SMB Accounting: Quickbooks 2012 Upgrade Requirement?

by Linda Siniscal

Should I Upgrade to 2012?

If you have not received notification from Intuit and you are a registered user of QuickBooks 2009, you need to be aware that on May 31, 2012 Intuit will no longer be supporting the QuickBooks 2009 software versions. What does this mean? If you are one of the many users still using 2009, this means you need to seriously think about upgrading to QuickBooks 2012. This does not just mean software support will cease but on June 1st you will no longer be able to use the following services and for many 2009 users this will greatly impact how you will continue to use the software and will affect how you run your business. The services to be suspended include:
• Assisted Payroll/Basic Payroll/Enhanced Payroll/Standard Payroll
• Online Banking and Bill Pay
• Merchant Services
• Billing Solutions
• QuickBooks Email
• Terminal Download
• Intuit Support Plans and Services

With the loss of support in QuickBooks 2009, there are many other features besides what was added and improved in QuickBooks 2012 but also in past versions 2010 and 2011 to make it worth your while to consider upgrading. For QuickBooks 2012, Intuit really ramped up this version with many new tools to also assist you with

Some of those new features or product enhancements in the QuickBooks 2012 version include:
• Document Center is new to 2012. Document Center allows you to attach receipts and other documents to invoices and customer files. Intuit has included local storage with your QB purchase.
• Another new features added to 2012 QuickBooks is the Lead Center for keeping track of your prospects. One area that many small business owners struggle with. The new Lead Center allows you to keep track of your sales leads and when the lead becomes a client, you can move the contact information into the Customer Center quite easily.
• Batched Time Sheets allow you to create and use the same time sheet for both employees and vendors who work the same hours.
• New to QuickBooks 2012 is industry specific report templates which have been created by other QB users. You can now access Contributed Reports pertaining to your industry searching by industry, user rating and popularity. Select template you like and QB will populate the report with your data in one easy click.
• Calendar view: you can now view your invoices and billing using the new Calendar View. This allows you to quickly scan glance when invoices and payables are due.
• Memorized transactions has been improved. You can set up transactions for those recurring bills and invoices and either process each individually by selecting the entry to run now or which can be run later.
• If you create reports in Excel from exported QuickBooks reports, you can now save the format so that when updated data is imported to Excel, you no longer need to reformat the document.
To highlight a few features added or enhanced since you purchased QuickBooks 2009:
• Access customer and vendor balance and transaction history
• Collections Center for staying on top of your receivables
• Batch Invoicing
• Customer Snapshot to see all your key customer information
Another option for you to consider - do you really need to be the holder of the QuickBooks software? Perhaps when you started your business in 2009 you were able to handle the bookkeeping yourself. Well over the past 3 years, your business has grown and your time is pretty much spent on client projects and continuing to market and grow your business.

You find yourself months behind in reconciliations, client invoicing is also falling behind which is now starting to affect your cash flow – now may be the time to partner with a virtual bookkeeper and QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor and take this burden off your shoulders allowing you to do what you excel at and allowing them to do what they love to do. QuickBooks ProAdvisors will be able to keep your accounting software updated using the latest QuickBooks software so you do not need to continually purchase upgrade software.

To find a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor, you can select the Help menu in QuickBooks and scroll to Find a Local QuickBooks Expert. You can also contact your accountant or other colleagues and ask for a recommendation and of course you can do an internet search “looking for a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.”

Linda Siniscal, is the owner of Third Hand Bookkeeping Service which she started in 1994. Linda is a certified bookkeeper with the AIPB and a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Third Hand Bookkeeping Service can assist clients on both the MAC and PC platform. She is the former Treasurer for the International Virtual Assistants Association and served on their Board of Directors for the term 2005-2008. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Delaware Virtual Assistants Association as their Treasurer for her second term 2009-2013. Linda can be reached at linda@yourextrahand.com or at 732-899-0810. Website: www.yourextrahand.com.