QuickBooks or Quicken&

Farm Accounting Resources

Joe Horner

Extension Dairy/Beef Economist

Commercial Agriculture Program

Learning Objectives

• Understand which farmers to guide to Quicken and which to guide to QuickBooks.

• Become aware of the new MU web page: Farm Accounting Resources http://agebb.missouri.edu/mgt/mofar/index.htm

• Share ideas for future farm accounting tool development and dissemination.

Quicken vs. QuickBooks

Reality

Quicken vs. QuickBooks

• Neither was built for farm accounting• Quicken was built for Personal Finance• QuickBooks was built for Small Business

Accounting• QuickBooks is true double entry accounting with a

General Ledger available. Remember Debits and Credits?

• Some accountants are pushing QuickBooks as a standard for their small business clients.

Key Issues

• QuickBooks inventories, invoicing and other forms are really nice for farmers with side businesses.

• Two other good points: excellent payroll capabilities, excellent 2 stage accrual A/P and A/R process available but not mandatory.

• Key warning: If farmers don’t keep records weekly forget the 2 stage process. Stay with Quicken??

Version? Get QuickBooks Pro

Every Report can be popped into Excel by just hitting a button.

This becomes a real need if you want balance sheets, (Keep Book Value on QuickBooks, pop to excel for Market Value quick editing.

Also key to being able to create/edit enterprise reports.

Which farmers to guide to QuickBooks?

• Do they like accounting?• Do they have several employees?• Do they keep their records up to date

weekly?• Are they having problems managing

Accounts payable or Accounts Receivable?• Do they have a side business with

inventory?

Farm Accounting Resources New Web Page

• Created to be a “one stop shop” to link to all of the farm accounting resources MU offers.

• Created to take farmers, adult educations, extension agents, & ag bankers to best farm accounting resources on the web.

• New – 9/17/2001. Work in progress. Suggestions welcome.

• More to come……

Start Here

Go to 4th Link Down

Ideas for Farm Accounting Resources Web Page

• FBMA Quicken chart of categories link will be added.

• List of local contacts will be added: adult ag educators & extension.

• More QuickBooks tools.

• Comments and Suggestions?

Summary

• Which farmers to guide to Quicken and which to QuickBooks.

• New “Farm Accounting Resources” page http://agebb.missouri.edu/mgt/mofar/index.htm

• More projects in development.