Client Write Up question

[JJStephens]

In addition to my tax work I have a small but growing accounting/consulting practice (mostly churches & other ministries & and handful of small biz). I've been toying with the idea of moving away from Quickbooks--never been a fan but felt forced to support it because so many of my clients use it.

In any event, as I explore my options I'm wondering if ATX's Write Up is worth looking at. Can anyone out there give me some feedback: good, bad or otherwise? Does anyone have another option that works well at a reasonable price? Yeah, I know, 'reasonable' is so subjective. Let's just put it this way, the more reasonable the better

By the way, thanks to all who have contributed to my expanding knowledge base over the years on this and the old forum. It's been a real blessing to have this resource available.

[taxxcpa]

In addition to my tax work I have a small but growing accounting/consulting practice (mostly churches & other ministries & and handful of small biz). I've been toying with the idea of moving away from Quickbooks--never been a fan but felt forced to support it because so many of my clients use it.

In any event, as I explore my options I'm wondering if ATX's Write Up is worth looking at. Can anyone out there give me some feedback: good, bad or otherwise? Does anyone have another option that works well at a reasonable price? Yeah, I know, 'reasonable' is so subjective. Let's just put it this way, the more reasonable the better

By the way, thanks to all who have contributed to my expanding knowledge base over the years on this and the old forum. It's been a real blessing to have this resource available.

I've been using Peachtree accounting ever since it was an MS DOS program. If you are an accountant, Peachtree does an excellent job, but for a non-accountant, Quickbooks is probably the best bet. I have no idea whether the ATX write-up is better or worse.

[Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana]

I've been using Howell Client Write-Up for 15+ years. They are very reasonably priced with very good customer support. See their website,

http://www.howellsoftware.com/

for more information. Feel free to use my name as a reference.

Lynn Jacobs, EA

Kenner, LA

[Wayne Brasch]

In addition to my tax work I have a small but growing accounting/consulting practice (mostly churches & other ministries & and handful of small biz). I've been toying with the idea of moving away from Quickbooks--never been a fan but felt forced to support it because so many of my clients use it.

In any event, as I explore my options I'm wondering if ATX's Write Up is worth looking at. Can anyone out there give me some feedback: good, bad or otherwise? Does anyone have another option that works well at a reasonable price? Yeah, I know, 'reasonable' is so subjective. Let's just put it this way, the more reasonable the better

By the way, thanks to all who have contributed to my expanding knowledge base over the years on this and the old forum. It's been a real blessing to have this resource available.

jjstephens,

I know nothing about the ATX Client Writeup program, but you might want to consider looking at Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 Express which can be downloaded free from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com. It is a large download and will take some time if you use a dial up Internet Service Provider. On the other hand, there is Microsoft Office Accounting 2007. This is the full version and costs generally around $160 at software stores. This version has more features than does the Express version and may be what you are looking to use. I beta tested this program for Microsoft before they put it on the market.

Wayne

[RJM]

Wayne, I sorta remember reviewing the MS Office Accounting package briefly, and noticed that it did not have an integrated payroll program, but that you had to go thru a 3rd party payroll processor to get tax table updates, FUTA/SUTA calculations, etc. Is this true? OR is there a built in payroll module in MS Accounting? -Bob

[RJM]

JJ- I have the old ATX accounting program which I think is great for small and medium clients. It is way better than QB and Peachtree IMO. I also have the new ATX Client WU package, but have not yet fully implemented it. Right now it seems to be less intuitive than the old ATX package, so I think the learning curve will be longer. I plan on implementing the CWU program by 1/1/08 assuming it passes further smell tests. Will comment on it in December.

[Wayne Brasch]

Wayne, I sorta remember reviewing the MS Office Accounting package briefly, and noticed that it did not have an integrated payroll program, but that you had to go thru a 3rd party payroll processor to get tax table updates, FUTA/SUTA calculations, etc. Is this true? OR is there a built in payroll module in MS Accounting? -Bob

Bob,

You are correct about the third party payroll service. This was one thing I told Microsoft I didn't like about the program. I also told them that if they wanted to have a truly great accounting program, they should include financial statement analysis within the program. They also didn't implement that either in the final form of the program. To me a big part of accounting is to let my clients know what their financial statements really mean, not just give them a rather obscure set of figures. I use other means to get this accomplished in my practice.

Wayne