@harris54321
Spreadsheets as an accounting system? No way. I had 2 separate businesses that I recently sold. Each had their own QB file in QB Desktop. You absolutely need to spend the money to have a separate accounting system for each business. You need to be able to see a P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement every month for each business, regardless of which accounting system you decide to use. Any money you think you're saving by using free software like Google Sheets/Docs, etc., is far outweighed by the lack of insight into the businesses and the extra work that a bookkeeper needs to do to enter that info in Google Sheets. Not to mention you spending your time "fixing broken dashboards and trying to get a clear picture of how each business is performing"
How are you tracking receivables and payables? Do you handwrite checks?
Depending on how you pay your bookkeeper, you will likely save enough in payroll costs to justify having QB (or whatever software you decide to use), just with how much more efficient it is to enter sales, receivables, payables, inventory (if applicable), etc.
