Accounting Talk

Bill · Guest

A friend's husband passed away suddenly, and I'm helping the widow
sort through her husband's books to figure out how to file tax
returns, etc. (OFF-TOPIC: Everyone, make sure your spouse/significant
other knows how to FIND and ACCESS all your Intuit-based records in
case you get hit by a bus! This process has been like putting together
a 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces are black.) The
husband's bookkeeper sent me a bunch of QuickBooks '04 files laying
out
the husband's business. I don't use QuickBooks myself. I'd like to
avoid buying a copy just so I can read these files. Is there anything
like the free Adobe reader for QuickBooks out there that someone can
point me to? If not, any solution short of buying a copy? Is it a
solve to ask the bookkeeper to save the Quickbooks file in some other
format (and if so, what format works)?

Thanks in advance. I can't even tell all of you how much this is a
question I wish I didn't have to ask.

Bill

Mark Bole · Guest

Bill wrote:

Gary Charpentier · Guest

Mark Bole wrote:

Bill · Guest

Thanks all.

The widow has a tax guy in addition to the bookkeeper. The bookkeeper
is doing the books and the tax guy is doing the returns. I'm in the
unusual spot of being a partner in the National Tax Office of one of
the Big 4 accounting firms with 30 years experience of tax planning
with Fortune 500 companies. That means two things. First, none of my
clients use QB. Second, my role is interpreting for the widow what
the bookkeeper and the tax guy say to her. She's an elementary school
teacher, and all this is just gibberish to her unless somebody
translates it all into English. I spend a lot of my days doing
interpretations for corporate execs, so it's a familiar role.
However, even with all that experience, I wouldn't touch these returns
or these books, because the widow needs someone who is paid to do it,
and approaches it professionally. "Doing a favor" for someone on
their books is asking for trouble.

By the way, Gary was right. We found all sorts of accounts that the
widow knew nothing about - all credit cards and all with noticeable
balances. Thank goodness the husband had life insurance. It's those
accounts that have me involved. The husband was doing some things -
cutting corners to save a paltry amount of money - that have the tax
guy and the bookkeeper stumped and worried. I see what it is he was
doing, and I'm trying to get the team pointed in a single direction to
get it dealt with.

What I'm hearing from Mark and Gary is that there is no free QB reader
out there. Oh, well. It was worth posting the question to find out.
After your responses, I EM'd the bookkeeper to ask if he couldn't send
me the QB files saved in pdf. Don't know if that'll work, but it'll
be my next effort.

Maybe I'll just have to break down and buy a cheap copy of QB.

Thanks again.

Bill

Gary Charpentier · Guest

Bill wrote:

Bill · Guest

Thanks to Gary and npd.

I suggested to the widow this afternoon that we get the credit
reports. Dunno why I didn't think of that. Good suggestion. The
husband died three months ago, and his bills have pretty much thinned
out, but the cost of a D&B is peanuts compared to the cost of a
surprise. That, and the widow is real motivated to turn the page on
this part of her life and move on. She never understood her husband's
business (she had never met or spoken to the tax guy or the bookkeeper
until after her husband died, and had no idea what questions to ask
them) and wants to get it behind her.

dpb caught my eye with the update issue. I understand what he meant
with his "welcome to the wonderful world..." comment, being a longtime
Quicken user. I'll see about contacting Intuit, but past experience
(long holds on the phone, and charges for the help) doesn't make me
hopeful.... Still, another good suggestion.

Anybody know/have any idea whether QB '08 can read QB '04?

Bill

dpb · Guest

Bill wrote:
....

Gary Charpentier · Guest

Bill wrote:

QBConsultant · Guest

If you need it, there is a password removal tool at www.quickbooks.com
-- go to the support tab.

You might consider getting Simple Start 2008 which is a free program.
I'm not sure if SS would update the Pro 04 file, but if you can get
someone (the bookkeeper, tax guy or another Certified QB ProAdvisor)
to update the file to 2008 for you, then you can use SS as the
'reader' you were referring to. SS would allow you to drill down on
accounts, see a P&L, Balance Sheet and a few other reports.

The bookkeeper could send you PDF files of reports that you might
need.

Or just pay $150 for QB Pro 2008 from Costco or Sams?

Michelle L. Long, CPA, MBA
Author of: Successful QuickBooks Consulting: The Complete Guide to
Starting and Growing a QuickBooks Consulting Business
http://www.SuccessfulQuickBooksConsulting.com
http://www.amazon.com/Successful-QuickBooks-Consulting-Comprehensive-starting/dp/14348106

On Jul 17, 12:27 am, Gary Charpentier <gldncag...@aol.com.mil> wrote:

Bill · Guest

Some more great suggestions. I found a copy of QB 2004 Basic on Ebay
for $15. That qualifies as cheap.

The husband used QB Premier Professional Services Edition 2004. Will
Basic open a file prepared in Professional? The titles of the files I
have look like trial balances.

Thanks for your patience with me.

Bill