QuickBooks 2009: Is it worth the upgrade?

December 15, 2008 — The NEW QuickBooks Pro 2009 accounting software has very few new features to benefit a professional practice.

QuickBooks 2006 or older

If you are using QuickBooks 2006 or an earlier version, now is the time to upgrade, according to Susan Gunn, the recognized expert on using QuickBooks in a practice. If you are using Windows 2000, you will not be able to upgrade to QuickBooks 2009. QuickBooks 2009 will work on Windows XP and Vista operating systems.

Account Reconciliation Changes

The Reconciliation window now offers the user to sort transactions by date, payee name, check number, or amount. Now if you enter anything in the check number field, such as ATM, WTHDRW, etc., you can sort the reconciliation window by date, so transactions will be listed chronologically. Gunn still recommends you leave this field blank or with a check number, as this is the way you will continue to see your bank statements.

Company Snapshot

New to QuickBooks 2009, the Company Snapshot provides a quick glance overview of the various aspects of QuickBooks. View the Income & Expenses via graph, as well as asset, liability and equity account balances.

Online Banking

The biggest disappointment to QuickBooks 2009 is the online banking window. Instead of simplifying the process, Intuit jumped back to a cumbersome means of downloading transactions into QuickBooks. As of this writing, it is Intuit’s plan to release a major overhaul of this area via updating. It is extremely important to update your QuickBooks file via internet.

New Payroll Users

If you are a new QuickBooks payroll user, the task of adding Year To Date payroll information has been simplified. Now in a spreadsheet format, the information is entered by employee, by check, by quarter, tabbing across the columns.

QuickBooks In Your Practice

In a recent email newsletter, Susan Gunn stated, “Because of the downward spiral of our economy, I’ve never felt such an urgency for practices to use QuickBooks. We are in for some rough financial times. How can a practice make wise decisions if they do not know what their current expenses? Now is the time.”

The NEW 2009 Getting The Most Out Of QuickBooks In Your Practice book has been updated to include information regarding all of the new features, plus more, and are now available online for purchase.

Source: Susan Gunn Solutions LLC, www.susangunnsolutions.com