I was speaking to a small business owner yesterday about bookkeeping. I asked what software he was using for his bookkeeping, and he quickly answered “Microsoft Excel..”

Of course, my next question was, “how is that working for you?”

“Fine,” he said.

I had already mentioned QuickBooks Online earlier in our conversation.

“Why Should I Switch to QuickBooks?” he asked.

Here are some of the questions I asked in response to his question to me:

• How long does it take you to create those 1099s you are required to issue at the beginning of the year?
• Does Excel scan and auto-read your receipts?
• Can you invoice your customers with Excel?
• How easy is it to automatically track your business and nonbusiness mileage on your two vehicles?
• Are you using Excel to reconcile your business bank accounts and your credit card accounts?
• How is it working to enter bills that you need to pay within the next few weeks?

He stopped me when he said, “I guess maybe I should take a look at QuickBooks.”

We agreed on that.

There is nothing wrong with Excel. It is a great business tool. But it is not bookkeeping software. It is a great “what if” tool, and great for many useful business purposes. But for day-to-day bookkeeping, QuickBooks Online is a better choice. It is accounting software, whereas Excel is not. And a better tool to get the financial recordkeeping work done in less time is QuickBooks.