Intuit — QuickBooks Premier 2009 Contractor Edition

LEARNING CURVE/EASE OF USE:
QuickBooks revolutionized small business accounting, specifically due to its
interfaces, which have evolved significantly over the years, but have always
been focused on providing streamlined access to program functions for non-accountant
users. Also of note with the industry-specific versions of Premier is that the
program uses terminology more appropriate for those sectors, such as job costing,
subcontractors and suppliers in the Contractor Edition. These templates are
automatically applied during the initial setup process, which is guided by a
wizard function.

The program opens to a customizable home screen that serves as the primary
interface. It uses a workflow design with icons for accessing common vendor,
employee and customer tasks, such as entering purchase orders and employee time,
paying bills, and receiving payments. Additional functions for these entities
are available via customizable workflow-oriented Customer, Vendor and Employee
Center screens. These Centers and additional functions can also be accessed
using the menu and icon bars at the top of the program window. Housed on the
right side of the screen is an assistance panel along with a business financial
summary table with account balances, AR, AP, etc.

From virtually any screen, users can easily drilldown deeper into transaction
information, reporting, client histories and contact data, or journal entries,
while the program’s full-time audit trail monitors and records all actions
and changes. Data-entry screens are exceptionally well developed and include
a multitude of link functions, drilldown options, selection lists and various
other smart features that let users quickly check inventories, customer credit
limits, histories and other details.

KEY MODULES & MANAGEMENT TOOLS:
Premier Contractor Edition offers a good standard module set that includes GL,
AP, AR, invoicing, inventory, scheduling, revenue forecasting and budgeting.
It also offers options for integrated or outsourced payroll, credit card acceptance
in-person or over the phone, sales tax compliance, and support for multiple
currencies.

The system’s construction industry-specific features include a Job Costing
Center that acts as a management dashboard, displaying real-time drilldown summaries
of key information, including the profitability of jobs and clients. The system
also offers customizable job cost tracking reports, the ability to quickly convert
estimates into invoices and purchase orders, and tracking of change orders.
Contractors can assign varying billing rates based on employees, whether hourly
fixed or custom hourly. Progress billing is available, as are budget versus
actual analyses, subcontractor general liability tracking and remote access
functions.

For accounting professionals who service these contractor clients, the Client
Data Review tool, added in 2009 to QuickBooks Premier, aids accountants in write-up
tasks such as troubleshooting and adjusting account balances, as well as with
clearing open AP and AR items, cleaning up sales and payroll tax accounts, and
reviewing changes and errors made by clients. Intuit also enhanced its Accountant’s
Copy function, which speeds data transfer, and added new features to the bank
reconciliation function.

REPORTING:
All of QuickBooks Premier’s versions include a well-stocked Report Center
with more than 150 prebuilt financial statements and reports, lists and other
options, as well as a financial statement designer and custom reporting tool.
The Contractor Edition also offers several industry-specific options, including
job profitability detail and summary, cost to complete job detail and summary,
estimates versus actual detail and summary, job status, job costs by job or
vendor, billed/unbilled hours and expenses. Reports can be output into Excel
and Word, saved as PDFs or emailed directly from the program.

IMPORT/EXPORT/INTEGRATION:
Premier Contractor Edition’s modules automatically route all data throughout
the program, and can share data with third-party add-on programs available through
the Intuit Marketplace, including more than 200 programs specifically designed
for the construction sector. The Premier industry versions also directly integrate
with the professional accountant’s version of the system, and can import
data from Excel, Quicken, Microsoft Office Accounting and other programs.

SUPPORT & TRAINING:
QuickBooks Premier offers hundreds of assistance and guidance tools, from on-screen
tips to right-click options and wizards that guide users through various tasks.
Intuit offers an excellent support website that provides an extensive knowledgebase,
access to QuickBooks user communities (including one for builders and contractors),
product downloads, training tools and technical support. Support packages start
at $39 per month or $299 per year.

RELATIVE VALUE:
QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition is a great small business management system,
with a generally basic contractor and construction-focused feature set. It is
best suited to smaller construction businesses, especially those whose professional
accountant uses the accountant’s version of QuickBooks.

2009 OVERALL RATING: