If you purchased a single-user license for an edition of QuickBooks, your license entitles you to install the software on a total of two computers, provided that you own both systems. These two installations enable you to work at your office on one system and continue your work at home on another computer.
When collections first show up on your credit report, you can expect your credit scores to drop anywhere from 50 to 100 points depending on how high your credit was to start. In general, the better your credit, the worse the hit will be. Over time, the collection account will affect your credit less and less.
Paying off a collection will update the account as more recent which will hurt your credit score, but it will also improve your debt to limit ratio which will increase your credit score. More importantly you can negotiate to remove the credit report listing upon final payment. By paying off the collection, you will bring the last active date of the collection to the current month (now would be 10/03), and although it will now reflect a $0 balance, the fact that you have a recently active collection on your credit report is more derogatory than an old collection with a balance.