online quickbooks...

Started by JimR24 • 14 replies • 2231 views

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JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Hey everybody - we are considering moving the books for our condominium to Online Quickbooks, and are wondering if any of you have had any experience with this transition. We currently are keeping all our accounting records with Quickbooks.

What do you think?

oljim, in texas

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JimR24 on 09/08/2016 4:24 AM
Hey everybody - we are considering moving the books for our condominium to Online Quickbooks, and are wondering if any of you have had any experience with this transition. We currently are keeping all our accounting records with Quickbooks.

What do you think?

oljim, in texas

Just bumping this message back up to confirm that no one here has made the transition to Online Quickbooks.

Thanks!

oljim, in Texas

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046

Posted:

We use quickbooks, I'm curious what advantages or disadvantages you see with either version.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DouglasK1 on 09/10/2016 3:25 PM
We use quickbooks, I'm curious what advantages or disadvantages you see with either version.

Right now, we are seeing possible Online Quickbooks advantages to our Association for:

- more immediate access to our income and expenses by Board members
- we are required to adhere to GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) and we've had some issues with this....(caused by our bookkeeper not have the necessary training)
- better access for CPA oversight to our books
- data would be stored in the Intuit cloud, making backups more systematic
- and, the most current version of Quickbooks would be used at all times

We haven't made the decision yet; however, we are seeing some possible advantages - and we are wondering if others have considered this too. And if they have, what was their experience?

Jeff, what do you think?

Thanks!

oljim, in texas

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Ooops sorry bout that...i meant to address my last sentence to Douglas - my bad.

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

PitA
Posts: 1,416

Posted:

Unless you have an option to work 'offline' and synchronize later (after the ISP returns online) I believe that online is problematic at best.

Either way, the 'book-keeper' (whether also treasurer or not) needs to be knowledgeable about the software.

If they are not, they should be trained; if unwilling they should be replaced.

else

CHAOTIC books

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By PitA on 09/11/2016 1:04 PM
Unless you have an option to work 'offline' and synchronize later (after the ISP returns online) I believe that online is problematic at best.

Either way, the 'book-keeper' (whether also treasurer or not) needs to be knowledgeable about the software.

If they are not, they should be trained; if unwilling they should be replaced.

else

CHAOTIC books

Good thinking about the isp going offline. I have gone thru two separate 30 day free account testings and so far, the isp being down hasn't been a problem. Course now, we all realize that all isp's are down at some point or the other; however, it's MUCH better than it used to be in the old days...lol...

Regarding the bookkeeper being trained enough to do the job, we would be hiring a certified Online Quickbooks specialist to help. This specialist is also a CPA - so we will be depending on them to help us convert to GAAP (generally accepted account principles) accounting. Current Texas state law requires compliance with GAAP for all Texas condominiums. Also, we have our bookkeeper already committed to being willing to kick the competency notch up a tad. She is willing and we are hopeful that she's up to the task.

Interesting stuff...huh?

oljim, in texas

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JimR24 on 09/10/2016 4:29 PM

Posted By DouglasK1 on 09/10/2016 3:25 PM
Right now, we are seeing possible Online Quickbooks advantages to our Association for:
- more immediate access to our income and expenses by Board members
- we are required to adhere to GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) and we've had some issues with this....(caused by our bookkeeper not have the necessary training)
- better access for CPA oversight to our books
- data would be stored in the Intuit cloud, making backups more systematic
- and, the most current version of Quickbooks would be used at all times

These seem like some good reasons to consider it, especially the data backup issue. On minus side, you have to pay perpetually and prices could be increased at any time.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DouglasK1 on 09/11/2016 1:30 PM

Posted By JimR24 on 09/10/2016 4:29 PM

These seem like some good reasons to consider it, especially the data backup issue. On minus side, you have to pay perpetually and prices could be increased at any time.

Yes, we have been thinking about the price increases too. Also, the question remains - if the price increases become prohibitive, what will be the process for reverting back to desktop Quickbooks? My guess is there may not be an export option within Online Quickbooks. So far, i haven't discovered one.

Thanks everybody...for helping me think thru this!

oljim, in texas

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

PitA
Posts: 1,416

Posted:

We use desktop QB but use QB's automatic online backup option - not very expensive.

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By PitA on 09/12/2016 10:34 AM
We use desktop QB but use QB's automatic online backup option - not very expensive.

Yes PitA - this is what we are using now. Thanks!

oljim, in texas

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Our previous neighborhood HOA used online Qb ... the greatest advantage was the basic competency treasurer being able to get assistance from a CPA member of the community.

My fear is the online-ness will increase records complacency and backups will not be made that will outlive the subscription.

As long as a have electronic backups and paper backups, I think it’s fine.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

old thread reactivated for posting spam.
Was reported and appears the spam was removed.

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