Soaring club billing software

On Wednesday, November 5, 2014 11:45:08 AM UTC-5, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 8:09:01 PM UTC-7, Mike Schumann wrote:
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 12:20:42 PM UTC-5, bobmckellar wrote:
On Monday, November 3, 2014 4:28:33 PM UTC-5, Bob Caldwell (BC) wrote:
Hi Pilots,

I recall there was a piece about this in SOARING mag several years ago but I couldn't find it in the archives. Does anyone have any info about this? Our club would like to update how we keep our records, bill our members, collect our money, accept credit cards, keep track of aircraft hours and communicate in general. Etc. etc.

Please email me if you can help. Thanks.

Bob rcaldwell at ponderosa-assoc dot com

QuickBooks is certainly capable of handling a club's finances. However, don't be under the impression that this will increase security. QuickBooks is notorious in the accounting community for poor audit trails and security in general. It is mostly suitable for handling your own money, not someone else's. I strongly support online banking access for someone in addition to the treasurer. Recent events in the soaring community show you what can happen.

Bob McKellar

Sorry to disagree. Quickbooks is by far the most popular small business accounting software available. If it is setup properly, it is both secure and robust. The big question is whether to use the on-line version or buy a copy and run it on a PC. The on-line version permits multiple users to view the data and doesn't require you to get your hands dirty with backups, etc. However, you will be paying a monthly service charge forever. Buying a copy to run on a PC is a one-time investment that can save you money in the long run (as long as you are not generating a payroll).

WRT to the installed version, QuickBooks 'features' expire if you fail to upgrade in three years, likely the ability to send invoices and statements as PDF attachments. At least they don't expire annually. Haven't used the online subscription version, but it should be useful in that setting and presumably includes version updates.

Frank Whiteley

The only feature that expires after 3 years, forcing an upgrade, is payroll.. As long as you are not generating a payroll, you can use your installed Quickbooks copy indefinitely.

On Thursday, November 6, 2014 6:44:46 AM UTC-7, Mike Schumann wrote:
On Wednesday, November 5, 2014 11:45:08 AM UTC-5, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 8:09:01 PM UTC-7, Mike Schumann wrote:
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 12:20:42 PM UTC-5, bobmckellar wrote:
On Monday, November 3, 2014 4:28:33 PM UTC-5, Bob Caldwell (BC) wrote:
Hi Pilots,

I recall there was a piece about this in SOARING mag several years ago but I couldn't find it in the archives. Does anyone have any info about this? Our club would like to update how we keep our records, bill our members, collect our money, accept credit cards, keep track of aircraft hours and communicate in general. Etc. etc.

Please email me if you can help. Thanks.

Bob rcaldwell at ponderosa-assoc dot com

QuickBooks is certainly capable of handling a club's finances. However, don't be under the impression that this will increase security. QuickBooks is notorious in the accounting community for poor audit trails and security in general. It is mostly suitable for handling your own money, not someone else's. I strongly support online banking access for someone in addition to the treasurer. Recent events in the soaring community show you what can happen.

Bob McKellar

Sorry to disagree. Quickbooks is by far the most popular small business accounting software available. If it is setup properly, it is both secure and robust. The big question is whether to use the on-line version or buy a copy and run it on a PC. The on-line version permits multiple users to view the data and doesn't require you to get your hands dirty with backups, etc. However, you will be paying a monthly service charge forever. Buying a copy to run on a PC is a one-time investment that can save you money in the long run (as long as you are not generating a payroll).

WRT to the installed version, QuickBooks 'features' expire if you fail to upgrade in three years, likely the ability to send invoices and statements as PDF attachments. At least they don't expire annually. Haven't used the online subscription version, but it should be useful in that setting and presumably includes version updates.

Frank Whiteley

The only feature that expires after 3 years, forcing an upgrade, is payroll. As long as you are not generating a payroll, you can use your installed Quickbooks copy indefinitely.

Yes you can continue to use any version. I've been using QuickBooks Pro since 1999 (currently 2013) but my experience is that the ability to generate and e-mail PDF invoices and statements expires every three years unless it's upgraded. I do not use the payroll service, but do mail and e-mail a lot of invoices and statements monthly. There are numerous popup offers and warnings in advance of expiration of this feature. I would think that e-mailing invoices and statements to club members would be a critical function in a soaring organization. Our treasurer e-mails statements monthly from his QB install.

YMMV,

Frank Whiteley

On Thursday, November 6, 2014 10:49:45 AM UTC-5, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Thursday, November 6, 2014 6:44:46 AM UTC-7, Mike Schumann wrote:
On Wednesday, November 5, 2014 11:45:08 AM UTC-5, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 8:09:01 PM UTC-7, Mike Schumann wrote:
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 12:20:42 PM UTC-5, bobmckellar wrote:
On Monday, November 3, 2014 4:28:33 PM UTC-5, Bob Caldwell (BC) wrote:
Hi Pilots,

I recall there was a piece about this in SOARING mag several years ago but I couldn't find it in the archives. Does anyone have any info about this? Our club would like to update how we keep our records, bill our members, collect our money, accept credit cards, keep track of aircraft hours and communicate in general. Etc. etc.

Please email me if you can help. Thanks.

Bob rcaldwell at ponderosa-assoc dot com

QuickBooks is certainly capable of handling a club's finances. However, don't be under the impression that this will increase security. QuickBooks is notorious in the accounting community for poor audit trails and security in general. It is mostly suitable for handling your own money, not someone else's. I strongly support online banking access for someone in addition to the treasurer. Recent events in the soaring community show you what can happen.

Bob McKellar

Sorry to disagree. Quickbooks is by far the most popular small business accounting software available. If it is setup properly, it is both secure and robust. The big question is whether to use the on-line version or buy a copy and run it on a PC. The on-line version permits multiple users to view the data and doesn't require you to get your hands dirty with backups, etc. However, you will be paying a monthly service charge forever. Buying a copy to run on a PC is a one-time investment that can save you money in the long run (as long as you are not generating a payroll).

WRT to the installed version, QuickBooks 'features' expire if you fail to upgrade in three years, likely the ability to send invoices and statements as PDF attachments. At least they don't expire annually. Haven't used the online subscription version, but it should be useful in that setting and presumably includes version updates.

Frank Whiteley

The only feature that expires after 3 years, forcing an upgrade, is payroll. As long as you are not generating a payroll, you can use your installed Quickbooks copy indefinitely.

Yes you can continue to use any version. I've been using QuickBooks Pro since 1999 (currently 2013) but my experience is that the ability to generate and e-mail PDF invoices and statements expires every three years unless it's upgraded. I do not use the payroll service, but do mail and e-mail a lot of invoices and statements monthly. There are numerous popup offers and warnings in advance of expiration of this feature. I would think that e-mailing invoices and statements to club members would be a critical function in a soaring organization. Our treasurer e-mails statements monthly from his QB install.

YMMV,

Frank Whiteley

There have been some changes in the last couple of years on how QBooks Pro handles e-mailing invoices and statements. In older versions, all of these e-mails went thru Intuit Servers. In the latest versions of QBooks, you can configure e-mails to be generated locally, using the e-mail client installed on your PC. If you do that, you should not be affected by the End of Support for a Quickbooks version.

However, if you take advantage of the QBooks ability to automatically charge invoices to your customer's credit cards, you will have to stay current and update your software every 3 years.