• Accounting
        • Your financial statements should show a complete picture of your business, and lay the foundation to help you create a strategy for the future.
          READ MORE>

        • Tax
        • Tax returns prepared to ensure we minimize your liability and keep more of your earnings over the long term.
          READ MORE>

        • Business Advisory
        • From proper entity selection at the inception of a business to developing an exit strategy, we are here to guide you in making informed decisions that are goal driven and take into consideration the materiality of your financial situation.
          READ MORE>

        • QuickBooks
        • We maximize your QuickBooks investment by customizing the software to meet your specific needs and industry best practices.
          READ MORE>

        • Litigation Support
        • We employ strong analytical and communication skills to produce evidence that supports your position in cases of a dispute or negotiation.
          READ MORE>

        • M&A Advisory
        • Whether you are selling, acquiring or expanding, we are well equipped to ensure you respond to opportunities swiftly and with confidence.
          READ MORE>

        • SJG
        • Manufacturing & Distribution
        • Success in manufacturing and distribution hinges on your ability to manage numerous details with accuracy and foresight into how they impact current and future operations.
          READ MORE>

        • Consulting Services
        • You focus on your core competencies, customer service and strategy and we’ll keep you from getting caught off-guard by daily financial tasks or overwhelmed by growth.
          READ MORE>

        • Medical
        • Patient care is your primary concern. Providing the best clinical experience for your patients continues to get more difficult and costly. Delivery models are changing from fee for service to quality based.
          READ MORE>

        • Legal
        • Running a legal firm is a balancing act with high stakes. Your reputation hinges on your ability to support clients with responsiveness and accuracy.
          READ MORE>

        • Real Estate
        • Real estate is characterized by large material gains and losses. Every transaction has the potential to impact your accounting and tax situation.
          READ MORE>

        • Technology
        • Perhaps more than any other industry, technology companies must have an infrastructure built to scale. A culture of continuous iteration requires an ability to account for a fluctuating profit margin.
          READ MORE>

        • Professional Services
        • With a consultative, integrated approach to accounting, tax and consulting services for businesses and individuals, we work hand in hand with you to achieve your goals.
          READ MORE>

        • Renewable Energy
        • Renewable energy is an area of growing interest for businesses, as well as the advantageous tax incentives when transitioning operations to include new energy solutions. Read our series of articles to LEARN MORE.

  • CAREERS
  • LOCATIONS

SJG Blog

QuickBooks 2013: Just Another Upgrade or a Must Have?

By Candace Spencer, CPA & Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor

quickbooks-logoQuickBooks is by far the most widely used accounting software for small businesses and individuals. Each year Intuit releases a new QuickBooks’ edition with additional improvements, enhancements and let’s not forget…some really cool features. This article will provide you with the tools to decide whether it’s time to upgrade your QuickBooks. It will also highlight the major improvements as well as the new features in QuickBooks 2013.

As of May 31, 2013, QuickBooks 2010 is scheduled to be “sunsetted.” This is Intuit’s fancy way of saying that as a new version is released, they will no longer support or provide technical assistance for a particular version that is several years older. Also, certain features in the older, sunsetted versions 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 through QuickBooks, if you use Intuit’s email service. In addition, access to add-on services for both Windows and Mac will be discontinued.

If you currently have QuickBooks 2010 and are utilizing any of the features mentioned above, I would highly recommend upgrading to QuickBooks 2013. If you don’t fall into this category but remain on the fence as to whether or not to upgrade, consider some of the new and improved features of QuickBooks 2013:

  • Fonts. Fonts are bigger in all screens, making everything more reader-friendly.
  • New icon bar. The new icon bar will be on every screen, offering several benefits:
    • Shortcuts! Similar to using the “favorites” feature in QuickBooks, you can customize this tool to give you one-click access to the various features that are not on the home page (e.g. customer, vendor and document centers, etc.)
    • The App Center will provide you with recommendations for QuickBooks or third party applications that you aren’t currently taking advantage of like merchant services, checks, etc.
    • The icon bar initially opens on the left side; however, this can be changed to go on the top where the other icons are or you can simply hide it.
    • Transaction ribbon: In almost every form, register, or screen you access, you will see the new Transaction Ribbon Toolbar. This feature allows you to do a lot more in one screen. Each screen has different options on the toolbar ribbon, whereas before, certain features (insert or delete a line, receive payments, pay bills, etc.) were hidden in other tabs. There is also an option to hide the ribbon, giving you more workspace.
    • Send general journal entries: This is a new alternative to the accountant’s copy that has limitations and sometimes fails or contains import errors. The new feature allows the accountant to send adjusting journal entries to the client via email. The client can then import the general entries vs. having to manually enter them.
    • Batch enter transactions: When entering checks, deposits, or credit card activity, you can use the Batch Enter Transaction screen to basically key with your head down vs. having to move to another screen or saving and then going to a new screen. Just key your heart out and it will populate to the correct register.
    • Write off invoices quickly: There is now one screen to select all the invoices you want to write off to bad debt.
    • Print bills: You can now print bills directly from the “Enter Bill” screen. This eliminates paper copies and encourages a paperless environment.
    • Selective expand/collapse in reports: On the financial statements, where there are subaccounts, you can choose to collapse certain sections/accounts but leave others. You get to see just the details you want and hide the ones you don’t.
    • Run item reports by name vs. description: Before, when running an inventory report the program would list the item’s description versus the item’s name. This caused many challenges by making it more difficult to identify the items. There is now an option to run item reports by name.
    • Save as PDF: QuickBooks now allows you to save invoices as a PDF within the Create Customer Invoice window.
    • Enterprise users with inventory:
      • There is an Auto Generate Purchase Order option. No longer must you look through all your stock and do a separate PO for each item; you can use this feature instead.
      • You can now create an Inventory Reorder Report by Vendor.
      • The Enterprise edition has a new feature that provides an option to track inventory by Row/Aisle/Shelf/Bin, using Advanced Inventory.

If you should have any questions or need clarification on any of the new features, 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!

 

 

 

Share This:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Recent Posts

Scroll to Top