Clearly no one uses it or has heard of it!!! Can't say I'm surprised. A new client of mine is using it and I am not liking it at all. There are no shortcuts that I can work out and you can't do bank reconciliations like other software, as in it doesn't flag things as reconciled, so when trying to reconcile the next month, you could be reconciling the same transaction twice (I'm trying not to but it's very hard when dealing not only with several similar transactions but also possible duplicate transactions made by the client). Also, like Kashflow was when I last used it (it may have improved since), the dates have to be the date on the bank statement - for instance if someone pays, so client marks as paid when they receive payment but then the cheque isn't paid into bank for a couple of days, taking it to the next month, then the bank won't reconcile as you can't leave that payment out without changing the date to the day it's paid in if you know what I mean.
Crikey Sammy, you might need to wait a bit longer for replies!
I've seen peeps on here who use Quickfile, there aren't manny admittedly and I know a few bods aren't around due to be ultra busy at the mo. Think the ICB recommended it at one point so someone might wander in.
My understanding is the Bank rec relies on tagging, no tagging and it throws it out so yes you will have the problems you describe. Plus some other things, I don't use it myself.
Maybe someone will be along in a day or two, but if not after that then try bumping it. Or contact quickfile direct? Or just dump the client
-- Edited by Cheshire on Thursday 18th of August 2016 09:52:01 AM
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
I may contact them to see if there are shortcuts. Or I may try and steer the client towards a better cloud software. It's so long winded to use - if you change the view to a month you want to see, it doesn't stay like that so you are constantly searching for the same thing over and over. There doesn't appear to be any easy/quick way to search for things either, or to view a particular month.
The clients are so sweet and lovely though that I want to be able to get it to a point where it is all up to date, and then I will be able to sort it on a monthly basis for them so will be much easier to sort out.
Might be worth suggesting you could save them some dosh by moving, if you can find somewhere with the same fee structure for the software, as you can key it quicker and the data is more reliable. Does it need to be cloudy for them, do they really look or just jumping on the cloudy bandwagon like a lot of lemmings? I know clients who never ever look, so it's pretty pointless and they could have sage instant VT so much cheaper.
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
I bet that the clients using the free version of Quiclkfile Joanne.
I had a client that used it but they were one of those clients that if they entered 1+1 into a calculator you still couldn't trust them to come back with the right answer so they kept on using Quickfile to understand (sort of) where their business was when they were out and about but at the period end I wanted hard copies of everything from them and did it all again from scratch.
Guess what. My figures (the right one's!) from VT Transaction+ looked absolutely nothing (and I mean nothing!) at all like what they were getting from the data that they were entering .
And therein lies the age old problem with data... Crap in, crap out.
If the clients saving money by entering everything themselves into free software they are still going to end up spending just as much at the period end when we have to do everything all over again to save them from HMRC popping around and telling them to bend over and touch their toes.
As you say Joanne, they could just as easily keep a VT Cashbook (also free) or enter the data into Excel but if Quickfile keeps them happy then thats fine.
From a bookkeepers prospective if you need to use it at least it's software that you can play with for free before using it on a client. My approach with all new software is to take a clients books that I've done in one bit of software then recreate it in the new software to ensure that the end financial statements are identical.
Think that my Avatar says about as much as I need to about my view on cloud offerings though.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I'm not sure if it's the free version - they are doing all their invoicing through it though so might be hard to change. The problem I'm having is trying to match up all their customer receipts - cash/card/chq. Cheques aren't so bad as they photocopy them before paying in so I was able to match those. Cash - in order to find out if a customer paid cash I have to check every single individual payment received as there is no shortcut/indicator on the activity list to tell you. Not the clients fault, thats down to the software. It is incredibly time consuming and draining. Not helped by the fact that I can't seem to match the payments received in the bank for card payments to what they have entered as they sometimes just enter it when they realise it's been paid rather than when it was actually paid iykwim.
They have quite a simple business - not VAT registered - so that may be why they were recommended QF. The invoicing is very easy to do.
When they were free and 'free forever' we used it for a few bookkeeping clients instead of putting them on spreadsheets. They reneged on that promise which was disappointing.
Now they are charging we hardly use it at all. Worth paying a bit extra to use Kashflow in my opinion.
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Phil Hendy, The Accountancy Mentor
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If so a mentor may be the way forward - feel free to get in touch and see how I can assist you.
I looked at it briefly last year after I received a handwritten ledger book from a new client and ended up entering all the data from it into my own software.
Quickfile was was sort of ok but there was no option to enter daily sales, you had to raise an invoice, which then throws your invoice sequence out. I set it up for the client as a free cloudy option (first and only one I've done) so I could keep an eye on it as well because there were a few minor VAT errors in the ledger book.
Anyway client never used it and I got the ledger book back again this year!!
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
apologies been off this site for a while - I am a QF user so hopefully can give some advice - feel free to email me your questions.
Weakness - no full bank reconciliation - I personally complete an excel reconciliation sheet for this at the end of each month - downloading both the QF and bank to compare and keep a record to ensure the details can be proved. Also ability to tag receipt/payment to customer/supplier and leave the money sitting on the account without matching to an invoice. This section is often overlooked and does require checking as it can be easily overlooked. Best not to tag the money unless there is already an invoice to match to
Strength - invoicing is easy for clients to raise and directly email to the customer - auto reminders can be set to ensure statements and chase letters are issued regularly. Ability to issue a remittance advice the receipt is tagged via the client invoice section.
Ability to upload the bank either via bank feeds or csv file - reminder though to look out for duplicate entries if money is tagged via customer/supplier section.
VAT return - able to declare directly through the system.
Able to create journals and easy to duplicate them.
Search - most sections have an advance search section
Checks are required to be set in place, without doubt it is not full proof system however I do find most systems the client uses there are errors found which is why they still require my services
hope helpful
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Donna Curling - Complete Book-Keeping Ltd (CBKLtd) - 07939 101900
I have been using Quickfile for 6 months, including VAT returns. It is free for small users, whilst bigger users have to pay an annual fee.
It works best with online banking, because:
1 It is possible to download a bank statement and then to upload immediately to Quickfile. The data is always 100% correct and there is no need to do an old fashioned bank reconciliation.
2 Quickfile can automatically post the bank payments and receipts to the correct nominal ledger codes (just set the 'Bank Tagging Rules')
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I have been using Quickfile for 6 months, including VAT returns. It is free for small users, whilst bigger users have to pay an annual fee.
It works best with online banking, because:
1 It is possible to download a bank statement and then to upload immediately to Quickfile. The data is always 100% correct and there is no need to do an old fashioned bank reconciliation.
2 Quickfile can automatically post the bank payments and receipts to the correct nominal ledger codes (just set the 'Bank Tagging Rules')
Incredibly fast and enjoyable.
Hi John
So how do you know bank and qf agree if you can't do a bank rec (genuine question)
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
I have been using Quickfile for 6 months, including VAT returns. It is free for small users, whilst bigger users have to pay an annual fee.
It works best with online banking, because:
1 It is possible to download a bank statement and then to upload immediately to Quickfile. The data is always 100% correct and there is no need to do an old fashioned bank reconciliation.
2 Quickfile can automatically post the bank payments and receipts to the correct nominal ledger codes (just set the 'Bank Tagging Rules')
Incredibly fast and enjoyable.
What is classed as a 'bigger user'? Are you a business owner or bookkeeper/Accountant? Size of your business using the software? Volume of items being processed? Its all key and useful info for the recommendation/comments you make.
Plus - how does the Bank tagging rules work if you dont have the same bank information going through each month and how does it upload?
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
I have been using Quickfile for 6 months, including VAT returns. It is free for small users, whilst bigger users have to pay an annual fee.
It works best with online banking, because:
1 It is possible to download a bank statement and then to upload immediately to Quickfile. The data is always 100% correct and there is no need to do an old fashioned bank reconciliation.
2 Quickfile can automatically post the bank payments and receipts to the correct nominal ledger codes (just set the 'Bank Tagging Rules')
Incredibly fast and enjoyable.
Hi John
So how do you know bank and qf agree if you can't do a bank rec (genuine question)
That will depend on your view of materiality and working in the modern world. Also if you get hung up on the term 'bank reconiliation'
Nowadays a large majority of people use some form of online banking, whether it is card payment or direct transfers. Cheques are increasingly less used.
Historically a bank rec would show Balance at the bank, add any o/s deposit, less any o/s payments. As the main methodology of this used to be cheque payments it made sense that their could be a time lag between the bank and ledger.
This lag is simply is not as big anymore. So reconciling your system directly to the bank would be perfectly acceptable.
If a large cheque is still outstanding then the chances are that your balance is still shown within trade creditors anyway.
Think about whether a full reconciliation schedule is material in showing a true and fair view of the accounts.
__________________
Phil Hendy, The Accountancy Mentor
Are you thinking of setting up your own practice or have you set up and need some help?
If so a mentor may be the way forward - feel free to get in touch and see how I can assist you.
I've never used cloudy accounts so I've always done a bank rec, which in VT+ is a piece of cake. I get what you say and I would have to do it quite a few times to become accustomed to it if I was using QF
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
