With the end of the summer also comes the new releases of various accounting software packages.  QuickBooks 2013 is coming out tomorrow, September 24th. There is supposed to be a new interface and some great new features in the new QuickBooks release.  I’ve not yet installed and seen the new version, but over the coming weeks will be posting some of the new features.  It isn’t mandatory to upgrade your software every year, unless you are using the payroll feature.  In order to have current payroll tax tables, you do need to upgrade by July 2014.
I’ve heard that 2013 is coming out with a new interface, so am interested to see what it looks like.  The last major overhaul from Intuit was in 2008, and the changes were a great improvement!  Some of the new features they are advertising are:

• Ribbon – similar to the Microsoft Office Products, the new QuickBooks interface will have a ribbon at the top of screens with commonly related features available at the click of a mouse to go from one task to the next
• Batch Transaction Entry – the ability to most multiple entries in a single screen.  This should be great for entries such as credit card receipts
• Enhanced Customer and Vendor Centres – they are advertising fewer clicks to complete most of the common tasks.  They did make improvements in this area last year, so should be interesting to see what new additions there are
• CRM Lead Centre – again, sounds like a great feature, where QuickBooks will also expand it’s functionality and allow business owners to track their leads and easily convert them into customers.  This has been available in the US version for some time, but is a new feature in Canada.
• More Integration – one of the best features about QuickBooks products has always been the 3rd Party Products which are available to integrate with the software.  QuickBooks 2013

There are also a lot of new features available for the Accountant which should help transition between business owners and their Bookkeepers or Accountants.
Looking forward to getting my new QuickBooks set up this week, and I’ll be sure to post more features as I play with the product.  Would also love to hear about new features that you find and save you time if you are an existing or new QuickBooks user!