7 Reasons Why QuickBooks Is Not for You

For most small-to-medium sized businesses, QuickBooks has long been a software of choice. With QuickBooks, however, problems arise when users want to expedite their workflow (speed, report customization, data import/export, etc.), or the business grows and more is expected by stakeholders (internal control, number of simultaneous users, integration with 3^rd party tools, etc.). The beefed-up version called QuickBooks Enterprise Edition attempts to address these concerns but is really just a larger program with more master record capacity yet with the same features as QuickBooks Pro/Premier.

For rapidly growing QuickBooks-based businesses, here are the top 7 reasons why you may want to consider a more scalable ERP solution such as Microsoft Dynamics GP.

1. Limited Database Size

QuickBooks' performance decreases as the size of the company file increases. Performance may be hindered with files that are larger than 500 MB in Pro or Premier; more than 1.5 GB in QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions; more than seven years of transaction history.

2. Limitations in Ability to Customize Reports

There are many canned reports in QuickBooks but it is impossible to create a completely customized report because there is no access to non-default fields.

3. Lack of Data Migration Options

• Import options are limited to master records for most versions (the Accountant edition is one of two versions that can import transactions).
• Export options include Excel but the exported format is inconvenient to work with when re-importing the data to another system (there are many hidden columns and header/detail line combinations).

4. Insufficient System of Checks and Balances and Lack of Internal Control

• It is easy to accidentally delete transactions in QuickBooks, and the only way to see if a transaction has been deleted is in the Audit Trail Report.
• Audit Trail Report – somewhat difficult to establish parameters and read

5. Limited Number of Users

QuickBooks Enterprise can accommodate up to 30 simultaneous users. QuickBooks Pro and Premier Editions are best suited for businesses with 1-4 users.

6. Account String Limitations

The account string is limited to one segment, maximum 7 digits long. This is a severe drawback and disables the account string from being used to categorize transactions by department or other criteria.

7. Not Native SQL-Based

• QuickBooks is not always compatible with SQL based 3^rd party tools (e.g. POS systems, BI systems)
• A 3^rd party translator software (e.g. Open Sync) is required to communicate with the SQL Server
• The only 3^rd party tools which integrate smoothly are proprietary ISVs available in Quickbooks Marketplace

If you experience some or all of these pain points, it’s probably time to move up to a true ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution. ERPs offer massive data capacity, hundreds of users, SQL compatibility, numerous data import/export options and highly customizable reporting options. We recommend making the move to a system such as Microsoft Dynamics GP, a widely used application that can easily be tailored to suit almost any type of business.

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Written by:
Alex Smyth
Senior Consultant