QuickBooks 2009 Splashes on the Scene with Plenty of New Features

By David Ringstrom, CPA

QuickBooks 2009 is now available, and includes a number of long-wished for features:

• Instead of being limited to 8 figure numbers (basically 99 million), you're now limited to 11 figure numbers (basically 99 billion).
• QuickBooks 2009 supports multiple currencies, and offers an international payment service to allow you to initiate drafts and wires from within the program. Updated currency rates can be imported upon demand. You assign a currency to each customer or vendor, and then transactions automatically show both the foreign and domestic totals.
• At long last you can sort the columns within the bank reconciliation window. Even better, your clients can now reconcile their bank account while the accountant's copy is out.
• One user can back-up QuickBooks while other users are logged in — single-user mode is no longer required for this activity.
• The new Messenger feature allows one user to instantly communicate with other users currently logged into the software.
• The accountant's copy now allows you to map 1099 fields, as well as modify and merge classes, plus QuickBooks Accountant Edition can import and export Accountant's Copy files from both QuickBooks 2008 and 2009.
• A new Company Snapshot serves as an executive dashboard.
• Online banking has been improved so that more downloaded transactions should match automatically to their manually entered counterparts.
• The Item List window has a new search feature simplifies finding inventory items.
• Converting from Peachtree 2008 and Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 to QuickBooks is easy via the free QuickBooks Conversion Tool available at www.quickbooks.com/converttoquickbooks.
• Adobe Acrobat Form templates can be imported into QuickBooks. This requires Adobe Acrobat Pro, but allows for accounting tasks, such as estimates, invoices, and purchase orders, to be completed in the field.
• The Administrator password now uses stronger, 2048-bit encryption.
• A new Live Community feature allows users to see questions and answers posted by other QuickBooks users.
• QuickBooks 2009 users can have a free business web site — comprised of three pages — hosted for twelve months.
• QuickBooks Enterprise Edition now supports up to 30 users.
• QuickBooks 2009 is Windows Vista-certified by Microsoft.As of June 1, 2009, Intuit will no longer support QuickBooks 2006, meaning technical assistance and services such as online banking, payroll, credit card processing, and so on for that version will all cease.