As many of you approach your year-end, the 2012 version of Quickbooks is available to help Canadian business. Canadaone takes a look at its new features and benefits to help you decide if these packages are right for your business.

Leslie Persaud, Senior Product Manager, QuickBooks informs us that customer feedback pushes them  to "continually improve and streamline QuickBooks so [customers] spend less time on their books and more time running their businesses."

Just what does the new version have in store and how can it help you in your business?

Here is an overview of new features you will find in QuickBooks Pro 2012. (Not all features are available in all versions.)

New Express Setup

Often just firing up a new program takes time let alone understanding its ins and outs and how you can optimize them in your business.  Keeping it simple is what the express setup is designed to do. It helps you invoice, write cheques or develop quotes. It is streamlined from 40 screens to just 4 to get you up and running in minutes.

New Calendar View to centralize all your data

The new calendar view is designed to simplify everything for you by making its “to do” list and calendar the “go – to” place for organizing your business and professional activities.

• Puts all data in one place on one calendar format "to-do" list;
• Customer created invoice shows the due date on a traditional calendar screen; click on that date to see a payment screen, prepare a cheque or look at a customer profile to send a payment reminder; and
• Quickly review invoices, billing, past transactions and more with a single click in the new Calendar.

New Collection Centre helps with receivables

The lifeblood of any business is its ability to get paid and managing receivables is a crucial part of your cash flow.  The software aims to help you identify and notify customers to let them know that they owe you money.

• View of all overdue and almost due invoices in one click instead of reviewing each invoice issued over the last 120 days;
• Quickly identify, and email all collection notices from your Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail account in a few steps; and
• Prepare customized reminders that can be batch emailed to all or to selected customers who are in arrears.

New  Search provides faster access to all financial records

A useful search tool is key when you need reports without searching endlessly so this feature was designed to help you find what you need faster. 

• Enter simple keyword and all related reports, invoices, customer contacts and past transaction details come up in seconds.

New Batch Invoicing manages messaging

Why recreate the same message over again?  Just mass send the batch with the new batch messaging option.

• Multiple messages can be sent together instead of one at a time; and
• A full set of invoices for customers who receive the same service can be sent. the invoice is created once, appropriate customers selected and QuickBooks does the rest.

Two packages for small business:

QuickBooks Pro 2012 offers back-office capability to help people organize finances with a centralized view of customer, vendor and employee information. They can also save time on everyday tasks, such as cash flow management, invoicing, and paying bills.

QuickBooks Premier 2012 provides specific industry reporting and more than 150 sales, financial and tax reports. This package combines the features of QuickBooks Pro with deeper, more tailored reports based on industry. These include: customizable tools for tracking inventory, creating purchase orders, and setting pricing levels in addition to automatic forecasting of future sales, expenses, and growth opportunities.

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