My mom is trustee of two family trusts, and she and her co-trustee sister just are not capable of doing it anymore, so I am going to be doing the work for her and will just be having her sign the checks and continue to communicate with the tax CPA. This is all with the blessing of my probate and estates attorney cousin who is the family attorney in all this, until we can revise the trust and appoint new trustees. Anyway. before mom took it, her sister was using Quick Books, which is and was pretty much overkill for what we need. Checks come in and periodically checks are cut to her siblings, mom, and IRS and Colorado state for taxes. I have an almost new Macbook Air. I despise Google Sheets. I guess Office for Mac to use Excel spreadsheets to send to outsiders is an option, but not crazy about the subscription version. Ideas for the easiest way to do this? I really just need 2024 starting bank balance, inflow and outflow. Not a lot of volume as far as transactions. The two trusts are primarily a) Oil and Gas transactions for leases, etc; and b) Tenanted crop land income and outgo

Would standard Quicken work for you, better than Quick Books?

I ask that as a Quicken loyalist, having used it for about 30 years. It's adequate for my simple needs; I think tracking simple balances, inflows, and outflows would be a breeze for you.

I use Quicken for personal stuff. Mostly as a check register that I can still categorize things and run reports if needed.
I think you can still buy a stand alone program version (not cloud based), unlike Quicbooks, or you can find a version a few years behind that would work well and can be updated for security and functionality issues.

Many accounts are familiar with both Quicken and Quickbooks so have them advise you about how to categorize things to be consistent with the past and the best way moving forward.

Another alternative is Open Office free software. Their spreadsheet is every bit as functional as Excel, at least at the level that I use it.

I would think a well thought out spreadsheet would cover your needs.

GnuCash

GnuCash is desktop software; its features include tracking bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. GnuCash is based on double-entry accounting for balanced books and you can run a number of reports to see your financial data. GnuCash also offers small-business accounting tools that let you manage customers and vendors, handle invoicing and bill payment, and even payroll.

GnuCash is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, BSD, and Solaris. There is a companion app for Android that will let you track expenses on the go and later import them into the desktop software.



I use this program.

Bill

QuickBooks and Mac don't get along and it does sound like overkill. I know you said you don't like Google Sheets but I would either use that or Excel (maybe Sharepoint version) if I just needed to track things via spreadsheet.

If all you're doing is the bookkeeping and you don't need to print checks or run payroll a 5-column spreadsheet is what I like to have.

I’ve used Quicken since forever including their business versions. BUT I wouldn’t recommend it for you because 1) I don’t know how long it will be around and 2) I believe the Mac version has less features than the PC version.

I did a quick glance at Gnucash from the post above and I like that it’s free and open source. So it sounds like it will do the job and be around for a while.

I’ve used Quicken deluxe for Windows for well over 10 years. I manage 2 checking, investment accounts, CD and a number of credits cards. It works perfectly for me. About once a year it does something funky on me that seems to insert a ghost transaction back in history.

quote:

Originally posted by BlackTalonJHP:

QuickBooks and Mac don't get along

I have been using QuickBooks for Mac, 2019 version, since 2019. Works just fine. Except with the first release of MacOS Sonoma 14.0, where it crashes, but Apple took care of it and QB works with the current Sonoma update.

---

quote:

If all you're doing is the bookkeeping and you don't need to print checks

CheckBuilder Pro is a great product for printing checks. It can print on just about any standard check format, and even better, you can buy totally blank check stock and make your own checks, including the MICR line at the bottom. I've been using it for years, works fine, and the publisher is really good at answering email questions about the product.

QB for Mac is discontinued and it's for the better.

Thanks everyone. No, I don’t need to print checks, so that is not a consideration. I’ll look into all the suggestions.

It's been some time since I've looked, but it appears that Quickbooks and Quicken are two separate companies. Intuit owns Quickbooks and Rocket Mortgage owns Quicken. Quicken appears to support the MacOS and be an ONLINE app. Pricing seems reasonable $2.79 to $6.99/mo with current 3-% discount depending on which "flavor" you need. I remember when banks use to charge you a few dollars/month to have a checking account. I kind of remember Intuit selling off part of their product line a few years back, maybe Quicken?

There are also several Excel "templates" you can download for "free" or purchase.

The GnuCash is Open Source software so if there is a bug, someone will find it pretty quick. I've been rather fond of open source software as of late because you don't get locked into a product/vendor such as Microsoft Office. All of the weapon systems software is now developed as an open architecture so they don't get locked into a single vendor solution.

Quicken would be overkill but the one advantage it does have if your bank supports it is it will connect directly with the bank and you’ve got a verifiable transaction for both deposits and withdrawals.

quote:

Originally posted by BlackTalonJHP:
QB for Mac is discontinued and it's for the better.

No, it’s not discontinued. Intuit just released QB for Mac Plus 2023. However, note that Intuit would like to kill all desktop versions, Windows version included, to force everybody onto a subscription plan for triple the price. As an added bonus, they will hold your data hostage, so you must pay the sub in perpetuity. I’ve been hearing the “QB Mac is discontinued” line since 1996, but the desktop version persists, for now.

To the OP: If your family already owns a QB license, why not continue using it? Unless you are confused by a full accounting program, there’s no reason you cannot use QB to run a simple set of books.

I will admit, though, that Intuit is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. I’ve been a customer for thirty years, and dealing with them feels like I’m dealing with a mob boss. Poor CS, inferior products, faux upgrades that pass OS features off as its own upgrades, and a feeling that their only concern is emptying your wallet. Adobe started this subscription crap, but at least their products are top shelf. Intuit, not so much.

quote:

Originally posted by jcsabolt2:

The GnuCash is Open Source software so if there is a bug, someone will find it pretty quick. I've been rather fond of open source software as of late because you don't get locked into a product/vendor such as Microsoft Office. All of the weapon systems software is now developed as an open architecture so they don't get locked into a single vendor solution.

GnuCash is good, it's free, it runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux OS's. It's probably overkill for Melissa's needs, and it does require some knowledge of double-entry bookkeeping and accounting principles.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

Intuit is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. I’ve been a customer for thirty years, and dealing with them feels like I’m dealing with a mob boss. Poor CS, inferior products, faux upgrades that pass OS features off as its own upgrades, and a feeling that their only concern is emptying your wallet.

Absolutely! Unfortunately, I have not been able to find another product that does a better job for what I need.

I echo the recommendation for GnuCash. Been using it for years having long ago left Quicken when they started disabling features to force you to buy an upgrade.

https://www.gnucash.org/

Don't forget Moneydance. Comparable to Quicken in capabilities, works well on the Mac, a solid product I have used for several decades. You can still buy a license, subscriptions are available, but not required. Single license applies to all your devices.

The real key to hassle-free bookkeeping is making sure your chart of accounts is appropriate for the entity that you are managing. If you are struggling with "how do I classify this?" most likely your CoA needs massaging. Far more attention should be paid to this than to the brand of software you are using.

quote:

Originally posted by MelissaDallas:

I guess Office for Mac to use Excel spreadsheets to send to outsiders is an option, but not crazy about the subscription version.

If you want to use a spreadsheet, take a look at LibreOffice, OpenOffice, or NewOffice. They are all open source, and free, the spreadsheet module is an Excel workalike.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by MelissaDallas:

I guess Office for Mac to use Excel spreadsheets to send to outsiders is an option, but not crazy about the subscription version.

If you want to use a spreadsheet, take a look at LibreOffice, OpenOffice, or NewOffice. They are all open source, and free, the spreadsheet module is an Excel workalike.

Considering going to a spreadsheet knowing that Quickbooks is overkill is like considering buying the materials to build your own boat knowing that an ocean liner is overkill to get from one river bank to the other side. The right solution is to take the ferry which, in this case, is an accounting package - the best discussed in this thread so far is GnuCash. I’m a spreadsheet expert and I also understand accounting. With a spreadsheet, you’ll have to learn the mechanics of accounting and ensure the mechanics as far as relationships are correct in transactions and accounts. With an accounting software, the mechanics and relationships are already there. You just need to learn how to drive the car instead of having to first build the car. You can disregard the accounting modules that you don’t need and learn the modules you’ll be using. This will give you the shortest learning curve and the quickest path to be up and running.