Ultimate Guide to QuickBooks Features, Capabilities, and Limitations

Table of Contents

Introduction
Distinguishing between QuickBooks Products
Distinguishing between Different Versions of QuickBooks
Comparison of QuickBooks 2010 Products
QuickBooks Hardware Requirements
Multi-user Installation Requirements
Footnotes

Introduction
QuickBooks users need to understand the differences between QuickBooks Simple Start, QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Premier-Accountant, industry-specific editions of Premier, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, QuickBooks Pro for Mac, and Quicken. In addition, QuickBooks users should be familiar with the hardware and system requirements needed to run QuickBooks Simple Start, QuickBooks Pro, industry-specific editions of QuickBooks Premier, and QuickBooks Premier-Accountant. The following paragraphs provide guidance on each of those topics.

Distinguishing between QuickBooks Products
QuickBooks users should understand the basic differences between each of the following products:

• QuickBooks Simple Start. QuickBooks Simple Start is for small businesses looking for a simple way to manage the most common business tasks, such as tracking money coming in and money going out and maintaining records such as customer and vendor data. QuickBooks Simple Start is for first-time QuickBooks users and is available in either a desktop edition or an online edition.
• QuickBooks Pro. QuickBooks Pro is essentially the same software as QuickBooks Simple Start but includes some additional features. Those include time tracking and billing, fixed asset tracking, loan manager, cash flow projector, advanced job costing, estimating, integration with Microsoft Word and Excel, integration with other software applications, and a document management feature. QuickBooks Pro also allows up to five users to access a company file at the same time.
• QuickBooks Premier. QuickBooks Premier is essentially the same software as QuickBooks Pro, but it includes some additional features. Those include easier reconciliation reporting, forecasting and business planning, inventory assemblies, more journal entry options, and QuickBooks Remote Access service. ¹
• QuickBooks Premier-Accountant. QuickBooks Premier-Accountant is customized for bookkeeping and accounting professionals with multiple QuickBooks clients. QuickBooks Premier-Accountant is essentially the same software as QuickBooks Premier, but it includes some additional features. Those include Intuit Statement Writer, journal entry auto-reverse functionality, multiple journal entry view, Fixed Asset Manager, ability to work with accountant's copy, and more flexibility with the QuickBooks Remote Access service. ^{1 2}
• Industry-specific Editions of QuickBooks Premier. The industry-specific editions of QuickBooks Premier are essentially the same software as QuickBooks Premier, but they include some additional features customized for the particular industry. QuickBooks Premier-Contractor simplifies estimating, invoicing, job costing, and paying bills. It also includes additional contractor-specific reports. QuickBooks Premier-Manufacturers & Wholesalers simplifies inventory tracking, pricing, and sales order and work order processes. It also includes additional manufacturing and wholesale-specific reports. QuickBooks Premier-Nonprofit has additional features that streamline bookkeeping and accounting for fundraising efforts. It also includes specialized reports for the nonprofit industry, including a "Statement of Functional Expense" report. QuickBooks Premier-Professional Services simplifies time tracking and invoicing. It also includes additional industry-specific reports. QuickBooks Premier-Retail simplifies tracking sales and contains retail-specific reports.

Note: The file structure is the same in QuickBooks Simple Start, QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Premier-Accountant, and the industry-specific editions of Premier. Therefore, data can be shared easily between the programs.

• QuickBooks Online Edition. QuickBooks Online Basic and Online Plus are bookkeeping and accounting programs intended for use by small businesses with simple bookkeeping and accounting needs. They are accessed via the internet and available by monthly subscription. Users can use QuickBooks Online Basic or Online Plus to perform functions such as billing customers, receiving payments, paying bills, computing sales tax and processing payroll. Payroll for QuickBooks Online integrates with QuickBooks Online. Online Plus provides online banking. Users that need to perform activities such as creating purchase orders or tracking inventory should use QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, or QuickBooks Premier-Accountant.
• QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions. ³ QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions has not only all the features of QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Premier-Accountant, but also includes some additional features. QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is designed for businesses that have outgrown QuickBooks. It has greater capacity, improved performance, and the ability to support up to 20 simultaneous users.
• QuickBooks Pro for Mac. QuickBooks Pro for Mac is the only QuickBooks product designed specifically for Mac users. The Windows and Mac versions have most of the same features; however, QuickBooks Pro for Mac does not have multi-user capabilities. QuickBooks for Mac uses the same menus as the Windows edition.
• Quicken. Quicken should be used to track personal finances. It is not designed for use by businesses. Business users using Quicken may be interested in upgrading to QuickBooks. Users that need to perform functions such as preparing invoices, processing accounts receivable or accounts payable, or tracking inventory should use QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, or QuickBooks Premier-Accountant rather than Quicken.

Distinguishing between Different Versions of QuickBooks
QuickBooks users may encounter older versions of QuickBooks. The following information summarizes the key differences between the various versions. ⁴

DOS Versions There are three DOS versions of QuickBooks—1.0, 2.0, and 2.1. ⁵ Intuit stopped supporting all versions of QuickBooks for DOS on April 30, 2002.

Windows Versions QuickBooks 2010 is the 18th version of QuickBooks for Windows. The Windows versions of QuickBooks and QuickBooks Pro include the following:

• QuickBooks 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Intuit no longer supports QuickBooks Version 2006 and earlier and will no longer support Version 2007 as of May 31, 2010.
• QuickBooks (Pro, Premier, and Premier-Accountant) 2008. QuickBooks (Pro, Premier, and Premier-Accountant) 2008 added a new time tracking capability that enables users to track their billable hours from Microsoft Outlook, a new Microsoft Excel import template that streamlines the import process, and a one-click feature that users can use to download and securely send their bookkeeping and accounting records to their bookkeeper or accountant. In addition, QuickBooks Premier-Accountant allows bookkeepers and accountants to open and modify client bookkeeping and accounting records from all QuickBooks 2007 and 2008 programs.
• QuickBooks (Pro, Premier, and Premier-Accountant) 2009. QuickBooks (Pro, Premier, and Premier-Accountant) 2009 added the ability to support multiple currencies, access to a Live Community which lets users connect to a QuickBooks community forum, an external accountant user, a client data review feature for bookkeepers and accountants to easily examine company files for problems, improved online banking, and a QuickBooks messenger that allows users to communicate with other users on the network. QuickBooks Premier-Accountant has Intuit Statement Writer that lets bookkeepers and accountants prepare financial statements.
• QuickBooks (Pro, Premier, and Premier-Accountant) 2010. QuickBooks (Pro, Premier, and Premier-Accountant) 2010 is the most recent version. The features added include a document management feature that allows users to electronically "paperclip" their documents to QuickBooks transactions. QuickBooks 2010 has also improved several features, including the company snapshot, the report center, the installation, the clean up company data feature, and forms customization. QuickBooks Premier-Accountant includes an expanded client data review feature and an improved Intuit Statement Writer.

Macintosh Versions QuickBooks Pro 2010 for Mac allows Windows users and Mac users to share QuickBooks data. Therefore, if a user uses that operating system and the bookkeeper or accountant uses a current Windows version, the user can send the Mac data to Windows, and the bookkeeper or accountant can make changes and send the data back to the Mac.

Exhibit 1 compares the features of the 2010 versions of QuickBooks Simple Start, QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, and QuickBooks Premier-Accountant.

Exhibit 1

Comparison of QuickBooks 2010 Products

QuickBooks Hardware Requirements
The following are the recommended hardware and system requirements for installing and using QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, and QuickBooks Premier-Accountant 2010:

• Windows XP (Service pack 2), Vista, or 7. ⁶
• 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 computer recommended (2.0 GHz Pentium or higher minimum).
• 512 MB minimum (1 GB recommended) for a single user and at least 1 GB RAM for multiple concurrent users.
• 70 MB is required for Internet Explorer 6.0, and an additional 9 MB is needed for the optional "Timer."
• 1 GB of additional disk space is needed for data files.
• Internet Explorer 6.0 is required and is included with QuickBooks 2010. QuickBooks is also compatible with Internet Explorer 7. Payroll updates and all online features/services require a high-speed internet connection (DSL, cable modem, or higher).
• Optimized for 1024 × 768; supports 800 × 600.
• Optional sound card: 8 bit or 16 bit is needed to use the sound features.
• Printer supported by Windows 2000, XP, or Vista.
• 4 × CD-ROM (double speed or higher).

Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel integration requires Version 2000 or higher, and Outlook synchronization requires Microsoft Outlook 2000 or higher. ACT! synchronization requires Symantec ACT! 3.08 or higher.

Multi-user Installation Requirements
Using QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Premier-Accountant on a network is basically the same as using QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Premier-Accountant on a single computer, with a few exceptions. For most daily tasks, up to five users can access the company file at the same time. When users are allowed to work simultaneously in a company file, the file is in multi-user mode. However, there are some activities in QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Premier-Accountant that allow only one person at a time to be in the company file, and are referred to as single-user mode. The activities are:

• Accountant's copy activities.
• Perform a client data review.
• Backing up a data file.
• Changing or setting up company preferences.
• Changing company information.
• Cleaning up a data file.
• Converting a data file.
• Defining custom fields.
• Deleting list items.
• Editing the closing date.
• Editing a field on a list item that interacts with another list.
• Importing and exporting data.
• Mapping a network drive.
• Merging list items.
• Printing Forms 1099 and 1096.
• Rebuilding data files.
• Re-sorting lists.
• Restoring data files.
• Updating a data file.
• Linking QuickBooks from Turbo Tax.

After the software has been installed on a server, all user workstations must be installed from the workstation itself. In addition to the hardware requirements required for QuickBooks (Pro, Premier, or Premier-Accountant), the multi-user requirements are:

• Maximum of five simultaneous licensed users. (An unlimited number of users may have access to the company's data files, but only five users may work with the data at the same time.)
• A separate copy of the same version of QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Premier-Accountant for each user.
• Read/write access to the directory where the company file is located for each user.
• Windows Server 2003 for Client-server Networks. Windows XP, Vista, or 7 for a peer-to-peer network.

The user must have administrator rights to install the NT systems software.

Footnotes

¹ QuickBooks Remote Access allows a QuickBooks Premier or Premier-Accountant user to access a client's QuickBooks data via the internet and view and make adjustments directly to the client's data files. QuickBooks Remote Access is provided free for 12 months with the purchase and registration of QuickBooks Premier or Premier-Accountant 2010 before December 31, 2010. QuickBooks Premier or Premier-Accountant users will have an option to subscribe to the service for a fee after the first year.

² Intuit Statement Writer must be purchased separately and is only available with QuickBooks Premier-Accountant 2009 and later and requires Microsoft Office 2003 or later.

³ QuickBooks also offers QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions: Accountant Edition 10.0. This software is intended to allow an accountant to help his or her users manage files created in Enterprise Solutions. It should not be used to open QuickBooks files created using other varieties of QuickBooks, because once files are converted to the Enterprise Solutions format they cannot be used in other varieties of QuickBooks.

⁴ Bookkeepers and accountants can quickly identify which version of QuickBooks their client is using by placing their cursor over the client's QuickBooks file. A message box appears showing the version, size, and date when the file was last modified.

⁵ QuickBooks Pro was not available in the DOS versions.

⁶ The only version of QuickBooks that is compatible with Windows 7 is QuickBooks 2010.