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QuickBooks for Mac has been the most popular accounting software in use today. It is a simple, easy-to-use, and powerful program that automatically converts many different types of data into documents that can be printed or exported online. Quickbooks offers both subscription plans with no contract as well as an option to purchase individual licenses at varying prices depending on how much you need it over time.
QuickBooks for Mac is a locally installed accounting tool built exclusively for Mac-based businesses. The program blends QuickBooks Pro’s feature set and accounting intricacy with QuickBooks Online’s simplicity of use and more contemporary user interface. The 2021 edition of QuickBooks for Mac has been improved to make receiving payments simpler so that you may increase your cash flow, and a number of features have been added to help with this. Business owners may also use the program to make bespoke invoices, sync bank, and credit card accounts, monitor costs, handle accounts payable (A/P), regulate cash flow, and automate spending, among other things.
While there is no free trial available, all QuickBooks desktop software comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
Reasons Why We Recommend QuickBooks for Mac?
QuickBooks for Mac is a wonderful small company accounting software choice if you’re a freelancer or manage a small business where you do your own bookkeeping, particularly if you’re already experienced with bookkeeping in general. The QuickBooks for Mac program is only compatible with iOS operating systems, therefore it will not run on a PC running Windows. QuickBooks Pro, a popular QuickBooks Desktop application for Windows PCs, is comparable to QuickBooks for Mac. To help you determine which is ideal for you, we suggest reading our post comparing QuickBooks Online and Desktop.
Who Should Use QuickBooks for Mac?
- Users who want desktop applications on their Macs: QuickBooks for Mac is an excellent option for businesses that value the security and performance of locally installed software.
- Many experienced bookkeepers prefer desktop versions of QuickBooks over QuickBooks Online because they are quicker to enter data and navigate.
- Project-based businesses: Many tools will help you manage and monitor project expenditures, such as the option to send progress invoices as each phase of a project is completed rather than waiting until the finish. You may also keep track of customer and project time, mileage, and costs.
Who Isn’t a Good Fit for QuickBooks for Mac?
- Mobile users: If you do a lot of your work on the road and need to access your financial information from your phone or tablet, we recommend QuickBooks Online, which works with any operating system via a web browser and an internet connection and works with any operating system via a web browser and an internet connection. This allows you to work from anywhere at any time.
- Businesses looking for a low-cost monthly plan: Zoho Books is a wonderful alternative if you don’t want to commit to a one-time price and would rather pay a low monthly rate. It is designed to work with iMessage, Apple Maps, Siri, and 3D Touch, and is specifically tailored for Mac users. There’s even an Apple Watch app for it.
- If you’re a distributor or manufacturer searching for accounting software that goes beyond QuickBooks for Mac, Connected Core Accounting is a great option. It’s available for both desktop and cloud-based usage on a Mac. Connected Core, unlike QuickBooks for Mac, offers precise inventory costing, numerous discount structures, multilocation inventory, and multiple currencies.
Pricing
QuickBooks for Mac licenses for up to three users is now available from Intuit for $399.99 per user. Although the license is perpetual, Intuit no longer supports the product after three years. There is a 60-day satisfaction guarantee, which means you may return the program for a full refund if you are unhappy with it.
QuickBooks for Mac does not interact with QuickBooks Payroll, unlike QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. QuickBooks Payroll, which begins at $45 per month, is still available for purchase.
QuickBooks for Mac does not have an annual membership option that includes customer assistance. Phone help is only available with a QuickBooks Care Plan for Macs, which costs $29.95 per month or $299.95 per year.
Features
Although QuickBooks for Mac provides a large variety of capabilities, not all of them are as well-developed as those found in QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Online. The following is a rundown of the most noteworthy features:
- Invoices and estimates: QuickBooks for Mac comes with 31 invoice templates and allows you to design your own. You can send electronic invoices, but recurring invoices are not a possibility. You can also rapidly build estimates and turn them into invoices.
- You may add basic contact information, credit limits, to-do lists, default sales tax, customer credits, maps, and instructions to your contacts with this tool. There’s also the possibility of creating contact groups and invoicing them all at once. QuickBooks for Mac syncs with your Mac contacts natively.
- Expense tracking: Using bank feeds or manually entering or importing transactions, you may keep track of your costs. QuickBooks for Mac automatically compares transactions, and you may also define matching criteria.
- You can reconcile all of your bank and credit card accounts, as well as generate many reconciliation reports.
- Chart of accounts: You choose your chart of accounts when you first set up the program, but you may add and alter accounts later if necessary.
- You may keep track of products, services, and inventory pieces, as well as define reorder points and default sales tax items and groups.
- Project management: QuickBooks for Mac enables you to build customer-related projects. You may specify the job status, start date, predicted finish date, and description using this function. You may also generate costing reports for jobs.
- Time tracking: As each phase of a project is finished, you may monitor time and produce timesheets, tie billable time to invoices, and utilize progressive billing.
- Reports: There are more than 110 reports available with QuickBooks for Mac, which includes profit and loss (P&L) statements, sales reports, charts, and graphs.
- Budgeting: You may either construct an annual budget by manually inputting your objectives or by utilizing data from the prior year’s budget. Budgeting reports are also provided to assist you in sticking to your budget.
- Class tracking: To get more depth and insight into your company, you may classify transactions by class. Classes are used by certain businesses to keep track of locations, divisions, and inventory categories. You can also create subclasses.
- To-do lists: To remain on top of your business responsibilities, you may build to-do lists and run to-do list reports. You may also create reminders for invoices that are past due, bills that need to be paid, money that needs to be deposited, and more.
In addition, new features for 2021 have been added to QuickBooks for Mac, including:
- Automatic payment reminders: Get paid quicker by automatically alerting clients when payments are due, saving you time on follow-up.
- E-payments on statements: Send statements with payment links that enable clients to pay their bills online.
- Send numerous invoices in a single email to ensure that your clients don’t miss any outstanding bills while making payments.
- Sales tax codes: Keep track of sales tax codes for out-of-state orders, numerous districts, and charitable organizations to prevent fines and interest.
- 1099 filing: File 1099s electronically without the need for additional paperwork or processing.
Customer Service and Usability
Customers that use QuickBooks for Mac have fewer alternatives for customer service. Email help is not accessible, and phone support is only available with a subscription package. It does, however, provide a help section with dozens of how-to articles and manuals that can be viewed from inside the program. The following is a list of the additional support choices available:
- Live Chat: This option is accessible on the QuickBooks for Mac website, although it is mostly for sales issues rather than program assistance.
- Little Square: This is an online magazine for QuickBooks for Mac users that includes how-to articles, video demonstrations, and a comprehensive user guide.
- While the majority of the articles concentrate on QuickBooks Online, you may find solutions to more general issues on the QuickBooks Blog.
While QuickBooks for Mac has a more appealing user interface than QuickBooks Pro, it may be difficult to use at times. The primary dashboard enables you to see the data that is most important to your business choices and to modify your data so that you can see just the most relevant facts. You may also utilize the dashboard to answer questions about your company’s financial health.
Conclusion
Many of the additional capabilities you’d expect in robust accounting software, such as job costing, class tracking, contact management, and expenditure tracking, are available in QuickBooks for Mac. However, the program has flaws, such as a lack of connectors, the inability to process transactions in several currencies, and the absence of a live feed to your bank accounts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is QuickBooks 2021 worth it?
A: QuickBooks is a software that makes bookkeeping and budgeting easier for small businesses. It also has the capability to integrate with other accounting systems like Intuit, Sage, or Xero. If you are interested in trying out this software, it would be worth checking into its 2019 version which is available through different licensing options if you’re looking for an affordable option.