QuickBooks is the leader in small-business accounting software. According to Intuit, which produces QuickBooks, nearly 50 million people use it or a similar Intuit product.

Intuit releases a new version of QuickBooks annually. The 2010 version was just released on Intuit's site. The upgrade price is $179 for single user license of QuickBooks Pro.

To determine the principal benefits of the 2010 version, we spoke with Denise Loter, a Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor. Loter owns EBS Associates, a Portland, Ore.-based accounting firm that offers QuickBooks training solutions, as well as small business accounting services.

Loter said that she recommends her small business clients purchase the QuickBooks upgrade each year. For the 2010 version, Loter described what she believed to be the primary new features.

• Improved Bank Reconciliation Features. "Version 2010 highlights items that you've checked off of the reconciliation," says Loter. "Bank recs are now much easier."

• Check Scanning and Deposit Automation. "The new version allows users to scan checks directly into QuickBooks and then use the scan to directly deposit into the user's bank from QuickBooks. This assumes the bank allows for such scanned-check deposits. "You presumably need a special scanner to do it," Loter said. "But it can save a lot of time and trips to the bank."

• Document Management. "QuickBooks Pro 2010 allows for the scanning and attaching of documents to the records of employees, customers and vendors. This could be estimates, bills, invoices, employee notices and more. "It allows an office to go paperless," Loter said.

QuickBooks is best used on a PC, versus a Mac. Intuit does produce a Mac version of the software, but the "Layout Designer" feature, for example, allowing users to highly customize invoices, packing slips and statements, does not exist in the Mac version, according to an Intuit customer service representative.

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This article is filed under Accounting, Management & Legal and has the following keyword tags: accounting, Quickbooks, Intuit.

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