Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

New Version Of QuickBooks On Way

Every year, Intuit puts out a new version of its Quicken and QuickBooks (QB) programs. To maintain my cutting edge status with these programs, I have always purchased the newest version each year. In fact, I am currently running several versions of each program on my computer in order to be compatible with client data files. However, most normal people don’t really need to upgrade every year. I know of several people still using extremely old versions. Intuit suffered quite a bit last year by overestimating the number of users who would automatically upgrade to the 2001 version of QB. There simply weren’t enough improvements to motivate many people to upgrade.

That should change with the 2002 version, which is scheduled to be released in early December. What is even more important than the normal bells & whistles for small business users is the way QB is becoming the standard accounting program for us professional accountants to use with our clients. Ever since the 99 version, it has become easier to share data files between the clients and the pros. However, we pros have been using the same programs as the clients were. For 2002, Intuit is finally releasing a special Accountants Edition of the program for professional accountants who work on several company files. You can see some details on this new version here.

This is very shrewd on Intuit’s part because it will require that the clients of the pros who use this new version each upgrade their programs to the 2002 version.

I will be posting more updates as I learn of them.

KMK