Practical advice for when you outgrow QuickBooks

Posted by Jim High

QuickBooks is the top accounting choice for small businesses. As your company grows, however, you may find that your accounting software turns from a solution into a problem.

Signs you’re outgrowing QuickBooks

You will know you are outgrowing QuickBooks when you:

• Have to use multiple spreadsheets to manage business operations
• Notice your database is too large for timely QuickBooks reporting
• Have significant delays on menu and screen refreshes
• Need more accounting functionality
• Need more accounting reports and dashboards
• Must duplicate data entry to get data from one system to another

QuickBooks has a finite limit on the amount of data it can handle. If your database is approaching 30MB or 32,000 entries, then you are nearing the threshold.

How to keep QuickBooks running

It’s not as if QuickBooks will abruptly stop running for you. However, it will get progressively slower and less responsive, so it’s important to notice this. In the meantime, here are a few tips on keeping things going for as long as possible:

1. Keep your QuickBooks installation up to date. Patches come out periodically to address response issues.
2. Turn off optional features. Removing some of these will help software response times. Turn off the beep on transaction entry option. You can also disable alerts, reminders, check for duplicate numbers, etc. Every little bit helps.
3. De-frag your hard drive. Your system has spread the database across different hard drive segments. The more fragmented the file, the slower it is to respond. Defragging will rewrite the files into one block, making it faster.

These are stopgap measures that will improve the performance of QuickBooks, giving you time while you search for a new financial software solution.

How to find your next accounting software

When you outgrow QuickBooks, you need to look for a more robust ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution. The right ERP solution will grow with your business and make your company more productive.

1. Decide what functionality you need. ERP is more than simple bookkeeping. It involves tracking costs, inventory, human resources and business intelligence.
   
2. Look for flexibility & customization featuresYour business is unique. You need the ability to pull and view information in the way that makes sense for you.
   
3. Find a system that can grow with your needsWhen you outgrow QuickBooks, you know your company is growing. You need a new system that can grow with you.

Find a true technology partner

When you decide to upgrade to an ERP solution, there will be three major criteria for you to vet any solution:

1. The right software
2. The right deployment method
3. The right technology partner for you

Finding the right partner can be the deciding factor between failure and success. The right partner will be an invaluable resource of expertise for your business, and can help you find exactly what you need to continue your success and growth.
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