This review will attempt to answer the question, should a very small business use QuickBooks rather than a personal finance program or creating invoices by hand or in Excel? The answer is yes, as long as you are willing to spend a couple of hours understanding the basics of double-entry accounting (that's what this is, though one set of entries happens behind the scenes) and then a couple more hours setting up your company the way you want it.
I'm a freelance writer and I use QB for invoicing, tracking receivables, recording receipts and expenses and creating a few reports for my accountant at the end of the year. That's pretty much it. Yet when I've needed to go outside my comfort zone for a new function or report, I've found it lurking and have been able to implement it pretty easily. That's the benefit of working with an expandable, full-featured accounting system.
As others have mentioned, QuickBooks has lots of available added-cost features that would quickly make it non-affordable for a very small business, including paid support. I've never used them. But with all the inline tutorials, online help and "community" of experts available through the software this shouldn't be necessary. (By the way, once you're familiar with the program these features become irritating and I personally have turned them all off. I've generally been able to get what help I need by clicking the "help" button in the icons across the top and entering keywords that describe my problem.)
UPDATE: when I got around to registering my product they DID offer me 30 days of free support, though it's on a subscription basis and they'll charge $39/month after the 30 days unless I remember to cancel. Still, I would recommend a new user take the 30 days and make sure to give the product a real workout during that time. SECOND UPDATE: ignore what I just said. When I went to cancel the contract I found it difficult to do so and though the agent said it was cancelled I was charged $39 anyway. The web cancellation page says you have to inform them 5 days in advance if you want to cancel so it's really 25 days of free support, not 30. I assume I'll get a refund but I've already spent more than $39 of my time trying to get it so off comes a star.
Also, one of the easiest ways to get started is to use the company interview where QB will set up your accounting based on the information you provide--but your answers have very far reaching implications in how your books are set up, so think carefully about how you answer.
I migrated my books from Peachtree (a much harder-to-use program) about 5 years ago, a very easy process. I have not studied the new features of the 2010 edition in depth but there's no reason not to buy the latest edition (released each Fall) because the clock is ticking and after a period of time Intuit discontinues support and updates (my original 2006 edition has just been "sunsetted" in that manner.) Also, one cool new feature this year is the ability to customize invoices and other forms using a wizard. This is definitely useful to a small business that doesn't want its invoices to look like everybody else's.
Full disclosure, as a marketing writer I've worked for Intuit in the past but never on the core Quickbooks product. I'm reviewing it as a business owner and I'm not pulling any punches, as you can see.Get more detail about QuickBooks Pro 2010.
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