Quicken: do any of you use?

[lou]

I've been thinking about getting Quicken Home and Small Business for 2017 use, including taxes.

It lets you link into your bank account and paypal, so I'll never space out on claiming a deduction. Of course I hope worry it's secure, but a google reveals no major hack.

Do any of you use it? Opinions? Learning curve reports?

[Daniel]

I used Quicken for a long time in the past, although not in a decade or so. Like most software, it was built with a design philosophy that can seem counter-intuitive until you understand it. I don't think the learning curve was particularly bad because they modeled the software elements after the corresponding real-world elements. Back when I was using it, they didn't link to online accounts, so I don't have anything to offer on that subject. For taxes, I used TurboTax back in those days, but I've been using a tax accountant since about 1996.

I'm also a QuickBooks user, and I've been using that program steadily for about twenty years. I think QuickBooks is less intuitive, partly because it seems to be designed as an active part of your business that gets left running all the time. For people like me who batch up their transactions and enter them once a month, the interface can seem kind of clunky.

Overall, I'd say both products shine the most when you use them to answer questions. For example, how much did I spend on X last month? The reporting features are powerful, although using them effectively is a learning curve in itself. I stopped using Quicken because entering all my personal transactions was too much work compared to how much value I got out of the reporting. For our corporation, I'm still a QuickBooks user because the reporting features are essential and we use it for payroll.