Would this program work for a personal private practice?

charis5

I'm using Quickbooks now and it is more than what I need. I'm wondering if the Business and Rental Property Program would work for me. I need to keep track of about 100 client accounts. Is the B&R Property program only geared for property management?

Frankx

@charis5

I am assuming that by "client demographics" you mean basic information (name, address, phone, email address, etc.) as opposed to clinical data.  Quicken (Home & Business) can handle that as well as billing, cash receipts, banking, and tax related catagorization of income and expenses for the number of clients you mention.  I assume that you are familiar with Quicken, however if not, then it may be a challenge for a "lousy bookkeeper", especially if you are starting from scratch.

You mentioned having a CPA.  If you still use one, he/she would be a good sounding board to help you decide whether Quicken will work well for you or not.  They also might be able to get you up and running through some "hands-on" consulting.

Given that you are effectively downsizing, I don't think you need to worry about transitioning from Quickbooks - a fresh start on Quicken should be all you'll need.

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

Frankx

NotACPA

OK, so, as a Mental Health Counselor, you presumably bill by the hour and besides any rent and maintaining your license you have little in the way of expenses.

Q can easily handle all of the above, including the invoicing of your clients.

IF you bill clients at different hourly rates, Q can handle that too. 

I was an IT Consultant, and had multiple "hourly rates" built into Q H&B, depending upon my rate for that particular contract.

Q can also be used to prepare invoices either prior to the sessions (to present to the client at that time) or after (either to be mailed or emailed).

You would want to look at your most recent FILED tax return to see what forms you used and what Tax Lines.  While Q can handle a great many forms ... it doesn't cover all of them.  But there are workarounds for the others.

Did I miss anything in that 1st paragraph?  Can you tell us what IRS Forms you used on your most recently filed return?

Frankx

Hi @charis5,

If you provide some additional information, it will be easier to answer your question.  However, the short answer is "No, the Home & Business" version of Quicken ( or as you refer to it, the "B&R Property program") is not limited to property management and can be used for any small to medium sized business, at least in theory.  I have found that it depends on the nature of your business and your accounting and reporting needs.

If you can tell us what you mean by "keeping track of about 100 client accounts", that would be helpful.  Also you might want to review this link for ore information:

https://www.quicken.com/support/business-features-quicken-home-business

Frankx

NotACPA

Telling us the type of business would be helpful also.  I'm having a tough time imagining Q being used to manage to finances of a law firm or a medical practice.

BUT ALSO NOTE, that your QB data can't be converted to Quicken.  So you'd need to start over from scratch as of a date that you'd select.

charis5

Thank you so much for responding.
I am a mental health counselor. I opened my business in 2003 and employed several clinicians. thus the using of QuickBooks. At that time, I had a certified QB person come in monthly to reconcile etc. and I also had a CPA for the taxes, etc.
My husband has had 7 heart attacks since 2009 so I needed to downsize so I could be more flexible with my time; so private practice. I no longer have a QB person or a CPA. That's basically the story.
I have about 50 clients that I see at least 1x monthly and previous clients that I would like to keep in the system. 70 to 75 clients is a more realistic number.
I was hoping there was a way to enter client demographics and be able to invoice and record payments for each. I do realize I would need to enter each client manually.
I am a pretty good counselor, but a lousy bookkeeper who doesn't understand accounting. QuickBooks is way over my head.
Thanks again and I appreciate any advice you may have.

Frankx

@charis5

I am assuming that by "client demographics" you mean basic information (name, address, phone, email address, etc.) as opposed to clinical data.  Quicken (Home & Business) can handle that as well as billing, cash receipts, banking, and tax related catagorization of income and expenses for the number of clients you mention.  I assume that you are familiar with Quicken, however if not, then it may be a challenge for a "lousy bookkeeper", especially if you are starting from scratch.

You mentioned having a CPA.  If you still use one, he/she would be a good sounding board to help you decide whether Quicken will work well for you or not.  They also might be able to get you up and running through some "hands-on" consulting.

Given that you are effectively downsizing, I don't think you need to worry about transitioning from Quickbooks - a fresh start on Quicken should be all you'll need.

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

Frankx

NotACPA

OK, so, as a Mental Health Counselor, you presumably bill by the hour and besides any rent and maintaining your license you have little in the way of expenses.

Q can easily handle all of the above, including the invoicing of your clients.

IF you bill clients at different hourly rates, Q can handle that too. 

I was an IT Consultant, and had multiple "hourly rates" built into Q H&B, depending upon my rate for that particular contract.

Q can also be used to prepare invoices either prior to the sessions (to present to the client at that time) or after (either to be mailed or emailed).

You would want to look at your most recent FILED tax return to see what forms you used and what Tax Lines.  While Q can handle a great many forms ... it doesn't cover all of them.  But there are workarounds for the others.

Did I miss anything in that 1st paragraph?  Can you tell us what IRS Forms you used on your most recently filed return?

charis5

Thank you for answering me!
Yes, you are correct about the demographics.
I have used Quicken for years, so I am comfortable with it. Not an expert, but comfortable.
Unfortunately, I don't have a CPA to talk this over with.
I'm feeling good about what you said, so I think I'm going to go forward with it. I guess the worst that can happen is that if it didn't work out, I'd just go back to wrestling with QBs.
I really appreciate that you took the time to answer. Thanks again.

charis5

@ notACPA,
Thank you for your answer, also!
You understand what I'm needing to do and that gives me some confidence that changing to Quicken will be okay.
My business is an S Corp and I am the owner, board member and an employee...and chief cook and bottle washer. Ha!
I know I will have to do my payroll taxes which Q is not set up for, but I can figure that out since it is only for me. I don't have any complications like depreciation or inventory to keep track of, so I think I will be alright. I used Turbo Tax last year and haven't had the IRS show up at my door with guns drawn...yet.
I am so grateful for the answers! I have been calling the Q offices and not feeling confident that they were understanding my situation.
Have a great evening!

Ps56k2

Unless I am wrong - you might need to have the higher Quicken Home & Business version - vs Premier or Deluxe - to have access to the Invoincing, and printable tax forms if you want them...   You can also have payroll info split out...

Scooterlam

Great advice so far!

Quicken HBR also has a pretty extensive business help section. I found it helpful when I setup my business in 2017, especially, the highlighted sections below.  

NotACPA

@charis5, does your S Corp file it's own tax return, or is it included on Schedule C of your personal return?

If the former, them the business would need it's own, separate, Q data file.  In that file you'd be an employee and the S Corp would pay you ... which you'd show in YOUR Q data file as Salary.

If it's on Sched C of your return, then payroll isn't an issue and it can all be done in a single Q data file.  Because, in this case, you and the practice are a single tax entity ... and your "salary" is simply a transfer from your "business pocket" to your "personal pocket" ... and therefore not taxable as a transfer.  Naturally, the practice's income would be included on that Sched C also and be taxed there.

Frankx

An S Corporation ALWAYS files its own federal tax return (Form 1120-S); it is a corporation.

While it would be a bit "cleaner" to keep a separate data file for the S-Corp, it actually wouldn't be required.  The key point would be to take steps were taken to separate the income and expenses of the S Corp from personal income and expenses.  That will happen naturally by properly posting all business items to the "Business" accounts in Quicken H&B.  For a personal services corporation like this one, there typically aren't a lot of assets or liabilities, but those too could be easily separated & identified in one data file. 

Frankx

Rocket J Squirrel

A while back, we had a super user who was a dentist and used Quicken for his dental practice. He is since retired, but it worked for him.

Frankx

I suspect he was a super dentist, too!

Rocket J Squirrel

He was a cranky SU and has been banned from the forum. Don't know about his dental expertise.