Intuit has announced release dates for QuickBooks 2009. They anticipate shipping as early as the end of September, which means it is time to think about upgrading. I haven’t seen notes as to when QuickBooks Online users will see new features.

Should you upgrade?
The good news is that QuickBooks 2009 promises the fix many of the bugs introduced in QuickBooks 2008. The bad news is that those bugs never were fixed in the 2008 software. I don’t want to be too negative about the way Intuit operates, but I think we can all agree that that’s just wrong.

Normally, I recommend not upgrading to the latest QuickBooks version unless you have a specific need for it. This year, the needs are:
1) You want to use the Accountant Copy feature. New for 2009: fixes to imports and reconciliations so that they work the way they should have worked from the start. If we’ve been using the Accountant Copy functions with you, there are some options other than upgrading, but we’re not going to use AC with any prior versions.
2) You are still using QB 2006 or earlier. While you can technically get by with these older versions (we still have them), Intuit does not update or support the older versions. 2005 won’t run on Vista, for example. I recommend staying with a current version.
3) There are any other features you want. For example, you may need the new multiple currency support. There’s a new dashboard reporting view. Or maybe you need to enter transactions for $99 billion; (yeah, that’s been a real stumbling block for most of us).

Overall, you may get the impression that I’m not overwhelmed with Intuit’s support of their products. As a Certified ProAdvisor, I certainly recognize that QuickBooks is the best solution for many small businesses, and we’ll keep using it until we find a better option, but it would sure be nice to see a company fix errors and provide upgrade pricing.

Categories: Business Tips, General News
No Comments »