QuickBooks for Mac 2012 optimized for Lion, packs 50 new features

The company said the new features and enhancements in QuickBooks for Mac 2012 will give small businesses faster access to important information and simplify critical business tasks. The product will be available on Sept. 26.

"As more and more small businesses adopt Macs, we see increased adoption of QuickBooks for Mac," said Dan Wernikoff, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit's Financial Management Solutions division. "In response, we’ve recommitted ourselves to making the product even better. With Apple’s new Lion OS, we focused on a simple, elegant and easy to use native experience, while continuing to add new features that save small businesses time."

One of the key goals with the latest version of QuickBooks for Mac is faster access to important information. Intuit said QuickBooks for Mac makes it more intuitive and fast to find information with the 2012 version. New features include:

• Improved Search: Use keywords to find items such as customer or vendor contacts, transactions, amounts and dates. Apply filters to refine search results or save searches for future reference.
• Customer and Vendor History Panels: Get an at-a-glance view of customer details, such as open balances and notes, right next to open invoices. Small businesses can now complete transactions and answer customer questions quickly and easily.
• Transaction List: Browse and sort forms by date, customer name, or other criteria while entering invoices, expenses and sales receipts. With all the information at one’s fingertips, it eliminates the need to flip through past transactions one by one.

"The new search feature is powerful. It helps me instantly track down specific transactions, customer contacts, reports - you name it," said Christine Holzmann of CH Graphic Designs, LLC in Peachtree City, Ga. "With the intuitive functionality of Spotlight or Google, search will save me a lot of time finding what I'm looking for in QuickBooks."

QuickBooks for Mac 2012 also features simplified multi-step tasks, which aim to save small businesses time on common, repetitive tasks, while also reducing bookkeeping errors. New features in this category include:

• Batch Online Banking Transactions: Import multiple transactions from bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks at once. Automatically create smart rules to match payees downloaded from online banking accounts to QuickBooks names.
• Progress Invoicing: Easily create multiple invoices from a single estimate to bill for a project over time. Invoice by line item or by percentage of job estimates and easily track invoice details.

"The batch entry feature for online banking transactions saves me valuable time spent entering and renaming transactions one-by-one and it saves me from making errors in the process," said George Qualley of Qualley and Bleyhl, P.L.C. in Des Moines, Iowa. "By expediting transaction entry in a fool-proof way, QuickBooks gives me more time to focus on running my law firm."

In addition to adding timesaving features, Intuit will also introduce the Get Started Right program. With it, QuickBooks for Mac 2012 users will also receive one hour of free phone support with a QuickBooks expert.

Pricing and Availability

QuickBooks for Mac 2012 is scheduled to be available for purchase directly from Intuit at www.quickbooks.com/mac or by calling 888-729-1996 beginning Sept. 26. It is expected to be available at Apple stores, Apple.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Costco.com, Fry’s, MacZones, Office Depot, OfficeMax, and Staples on Oct. 9. Suggested retail prices are:

• 1-User: $229.95
• 2-User: $439.95
• 3-User: $599.95
• Additional seats can be purchased for $209.95 each.