By Candace Spencer CPA , MAFM and Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor
If you own a small to medium-sized business, the odds are good that you’re using QuickBooks as your financial reporting tool. Depending on which version you are currently using, it’s also likely that many of the features are scheduled to be discontinued. Each year when Intuit releases a new QuickBooks edition, they also sunset, or no longer support or provide technical assistance for, a particular version that is several years older. This also means that certain features will no longer function. These include bill pay, online banking, accountant’s copy file transfer, payroll services, credit card processing, and emailing of customer invoices using QuickBooks email service.
This year on May 31, 2014, QuickBooks 2011 will ride into the sunset. Therefore, if you have any version of QuickBooks earlier than 2012 and use the features scheduled to be sunsetted, you should consider purchasing QuickBooks 2014. Here are some of the new and improved features you can look forward to with the updated version:
Pro, Premier, Accountant, Enterprise
- Alerts & Reminders: On the menu bar, there are now reminders to alert you of any computer hardware or software performance issues. The Alerts will also provide helpful information on how to fix these issues.
- Sent Email Tracking: QuickBooks now displays in the customer, vendor, and employee centers a history of all the emails sent. Data stored there includes the date sent, the recipient, a description and the form sent.
- QuickBooks Client Collaborator: Your accountant can send you questions relating to specific transactions in your QuickBooks file via the Intuit server. You will receive the questions and can also reply directly in your QuickBooks file.
- Bounced Check Feature: In most cases a client invoice has already been closed out when it’s discovered that the check bounced. QuickBooks 2014 has a new feature that automates the recording of bounced checks.
- Income Tracker: This new feature provides a summary of unbilled, unpaid and recently paid transactions all on one screen. It also gives you the ability to convert estimates to invoices or sales orders, print and email.
Enterprise Only
- Edit the Cost, Price, Markup and Margins to Items: QuickBooks has now made it easy to edit inventory items. No longer do you have to go into the items list and edit each item. This all can be done from the inventory center.
- Create Auto POs now Suggests Quantity to Order: If you have set up a Max Reorder Point for your inventory items, QuickBooks will now suggest a Quantity to Order on the Create Auto POs window.
- Price Rules and Quantity Discount: With an Advanced Pricing Subscription, Enterprise users can set up price rules that can contain multiple conditions according to the rules you create. This feature also allows QuickBooks to automatically apply manufacturer discounts and scheduled promotions with future start dates. Additionally, you can offer different discounts to customers that make bulk purchases in various quantities.
Mac
- Import Journal: Mac users can receive journal entries from their accountant and directly import them into their QuickBooks file.
- Assign Sales Rep to Customers: Mac users can assign a Sales Rep to Customers and Jobs.
- Search in Reports: QuickBooks 2014 allows users to perform a search for any amount, account, reference number or other fields in reports.
These are just a few of the new features available in QuickBooks 2014. If you have any questions or would like to know more about a specific QuickBooks version, now is a great time to request an appointment. We also offer QuickBooks setup, customization and training, so please feel free to give us a call. We are never too busy to help new clients!
