons
they changed to a subscription service a couple years ago and force you to pay every year when I (and millions of other users) were perfectly content with the software that we already paid them for. While I hated that they were extorting a fee from me I almost got taken by them again when I went to downgrade my service to the lowest level. Their order form online starts the subscription the day you do the downgrade rather than starting it after my existing, already paid, subscription ends (which results in them stealing another month of fees from me). I hate them but as my title suggests; I put up with them because there is no other product that does what it does as well.
Mostly good/ some annoyances
Pros
Links your bank account.
Does recurring invoices
Can file your taxes
Payroll
Can set up automatic payment for customers.
Cons
Can link two recurring invoices for a customer. Ex. The regular monthly invoice then when the semi annual invoice needs to be billed it doesn’t link so I have to print two invoices. Also, when I print all the invoices it doesn’t print each person’s invoice right after the other. So I end up searching for that second invoice. It’s a mess. It sounds so confusing to read what I wrote. But basically sometimes I end up sending two separate envelopes on the same month for one customer because when it needs to be printed it doesn’t organize then invoices per customer.
Is there anything out there other than Quicken?????
If I could give less than 1 star I would! I have been a huge supporter of Quicken in the past. I encouraged my kids and clients and anyone that would listen to use Quicken. Sorry!
I have now gone to using my online banking bill pay through my bank which is free!
Pros
This used to be a great product! I have used it since 1993 to track my business finances and investments. It really helps at tax time.
Cons
Support is worse than non-existent. It is March 8th and I have been trying to get support since the first week in January. I was on the phone with a rep for 2 hours trying to get bill pay to work. I was told to hang on I need to ask my manager about that and then hung up on. I tried chatting and was told that you cannot use chat for online bill pay. Called the support number and was told that there is a special number for online bill pay. I called that number and was told by the rep that I needed to go to quickenbillpay.com but he would stay on the line and would call me back if I got disconnected. That was a week ago. Still havent gotten at call. Went through the insutructions on the quickenbillpay.com website to set up a new account and it indicated it would take 2 -3 days to set up an account and I would receive 2 transactions on my bank statement from them. Check my statement and then come back and enter those figures to confirm I own the account. That was 6 days ago and still no transactions. Yesterday I received an email that I must send in 1. My drivers License. 2. My Social Security Card. 3. my most recent utility bill from water, gas, or electric company only. 4. A voided check from each account I want to use.
Sounds like an internet scam to me. I called quicken and explained I wasn't comfortable sending all of this over the internet and by the way I have been paying for your services for 25 years and now you want all of this info. Their response is quicken was sold and that they are a new company and they have to have the info or no bill pay services! No wonder they bill pay services are now included in the Premier package. No one can use it! The bad part is I have all of my payments for cars, houses, utilities, credit cards set up for auto pay using quicken bill pay. Now I have to find another way to get them paid because it has taken 2 months and I still am not set up for bill pay. By the way they don't tell you this is what happens when you download Quicken 2018. Beware!
Limited functionality but Ease of Use
I found that the financial planning tools are quite helpful and it is also helpful that the Quicken software can provide "Reminders" for certain transactions. Obviously you would have to remember to set these Reminders up in the Software itself initially, but once set-up this is very helpful going forward.
Pros
The product is capable of showing a very basic overview of a client's activity. I thought this would work well for clients that do not have a ton of different account transactions to post throughout a period and also for clients that do not use a bunch of different accounts (This gets to be messy when there are too many accounts) I also think the software is beneficial to help with budgeting a being able to get a daily look at a client's activity.
Cons
I did not like the fact that you can not post Journal Entries to move amounts between different accounts. When adjusting a client's Books this is very necessary to be able to record JEs to move around different amounts within the Balance Sheet and Income Statement. Another Con was that the software is difficult to upload and/or transfer into QuickBooks if you are trying to convert between the two.
Great integration with my various accounts and bookkeeping software
I love this. As a small business owner that has only 6 employees, but jobs from cost to cost, it's great to have such a versatile financial package that can be edited across clients and consultants.
Pros
This integrates with just about everything. Whether it's importing from office or connecting to online XML streams, Quicken is able to pull data intuitively and accurately.
Cons
It can be overly complicated. I think the same channels that provide wise ranging data integration also can create a confusing network of options, especially when there are multiple users in one file.
Good but not great
Pros
Fairly simple to use and has lots of features. I really like that I can make invoices as well. The reporting is well featured and intuitive.
Cons
The thing I don't like is that I've been with their tech support a few times. They are terrifically slow. For example, I'll chat with them online and literally spend 3 hours at a time and get no where. Eventually I have to go because I have other things to do. Then a few weeks later another 3 hours.
In the end they blame it on a corrupted file. They refused to help me with that.
Fundamental but lacking
I was so excited to use this software. It completely ties to our financial reporting in Quicken and therefore is very appealing to use. The issue is in the actual function of the rental piece. It does not allow easy adjustment to tenant accounts for issues. Would be good for a FEW rentals. It does not allow tracking of notes regarding tenants or tracking of service needed. I also had hoped it had a function that could allow customers to make payments thru it.
Pros
Ties to financial. Allows entry of all tenant information for contact and lease terms.
Cons
Would be better if the tenant was also then listed as a payee so you would not get two different entries for one tenant when you do an entry in the checkbook vs running it thru the rental program which only allows for entry of rents. You cannot enter a payment for garbage for example. Any entry causes the rent due date to advance so you will be entering rent on 11/5/2016 for example and the default will come up 2/2017 for example.
Long Time User of Quicken for Home and Business
Pros
Easy for a non-accountant to keep precise records
Tracks stock and mutual fund transactions and easily exports information to Turbotax
Easy to download credit card transactions
Quicken for Home and Business lets the consultant prepare client invoices
Cons
Sometimes it will not download stock prices accurately
Annual updates often provide no additional useful features
Cannot alter format of invoices in Quicken for Home and Business
Quicken Deluxe to keep track of your income, Investments, Expenses, Debts and Loans
Overall value of the software is very good, provided you keep your computer equipment up to date. Quickens new feature allows tracking by cell phone, which is a great feature when you are travelling and cannot sit at your home computer
Pros
Accurate tracking of activities in your bank account and credit cards, Investment status and loan balances
Cons
Phone support was phased out and for an old timer who cannot type fast, asking questions is time consuming and requires a lot of patience
Great software for the businessman that owns a few houses for rent.
Pros
It is very easy to use and keeps track of each individual home...the income and the expenses. It also allows tracking expenses by category, and you can set these up for custom tracking.
Cons
It doesn't handle deposits very well. And I have never figured out how to change the dates that the rent covers. For example, if someone moves in during the middle of a month, it doesn't handle that well.
Great Product
The customer service is outstanding!
Pros
I love the convenience of using Quicken. I've used it both personally and professionally in the past and it is easy to download, implement, and update as needed.
Cons
I did not like how sometimes, it crashed a few times while I was in the middle of entering very important information. It didn't happen a lot, but when it did; it caused a small inconvenience for me.
Biller integration needs work
Pros
Bank integration is great. I can handle all my finances through one interface. Paying bills is dead simple.
Cons
Multiple bills from the same biller (like 2x Chase credit cards) breaks. Once I turned on the feature to pull bills from my billers I've had bill reminders disappear, so I have to pay much closer attention than I should have to given that this is what I have Quicken for.
Quicken is useful for corporate and personal finance
Pros
I find Quicken useful in several different settings, including corporate and personal finance. I most like that Quicken gives me an at-a-glance look at how we're doing and what we need to work on as an organization.
Cons
I least like that to get these at-a-glance reports, there's a lot of setup involved.
Quicken for Business
They have been good about customer service over the phone.
Pros
I like the ease of the software and printing profit and loss statements at the touch of my fingers.
Cons
Monthly fee for cloud based. Would like to be able to use the software for less money. It used to be $10 per month and now it is $25.
Quicken Pros and Cons
Quicken should offer a basic version that can be used for years with out upgrades for people who do not want to pay their bills online through Quicken.
Pros
I use Quicken as a checking register, and to run reports to see my spending habits. It works great in this capacity.
You can also use it to pay bills online, however, I do not use this feature, due to having to upgrade the software every year.
Cons
Quicken forces you to upgrade their software to continue using the pay bills online feature. If you do not upgrade, they cut off the bill paying feature.
The Quicken program that I am using is over 5 years old, so it crashes periodically. I will probably have to upgrade this soon.
Quicken is a user-friendly and easy to use
Pros
Easy to setup and get started; data entry is easy as well; downloading/importing transactions from a financial institution is easy; default reports give you an idea of where you are spending your money; budgeting is informative; easy to run a business including accounts receivable; easy to categorize expenses and attach a document (image or PDF of a receipt)
Cons
The cost of this product can become annoying; once users get used to it though, people find it hard to change; if users can adapt to change easily and want to save some money, there are some online or open-source finance applications that are just as good

Don't bother
Pros
It is relatively cheap, if you can find it on sale, and has a few good features for property managers including the ability to automatically send invoices. You also get all the typical features of Quicken, like the ability to track your personal finances, connect all your banks and investment accounts, download statements, etc. I've been using Quicken for years and years and it's definitely the most important program I own and need and I hate pretty much everything about it.
Cons
Quicken, by now, is the most bloated piece of software in the history of the world. There are dialogs and sections of this app that were likely last touched when Reagan was present. It's a crazy amalgamation of features added over time. When using the app, doing even the most basic tasks kicks off a round of screen refreshes, flashes and such. No clue why it does that, but the whole thing desperately needs an overhaul.
Quicken - Review
I wish that the automatic download would work with my Banking Institution like it used to.
Pros
The fact that I was finally able to actually balance my check book without any issues for the first time when I purchased the product in 1993 and have been using it ever since. I also like the fact that it has made tax time less cumbersome by being able to print categories with totals.
Cons
For the past three years, the automatic download feature does not work directly with my banking institution so the downloads involves several steps to actually get the information into the product.
Quicken Desktop Software
Pros
Software allows for multiple company use. Download bank transactions with ease. Multiple reporting options.
Cons
Not user friendly with multiple companies being open. Takes time to download transactions but may be on banks end.
Longtime user of Quicken
Poweful accounting software with a very strong reputation.
Pros
Quicken has been around for a very long time and stands as a reputable data/budgeting software. it has great ability to output onto various formats which I like
Cons
Not easy to use, and can be somewhat proprietary. I find the user interface not as seamless as I would like however since I've been using it for so long, I've gotten accustomed to its user design
Quicken is a great tool to keep track of my finances!
Pros
I use Quicken both for personal use, and as part of our budget for a grant that I work on. Quicken really helps me to see how much cashflow I have coming in, what my monthly expenditures are, and what's left over. The analytical tools help me look at how I can improve for the next month, and where our team at work can continue to save money as we move forward with our projects.
Cons
Sometimes Quicken takes a while to load for some reason, although this could be a computer issue rather than an issue with the software.
Good for tracking spending and creating budgets
Pros
This software helps me to keep track of my finances and make plans for the future. I like the graphs that allow me to visualize my income streams and speanding habits.
Cons
Creating new categories to track spending can be tedious at times. It often categorizes some of my most common transactions and I have to reassign the category.
That software allows you to back up in the cloud and your computer. It has all the special effects at Quickbooks.