For a free copy of QuickBook's Simple Start from Inuit, while they are still offering it,click here for your link to Free Simple Start directly from Intuit.
Before you grab it why not learn a little about it. The free version is called Simple Start and I will tell you why it may be able to you in your business or your personal finances. Before I do that, its important to know that Intuit has decided to take some initial steps to phase out the free version of Simple Start.
As the QuickBooks Online website simply states, Simple Start is able to (a)Track sales, expenses and customers, (b)bill customers (c)pay vendor bills, & print checks and (d) Organize your finances in one place-ready for tax time. All this sounds good, but upon further analysis, Simple Start has substantial limitations, however for some people or businesses, it still may have a purpose in their financial world.
Intuit has an QuickBooks Online option, called QuickBooks Simple Start which is free. Like the old "no free lunch theorem", it is limited to one user and has very limited functionality. i.e. limited to five customers(but unlimited vendors) and lacks accounts payable recording and reporting, estimating for customer in advance of a bill, lack of monthly or annual budgeting, financial reporting and the list grows more and more. Notwithstanding, these inherent flaws, may not be so important for very small business that operate without large amounts of accounts receivables and don't require or have the need to utilize these important accounting and bookkeeping functionalities.
I have installed Simple Starts on Macs. My clients that use both Macs and PC's like the ability to use QuickBooks on either platform. I have seen Simple Start work for a few of my very small business clients, who use it to summarize their business activities for their tax returns rather than for real time financial information. If you use PC in your office and a Mac at home, you can share the data which is kept in the cloud. Most business owners really like this feature. I have been able to set up their chart of accounts from my PC and then my clients are able to instantly use the software.
During the sign in step, Inuit asks for a credit card.This is not a scam to get you sign up. They do not charge your credit card, until you make a purchase. You will quickly see how well it captures your cash activities, and will probably want to upgrade to either QuickBooks Online Basic or QuickBooks Online plus, because of Simple starts limitations.
Among other things, Simple Start is limited to one user and does not offer a Statement of Cash flows. This statement shows you where and to what accounts your cash was spent.Its always important to understand your business from an accrual as well as a cash basis. This statement converts your accrual basis profit or loss to a statement that depicts the sources and uses of your cash This is an important tool to monitor your cash flow in real time and to understand your business. Another major shortcoming of both Simple Start and QuickBooks Online basic is the inability to record accounts payable,monitor accounts payable and pay multiple vendors at once.This is important if you want to be able to track your payablesand schedule future payments.
Now getting backing to Simple Start, some people really find it useful and it's really free and it's really simple(emphasis added). Like all QuickBooks Online products it works with any PC and Macs. Despite Intuit's gradual phase out of this software, it still is available. Feel free to click here for your link to Free Simple Start directly from Intuit.