QuickBooks 2009: Improvements to Online Banking

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:13:17 EST

by Accounting Teacher.

QuickBooks 2009: Improvements in Online Banking

At Issue

Among the wide array of improvements made in QuickBooks 2009, from Client Data Review to multi-currency and more, changes were made in Online Banking to make it easier for more users. Our goal is always to help you (and your clients) save time. However, for some customers, our redesigned Online Banking feature isn't generating the desired time savings or ease of use for you (or your clients).

Audience Affected

ProAdvisors and Clients Who Rely Heavily on Online Banking in QuickBooks 2009. How big is this group? From research to date, Intuit believes this group makes up 4% of general QuickBooks users but possibly 10-20% of accounting professionals.

You Spoke and We Listened

Intuit now has programmers working overtime to complete an update for QuickBooks 2009 planned for late December 2009. That update release will address the top online banking functions requested in feedback from ProAdvisors and other users:

"Quick Fill" Capability. QuickBooks will recognize what you are typing, such as payee and account names, and complete the information for you.
Add New. QuickBooks will let you Select Add New from a dropdown menu so you will be able to add new names, accounts, and classes within Online Banking.
Manual Match. QuickBooks will let you select and manually match a QuickBooks transaction to the downloaded transaction.

To Come: Handling Multiple Transactions

Intuit is also working on requests that we restore the ability of heavy users of online banking to review and add multiple transactions at once – that is, to review recognized transactions, edit them, and then save them in a batch.

Our programmers are working overtime to restore this functionality, too. We will alert you as soon as we have an anticipated release date.

Requested Action

Educate affected clients as needed.
Encourage clients to accept automatic updates.
Encourage clients to continue to upgrade to QuickBooks 2009 for the wide array of substantial improvements.
For affected clients or your own practice, see the Workaround on Selected Transaction Types listed below.

Workaround on Selected Transaction Types

Frequent writer on QuickBooks, Kathy Ivens, has noted that these announced fixes are an important improvement. She notes that the changes don't yet resolve the ability to enter deposits that are sales, or withdrawals that are disbursements involving inventory purchases within the Online Banking interface. These types of transactions should be entered using the normal QuickBooks forms, she suggests. Then, users can go into Online Banking to match them.

At Intuit, Greg Wright, Director of Product Management, is helping lead the effort to respond to user and ProAdvisor feedback. Part of that response includes our engaging a group of ProAdvisors to help us design the Online Banking updates. Greg is also sharing out information frequently on the status of the update via various user forums and Intuit's QuickBooks forum.

We have also explored the idea of "rolling back" online banking to its earlier state. Unfortunately that solution isn't feasible, which is why Intuit is addressing the issues it can fix in the short term, as noted above. Please contact your QuickBooks ProAdvisor for further information.

Notes

Bank of America. Some users have reported trouble downloading bank transactions from Bank of America. Bank of America tells Intuit that it is working on this issue and estimates resolution in a few weeks.

Other Notes

This alert relates to Windows versions of QuickBooks 2009 in its Pro and Premier editions, as well as to QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 9.0.
You will be shown a view of the register that includes transactions that have not yet been reconciled and were not automatically matched by online banking
Ivens is the author of the McGraw-Hill series cosponsored by Intuit, QuickBooks: The Official Guide, and her contributions to the CPA 911 website and newsletter are highly valued by many accounting professionals. Please note that she is not an Intuit employee and that her expressions do not necessarily reflect those of Intuit Inc.

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QuickBooks 2009: Improvements to Online Banking