Anything but Quickbooks.

I may have asked there here in the past. It's time to rehash the subject. 

Quickbooks is the devil. I've been using it for 18 years and at this point it has worn out its welcome. Its only advantage is the ease of startup, price, and familiarity. I tried my damndest to transition from the desktop version to the cloud version a couple of weeks ago. It turned into a disaster. In their usual fashion, tech support was useless because of constant disconnects. For a software company, they really suck at software and Walmart has better customer service. I am at the point where I'm willing to spend real money to never see that logo again. 

On the recommendation from Steve, I have transitioned my payroll to Gusto. Man, it was nice to work with professionals. That was as seamless a transition as I could have asked for. Payroll is going to be so easy moving forward. 

Now I need a construction accounting software package that supports inventory, estimating, invoicing, job tracking, time tracking, and work orders. If I could transition our Trello board as well that would be even better. I would like it to be cloud-based so that everyone can access the parts they need from wherever they are. 

I've done some digging but everyone wants you to schedule a Demo before they will even let you look at the software or the pricing. I'd like to narrow the field so I'm not pissing away their time and my time demoing something that blatantly will not work or is crazy expensive that I can't afford. 

The strong contenders are Jonas Enterprise ($$$$$) and Jonas Premier ($$$$), and CoConstruct ($$$$). 

Any other companies I should look at? I don't want to outgrow a system in 5 years so this needs to be a long-term solution. I'd love to use SAP, but I'm 99% certain I can't afford them. 

I can't help on this part, but glad Gusto worked out for you. It's one of the best things we ever did, saves a crazy amount of time and headache.

Bumping this for the Friday crowd.

Bumping this one more time. 

I'd suggest my company, NetSuite. They are a fully fledged ERP package, but I'm not sure on the cost. 

In reply to z31maniac :

They are on the list but I'm pretty sure they are out of my budget. 

Maybe check out ERPNext? If they try to screw you over you could move to self-hosting.

I am also looking for a solution as I have not migrated over to cloud-based accounting which Quick Books so desperately wants me to do.  Something about putting all my company finances (and in some ways my personal as I am an S corp) out on the internet does not sit well with me

I don't have much to add other than you are buying not only the software is important but the company that will implement as well. I have been a part of two migrations and I have seen one double in cost due to the implementer not being able to properly set it up.

Syspro might be one to look at.

I would try to stick to small companies. I will PM you one.

Also, whatever you choose, make sure your accountant is onboard.

Zombie thread... but I have heard a big nerd that's been a builder for 25 years rave about how this product improved his business significantly. 

https://buildertrend.com/commercial

And I'm curious what you ended up with, Toyman!?

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

I'm still using QuickBooks but have moved to the online version. Believe it or not, it's even worse than their desktop version from a contractor's standpoint. But they decided to no longer support their desktop products to force everyone's hand. 

From what I'm seeing, the little guys are no better than QuickBooks.

My one foray into Netsuite got me nowhere. I guess I'm too small for them to bother with. 

I was in the SAP game for almost 30 years (now retired). IMHO, it's not suited to the type of work that your company does, as well as it being hugely expensive to buy and maintain. 
Have you looked at Microsoft Dynamics? It may give you some of the basic features you're looking for. But I also assume that whatever package/platform you use would require some customization, which can be an incredible PITA. 

Are there any low cost or offline desktop systems left?

Something for micro businesses. Like side hustles, retirement businesses, or tiny businesses just getting started?

QB Essentials is $780 per year. That seems like a lot for a micro business. Buildertrend's lowest package is $6000 per year. 

Can QB Simple Start be set up to run more than 1 business?  (For example, my son has a small handyman business, but also has rental property. It's easier if those ventures are kept separate)

Looks like Simple Start can only do one sales stream. 

There are a few offline programs out there but I am not familiar with them. 

You might look into an older version of Quickbooks for the desktop. As long as he doesn't need to do payroll, track sales tax, or use the software to generate tax forms, it will do POS and generate invoices without issue. 

Another option would be something like Fresh Books. It's similar to QB but less expensive. 

SV reX said:

Can QB Simple Start be set up to run more than 1 business?  (For example, my son has a small handyman business, but also has rental property. It's easier if those ventures are kept separate)

An acquaintance was using GNUCash or KMyMoney for that, but I don't know how difficult it was to keep up with.  He was a bit of Linux fanboy already, though, so your UX mileage may vary :)

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

Ah, a man of culture

GNUCash should do the job for a basic QB alternative.

$780 is more than my business has burned through this year on everything other than equipment purchases (Unfortunately, that's also less than it's grossed so far )

Quickbooks is DREADFUL. I'm surprised I didn't see this thread when it was new; thanks for resurrecting it! 

I am a GC and use Xero now. It's not perfect but it's light years ahead of Quickbooks. It's worth a look, particularly for SBOs looking to stay the hell away from Intuit. 

I had a landscape contractor out to my house who used

www.invoicesimple.com 

Seemed quite nice for the estimate/bill part. Not sure if they have inventory and scheduling tools but might be worth a look.