Intuit Works for Business: QuickBooks 2008 Now Available

Download as PDF

Improved Ease, New Applications Make the No. 1 Choice of Small Businesses and Accountants Even Better

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) today announced its new line of QuickBooks(R) 2008 products and services. The 2008 version of the nation's best-selling small business financial software focuses on ease-of-use improvements for important day-to-day tasks, as well as connecting in new ways with new applications. Other new features extend the power of QuickBooks beyond accounting by integrating with new online services and industry-leading applications.

"There's a reason why QuickBooks is the top-rated, best-selling business solution year after year among businesses and accountants," said Brad Smith, senior vice president of Intuit's Small Business Division. "QuickBooks 2008 continues to focus on what matters most to our users."

Making Critical Jobs Easier Than Ever

Making everyday tasks easier is still the number one reason why users choose QuickBooks. This year's package helps small businesses in three key areas: getting started, getting paid and getting information to their accountants.

Once users complete the QuickBooks setup process, they often do not know what to do next or where to start. The new QuickBooks Coach highlights the exact steps needed to move beyond setup, teaching such common business tasks as creating invoices and paying employees.

A new, context-sensitive search engine ensures that Help content is relevant to the task at hand. Help topics now appear next to QuickBooks, allowing users to view the steps while simultaneously working. The new Help also provides a direct link to QuickBooks online support and the QuickBooks Community Site, where millions of members share advice based on their own experience.

QuickBooks 2008 provides several new ways to help users track time and get paid. Users can easily transfer their billable time from Outlook calendar appointments, e-mails and tasks to the QuickBooks Time Tracker Service, an add-on service to QuickBooks, thereby ensuring that billable hours are not lost. New invoicing features allow services firms, such as accountants and consultants, to view all unbilled time and expenses directly from a single screen and create invoices with a single click. QuickBooks 2008 also lets users send invoices, sales receipts and other forms directly from QuickBooks using Microsoft(R) Outlook and Outlook Express.

A new feature lets users create, encrypt and securely transmit their Accountant's Copy file to a server for their accountant to download and review. This one-click process reduces chances of losing the file, sending the wrong file to an accountant or having to look for other ways to send large files.

Connecting in New Ways and With New Applications

The new Intuit WebListings Service helps businesses more easily manage multiple Web listings from one place, sending the appropriate company information to leading local listings sites, such as Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, YellowPages.com and superpages.com.

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, the company's financial management system for mid-market businesses, includes two new add-on services that integrate third-party applications, further helping firms manage inventory and handle electronic invoicing. Product-based businesses can now better track and manage inventory in multiple warehouses through an integrated web-based advanced inventory management application called Velocity Inventory(TM). Enterprise Solutions customers can also use an application from True Commerce, Inc., to easily set up and process electronic data interchange transactions directly from within the software. The price of TrueCommerce's Transaction Manager software is now included with Enterprise Solutions, a savings of $795.

Enterprise Solutions also includes two new Web-based add-ons: Business Intelligence and Company Directory, both in pre-release beta versions. The Business Intelligence application, powered by Business Objects, gives users an online snapshot of high-level interactive dashboards, such as profitability, cost of goods sold and top sales. The Company Directory application allows QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions customers to access and search for contact information for customers, vendors and employees stored in QuickBooks via the Web or a mobile device, such as a BlackBerry.

"With vendors unleashing a barrage of software and service solutions into the market, small businesses can find it challenging to find those that are the best-fit for their requirements, and that they can deploy easily and with minimal disruption to their operations," said Laurie McCabe, VP SMB Insights & Business Solutions, AMI Partners. "Intuit has always focused on ease of use, and its new release continues to make this a top priority, with new pre-integrated services that make it easier for businesses and accountants to select what they need to streamline their workflows. Intuit's extensive community of users, accountants and third-party developers gives small businesses a great network of additional business support and resources."

Product Availability and Pricing

QuickBooks 2008 products are currently available direct from Intuit at www.quickbooks.com and will be available beginning Oct. 10 at retailers including: Amazon.com, Best Buy, CDW, Circuit City, CompUSA, Costco.com, Fry's Electronics, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Sam's Club, Staples, Target and Wal-Mart. The suggested retail prices are:

    --  QuickBooks: Pro Edition 2008: $199.95.

    --  QuickBooks: Pro Edition 2008: Three-user: $549.95.

    --  QuickBooks: Premier Edition 2008 (including industry-specific
        editions for accountants, contractors, manufacturers and
        wholesalers, nonprofits, professional service firms and
        retailers): $449.95.

    --  QuickBooks: Premier Edition 2008 (including industry-specific
        editions): Three-user: $1,199.95.

For mid-market companies, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 8.0 starts at $3,000 for a five-seat license and is available for up to 20 simultaneous users. This includes a 12-month, full-service plan, providing 24/7 technical support from a dedicated support engineer, product upgrades, data recovery and reporting services, interactive training tools and automatic renewals. QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions can be purchased direct from Intuit by calling 866-379-6635.

These applications integrate with Intuit Small Business Payroll Solutions and Intuit Merchant Services.

About Intuit Inc.

Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses; financial institutions, including banks and credit unions; consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including QuickBooks(R), Quicken(R) and TurboTax(R) software, simplify small business management and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. ProSeries(R) and Lacerte(R) are Intuit's leading tax preparation software suites for professional accountants. The company's financial institutions division, anchored by Digital Insight, provides on-demand banking services to help banks and credit unions serve businesses and consumers with innovative solutions.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $2.67 billion in its fiscal year 2007. The company has approximately 8,000 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.

Intuit, the Intuit logo, and QuickBooks, among others, are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Source: Intuit Inc.

Released September 24, 2007