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QB 2013

QuickBooks 2013 Coming On September 24th

Chief Mechanic · September 12, 2012 ·

Intuit will release QuickBooks 2013 and Enterprise Solutions 13.0 on or about September 24th.  Downloads from Intuit’s site will be available immediately upon release.  Physical product should reach stores by sometime in October.

The biggest thing users will notice about QuickBooks 2013 is the new design, or graphical user interface (GUI) in tech-speak.  The design incorporates colors from contemporary web sites and ribbons on forms similar to Microsoft’s popular Office software suite.

There’s little in the way of major new product features, but there are important tweaks throughout the program.  We’ll cover the changes in more detail in future posts.  For now we’ll touch on a few examples of the improvements.

In the QuickBooks 2013 Customer Center, shown below, information is organized into tabs.  Customers can now have multiple contacts and multiple date-stamped notes, which can be managed on the Contacts and Notes tabs respectively.  There are built-in links to maps and directions to the customer’s address to save having to re-enter that address in another application.  When navigation and mapping apps are everywhere, it’s good to see Intuit recognize the importance of this type of information.

QuickBooks 2013 Customer Center

Many forms, such as the Create Invoices form shown below, now include a ribbon full of common commands.  The ribbon is larger than the icons used in previous versions of QuickBooks.  The increased size allows the text and icon to more clearly identify the task with which it is associated.  In the past QuickBooks icons were so small that that they provided little useful information.  In the age of retina displays, they simply didn’t cut it anymore, and QuickBooks 2013 is a recognition of that reality.  Quick links have been added to a context-sensitive find tool.  In other words, the FIND button on the Create Invoice ribbon has input fields for invoices, and the button on the Enter Bills ribbon has input fields for bills.

QuickBooks 2013 Invoice

These improvements are useful, but no single one stands out as revolutionary.

The design change for QuickBooks 2013 is the standout feature.  The new look won’t be universally loved, but the change brings QuickBooks much closer to the visual appearance of popular web sites, which are playing a growing role in setting the standards against which software is judged.

For more background on the changes in QuickBooks, check out Intuit’s blog post on the introduction of QuickBooks 2013.

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What Is the QuickBooks Migration Policy?

Chief Mechanic · September 11, 2012 ·

The QuickBooks migration policy is Intuit’s policy to provide a free upgrade to a soon-to-be-released version of QuickBooks to those customers who purchased the currently shipping version very close to the new version’s introduction.  The free migration period is about 60 days.

Typically, Intuit releases a new version of QuickBooks in the last week of September.  Without a policy to provide a free upgrade to the new version, prospective QuickBooks customers might otherwise suspend purchases until after the official release of a new version. That wouldn’t be good for sales.

The migration policy discourages potential customers from deferring purchases.  It also allows customers to buy and use the time-tested, currently-shipping version that has been on the market for 10 months or more while gaining access to the latest software.  That new software can be put to use once its stability has been affirmed in the market.  For those who are reluctant to install the first release of a new program but want the features of a new QuickBooks version, the migration policy offers solid benefits.  For those years when there’s an expected price jump on QuickBooks, the migration policy offers built-in savings, since you’ll receive the higher-priced new version by paying the lower, current price.

For QuickBooks 2013, the expected release date is 9/24/12, and the migration policy started on 7/25/12.  That means any purchaser of QuickBooks 2012 from 7/25/12 through the release of QuickBooks 2013 is eligible to receive a free upgrade to that new version.

Let’s clarify a few details on what constitutes a “free upgrade.”  If you received your QuickBooks software via download, you’ll be able to receive the newly released version for free.  However, if you opted to receive your QuickBooks software on physical media, such as as a DVD, then shipping charges and taxes will apply to your upgrade order.  Moreover, free migration policy upgrades are not available to those who purchased QuickBooks software through a mass merchant.

Unfortunately, there are no links on Intuit sites documenting the migration policy, so the details are subject to change.  And you’ll need to contact Intuit to claim your free upgrade promptly.  All in all, the migration policy removes all the reasons to defer buying QuickBooks for new installations and upgrades.

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