Intuit QuickBooks announced a veritable parade of new products and features, centered mostly around automation, workflow efficiency and integrations. The company unveiled the new products and features at its 10th annual QuickBooks Connect conference.
One is the new QuickBooks Ledger solution, a standardized platform that is designed with accountants in mind to assist with basic needs like year-end tax filing. The software sports features like automated bank feeds, bank reconciliation, financial statements, 1099 tracking and a transition to tax preparation. The solution is accessible only through QuickBooks Online Accountant. It will first be available to accountants in the U.S., followed soon by Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Speaking of QuickBooks Online Accountant, Intuit announced several improvements to this product as well. One is the ability to manage what their team can see and do on behalf of a client, choosing a role that limits access or views to banking, sales or expense data. Accountants also will be able to delegate highly sensitive tasks to more experienced employees, such as paying invoices or running payroll, to help avoid the risk of mistakes and liability. The solution also now features Chart of Accounts templates for immediate use as well as the ability for professionals to build templates from scratch or customize ready-made product-based or service-based business charts of accounts. Accountants can also import templates from Microsoft Excel. When an accountant connects a new client, they can add QuickBooks Payroll and QuickBooks Time, and soon will be able to add QuickBooks Bill Pay and QuickBooks Payments, so as to streamline workflows.
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes workflow automation, reporting tools, and integrations with third-party applications. New enhancements this coming year include the ability to assign more specific roles and permissions based on what a team member needs to perform their job, with access controls applying not just to things like reconciliation and journal entries but also to who can view or customize different financial reports, sales reports, receivable reports, payroll reports and more. QuickBooks is introducing custom calculations and KPIs along with the ability to add any report or chart to Management Reports. Advanced also has a new fixed asset accounting module to streamline the process of adding, tracking, depreciating, disposing and reporting on fixed assets. Advanced customers will also be able to access new estimate approval workflows to help businesses get estimates approved before they’re shared with customers, as well as multilevel and multi-condition approval workflows to help route approvals based on a company’s organizational hierarchy and different transaction conditions.
The company also announced changes in its QuickBooks ProAdvisor program, which is over 25 years old. Changes include pre-written email campaigns and templates; new discounts and benefits for full-service accounting firms that also use Intuit’s ProConnect professional tax solutions; new training on third-party app integrations and Intuit’s ProConnect tax solutions; premium customer support extended to Gold ProAdvisors (previously only available to Platinum and Elite), accountant-approved apps and special events; and newly designed certification, tier, community and skills badges to differentiate ProAdvisors’ levels of expertise to potential clients.
The company also announced new features for QuickBooks Online Payroll that facilitate capturing employee data and onboarding new people. They give users the ability to split a given employee’s hourly and non-hourly payroll costs into multiple classes, along with associated projects, access to a new pay item management tool, which will provide business owners with a consolidated display of pay types, deductions and contributions assigned to employees in a filterable table. Business owners will also be able to create a pay item, bulk assign and edit assignment information for all employees in one place.
QuickBooks also entered a partnership with Allstate Health Solutions to provide enhanced insurance options, as well as new e-commerce innovations for QuickBooks Online such as the ability to sync across sales channels, spot opportunities for growth, maintain accurate inventory, replenish low stock and more.
“Accounting professionals are our most valued partner,” said Jeremy Sulzmann, vice president of the QuickBooks Accountants Segment. “QuickBooks Connect allows us to foster deeper relationships with them so we can work better together to empower and fuel small business success. Our 2023 event is doubling down on how AI-driven innovations can help accountants and the small businesses they serve gain insights to make more informed business decisions. Together, we’re unlocking new ways to power prosperity.”
