QuickBooks 2011 Saves Small Businesses Time in the Back Office

Published on Tuesday, 07 September 2010 08:42 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-( Business Wire )-

Small businesses will find more ways to save time with the latest version of best-selling QuickBooks® financial software from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU). QuickBooks 2011 includes several new features that help small business owners find important data quickly when they need it, perform everyday tasks more efficiently and access essential business information remotely. The software goes on sale Sept. 27.

“For every small business owner, time is money. They want to focus on their business – their passion – not on their books,” said Dan Wernikoff, vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Financial Management Solutions division. “With QuickBooks 2011, we’ve focused on helping them put seconds, minutes and even hours back on the clock.”

QuickBooks Pro and Premier 2011 build on prior versions by streamlining important accounting tasks, such as invoicing and collecting payments. The new Customer Snapshot and Customer and Vendor History features provide at-a-glance views of important customer and vendor details. Users can also take advantage of the power of QuickBooks Connect, a new service that lets small businesses access key QuickBooks data remotely via the Internet or a mobile device. Additionally, as with previous versions, QuickBooks 2011 helps small business owners stay organized by allowing them to have their business information in one place.

A simplified startup process makes it easier and faster for new small businesses users to get up and running in QuickBooks 2011. New this year, the Quick Start Center guides users through installation and lets them import business contacts directly from their Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail webmail accounts. The center also recommends first steps to populate a new user’s account with key information to start quickly.

Get Faster Access to Insights

For many small businesses, QuickBooks is the hub of important customer, vendor, and inventory information. Accessing the right data at the right time can result in better business decisions and faster responses to customers. Upgraded features give customers quick access to important business information:

• Customer Snapshot offers a consolidated view of an individual customer’s purchase history, average days to pay, and outstanding balance. This helps small businesses make timely decisions on customer requests.
• QuickBooks Search lets users quickly locate any customer, account, report or invoice details within their QuickBooks repository with a simple keyword search.
• Customer and Vendor History provides at-a-glance views of important customer and vendor details, such as history, estimates and past orders, on a single screen.
• Balance Sheet by Class provides a way for QuickBooks Premier users to separately track multiple funds, departments or locations in a single, easy-to-access report.

“The new QuickBooks search enabled me to find three annual charges that had not been renewed on invoices and thus earned our company $300 that might have been missed altogether,” said Kathy Zaroczynski of Zaroczynski and Associates in Rochester, N.Y. “It is a very robust tool and I am very pleased with its performance.”

Make Everyday Tasks More Efficient

Administrative work, such as tracking and collecting payments, can be time-intensive and costly. A recent Intuit survey found that small businesses leave an average of $1,500 per month on the table from overdue payments. New features to increase efficiency in getting paid:

• Batch Invoicing lets small businesses owners who often bill many customers for the same service streamline the process by creating one template invoice to send to all related customers.
• Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail Integration allows businesses to easily send invoices, estimates, and other e-mails from their preferred webmail service directly from QuickBooks.
• Collections Center helps users to quickly identify overdue and almost-due invoices, and then directly e-mail collection notices from their Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail accounts.
• Intuit PaymentNetwork (sold separately) provides a way for a small business’s customers to instantly pay their invoices.

“Every month I dread having to apply late charges to several hundred tenants in my storage units that haven't paid on time. It is a long, laborious task that requires hundreds of mouse clicks creating invoices,” said Douglas Brockhouse of Bender Commercial Real Estate in Sioux Falls, S.D. “Today, I used the batch invoice feature and in just two minutes I had every invoice completed and applied!”

Essential QuickBooks Data On-the-Go

Millions of small business owners now work away from the office at least part time. QuickBooks 2011 provides these remote workers access to essential data anywhere, from the airplane to the jobsite, giving them the flexibility they need to meet business demands.

Offered as an add-on service to QuickBooks 2011 and sold separately, QuickBooks Connect provides access to essential QuickBooks customer and transaction data online or on a mobile phone. Users can create and manage invoices, pull customer information, check the status of a payment, and get real-time answers to questions on the go. Secure data automatically syncs with QuickBooks, so users will always have the most up-to-date information at their fingertips.

Additional QuickBooks Editions Available

Intuit today also announced the 2011 editions of two other members of the QuickBooks family: QuickBooks Accountant and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions. QuickBooks Accountant, an Intuit ProLine™ Solution, is the company’s leading bookkeeping, write-up and financial reporting solution for accounting professionals. Its features help accountants be more productive so they can work more efficiently and better collaborate with their clients. New features include:

• Multi-Instance, allowing users to work in two different company files at the same time.
• File Manager, enabling users to manage all client QuickBooks files by version year, edition, and location, or group them by common characteristics set by the accountant. A built-in password vault stores user names and passwords in one place. It also automates the process of upgrading clients’ QuickBooks files in batch to the latest version year.

For mid-sized companies, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions provides scalable services to support business growth. The 11.0 version introduces Advanced Inventory, which enables users to track the quantity and value of inventory in multiple locations.

Pricing and Availability

Intuit QuickBooks Financial Software Pro and Premier Editions (including industry-specific versions) will be available directly from Intuit on Sept. 27 by calling 888-2-INTUIT or at www.quickbooks.com. QuickBooks Pro and Premier will be available on Oct. 10 at leading retailers including Amazon.com, Best Buy, CDW, Circuit City, Costco, Fry’s Electronics, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Sam’s Club, Staples, Target and Wal-Mart.

Suggested retail prices for 2011 editions are:

• QuickBooks Pro Edition: $229.95.
• QuickBooks Premier Edition (including industry-specific editions for accountants, contractors, manufacturers and wholesalers, nonprofits, professional service firms and retailers): $399.95.
• QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 11.0 (5 users): $3,000.

QuickBooks 2011 is part of a family of financial software and services from Intuit. Additional Intuit solutions include:

• QuickBooks Online.
• Intuit QuickBooks for Mac.
• Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.

Resources:

• Intuit QuickBooks Pro and Premier Editions Press Kit
• Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Press Kit
• Intuit QuickBooks Accountant Edition Press Kit
• Intuit on Twitter
• Intuit on Facebook
• Intuit Small Business Blog
• Intuit Community

About Intuit Inc.

Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses; financial institutions, including banks and credit unions; consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®, simplify small business management and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants. Intuit Financial Services provides enhanced online banking solutions and unique insights to help banks and credit unions serve businesses and consumers with innovative solutions.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $3.5 billion in its fiscal year 2010. The company has approximately 7,700 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.

Intuit, the Intuit logo and QuickBooks, among others, are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Intuit Inc.Monica Appelbe, 650-944-5648monica_appelbe@intuit.comorAccess CommunicationsWhitney MacDonald, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.