| ![Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2008 [OLD VERSION]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Y616xCXoL._SL500_.jpg)
| From: Microsoft Software
List Price: $139.99
Buy New: $74.99
You Save: $65.00 (46%)
New (32) Used (5) from $59.98
Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 383
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows Xp, Windows Xp Professional
Color: 1-user
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Full
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: Windows Vista
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.5 x 1.6
MPN: 9SK-00108
UPC: 882224622356
EAN: 0882224622356
ASIN: B000Y7Y6IQ
Release Date: December 17, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand New! Full retail commercial version! Free expedited shipping upgrade!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 53
 Solid, not spectacular May 10, 2008
Joseph Boone (Irvine, CA United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Microsoft has been trying to become a serious player in accounting software for quite some time. Office Accounting Professional is an obvious attempt to make a dent in the low end of the market and chip away at the lock QuickBooks Pro 2008 has on that segment. The basic look and function of the program is so similar to Quickbooks, in fact, that one could easily mistake it for the current king of the hill.
To test this product, I set up books for a small business that I recently started and entered a number of basic transactions. While some processes weren't as intuitive as I might have liked, it's relatively user friendly and it doesn't take long to get things done. Like Quickbooks, the internal controls are awful and you can freely edit past transactions with no real audit trail. This is convenient if you make a mistake, but a major no-no for those trying to run a genuine accounting department.
Office Accounting Professional is a competent program for those running a mom and pop business, but would not be sufficient for any more than that. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything here that is a real improvement over Quickbooks and because of that, I don't recommend the product. Because Quickbooks enjoys a near-monopoly in this market, there are several advantages to buying it. Many bookkeepers and tax preparers will be able to take a copy of your data file and do their work, but none of them are likely to have this product. The same is true of pre-formatted check stock and many other things. This is not bad software, it's just not compelling enough to give up the advantages of owning the dominant package.
Many features, but also very slow and bloated March 9, 2008
Meryl K. Evans (Plano, TX)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I'm comfortable with software and usually figure them out quickly. Not so with accounting software. It took time and patience before I finally got the hang of QuickBooks. I thought I'd try Microsoft's accounting software since I'm comfortable with most of the company's software. QuickBooks has some clunky issues with its interface -- an area where Microsoft excels.
I've also used Microsoft Money, but its purposes differ from QuickBooks. Microsoft Money works more for balancing checkbooks and credit cards while QuickBooks and Microsoft Accounting have more features that businesses need.
But after trying Microsoft Accounting for a couple of days, I'm going to uninstall it. First, it's very slow. I thought QuickBooks was slow... until I tried Microsoft Accounting. I think it took too much time and effort to convert a QuickBooks file. It worked, but not all the invoices transferred. I had some invoices in progress and can't find them.
I just don't have the time or patience to learn its multitude of features -- maybe too many especially for small businesses, which adds to the bloat. In playing with the application, it doesn't take as much time to figure out where to go for invoicing, customers, lists, and such. But the functionality behind the interface is too problematic (slow and incomplete).
One of the popular features is the integration with PayPal and eBay for a monthly fee. I occasionally sell on eBay, but it's not enough to justify the cost. While Microsoft Accounting can include a link to PayPal for invoices, I don't think it works with the basic accounts (that accept direct deposits only and no credit cards -- because PayPal eats up too much money.)
It also has a built-in payroll feature that can manage payroll including printing checks for a small monthly fee. Businesses with at least two employees will probably appreciate this while individual businesses don't need it.
Microsoft's templates work better than QuickBook's (one of its weaker areas). QuickBooks templates don't improve much with each version, but I've managed to personalize one for my business and rather use a faster than prettier applications.
What if you've never used an accounting application before, but you've used Microsoft Office products? I don't think it makes a difference in terms of learning the application. Accounting is different from most business applications.
Overall, QuickBooks is faster than Microsoft Accounting, but not as pretty in terms of the interface. If you've never used either application, try Microsoft's 60-day trial version. Or if you don't need a souped up version of Microsoft Accounting, you might find Office Accounting Express 2008 meets your needs and you don't pay a dime.
Unfortunately, from what I can tell -- Intuit does not have a trial version of QuickBooks. If you already use QuickBooks -- you don't need to change unless the cost savings of using the payroll and eBay features make the difference.
 I really tried to give this a chance. I really did. March 30, 2008
Just Don't Know (Brooklyn, NY USA)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
After 6 months of wrestling with this product, I'm calling it quits. This is among the most unintuitive, unfriendly, and downright buggy piece of software I've used.
I went with this software over Quickbooks since my experience with Microsoft software has always been good, especially compared to other vendors. Additionally, I am a Windows programmer, and this program provides an API I can use for automation.
However, it is a royal pain to deal with. Where do I begin? Entering items for sale is a huge drag on my time. It doesn't kit things properly. There's no support for items that are manufactured in house. Cost of goods sold is buggy - my P&L report at tax time showed figures that were millions of dollars off (yes, that's MILLIONs. I run a small business with less than 10k sales/year). Almost every transaction I put in had to be re-entered because the date was wrong - the software makes it hard to remember to put in the right date. And the item numbering is ridiculous.
In addition, this thing is slow for no good reason. How could it take so long to run a report for 30 customers? How could it take almost a full minute to launch? And don't get me started on installation. This thing requires an install of Sql Server on your PC. Sharing the data between different computers is near impossible. It nags you to backup your data before your session starts - how dumb is that? Who's going to begin a 5-minute time-waster on backing up when you are about to make changes that will require another backup (which it will not remind you to do after youre done).
In summary, save yourself a lot of stress and stay away from this pimply teenager who will only get on your nerves and will barely provide any benefit at all. I'll never see those hours I sunk into this again. Don't be the next victim.
 Nice upgrade. March 3, 2008
Jenny J.J.I. (That Lives in Northern Nevada)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you've used the previous versions, this one is no different. A couple extra features but nothing big. I think most people like myself become spoiled over time from how easy this program really is to use and find ourselves frustrated when it doesn't do everything just perfect.
This program is incredibly simple, offers just about everything you could ask for in reporting, 3rd party integration, emailing, creating sales and purchase transactions, taking care of your taxes, automatically sending your file to your accountant, I could go on for a while. Get it, it's the only accounting software I would recommend to anyone.
Great for home business owner March 20, 2008
Peggy (Norfolk, VA United States)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have purchased Peachtree and Quickbooks Pro, but I must say this is the easiest of the 3 for a non-accounting/bookkeeper home based business owner to utilize. Besides the basic tasks of invoicing, expense tracking, budgeting, etc., it also the capability to set up an eBay account ($9.95/mo.), utilize PayPal, buying and selling in foreign currencies, and processing credit cards. Granted those are several features I will not be using, but one never knows when business will expand! It integrates w/ other programs so if you want to also share this information with your accountant.If you want a powerful yet easy to use program this is one to try.
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