What's new in QuickBooks 2011

A few clients have asked me if they should upgrade to QuickBooks 2011? The answer is an absolute YES if they have 2008 or older, as those versions are no longer supported.  But what if you have 2009 or 2010? Well, that depends on whether you feel some of the new features would be beneficial. Following is a list of the new features according to Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks.

New in QuickBooks Desktop

Batch invoicing lets clients create a template once and invoice many customers at once

Quickly prioritize customers with the new Customer Snapshot

Quickly locate any account, report or invoice in QuickBooks Search

Convenient access to customer or vendor's balance and transaction history 

Stay on top of receivables and email collection notices with Collections Center

Send invoices and estimates right from business Yahoo!, Gmail or Hotmail account

Keep track of vendors' remittance addresses with a convenient new field

Mark which invoices have been paid with the Paid Date stamp

New in QuickBooks Mac

3-User Edition grows with your client's business

Control access to sensitive data by setting user permissions for up to eight activity areas  

Communicate with others using QuickBooks and see their status on iChat

Track job-related mileage by job or by vehicle

Create customized forms for estimates, invoices, and more with the improved Layout Designer

Layout Designer templates for creating professional-looking forms

Free Little Square online magazine gives tips and advice

Mac-like interface lets clients easily customize reports

Sort account registers by date, type, number, amount, and more to find transactions faster

Export report data to Excel and Numbers

New in QuickBooks Online (You will automatically get these features)

Import customer data from Excel

Business trends for your industry*

Company Snapshot, Company Scorecard*

Create and send purchase orders**

Inventory tracking**

*Available only in Essentials and Plus

**Available only in Plus