A Review Between QuickBooks & MYOB

If you are in business on the Sunshine Coast, especially in the field of accounting, there is a strong chance you will be asked about the advantages and disadvantages of MYOB vs Quickbooks bookkeeping solutions available for Sunshine Coast business owners – and which you would recommend. These two brands have been the leaders in the Australian market in the provision of small business accounting software. I would like to note from the outset that both of these accounting software products will handle the basics of accounting for your small business and we aim to provide an unbiased view in our comparison and evaluation of MYOB vs Quickbooks.

Differentiating MYOB and Quickbooks is quite difficult because both products seem to provide the same key features that a business manager would require to account for finances and taxes. However, it is when you look beyond the basic features of each program and look at the total offering of each product, the ease of use for the end user, the cost of each product, accessibility and the ability to design, implement and purchase additional software to further improve either product that you begin to see which product would best suit your small business.

Key Features Of The Software For Sunshine Coast Business Owners

MYOB and Quickbooks can be downloaded from their respective websites free of charge as a trial version. MYOB offers a number of additional services such as emails, websites, and hosting. MYOB performs general bookkeeping, payroll, GST tracking, invoicing and accounts receivable and payable management. Among MYOB’s other features which can be purchased in addition to your basic MYOB product are asset management solutions, e-commerce solutions, point of sale software, and payment services which Quickbooks also offers. It also provides a comprehensive inventory solution for those businesses which require it.

Quickbooks, on the other hand, offer the same general bookkeeping, payroll, GST tracking, invoicing and accounts receivable and payable management capabilities and inventory solution for the end-user however it cannot use multiple locations when accounting for inventory. Quickbooks offers many more products than MYOB do in their range which offer varying features depending on the end user’s specific needs several such as non-profit entities, whose sellers, professional accounting firms, contractors, manufacturers, and professional service firms. Quickbooks reporting capabilities are a strong selling point as their reports are very flexible meaning the user can easily customise a report within the defined parameters, also Quickbooks integration of graphs into their reporting suite is good for those users that enjoy a visual representation of numbers and trends. Also, it is certainly worth noting for those who use Apple Mac computers that Quickbooks does not provide a software solution for Apple-based products in Australia.

Prices

The prices of both software options vary depending upon where you purchase the product from however both MYOB and Quickbooks enable you to buy directly from their websites if you aren’t interested in shopping around. Quickbooks basic products start at AUD $195 and increase from there as the software’s capabilities become more comprehensive. The majority of MYOB’s products range has recently been simplified and has moved to a subscription-based offering which begins at AUD $29/month for the basic version and once again with more capabilities comes a greater cost. When discussing price you must also consider software support prices and software upgrades as these can be very costly. If cost is a heavy influencing factor for you then you must do research into whether you require software upgrades if applicable to your software version and if you will require ongoing support for use of the product.

The Need for Add-Ons

It is important that you do your research regarding the capabilities that your business requires for your chosen accounting software. As broad as the capabilities of MYOB and Quickbooks are you may decide that if you were able to integrate an additional feature not offered by your chosen software it may save your business significant time and money.  Both MYOB and Quickbooks endorse certain third-party add-ons which add value and enhance the abilities of the accounting software.

Quickbooks which is Intuit’s Australian business arm does not offer an official third party developed software list except for Quickbooks online at http://www.intuit.com.au/quickbooks-online/add-ons.jsp. However, you can visit the USA website for Intuit’s marketplace page which does provide a comprehensive list of third party applications which may prove helpful.

Accessibility

Another factor you need to consider in selecting the right accounting software is accessibility. As mentioned earlier Quickbooks does not offer an Apple Mac compatible product but is able to bypass this hurdle to reaching users through its online offering Quickbooks Online which starts at $15/month. MYOB also offers an online or “cloud version” of their software called MYOB Live Accounts with a price starting at $29/month.

If you are not inclined towards using cloud accounting software you need to consider who needs to access your accounting software and when. Do you need more than one user to view your accounting software at the same time or does only one user need access at a time? Depending upon what your answer is to the last question you may need to consider a version of MYOB or Quickbooks which offer simultaneous multi-user access and security measures to restrict other users’ abilities to access sensitive information.

The Ease of Use

Depending upon whom you speak to individuals will have different preferences when it comes to which accounting software option they prefer. Both MYOB and Quickbooks offer relatively easy to use interfaces which are easy to navigate with minimal use and experience. With Quickbooks, a user is able to open an unlimited amount of windows for those users who like to multitask. MYOB on the other hand only allows a maximum of 9 windows open at a time. However, MYOB allows a user to open more than one company file at a time whereas Quickbooks will only allow a user to open one company file at a time. MYOB will only allow a user to produce a report within a given financial year for a 3 year period based upon what financial year the software is currently running. Quickbooks is far more flexible with its reporting capabilities offering the ability for users to customize reports across any given time frame.

Our conclusion for the question of MYOB vs Quickbooks is that depending upon which features and functionality you require the answer will differ. You will need to take the time to ponder which software best fits your business budget and needs.