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liquidsilver6840 · Jun 19, 2007, 09:43 PM

Hey guys,
A friend of mine owns a print shop and she wants to change all her PCs to Macs. The only problem is that she uses a program to do the accounting.. What program can be used on Mac OS X to perform the task?

Chuckit · Jun 19, 2007, 09:49 PM

QuickBooks or MYOB.

besson3c · Jun 20, 2007, 12:58 AM

Calculator.

Just kidding, what Chuckit said, I guess...

liquidsilver6840 · Jul 2, 2007, 07:44 PM

Thanks for the reply.. Apparently I'm not looking for an accounting app. I'm looking for an inventory app? Do inventory app handle receipts?

Thanks for you time =P

Shades of Gray · Jul 2, 2007, 10:26 PM

Take a look at Best CRM for Macs.

Macola · Jul 3, 2007, 11:13 AM

Also check out POSIM or Lightspeed.

Dork. · Jul 3, 2007, 11:36 AM

I've just started becoming involved with this type of thing. I'm helping someone who is starting a business, and they stumbled across some used Inventory Management and Point-of-sale equipment, including a seat of POSIM. POSIM looks pretty nice. Check back with me in a week or two and I might have more impressions for you.

Nivag · Jul 3, 2007, 01:35 PM

Just found this link which might help. Apple - Business - Accountancy

liquidsilver6840 · Jul 3, 2007, 02:15 PM

Also check out POSIM or Lightspeed.

Thanks for both links. If I were to judge the software's functionality for the websites, I'd go for Lightspeed!

I've just started becoming involved with this type of thing. I'm helping someone who is starting a business, and they stumbled across some used Inventory Management and Point-of-sale equipment, including a seat of POSIM. POSIM looks pretty nice. Check back with me in a week or two and I might have more impressions for you.

That's what I'm looking for too: Point-of-sale equipment. To be honest, I know the word in Spanish (Punto de Venta) and didn't think it would translate word for word. I'm very new to this too... What is a seat of POSIM? Also, what Macs is your friend using in his business?

Dork. · Jul 3, 2007, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by liquidsilver6840

That's what I'm looking for too: Point-of-sale equipment. To be honest, I know the word in Spanish (Punto de Venta) and didn't think it would translate word for word. I'm very new to this too... What is a seat of POSIM? Also, what Macs is your friend using in his business?

By "seat", I just mean a licensed copy of the software. The business is just getting started, so we still need to buy an iMac for a point-of-sale terminal.

The English term is, in fact,"Point of Sale", abbreviated POS. Make sure you use the abbreviation in the proper context, since the term "POS" in English usually corresponds to something a bit more negative....

liquidsilver6840 · Jul 3, 2007, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by Dork.

By "seat", I just mean a licensed copy of the software. The business is just getting started, so we still need to buy an iMac for a point-of-sale terminal.

The English term is, in fact,"Point of Sale", abbreviated POS. Make sure you use the abbreviation in the proper context, since the term "POS" in English usually corresponds to something a bit more negative....

I'm learning new words =P. In my friend's printshop there are 5 computers that are going to be changed for Macs, possibly iMacs .. Isn't that cool?

Dork. · Jul 19, 2007, 08:42 AM

Checking back into this thread. POSIM is indeed a nice little application, but it only does the Inventory/ Point-of-Sale functions that a Retail shop might need. (i.e. operating as a cash register that knows how much of each item you have in stock, keeps track of items you sell, and lets you know when you need to reorder). In our case, we still need an Accounting program to keep the books on.

We have the services of an accountant available, but she's encouraging us to keep the books ourselves, so that we can do the simple stuff ourselves and only have to retain her services for the difficult stuff.

Our accountant uses Quickbooks, so I think it's a good idea to stick with that for the Accounting stuff so that she can access our file electronically if she needs to. I have had bad experiences with Intuit products, though, especially with the fact that the Mac version of Quicken lagged so far behind the Windows version for so long (I ditched Quicken for Moneydance for my personal finances and have never looked back....). Does anyone have experience with the Mac version of Quickbooks, and how crippled it is relative to the PC version?

mpancha · Jul 19, 2007, 12:35 PM

I'm also intereested in the Quickbooks aspect of this.

A client of mine has recently switched to Mac (intel MBP). The only application he still has a need for Windows for is Quickbooks.

The biggest problem he has now is that if he wants to print checks, he can't quite do that from his VM environment WIndows. Since he does everything else on OS X its a real hit to his workflow if he were to bootcamp into WIndows just to print checks, so that option is out of the question.

Secondly, his accountant uses Quickbooks on PC. How compatible are the two versions? IF there are no real problems as far as the accountant creating backup files of her work to give to him so he can keep a record, then the switch to Quicken for Mac is a no brainer. IF there is though, we're nearing the point where he's jsut going to buy a $300 Dell laptop/pc to only run Quickbooks.

Thanks in advance.

Dork. · 01:33 PM

Here's the fine print from Intuit's web site:

9 QuickBooks Pro 2007 for Mac can convert files from QuickBooks Simple Start, Pro, Premier, and Premier Accountant Edition 2007 for Windows (U.S. versions, one way: Windows to Mac). QuickBooks 2007 for Mac can exchange data with QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Premier Accountant Edition 2007 for Windows (U.S. versions, round trip: between Mac and Windows).

I assume this means that the file formats themselves aren't compatible, but that you can write relevant transaction and account data into a format that can be imported into either platform. Since we plan on maintaining the books ourselves, and only asking our accountant for advice, this shouldn't be a problem; but I think you need to check with your accountant to make sure the types of things you need to transfer are possible to transfer.

One good thing Intuit did is that there's a free, month-long trial of Quickbooks for the Mac available. I stumbled on it quite by accident, it appears to be a fully-functional 30-day trial that they don't really advertise. You could look for that, convert a copy of your current file, and try sending some transactions to your accountant....

Chuckit · Jul 19, 2007, 01:36 PM

Intuit actually has a checklist comparison of the Mac and PC versions on its Quickbooks Pro for Mac page (spoiler: PC has more features, but apparently not that much).

Dork. · Jul 19, 2007, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Intuit actually has a checklist comparison of the Mac and PC versions on its Quickbooks Pro for Mac page (spoiler: PC has more features, but apparently not that much).

I have absolutely no confidence that the list of missing features on this page is complete.

PEPPERRULES · Jul 20, 2007, 02:34 AM

Quickbooks for mac is alright, but I prefer MYOB. I think someone else mentioned.

You can always run Windows on the mac to run that accounting app.

Chuckit · Jul 20, 2007, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by Dork.

I have absolutely no confidence that the list of missing features on this page is complete.

You're probably right, but from what I've heard from bookkeepers at my workplace, it seems like that does cover the most important differences.