Using OpenOffice instead of Excel

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coop3842
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Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 6:51 am

Using OpenOffice instead of Excel

Post by coop3842 »

I am a user of Quickbooks Pro and need to download state tax info into a spreadsheet. I don't have Excel for Windows 10 on my computer but do have OpenOffice 4.1.5. Unfortunately my Mac defaults to Excel (which is not there). When I hit the continue button OpenOffice opens asking me to turn on Macros which I did. The next step is not obvious to me. Can anyone help me?
OpenOffice 4.1.5 on Windows 10 in boot camp on a MacBook Pro
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robleyd
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Re: Using OpenOffice instead of Excel

Post by robleyd »

G'day, and welcome to the community forum.
Unfortunately my Mac defaults to Excel (which is not there).
Please see [Tutorial] Mac FAQ Q33/A33
The next step is not obvious to me
Presumably the spreadsheet opens with the downloaded information? If not, please tell us what happens. What type of file is the information you have downloaded?
Cheers
David
OS - Slackware 15 64 bit
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15
LibreOffice 24.2.1.2; SlackBuild for 24.2.1 by Eric Hameleers
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keme
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Re: Using OpenOffice instead of Excel

Post by keme »

Can you confirm that it is your system that defaults to Excel, and not just the accounting software?

If your operating system has been set to use Excel as the default spreadsheet handler, this can be changed. See the advice in the thread linked by robleyd above.

If it is Quickbooks that insists on Excel, the accounting software probably plugs into Excel and uses internal Excel-modules to generate/interpret the spreadsheet file. Plugging into other software's API is not something that can be easily reconfigured by user. It must be explicitly programmed for each API (which in many cases means it has to be reprogrammed for each software title it plugs into).

You may look into settings for Office integration options. I once reviewed Quickbooks (or perhaps it was "Quicken") and rejected it because office integration was fairly limited without MS Office. I reported this back to Intuit. If enough potential customers reject the software because of the MS lock-in, they may have opened up to other platforms. My guess: they haven't (intuit's web pages still state that their software "integrates with MS Office", period.)
coop3842
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 6:51 am

Re: Using OpenOffice instead of Excel

Post by coop3842 »

Thanks for the feedback.
It's Quickbooks that insists on Excel.
It looks like Intuit forces its user to buy Excel to perform the tasks that I need to perform.
Thanks again.
OpenOffice 4.1.5 on Windows 10 in boot camp on a MacBook Pro
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robleyd
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Re: Using OpenOffice instead of Excel

Post by robleyd »

It may be that you can export data from QB in CSV format, which can be utilised in Calc.
Cheers
David
OS - Slackware 15 64 bit
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15
LibreOffice 24.2.1.2; SlackBuild for 24.2.1 by Eric Hameleers
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