First Look: QuickBooks 2010 for Mac

Pete Mortensen ()

QBMac2010_Customizable Screenshot

Image via Intuit

For years, people used to bash Macs by noting the absence of what was viewed to be an absolute essential application. Though there’s still a hold-out or two (we’re still waiting for AutoCAD for Mac, despite hints to the contrary), things are much better these days.

No application, perhaps, embodies this change more than Intuit’s QuickBooks. The company abandoned support for business accounting software package on the Mac in 1997, then pushed out a superficial and generally disappointing port for OS X in 2003. But things started to look up three years ago with QuickBooks 2007 for Mac, the first Mac-like QuickBooks release in almost a decade.

Intuit’s newfound commitment to the platform continues with this morning’s announcement of QuickBooks 2010 for Mac (out in late October for $200), which uses signature OS X UI elements to create a more intuitive accounting experience.I had the chance to observe the software in action yesterday, and there’s a lot to be impressed by. Read on to learn more.

The preferences pane mimics the look of the System Preferences file, you can process credit card transactions directly with the help of a USB card reader, and it incorporates an elegant tracker called My Time which makes it really easy for consultants to monitor their billable hours. It even uses Cover Flow to quickly scroll through account reports.

In one particularly elegant (and very Mac-like) change, the new version reduces the steps needed to set up a new business in the program from between 20 and 100 to just 2. It also uses a nice spotlighting (as opposed to Spotlight) feature to help new users quickly get up to speed. Perhaps the nicest Mac-specific touch is the above financial Dashboard, which uses the UI elements of the OS X Dashboard to let you swap in different widgets for a snapshot of your financial data — it even uses the X in a circle that spins open to give you access to the hidden widgets.

All told, it looks like a nice package. It still lacks a few features found in the Windows version like multiuser support (“We’re working on it,” noted the Mac product manager), some limitations on inventory, or access to an SDK or APIs to build custom solutions, all of which are big challenges for any large corporation planning to go all Mac — just not for small and medium businesses.

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The Mac-run business landscape is changing, dramatically. The Intuit spokesman I talked with said that two years ago, the Mac QuickBooks customer was generally in graphic design, web development or a sole proprietor. These days, larger companies are going all Mac — including long-time QuickBooks users for Windows.

QuickBooks 2010 for Mac

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About the author

Petemortensen

Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete's particular Apple avocations are both around design--interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!

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Posted in Software |

  • Fuzzypig

    A decent home accounts app? Wouldn’t give QB the time of day anymore!

    My missus recently moved over from MS and needed something to convert 7 years of MS Money accounts ( 7 active bank accounts and 3 credit cards ). Tried out iBank from IGG, after Quickbooks failed completely and screwed up the data conversion three times. iBank read it flawlessly in one shot and she converted all that data in about a day and a half and we bought the app for $30!

  • http://blogs.opennms.org Tarus

    Wow. I use Quickbooks on the Mac to run my business and I’ve always been disappointed in the fact that the Windows version has always been ahead.

    Thanks for the note and I look forward to the update next month.

  • http://www.chirho.co.uk chirho

    There’ll never be a UK version of this though :(

  • Barry Wood

    Another less expensive option is Billings (http://www.billingsapp.com/). I’ve been using it for almost two years and have been really happy with it. It’s not quite as extensive as QB (it doesn’t do inventory) but it’s Mac integration is excellent and it’s recurring invoices feature is really nice.

  • jk

    AutoCAD??? What the heck, what we need is a real 3D CAD program, like Unigraphics, CATIA, or at least SolidEdge or such…

  • Gautam Das

    Loan Manager is still missing in 2010 QB for Mac. That is a real disappointment. Cannot move from the Windows to the Mac version without Loan Manager. Wonder why Intuit cannot port that feature to the Mac version. Sigh….

  • Rob

    I moved from QB2007 to QB2010 and quickly moved back to QB2007. I have about 100 invoices per month to enter at the same time. QB2010 would freeze my AR account, as well as the program (CRASH). After attempting to enter my invoices 3 times, I moved back to QB2007. QB2007 works great for me under Snow Leopard, so until the bugs are removed from QB2010, I’ll stick with what works.

  • Robert

    I don’t trust Quickbooks Mac 2010. I have 2009 and it is buggy, I had to turn of the sync function because it made a mess with Address Book, the layout manager is terrible, etc. There were good reviews for 2009. I can’t believe how a company as big as Intuit has done such a poor job with Quickbooks for Mac. Earlier this year I got 2009 and now I have to pay $199 for 2010? I do not recommend Quickbooks for Mac

  • jltnol

    One word:

    Payroll

    That after all these years Intuit still hasn’t gotten on board with built in payroll is way beyond comprehension. Period.

    Instead of screwing around, they should make the Mac and the PC program files exactly the same, so that you could use the apps from either platform on the same accounting file.

    If Microsoft and Adobe can do it, there is no reason why Intuit can’t do it, except for the sheer stupidity and greed of foisting monthly subscriptions on customers to process payroll.

  • shadyal

    thinking about buying qb/mac 2010 because the intuit )*&*^%%^ folks have me over a barrel.

    After my PC employees requested the windows version, I figured I’d be able to take my 2007 mac/qb to my home computer and transfer data to it…WRONG!!
    my OS won’t work with 2007, so I’m getting screwed again by QB… how many times have they said it’ll be better next time, and still no …you know!

  • Howard

    Actually, they do handle payroll now right within the app. Intuit bought Paycycle.com, the online payroll company I’ve been using for 6 years. I used to have to import all payroll data from Paycycle into Quickbooks. Now its totally integrated which saves me a step each time we do payroll or pay taxes.

    I’m using QB 2007 for the Mac, after using the PC version with two users for many years. Fortunately, I can live with the lack of multi-user at this point and the Mac version is much nicer.

  • PPA

    I’ve been using quickbooks for mac 2010 for a few months without incident, but several days ago credit card processing mysteriously died, and tech support is stumped but says other mac 2010 users are having similar issues. Not acceptable in business software!

  • http://www.island-prosthetics.com Denise Boyett

    I am having trouble converting my 2010 quickbooks Mac to Windows for my accountant. Anyone have some words of wisdom to help me out?

  • Sam Sandal

    As a bookkeeper who works with both the mac and PC versions, I don’t recommend converting files from one platform to the other. After two or three of these conversions the file will become corrupted sometimes with and sometimes without a warning. My best advice is to email your accountant your P&L, Balance Sheet and let him/her ask questions from there. It’s another destroyed dream of Intuit’s, but the mac version is meant to be the mac version and the pc is meant to be the pc version.

  • William Lynes

    Denise–
    Happy to provide assistance but I’ll need more details about what issue you’re running into. Do you get an error message? On the Mac or in Windows? What does it say?

    Also, we offer a support forum where you can get questions answered more quickly. Check it out at http://community.intuit.com/categories/contents/249

    Best,
    Will
    Product Manager
    QuickBooks for Mac

  • William Lynes

    PPA–
    Intuit fixed the credit card processing issue on our servers last Thursday and you should be able to charge cards normally. During the issue, you could continue processing cards using the online terminal by going to Credit Card Activities>Merchant Service Center.

    Best,
    Will
    Product Manager
    QuickBooks for Mac

  • ron

    I just switched to os 10.6.3 and now my 2007 quickbooks won’t work!!! when I called I was told I needed to buy the full 2010 program to access my files! I’m looking for another program now.

  • eastly

    Like Ron, I also just switched to os 10.6.3 only to discover the my QB2007 won’t work. I called intuit and was advised to buy the new software.

  • Tawanda

    I am confused. As of 10/11/10 is QB compatible with both MAC and PC or not? What if I stay with MAC OS 10.4?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tara-Snow/100002633454855 Tara Snow

    Love Quickbooks. I use it to keep track
    of all of my finances, it does a great job of organizing them and
    keeping them easily accessible for when I need to refer to them. The
    only place where I have run into problems with QB is in the creation
    of transactions from my excel spreadsheets of data. Creating invoices
    and commission statements in quickbooks from an excel file is a huge
    pain. I have found that by looking to a 3rd party supplement like
    OneClickStatements though I can bypass the Intuit .iif solution and
    quickly coalesce my quickbooks and excel files. My life is easier
    now.

    I can link you guys here.