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QuickBooks: PC to Mac Conversion

goinskiing

goinskiing

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 25, 2008
914
11
Meridian, ID
So, I have not dealt much with QuickBooks, but I'm doing some work for a friend who is switching over to Mac and she is having me help her. I've been able to set up most of her stuff pretty easily.

My question is that she is running QuickBooks 2008 Pro on her old PC, what we're trying to figure out is if it would be:

a. Easier to install XP on Parallels and run her Quickbooks from there

OR

b. Get QuiickBooks 2009 Pro for Mac and convert her old data over

I am just curious to know if anyone has done this and if the PC to Mac data conversion was simple or tedious.

Thanks for your help!
 
Intuit also has a forum. I'm sure that you can find your answers there.

I can tell you that conversion from Quicken on the PC to Quickbooks for Mac 2009 doesn't work at all. I was able to download my transactions from my various accounts, however, and start with a couple of months transactions.

Good luck.:)
 
Stay away from Quickbooks Pro 2009 Mac. It's not as intuitive as the Windows version and if she wants Payroll or Tax software it the integration is much better on Windows. I hate to say it, but this is one area where a piece of software runs better on Windows. So I say install XP and either dual boot or use visualization software like Fusion or Parallels, and run Quickbooks for Windows.
 
thunderclap said:
Stay away from Quickbooks Pro 2009 Mac. It's not as intuitive as the Windows version and if she wants Payroll or Tax software it the integration is much better on Windows. I hate to say it, but this is one area where a piece of software runs better on Windows. So I say install XP and either dual boot or use visualization software like Fusion or Parallels, and run Quickbooks for Windows.
Click to expand...

Perfect, that's exactly what I needed to know.
 
I don't like Windows either, but Quickbooks Pro is the SOLE reason I installed Windows XP and Parallels 4.0. To say that Quickbooks for Mac is sucks is an understatement.
 
JasonR said:
I don't like Windows either, but Quickbooks Pro is the SOLE reason I installed Windows XP and Parallels 4.0. To say that Quickbooks for Mac is sucks is an understatement.
Click to expand...
I guess now I gotta figure out if I should use Quickbooks Pro in XP instead of Quicken Home and Business. I have outgrown Quicken, I just don't know if Quickbooks is a step I want to take.

Anyway, thanks for the input, it saved me a lot of time and headaches.
 
Is there a good accounting software package for mac out there? Something that's supported by major companies and CPAs?
 
I think I've tried them all. My problem is that I'm just so used to Quicken. I have 3 businesses, all with multiple accounts (one with at least 15), so conversion has to work. So far I've found nothing that converts the data properly.

I've searched here, Intuit, Google, and tried several other Mac financial software vendors. iBank and iBiz looks promising, but I haven't had the time to really investigate.

And the set up for each application I try is different. I feel like if I knew the language, maybe it would do what I need, but it's so hard to tell.

Intense frustration
 
can you just install XP, run bootcamp and quickbooks that way? That would be a cheaper route than buying parallels.

That's what I'm considering doing. I am a brand new Mac user..just bought my first one on 5/7/09..20" desktop. I have quickbooks pro 2008 running on XP and have considered buying qb 2009 for Mac, but now I'm thinking of buying a copy of XP and running bootcamp.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
 
My problem with that is that I need to run XP and OS X at the same time. Parallels allows me to do that. It would drive me crazy to have to boot into bootcamp every time I needed to use Quicken.

Now, there is an application that is like Parallels that is free, and I've heard it's very good. You might want to try that. VirtualBox, I think is the one that a lot of people are happy with.

Crossover doesn't seem to work well for me, it's too slow. But others here have told me that I must've done something wrong, because they have been happy running Quicken with it. Quickbooks, I think, is on the silver list. Again, I'm uncertain, but at least that gives you even more to think about.:)
 
Thanks, since I only use quickbooks a few times a week, I don't think there's a need for me to run XP and OS X at the same time.

Either way I go, I still need to buy XP ...correct? So, I think the easiest / cheapest route for me would be to purchase XP, run bootcamp a few times a week.

Does that sound like a good plan?
 
Yep, you'll have to get a copy of XP. If it were me, and I was only going to use the OS to run quickbooks, I'd attempt ReactOS before springing for XP. But I like to play around with stuff like that.:eek:
 
You can try use wine to run windows programs run "natively" in mac os x. My brother set it up. So I don't how it exactly works. But maybe you can try that instead of using the entire paralles and windows.
 
arjen92 said:
You can try use wine to run windows programs run "natively" in mac os x. My brother set it up. So I don't how it exactly works. But maybe you can try that instead of using the entire paralles and windows.
Click to expand...
I think that is definitely worth a shot. If anyone attempts that, please be sure to post here about it. I'm very interested in other ways to run quickbooks. Thanks.
 
Lots of great suggestions in this thread. I didn't know so many people were having trouble with QuickBooks on the Mac, and that's sort of a bummer.

Luckily, like a few people have already mentioned, you have options that let you virtualize other operating systems. twott28, since you'll be getting Windows XP either way, I recommend at least checking out the free trial of Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. It lasts 15 days, and gives you access to the full functionality of the full version, including the very spiffy Coherence mode which lets you run Windows apps right on your OS X desktop, and the ability to share, drag and drop files between OSes.

You might find that virtualizing Windows gives your Mac a lot of extra flexibility it wouldn't otherwise have. You basically wouldn't have to worry about software OS requirements again.

goinskiing, hopefully your question's been answered already.
 
I'm a CPA using all versions of PC quickbooks in VMware, and qbooks for mac 9 in os X. given the choice, the PC version is a better program but 9 mac isn't bad. For clients that don't need windows, mac 9 is working fine. I've converted plenty of files over from PC to Mac without a problem, but going back to PC at times is a problem. The basic message I got from Intuit is that transferring back and forth is dangerous thus my need to run both.

A client tried Mac MYOB and though it wasn't horrible, he's back to qbooks. it wasn't a bad program imo, but required a better accounting background, and their support was, according to the client, not good.

For my money, running qbooks 9 for win in Vmware or parallels is the best way to go unless you absolutely despise having windows on your machine.

mg
 
Windows QB on VM?

I'm about to purchase a my first Mac. I need to run my Pro 2008 Quickbooks on it and for what I understand I might be able to do it on the VM. Does anybody can assure me that it runs just fine without issues?
 
Manu76 said:
I'm about to purchase a my first Mac. I need to run my Pro 2008 Quickbooks on it and for what I understand I might be able to do it on the VM. Does anybody can assure me that it runs just fine without issues?
Click to expand...
You will have no problems whatsoever if you plan to run it in Windows using a VM.:)
 
Thanks redwarrior!

One more question. Going through other forums I've found people having problems with VM fusion and suggest parallels. What's your thought about it?

Actually the questions are two!
My pro 2008 Quickbooks is currently running on a pc with vista. Should I install Vista on the VM as well or better if I'll go with XP?
 
Manu76 said:
Thanks redwarrior!

One more question. Going through other forums I've found people having problems with VM fusion and suggest parallels. What's your thought about it?

Actually the questions are two!
My pro 2008 Quickbooks is currently running on a pc with vista. Should I install Vista on the VM as well or better if I'll go with XP?
Click to expand...
I have never used Fusion, but I don't believe it would make any difference at all to use it over Parallels. I'm almost certain of it. There are many happy users of Fusion around here.

I don't think that Vista or XP would make any difference either. I am running XP, and it runs fine on mine.

Frankly, I would be shocked if you noticed any difference using any combination of the above mentioned OS's and virtualization software. Everything should run perfectly normally; I wouldn't give it a second thought.
 
Intuit is not mac worthy!

Had Quickbook for mac since January. Twice now my company info has disappeared. I can see the accounts but they are only showing the opening balance and nothing else. Intuit wants to charge me to figure out where the info went. LOL. Nice lady from India was eager enough--all I had to do was give her my credit card info. I have a backup disk (of course) but won't restore from there. Keeps saying it is from a version prior to 2004, which of course it is not. Why-you ask? Because I couldn't transfer any of that info--had to dump it when I switched to the newer version. And.... even when it was working, couldn't share my info on my desktop with my laptop. DON'T BUY THIS GARBAGE!!! Can anyone recommend a better accounting program? This one bites!!
 
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