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I am strongly considering a switch to GnuCash, but not for the reasons in TFA. >Crashes were frequent; QuickBooks users know to make backups every few minutes

I am strongly considering a switch to GnuCash, but not for the reasons in TFA. >Crashes were frequent; QuickBooks users know to make backups every few minutes to avoid losing work.[...] More recently, Intuit has discontinued support for the desktop version entirely in an effort to force all users to its online, paid-by-the-month service. Both of these statements are not true, based on both my professional and personal use of Quickbooks desktop for over 15 years. QB uses transaction logging[0] so that transactions are not lost, even after for example a power outage. And the desktop versions are still available, but no longer with a perpetual one-time license, but rather $800 annual subscription for the Accountant's version. (This is a doubling in price over just the last few years). So, I will be able to use my 2022 desktop version into the future at no extra cost, however some of the internet-based services (receiving payments, for example) will no longer be supported after 3 years. I have installed and started to migrate to GnuCash because I am not going to pay $800/yr to Intuit, especially when less and less of my use is for professional purposes. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transaction_log https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transaction_log

jasonjayr 3y ago
QB Enterprise uses Sybase internally, which is a sound choice, except they also do some kind of crazy file-locking over a SMB share, which can sometimes go wrong and cause issues. They scramble the login/password (and there are tools to do this computation so you can try to connect to the DB directly, but the schema is convoluted, and clearly decended from their old Dos/Win 3.1 roots), and then connect over the network to Sybase. Network clients crashing can cause issues that are difficult to unwind. It should not be possible to get the database into a state where backups + verification fail if it was enforcing referential integrity, but that seems to be common. The official tools to get yourself out of a pickle from Intuit are guesses at best. There is a cottage industry of people who will (for a great fee depending on how urgent it is), attempt to recover/correct the database for you, because they have experience peeking behind the curtain and building additional tools on the XML API. Good luck if you are using EDI or other electronic document exchange with other customers, and you transmit sales order numbers for a few hundred orders in the morning, and then things go pear shaped and QB refuses to cooperate and open the file in the afternoon. Going back to last night's backup means carefully/manually re-ordering 4 hrs of work to make sure that everything lines up, so you're probably in for a late day. Intuit "officially" supports a linux based server for QBE, but the community seems to thumb it's nose up at it, and offers no support for this configuration. QB, for many years was a very good price for the SMB market. There was a LOT of pricing headroom to the next best accounting package. Someone @ intuit has figured that out over the last 10 years and they are ratcheting up the price till customers fall out -- figuring it's finally worth it to drop QB for another solution. I'm aware of a migration from QB Enterprise to QB Online, that after signing up and paying, Intuit basically aborted the process. "Sorry, we don't support doing multiple tax rates for employees in multiple states in the QB Online version, here's your money back". Maybe they fix that eventually, but that's where it stood last year. QB is a frustrating product, for the inertia it currently has.
wrycoder 3y ago
QB Online works pretty well, I've used it for many years. Intuit has an obvious disrespect for their customers - some important bugs have gone unfixed for years amid continual complaints, while the newbie support people suggest they be reported to Intuit! I handle the accounting for a small non-profit. We need the ability to categorize our revenue and expense, which now requires the full QBO. At $850 / year, the cost is out of line with our $30K / year revenue. But, I'm rather stuck because the organization needs to be able to transfer the work to another accountant if something happens to me, and GnuCash, ledger, hledger, etc. aren't well known. Also, we need the ability to accept payments from PayPal and Stripe without a lot of manual entry.
- projektfu 3y ago
  That's where I am. Our 2017 QB desktop was getting to the point where it felt likely to stop working so I switched to GnuCash. However, I am worried about another user learning it and being able to do it right. I do a lot of babysitting of the program as it is. QB online would be too expensive. Xero might work. The fact that entering bills is an "advanced feature" in most packages gives me pause.
- nine_k 3y ago
  It looks like there is a market for GnuCash support contracts priced at, say, $300 a year. It could offer some consultation and hand-holding in complex cases.

jasonjayr 3y ago

QB Enterprise uses Sybase internally, which is a sound choice, except they also do some kind of crazy file-locking over a SMB share, which can sometimes go wrong and cause issues. They scramble the login/password (and there are tools to do this computation so you can try to connect to the DB directly, but the schema is convoluted, and clearly decended from their old Dos/Win 3.1 roots), and then connect over the network to Sybase. Network clients crashing can cause issues that are difficult to unwind. It should not be possible to get the database into a state where backups + verification fail if it was enforcing referential integrity, but that seems to be common. The official tools to get yourself out of a pickle from Intuit are guesses at best. There is a cottage industry of people who will (for a great fee depending on how urgent it is), attempt to recover/correct the database for you, because they have experience peeking behind the curtain and building additional tools on the XML API. Good luck if you are using EDI or other electronic document exchange with other customers, and you transmit sales order numbers for a few hundred orders in the morning, and then things go pear shaped and QB refuses to cooperate and open the file in the afternoon. Going back to last night's backup means carefully/manually re-ordering 4 hrs of work to make sure that everything lines up, so you're probably in for a late day. Intuit "officially" supports a linux based server for QBE, but the community seems to thumb it's nose up at it, and offers no support for this configuration. QB, for many years was a very good price for the SMB market. There was a LOT of pricing headroom to the next best accounting package. Someone @ intuit has figured that out over the last 10 years and they are ratcheting up the price till customers fall out -- figuring it's finally worth it to drop QB for another solution. I'm aware of a migration from QB Enterprise to QB Online, that after signing up and paying, Intuit basically aborted the process. "Sorry, we don't support doing multiple tax rates for employees in multiple states in the QB Online version, here's your money back". Maybe they fix that eventually, but that's where it stood last year. QB is a frustrating product, for the inertia it currently has.

wrycoder 3y ago

QB Online works pretty well, I've used it for many years. Intuit has an obvious disrespect for their customers - some important bugs have gone unfixed for years amid continual complaints, while the newbie support people suggest they be reported to Intuit! I handle the accounting for a small non-profit. We need the ability to categorize our revenue and expense, which now requires the full QBO. At $850 / year, the cost is out of line with our $30K / year revenue. But, I'm rather stuck because the organization needs to be able to transfer the work to another accountant if something happens to me, and GnuCash, ledger, hledger, etc. aren't well known. Also, we need the ability to accept payments from PayPal and Stripe without a lot of manual entry.

projektfu 3y ago
That's where I am. Our 2017 QB desktop was getting to the point where it felt likely to stop working so I switched to GnuCash. However, I am worried about another user learning it and being able to do it right. I do a lot of babysitting of the program as it is. QB online would be too expensive. Xero might work. The fact that entering bills is an "advanced feature" in most packages gives me pause.
nine_k 3y ago
It looks like there is a market for GnuCash support contracts priced at, say, $300 a year. It could offer some consultation and hand-holding in complex cases.