How to Determine Which QuickBooks Industry Edition to Purchase |

I have a client using QuickBooks Enterprise Manufacturing edition to operate a custom cabinet business. They want to have accurate job costing reports and are entering all the necessary data now. Is it necessary to move them to QuickBooks Contractor edition? Specifically, what is included in the contractor edition that the manufacturing version is lacking?

QuickBooks Contractors edition does have some extra reports and features that might be useful to them. For instance, Billing Level Rates are only available in the QuickBooks Contractors, Professional Services and Accountants editions. Other useful features found only in Contractors edition are change orders and tracking subcontractors worker’s comp and liability insurance expiration, though you can trick the other versions into doing these with a little elbow grease.

However, I wouldn’t upgrade them to QuickBooks Contractors edition; instead, I’d upgrade them to QuickBooks Accountants edition because it has all the versions in one. This way they could use the features in both the QuickBooks Manufacturing and Contractors editions, plus any features in the other editions that might be useful. For instance, I especially love the Client Data Review features in the Accountants edition!

You simply toggle your file between the different versions when you want to use a special feature. For this reason, I always recommend that all my QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise clients buy the Accountants edition.

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This article is provided for informational purposes and is not intended to be construed as legal, accounting, or other professional advice. For further information, please consult appropriate professional advice from your attorney and certified public accountant.

Ruth Perryman - QuickBooks Specialist Written by +Ruth Perryman, CMA, CFE, CFM, MBA

Ruth is the president of The QB Specialists, an Intuit Premier Reseller that offers huge savings and expert advice on QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Enterprise. She is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of Intuit’s Trainer/Writer Network. She is also certified in QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Enterprise and has provided expert QuickBooks help to thousands of businesses all over the world since 1996.

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