- Completely updated to reflect the latest laws and regulations of your state, Quicken Legal Business Pro provides -
- Over 140 contracts, forms and worksheets
- Five completely searchable Nolo business bestsellers
- Comprehensive How to checklists that help you through complex tasks
- Free downloadable legal updates throughout 2010
Product Description
Start and run your business, easily and efficiently, with this complete software package! You don’t need an attorney to start and run a business — most of the legal work involved simply requires reliable information and the right documents. With Quicken Legal Business Pro 2010, you’ll get everything you need to get the job done. Completely updated to reflect the latest laws and regulations of your state, <... More >>
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What you get:
1. Book: Your Little Legal Companion-small paperback book with thoughts on every life event you can think of, from getting your first apartment, car or pet to dealing with identity theft or divorce. Not comprehensive and detailed but it covers enough topics to bring up things you might otherwise not have considered.
2. CD:
a. FORMS-some very basic forms for basic business needs. Invoices, job aplications, power of attorney. These are probably all something you could find free on-line. Those included here are customizable with step by step instructions.
b. E Books- 4 “books” are included with information on setting up and running a small business. The are launched in a separate window “book reader”. I recommend using the “show” option which opens a navigation pane at the left of the screen so you can better move around within the books. There is a ton of information included, all cross referenced with clickable links to other books/chapters containing information associated to your topic. A search tab is included to look for specific topics if you don’t want to guess what book/chapter they might be in.
c. Link to [...] which provides a legal encyclopedia which is free to anyone-not just those who have bought this program- and includes a lot of the same information as this program.
So to summarize: A lot of what is included in this package is already available to you on-line. This program’s raison d’être is to consolidate all that information and would make it easier to research and stay in compliance. ONE BIG CONCERN- if this is the 2010 version, why is some of the information given “as of 2008″? Example: :Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Set up by individuals, not by the business itself. Annual contribution limit of $5,000 (in 2008)”. It should not only include what the 2009 limitations are but provide some way to automatically update for subsequent years. An e-book is not going to do that which will force me to go on-line to research changes for the current year thus defeating most of the purpose of having this program. Seems like a pretty big flaw. BOTTOM LINE: a good resource but not going to replace your CPA.
Rating: 3 / 5
Whether you own a business or have business dealings with someone else, you have likely needed certain forms. Many times you can buy those forms at a local office supply store, but often have to buy a whole package of them to get one form.
While these are called “Quicken Legal Business Contracts & Forms”, and Quicken is certainly a trusted name in financial software, the company behind this software is actually Nolo. Nolo has a long and distinguised reputation as a provider of legal software. The company has legal roots themselves and I have no trouble trusting that these forms are accurate and appropriate.
The massive number of included forms include many things you will rarely, if ever, do. But there are other forms like a simple bill of sale for goods that are used more often and probably end up paying for the cost of the software.
Like most Quicken and Nolo products, navigation is easy and well explained.
For someone who has a need for business form, this one is the one to get.
Rating: 5 / 5
As a CPA, I have to prepare contracts quickly for many purposes. This CD has many though not all templates I need. It has over 140 contracts and forms with updates through 2010. You select your form, go through the interview and then save it in your “portfolio.” You can modify it later to further suit your particular requirements.
While 140 contracts and forms is a lot, it does not meet all my needs. For example, a non-disclosure agreement is not included. For the money however, I think it’s a good deal, especially when you get used to using the program rather than searching for many of the same forms online. The idea of course, is to save on legal expenses where possible and use time more efficiently.
One thing you should do before using this software is go though the tutorial. This will give you instuctions on issues such as how to save forms you create. Otherwise it might seem confusing the first time you try to create a document. I got used to using Legal Business Pro 2009 and this version builds on that. Also, I had to purchase another copy (my first 2010 was through Vine) and it installed on Windows 7 without a problem.
It wasn’t that many years ago that is was normal to call an attorney more often over contracts. Now I don’t do so nearly as much, except for those matters that can only be done by an attorney.
Rating: 5 / 5
Other reviews cover what is included in the package. If you are a young, 20-something, just starting off, you will probably get the most use out of this product. As last 30-somethings with some business and practical life experience, the toolkit was a little less useful, though we found some items of interest.
I was hoping that this product would simplify incorporation of a new llc., the preparation of tax documents, but this program does not excel in these areas.
As a software guy, it strikes me as weird that there is no auto-update feature. This is a ’2010′ product but some of the info provided is already out of date in 2009. Most software comes with auto-updating features, and something that is marketed as an essential business and life tool should have it as well.
Pros – this program will save you from having to search for most of this information online.
Cons – You can get the same info online for free, and you have a better chance of that information being up to date.
Rating: 3 / 5
Quicken Legal Business 2010 is an inexpensive option for small business owners to get the basic forms and advice they will need for the day to day operation of their business. I’ve personally owned businesses for the past ten years, and although I didn’t find this to be completely comprehensive since they are only focusing on what “everybody” could use, I did find plenty of useful forms that make this software worth owning.
If you’ve ever done your taxes online, you would be familiar with the Q & A screens where you fill in your answers and Presto! a completed form is ready for you to print or save. This software works in the same way and also stores any contacts you input so they can easily be filled without typing things in again. What I liked best about this form software is that all of the forms can be saved and exported in .rtf and .txt files. That is great for two reasons. First, those file formats are compatible with every word processing software I have ever used. Additionally, if your form is lacking is some way, such as a term and condition that you personally want to add but the prefilled option didn’t give you a place, you can edit your document to be exactly as you want it to be.
The software itself is very easy to use. The side tabs give you easy access to applicable resources such as the five included books, your contacts list, and online resouces. By default, unless you are in one of those three areas, a general “guide” to the tast you are working on is displayed.
At the top of the screen the options are Home, Document List, Books, and Checklists. I found the checklists to be just as helpful as the documents.
Within the document area, everything is nicely arranged in a drop-down menu so it’s easy to find the form you are looking for. There is also a link to recently created documents.
This package includes a small book called “Your Little Legal Companion: Helpful Advice for Life’s Big Events” which has short bullet point style chapters with “ten things you should know” covering a variety of topics generally unrelated to this software. Some topics include starting a band, surviving a natural disaster, and your child starting kindergarten. Hmmm..
The five full text books included in this package are:
Starting & Running a Small Business
Tax Savvy for Small Business
The Manager’s Legal Handbook
How to Write a Business Plan (PDF)
Marketing without Advertising
Although the books and software in this package are a good start, they’re not the final authority by any means. I have always found NOLO products to be sexist, and sometimes they’re very brazen about it. For example, In Chapter 11 of Marketing Without Advertising I found this: “Among the elements that distinguish you from all these other patent lawyers … are your years of experience… and gender. ” What are they trying to say here, and why are they giving a platform to gender bias?
I also found their recommendation of using Paypal as your Internet payment processor to be very unsettling. The book states, “The second approach is to focus on making a final sale using the Internet’s PayPal payment functions. ” If you’re running your brick and mortar business and taking it to the Internet, why not use the payment processor you already have? I’ve been doing e-commerce since 2001 and I’ve never thought it was a good idea to use Paypal as my payment processor. Even if you don’t have a brick and mortar business with an existing credit card processor, getting one is very easy and only takes a couple of days to set up.
Finally, even thought I found the forms and other resources to be useful, I did not find them to be anything you should take for granted. For example, they say that the lease is written from a tenants perspective, but they don’t even mention foot traffic. Why is that important? If you’re signing a lease it’s most likely for a retail space, although it could be for an office space. I don’t personally have experience protecting office spaces, but I will tell you foot traffic guarantee is the most important thing to put into your retail space lease. I had a lease without a foot traffic clause that ended up costing me over $25,000 when my customers, soldiers, were deployed. I had to close my business but I was not let out of my lease. My attorney friend told me if I had only had a foot traffic clause…. That one cost me. I found out later that it’s common to have foot traffic clause in shopping center and mall leases. Office spaces might have other areas they want covered such as noise. Wouldn’t it be terrible to lease an office to teach tax preparation only to find out a custom welding shop is going in next door. The noise might interfere with your ability to conduct business, but unless it’s written into the lease you’re still liable for the lease.
I should point out that even though this flawed “what type of space are you renting?” question is not addressed to better tailor the lease to your specific needs, upon registration of this software you will get a free ebook, “Negotiate the Best Lease for your Business”. I HOPE that subject is covered there. I didn’t register the software yet because I’ll be reinstalling it once I upgrade my laptop to Windows 7.
By all means, this software will save you money if you prepare the forms but still have a business consultant, attorney, other business owners, and friends and family give your forms a second and third set of eyes.
Quicken states that product support for Quicken Legal Business 2010 is available until December 31, 2010. If it’s registered you’ll get an upgrade discount. Therefore, if you’re buying this late in 2010, you might want to wait until the 2011 version is released so you will have a supported product.
Rating: 4 / 5