Updating Quickbooks Forces Online Membership? 462
garyebickford asks: "I've been using Quickbooks 2001 for a long time, sending out invoices via email.
A couple of months ago it asked if I wanted to do an online update - these occurred occasionally and I agreed. There was no information regarding what the update would do, although IIRC there was some mention of 'new features' and 'improvements'. Since that time, it is now impossible to either fax or email an invoice without signing up for Quickbook's 'Online Business Member' program since it appears to use their own mail server. Membership is free for now, but the required click-agreement forces me to agree in advance to any future fees! I have no interest in letting Intuit know about my invoices and other financial information. As a result, this software is essentially useless and I must find a new accounting package. I've looked at various OSS packages but haven't found one that has developed far enough to use in this way. But there are many out there and I haven't kept up to date, so maybe someone else out there can suggest something. I'd prefer using it on Linux, of course. I'd also be interested if this loss of functionality would be sufficient to consider a class action suit to recover costs of conversion." The issue at hand is that commercial software has started to force consumers to fall into such schemes to maintain features that they already had. Today it is Quickbooks, but what about tomorrow?
Easy... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Informative)
You have to keep that information updated.
I use 'FirstEdge' for OS X... (Score:4, Informative)
Also, TimeSlice for OS X is very nice, it itemizes your billing time (if you bill per hr) and exports it into CSV..
There's also AccountEdge for OS X, but it's overkill and overpriced for my simple needs.
Is there anything comparable for Xwindows? Good Q..
Workaround (Score:3, Informative)
Long live spreadsheets... (Score:5, Informative)
I looked at QuickBooks, MS Money, etc and for complete control, nothing can match using spreadsheets for all the tracking, etc. One master spreadsheet for accounting gets numbers from all the other spreadsheets (sales, expenses, etc). Will I need something stronger a year or two from now? Yeah, and I'll be reading the posts right here for an idea on what I will do then. But for anyone who is a one-h@x0r shop up to a couple of employees, spreadsheets fit the bill just fine. Oh, and of course online banking (Citibank is pretty sweet and reasonable fees for corporate account).
Good luck!
Quickbooks disabled? noooooo...... (Score:5, Informative)
No tax tables makes Quickbooks about as useless as tits on a boar hog. Our CPA switched us over to Netledger at Netledger.com
What about tomrrow? (Score:5, Informative)
They will have to, once the unwashed masses become technically educated enough that they realize what is going on with this constant upgrade cycle and stops buying new products since what they have 'works well enough for me'.
The entire market is based on this deceit. and will suddenly implode..
Caught in the headlights of a major trend ... (Score:3, Informative)
Is it legal?
Is it proper?
Is it worthwhile?
Perhaps you should write a little letter to your fair-trading rep or competition commissioner requesting investigation into unfair trading practices based on their market power to exclude future competitors (say ASPs).
LL
Try GNUcash... (Score:5, Informative)
- Small Business Accounting Features:
GnuCash now can be used for Customer and Vendor tracking, Invoicing and Bill Payment,
and using different Tax and Billing Terms in a small business.
- OFX Import:
GnuCash is the first free software application to support the Open Financial Exchange
protocol that many banks and financial services are moving to use. The development of
OFX and HBCI support has also resulted in an improved transaction matching system that
more accurately picks duplicate transactions.
Forcing updates (Score:5, Informative)
To get the new TaxTables, they have really upped their subscription price to more than I think is reasonable. Also, they periodically force an update to the Quickbooks software to be able to use the new TaxTables format. So, for me to keep using Quickbooks, I would have to pay for a new (higher) TaxTable subscription and also update to a new version, which I can't justify.
I have looked at PeachTree, and it seems very usable. It's Tax Table like subscription is about the same as Intuits (around $150), but they do allow you to manually enter details if you need to.
I hate to see Inuit stoop to this, I really like their product. I used Quickbooks at version 5, and liked it. (I don't need any features now that version 5 didn't have). I just can't justify them doing these kind of things to customers, though.
AppGen MyBooks (Score:5, Informative)
My bad experience with Inuit products (Score:5, Informative)
Appgen (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.appgen.com/products/mybooks.html
It works on Windows, Linux, and Mac, will import your Quickbooks data, and you can try it free for 30 days. I've downloaded it, but haven't played with it much. Maybe other Slashdoters can attest to its usefulness.
Regards,
Chris
Accpac for both Linux and Windows (Score:4, Informative)
SQL Ledger (Score:4, Informative)
A couple programs offhand (Score:5, Informative)
Then there is Gnucash [gnucash.org], that is more a cross between quicken and quickbooks. It now has invoicing in the newest release.
For a List of other packages... I really don't know much about those.
Free as in Beer Software to replace Quickbooks (Score:1, Informative)
GNUEnterprise is very promising also. www.gnue.org
Its a project that is in the works.
Both of these projects do more then quickbooks does and are aimed more at running everything from the software. My customers were looking for an all round solution that would track everything from the cash register on back to the employees salaries. So both of these have the possibility to meet the needs of what they want. Inventory tracking, Point-Of-Sale, financial reports, tax tracking, advertising (be it paper or email), and etc.
As for just a simple replacement for Quickbooks I would check out GNUCash and search freshmeat. Several projects are out there though.
Oh and unless you are using the tax tables in Quickbooks you have no need to use it at all.
Any questions?
Email me
bullweivel hotmail.com
This is nothing new from Intuit (Score:2, Informative)
I got the refund on my copy of QuickTax under their satisfaction guarantee and yelled at their poor rep on the phone for half and hour. It was convenient that they had a record of my registered copies going back to 1992 and I made it clear I'd never buy another product from them.
I still use Quicken 5 and I never upgraded that because I didn't want to run financial software that was aware of the internet.
Jason
Intuit is no longer a Good company. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:It's true (Score:2, Informative)
There are *lots* of free zip utilities. (Personally I think WinRAR is much better and worth the money).
For an alternative to RealPlayer...hmmm. You got me there
WindowBlinds makes it clear that it is a demo, so complaints about it expiring are just lame. The LiteStep devs are working on skinning, and I think I saw a WindowBlinds FX clone recently (try Shell Extension city).
Its possible to find lots of freeware for Windows, you just have to look harder. Look at GNUWin II [gnuwin.epfl.ch] for some open source apps.
And make sure to download Ad-Aware [lavasoftusa.com] to hunt down those evil spy programs.
Intuit installing spyware? (Score:5, Informative)
This message was recently posted to alt.comp.financial.quicken. It appears Turbotax 2002 may be installing and starting a spyware service without any notice. I just checked my machine, where I installed Turbotax last week, and indeed, this service is running:
--
Recently I found a running Service named C-DillaCdaC11BA on my Windows XP Pro system. Being an individual interested with Internet Security (viruses, etc), I naturally became concerned that my system may have become compromised. Starting my investigation revealed the associated file (called "CDAC11BA.EXE") located in the Windows\System32\Drivers directory. In addition, I found a hidden directories under the C drive. This first directory was named C_DILLA" and below it was a directory named "SafeCast Product Licenses". Contained within this directory was a single file called "BD6FD000.DAT".
I traced the dates/times the files and directories were created to the same date/time I had installed this years version of Intuit's TurboTax. This is interesting because last year's version of TurboTax did not install this application and nowhere in this year's installation did it make mention of installing it, a third-party application that attempts to hide itself and runs as an additional service! A search of Google for C-DILLA revealed the following article, entitled "C-Dilla! "Copy Protection or Spyware?". It's located at http://www.tswn.com/modules/news/article.php?item_ id=45 [tswn.com]
Nowhere on Intuit's website does it offer a description of this service or appropriate removal instructions. Is it really copyright protection or is Intuit utilizing spyware with their latest version of TurboTax?
Quickbooks try Peachtree (Score:1, Informative)
When I took accounting at college they recommeded Peachtree Accounting, and this seems to be what most accountants prefer. In fact, the university I went to now requires that you use Peachtree.
This is nothing... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Intuit installing spyware? (Score:1, Informative)
(AutoDesk are seemingly much more upfront about its presence though - it's documented in the help and what not - and there are various ways of using AutoCAD that may or may not use cdilla.)
If you had read Ed Foster's column in InfoWorld... (Score:5, Informative)
Twist in Intuit's crippleware techniques doubles the cost of its tax-table service (4/27/01) [infoworld.com]
Intuit is up to its old tricks: Adding taxing burdens on its QuickBooks clients (3/17/00) [infoworld.com]
There is another column by Foster -- the #1 and only consumer IT columnist of whom I am aware -- on the practice of making QuickBooks users transmit invoices using Intuit's servers but you'll have to find it yourself.
Re:Intuit installing spyware? (Score:2, Informative)
It isn't spyware and no spyware finding software (that I am aware of) will report it as installed spyware.
Without the C-Dilla service running any program that authenticates through it will fail to start.
Re:Whoa, here... (Score:2, Informative)
Why upgrade? (Score:5, Informative)
I upgrade *ONLY* when I encounter either a major bug (meaning "uncircumventable") in what I already have, or what I have simply cannot do what I need it to.
For my web-surfing machine, I run W2K. I will *not*, *ever*, upgrade to XP simply because it doesn't do anything "new". Perhaps I will need to upgrade to the next version of Windows someday, but considering Microsoft's (and most companys') release habits, I doubt I'll need to for at least a few more versions. Hell, I only upgraded from NT4 because it had poor PNP and high-end multimedia support (which I don't really consider a "good" reason, technologically speaking, but when I couldn't run 90% of modern games or get any new hardware, I didn't have much choice). Before NT4, I used DOS (the entire Win95 line quite simply sucked, and amazingly, seemed to get progressively *worse*, not better).
For email, I use Calypso (well, mostly, I use Elm, but for my junkmail account I find it easier to get it via POP and just let the nice filters strip out 99% of the spam). Calypso, for those who don't know it, still uses a text-only interface (basic support for HTML/RTF, but the only email I get in HTML consists of spam, so I don't really care 'bout that).
For compiling under windows, I still use Borland C++ 5. I suspect I'll have to upgrade when 64-bit chips hit the mainstream in a year or two, but at the moment, that 6-year-old compiler does the job just as well as anything I could go out and buy today.
The "solution" here seems obvious. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Don't get me wrong, I have no strong love for "retro" computing (except classic console video game emulation ). But of the programs I regularly use, not a single one has made any real improvement in half a decade.
And now, we see companies moving toward *decreased* functionality in their programs, along with non-permanant licenses to use them. Explain how that benefits me?
updates are not optional (Score:3, Informative)
Ever price QuickBooks checks? 4 times as expensive as generic Quill. Fun, eh?
There is *NO* substitute for QuickBooks. We can't get the Linux based developers off their KDE vs Gnome kick, so we are stuck. Has any Linux developer ever finished any project?
hard (Score:3, Informative)
Quickbooks is not a real app, it is a collection of scripts that runs in an IE window. Using 98lite to uninstall IE ruins your QB install.
Now get off your ass and help write a Linux equivalent. +3 my dying backside, you're a nitwit.
Article on Linux Accounting Pkgs (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Quickbooks disabled? noooooo...... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Intuit installing spyware? (Score:5, Informative)
So, does intuit track your usage? probably. That is exactly what we used it for.
Quickbooks sucks (Score:1, Informative)
SQL Ledger and Nola (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Easy... (Score:4, Informative)
Of course back up all your Quicken files, blah, blah, blah.
This is only the beginning (Score:3, Informative)
1) Forced registration and machine-specific activation, or the program stops running after X times.
2) Forced collection of personal details during registration. In fact, if you just tell it your phone number, their automated system will tell you your address (unless you have an unlisted number).
3) Forced telephone reactivation upon reinstallation. You can't reactivate over the Internet (this only works for the first installation).
4) No right to sell your legitimate, boxed copy of the software to someone else if you no longer wish to use it (Kapital is the same in this regard, despite the company's claims).
If you give them a fake name and address, you'd better remember them, otherwise you won't be able to reactivate. And, for your information, there is no QUICKEN.INI workaround in the Australian version, and no "cracks" available.
Don't be surprised if us Aussies are a test market for this, and the rest of the world is next. I switched to GnuCash, but as far as I can tell, most other users have been perfectly willing to take it up the arse.
Web Based Accounting Software (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Easy... (Score:3, Informative)
I've also been looking for a good OSS solution, but have come up short (I'll post separately on that subject).
Registration bypass key (Score:5, Informative)
For other than XP:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intuit\QAgent\Guid
"AppID"
"AppName"="Quicken for Windows"
"AppVer"="11.0.0.0"
"Enable"="Yes"
"M
"SubAppID"="2"
For Windows XP"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{4E2B30D0-E0A2-11D2-
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{4E2
@="Quicken 1.0 Type Library"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{4E2B30D0-E0
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLi
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\Qu
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{4E2
@="1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\Qu
There isn't a "real" OSS solution for accounting (Score:2, Informative)
What specifically are you looking for? If its a time and billing solution there are some choices that I'm sure others have opinions about that might be suitable. But if your looking for a more advanced system - one that handles tax processing and time and billing and does this for multiple clients (i.e. handling the T&B for several individual seperate buisnesses and all of their tax liabilities), your pretty much SOL if you want an OSS. The main reason for this isn't the creation of a database and then publishing it as open source, the problem is maintaining it with respect to changes in tax law. Changes that happen continually at the international, federal, state, and local levels. If you've got a client base spread accross 8 countries and 44 states, this becomes a significant problem in that you just cannot write the code once and plug and chug from there, the code itself has to continually be changed to fit the current legal environment.
I myself experiemented with the idea of producing our own system in-house to solve this problem, and began searching for possible open source solutions. It is an impossibility. Realistically, a truely robust accounting system requires that you have 1) a group dedicated to doing nothing but keeping up with the constantly changing tax laws of basically EVERYWHERE, be it a change in the Fed, a change in tax law in the state of Mississippi, or a change in the tax law of any local city that your clients may be located within. Now that you've got a group (or realistically, a person) doing this, they then have to pass on all changes that need to be made to a programmer - yes, you have to keep a programmer on staff at all times just to continually update the system with the law, and then if you really have any common sense, you have to then send through quality control. Open source just cannot accomplish this for you, and anyone who would do this continually open source is either a fool with no money or someone paid by a government. I have yet to encounter either.
When you run the numbers its actually just more cost effective to outsource the solution. We spend ~$10k US annually to have a complete system provided for us that updates as often as a few times a week, a whole lot more cost effective than maintaining the staff necessary to do this otherwise.
Re:Packet mangling! (Score:4, Informative)
firewall# iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p tcp --dport 25 -d ${INTUIT_SMTP_SERV} -j DNAT --to ${FRIENDLY_SMTP_SERV}