SMEs TAKE CREDIT PAYMENTS WITH QUICKBOOKS 2002
(6 November 2001)
 

Receiving payments by credit card will now be an affordable and straight forward process for all small businesses thanks to a ground breaking initiative in QuickBooks 2002, the latest version of Intuit's leading accounting software package for small businesses.

For the first time, UK businesses will not be tied solely to bank credit card facilities. Now the transaction can be completed online through their accounting software package without the need for credit card swipe terminals, a dedicated telephone line or lengthy applications with multiple credit card issuers. Customer details are kept secure using the latest encryption technology.

The latest version of the award-winning QuickBooks of accounting software is based on in-depth customer research conducted over the last year. The 2002 version contains over 13 new features and improvements allowing small businesses to take complete control of their finances. QuickBooks 2002 and QuickBooks Pro 2002 will be available from early January 2002.

As a fully Euro-compliant software package, QuickBooks 2002 users will also be confident that their software is completely compatible with all EMU currencies including the Euro.

QuickBooks 2002 is priced at £110.21 (Exc VAT) with QuickBooks 2002 Pro, offering a range of advanced options, retailing at £212.34 (Exc VAT) . Both versions of the software will be available from leading computer retailers and directly from QuickBooks at www.quickbooks.co.uk.

Neil Atkins, marketing director of Intuit comments, "The new features & improvements for 2002, in particular the credit card payment facilities, will help reduce some of the growing pressures that small businesses face. With QuickBooks 2002 users will now have more time to focus on growing their businesses."

Other features of QuickBooks 2002 include:
 

• Improved Find Feature: faster searching for data on customer, date, amount, invoice number, address, city, phone number and email.
• Improved Customer Payment Tracking: apply one payment to any open invoices for a customer, including multi sub-jobs, improving tracking of invoices.
• Improved Customisation of Forms: customise forms with the company logo as before, though this process is now more time efficient. Adding e-mail, fax number, and web address to forms in the layout designer.
• Improved Report Customisation: include customer and supplier information on any report even those involving transactions. This will allow 100's of new reports, including an A/R Aging Report with customer contact information.
• Paid Stamp on Invoices: when the invoice has a payment received against it, it has a 'PAID' bitmap visibly displayed across the invoice (similar to a physical 'PAID' stamp one may have in a paper accounting system).
• Automatic Numbering of Journal Entries: this can be extremely useful, especially for an accountant or bookkeeper who is entering hundreds of journal entries at a time. They no longer need to remember which number they are on, QuickBooks will automatically number it for them.
• Archive/Condense Old Data: with the new archive process, the user will be able to archive (save) their old data file and then condense (remove) closed or deleted transactions, and create summary transactions so that reports do not have to go through every transaction that has ever been entered.
• Easier, Faster Help and Support Centre: a new help and support navigator and new search engine offering improved and free online help.
• Improved Payroll options: process P45's through the software instead of having to complete this service manually.

Notes to editor:

Further details on QuickBooks 2002 Credit Card Service:
 

1. QuickBooks users setting up a QuickBooks Merchant Account can now process their credit card payments directly from QuickBooks 2002 forms with out the need to purchase extra hardware or phone lines.
2. Users will be able to refund directly from Credit Memo form.
3. There are no application fees and no deposit is required.
4. Credit Card Data will be saved in QuickBooks in a secure encrypted format, which will save the users time and reduce the likelihood of data entry.
5. Users will only need one merchant account.

About QuickBooks

With over three million customers worldwide, QuickBooks is the leading small business accounting and management software. QuickBooks incorporates a number of unique features in its easy-to-use, jargon-free user interface that sets it apart from the competition. QuickBooks is produced by US based Intuit Inc. www.quickbooks.co.uk