Although QuickBooks Online has all the features we need, it hasnt been entirely smooth sailing.

Mac users who want to (or have to) use Intuits QuickBooks have plenty of choiceswe can run the Mac, Windows, or Web app version.

One of those options probably pops out as an obvious choice, but as I recently discovered, the least-obvious solution is sometimes the best one.

A few months ago, on the advice of our accountant, we reorganized our small business as a corporation.

We agreed to endure a considerable amount of extra paperwork in exchange for significant financial and legal benefits.

Quickbooks Multi User Update Our Financial

Our accountant all but insisted that we use QuickBooks so that she could easily view and update our financial records.

However, I dont like that the Mac versions of both QuickBooks and Quicken have for years lagged behind the Windows versions, and I find that expensive annual updates rarely add crucial features.

Despite my misgivings, I agreed to use QuickBooks to keep my accountant happy.

Initially, I assumed Id buy the Mac version of QuickBooks 2013 ( ), but when I read Macworld s review, I discovered that the apps data files arent cross-platform compatible.

So if I wanted to share data with my Windows-using accountant, Id have to back up my data in QuickBooks for Windows format and send her that file, which she could then restore.

Once she finished with the file, she would send it back to me and I could reimport it.

But in the meantime I wouldnt be able to make any changes to my companys data, because unlike QuickBooks for Windows, QuickBooks for Mac has no way to merge an accountants changes into an existing file.

Grrrr.

Quickbooks Multi User Windows 7 Running On

After all, I have Windows 7 running on my Mac thanks to VMware Fusion ( ).

But before I clicked the Buy button, I saw the fine print about licensing, which changed my mind.

The Mac and Windows versions of QuickBooks 2013 cost the same250for a single-user license.

But we would have two usersmy wife and I would both need to work in QuickBooks, sometimes concurrently, on different computers.

Whether or not it would have been technologically feasible for us to share a license, I prefer to stick to the letter of the law.

So we would have had to pay 500, not counting the cost of future upgrades.

Then I noticed another option on the QuickBooks website: QuickBooks Online, which is essentially most of QuickBooks rolled into a Web app.

We wouldnt have to mess with Windows software, or with exporting and importing files, and our accountant could access our data over the Web, too.

Web apps typically offer less-convenient interfaces than desktop apps, but in this case, the cost won me over.

I went with the 27-per-month QuickBooks Essentials plan, and my bookkeeper was able to get me a discounted rate of just over 20 per month for a year.

So, for a years worth of service for three users, were paying less than half of what it would cost to get a two-user license for the Mac or Windows version.

And, although we havent yet had needed it, we can also access our account using QuickBooks Online for iPad ( ).).

Quickbooks Multi User For Mac