(Credit: Intuit)
Intuit shared details of bookkeeping app QuickBooks 2009 on Monday in the US.
With the release of QuickBooks 2009, the company aims to broaden the focus beyond the ledger book, providing a management centre for small businesses that includes expanded online banking, support for transactions in more than 100 currencies and 12 months of free web hosting.
The 2009 release targets businesses that work globally, whether that means shipping vintage Disney toys to eBay buyers in Japan or employing basket weavers in Uganda. At least 30 per cent of QuickBooks users handle international transactions, according to Intuit.
Multi-currency support enables invoices, bill payments and wire transfers in most of the world's currencies, with online updates and historical tracking of exchange rates. Wire transfers can be made in 100 currencies through QuickBooks Merchant Service, while the other features support 158 currencies. Users can add custom currencies, such as Ithaca Hours in upstate New York or Linden Dollars for Second Life.
Intuit is also offering users a free website for 12 months at an Intuit domain name. Drag-and-drop page designs come from Homestead, a 2007 acquisition. Once the free period expires, monthly hosting costs are US$4.99.
QuickBooks offers banking-centre capabilities, so users won't need to visit banks' separate websites to check on the status of accounts.
Intuit says its Live Community peer-to-peer technology support, with 2.6 million users since its introduction in 2007, is increasingly being used for general business advice.
The context-sensitive question-and-answer interface is docked along the right edge of the QuickBooks interface. The built-in QuickBooks Messenger enables users of multi-user editions of the applications to chat with each other while logged in.
A new Company Insights view provides quick access to balances, money owed, reminders and reports. Expanded tools for accountants include Client Data Review to scan for client errors.
For US$99, QuickBooks Simple Start Edition targets users with the most basic bookkeeping needs. The full-featured Pro Edition costs US$100 more for one user, or a total of US$379 for three people and US$549 for five people. QuickBooks Premier, which offers industry-specific flavours, costs US$399, or US$749 for a pair of users and US$1,099 for three-person access.
