quick books 2012 whats new 1

What’s New in QuickBooks® 2012

Copyright

Copyright 2011 Intuit, Inc. Intuit, Inc.All rights reserved. 5601 Headquarters Drive

Plano, TX 75024

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©2011 Intuit Inc. All rights reserved. Intuit, the Intuit logo, Lacerte, ProAdvisor, ProSeries and QuickBooks, among others, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other parties’ marks are the property of their respective owners.

Notice to Readers

The publications distributed by Intuit, Inc. are intended to assist accounting professionals in their practices by providing current and accurate information. However, no assurance is given that the information is comprehensive in its coverage or that it is suitable in dealing with a client’s particular situation. Accordingly, the information provided should not be relied upon as a substitute for independent research. Intuit, Inc. does not render any accounting, legal, or other professional advice nor does it have any responsibility for updating or revising any information presented herein. Intuit, Inc. cannot warrant that the material contained herein will continue to beaccurate nor that it is completely free of errors when published. Readers should verify statements before relying on them.


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WHAT’S NEW FOR YOU?

Below are the new and improved features in the QuickBooks line-up for 2012 that will make your day-to-day accounting lives easier, while yielding them better information about your businesses.

NEW INSIGHTS WITH ROBUST REPORTING TOOLS

New! Refresh Excel Data

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: This feature provides better integration with Microsoft Excel. QuickBooks already has the capability of exporting reports to Excel, and users have been making use of this for many years. With this new feature, however, you have a new option to update data in existing Excel worksheets, preserving formulas you have created and format changes (such as column widths and headers). In other words, refreshed data (for example, specifying a different time period) is shown in the spreadsheet with the desired, altered settings; you do not have to export and set up a new spreadsheet.

How to access it:

1. This new refresh feature can be accessed within QuickBooks or within Excel (under the new QuickBooks tab). When exporting a report to Excel, you now has the option of creating a new worksheet or updating an existing one:


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2. Even if you choose to create a new worksheet, QuickBooks offers you the option to update an existing one (along with choosing other options, such as the Advanced Excel options with which we are familiar) in the next screen:

3. Make formatting changes to the exported spreadsheet, such as column headers, row headers, column widths, and notes. Save that spreadsheet and when it is time to rerun the report due to new data or a new time period, refreshing it with the saved formatting changes is done either from QuickBooks (by updating an existing sheet) or in Excel (in the new QuickBooks tab).

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it allows Excel (either with QuickBooks open or closed) to retain its user-defined format with new refreshed data, including for an altered date range.

What pain does this feature solve? It means that QuickBooks users who export reports to Excel do not have to re-format their exported reports over and over anymore. You don’t have to change the row or column headers or add notes or extra formulas repeatedly just because the date range has change or because new data has been entered for the existing date range.

Who should use it? Anyone who exports to Excel on a regular basis from QuickBooks for complicated reporting should use this.


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Improved! Contributed Reports

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: Shared report templates allow you to share your own custom report templates with other QuickBooks users as well as to make use of other users’ report templates from the cloud. You will also have ability to provide, review and see ratings on the reports template and search the right template from the cloud.

How to access it:

1. Access these reports by selecting Reports > Contributed Reports.

There, you will be able to browse various report categories, and select and download report templates that are useful. In this screen the popularity and ratings of the various contributed reports.


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2. In order to contribute a report template, you must memorize a report. Once it is memorized, the Share Template button will appear at the top of the report:

3. Once Share Template is selected, the Share Template window opens up with informational fields to complete upon sharing this report template with other QuickBooks users in the clouds.

How does this improve your efficiency? At the time of this writing, there are about 1,300 reports available to share. Each report has a unique ID code (viewed by selecting Info under an individual report listing). This feature is cool because you don’t have to recreate the wheel; very often if there is a custom report need, someone else has created it in the past. This is a wonderful “Wiki” type of repository of accumulated reporting knowledge. You cannot download a report template that you do not have user rights to access for that data file.

What pain does this feature solve? It solves the pain of having to create fancy reports from scratch. Let the hard work already done by someone else benefit you. Accountants do not have to create the template and send it to you; they can tell you which template to mark as a favorite.

Who should use it? Anyone with reporting needs that are not out of the QuickBooks box should use it.


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MORE ORGANIZED

What follows is a list of new and improved features that allow businesses to be run in a more organized and efficient fashion, bringing functionality into QuickBooks that once had to be handled manually in another program such as Excel, Word.

New! Lead Center

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: Manage sales prospects without immediately turning them into customers. You can specify the type of lead (hot, warm or cold), edit this lead by changing the information or adding To Do’s or notes, convert it to a Customer while retaining all information, or import multiple leads into QuickBooks from a spreadsheet.

How to access it: Access this by selecting Customers > Lead Center. The lead can be edited in this center as well as converted to a customer.


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Editing a lead in the Lead Center

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it allows the QuickBooks user to track potential customers without using up a name on their customer list. The number of leads allowed is unlimited. It allows you to classify a lead as hot, warm or cold, and to track several contacts (actually, unlimited contacts) for one lead while designating one of those contacts the primary contact. It also allows you to designate several locations as well as notes and To Do’s.

These non-primary contacts (no matter how many there are) are preserved when the lead is converted to a customer.


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You can also import multiple leads from a spreadsheet by copying and pasting the appropriate information into the import grid.

Import Leads grid

What pain does this feature solve? By importing multiple leads from a spreadsheet, the QuickBooks user avoids a lot of unnecessary inputting of data. Also, many QuickBooks users have “hit the wall”by reaching the maximum allowable number of customers in tracking leads which may never becomeactual customers. This prevents hitting that wall. It also allows you to track which leads were converted into customers.

Who should use it? Any small organization that has potential customers and leads to track should use this feature. This would provide you with CRM capabilities beyond what QuickBooks has offered in the past. A sole proprietor would be an ideal candidate for this feature.


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New! Calendar View

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: You can choose to view a calendar layout of a company’s important transactions (invoice, billing, to-dos), as well as overdue transactions, tasks to be completed, as well as appointments. Drill down into transactions from this screen or create To Do’s (such as appointments, which can now have a time of day specified). Past due transactions are automatically flagged.

How to access it: Access the Calendar from the Home screen or the Company menu.


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How does this improve your efficiency? This is cool because until now there has never been one central place to see important dates and schedules (including the time of day!) in a company. Filing dates and due dates can now be kept inside QuickBooks, as opposed to on an external calendar, and everyone can see it. Alerts to overdue status of transactions can keep a company’s cash flow positive.


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To Do’s by area (leads, customers, vendors) and by type of function (call, fax, e-mail, meeting, appointment, and task) can be viewed. The tasks can be marked as Active, Done, or Inactive and viewed by those categories. They can also be prioritized. The display of the To Do List can also be re-ordered by clicking on the column headers.

The calendar is cool also because this is another way to find and drill down into transactions for viewing or editing. The calendar view can be filtered for one or more types of transactions.

What pain does this feature solve? Now there is no longer a need to consult an outside source, such as a spreadsheet or a calendar, for scheduling of business meetings or filing of date-sensitive documents. This can cut down on penalties and make the image of the business more professional.

Who should use it? Absolutely everyone using QuickBooks should use this feature, especially those in companies with more than one user and divided responsibilities, as well as companies with scheduling needs.


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Improved! Global To Do’s

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: To Do’s have been made more accessible. You can list all to do’s in file, which can also accessed from new Lead Center and the QuickBooks Calendar. These to do’s can be categorized, prioritized, and ordered by time of day. This is ideal for setting up and tracking appointments.

How to access it: Create To Do’s via the Lead Center, the QuickBooks Calendar, and Company > ToDo List.

Old To Do:

New To Do:


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To Do List accessed from Company menu (With refers to All/Lead/Customer/Vendor):

How does this improve your efficiency? This is cool because until now there has never been one central place to see important dates and schedules (including the time of day!) in a company. Filing dates and due dates can now be kept inside QuickBooks, as opposed to on an external calendar, and everyone can see it. Alerts to overdue status of transactions can keep a company’s cash flow positive. To Do’s by area (leads, customers, vendors) and by type of function (call, fax, e- mail, meeting, appointment, and task) can be viewed. The tasks can be marked as Active, Done, or Inactive and viewed by those categories. They can also be prioritized.

What pain does this feature solve? This means that QuickBooks users don’t have to track tasks andappointments outside of QuickBooks, allowing centralized access.

Who should use it? Everyone, especially those in a multi-user environment with appointments, should use this.


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New! Document Center

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: You can scan and store attached documents locally in the QuickBooks Document Center with drag-and-drop functionality. There is no need to subscribe to the fee-based Attached Documents (a cloud service) to do this.

How to access it: As with the fee-based Attached Documents service, access this function by selecting the Attach paper clip icon in any transaction.

For subscribers to the Attached Documents service, a screen will appear giving them the option to switch to free local storage.

This feature makes copies of the attached documents and puts these copies into a file folder called Attach, which resides in the same folder as the data file. The Attach folder has sub folders for each different company data file.

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because you do not have to subscribe to a paid service to attach documents anymore. Everything can be stored on the local computer (and subsequently backed up with the rest of the computer’s data). This is great for agreements and leases. If the original documents are deleted, renamed or moved, this does not affect the attached documents in QuickBooks because they are copies.

What pain does this feature solve? This attached document feature does not cost anything, unlike the subscription. Also, if there is no internet access, the subscription feature is not useful.

Who should use it? Anyone who has a need to have document management functionality in their

QuickBooks data should use this feature.


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SAVE TIME AND STEPS

QuickBooks has always provided power users with behind-the-scenes shortcuts to save keystrokes and mouse clicks. Now all users will enjoy icon- and menu-based time-savers as well as prompts to have QuickBooks do the otherwise tedious and repetitive work for them.

Improved! Memorized Transactions

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: Now, upon opening a data file with automatic memorized transactions due to be entered, you can select which specific transactions are to be entered (select/deselect which transactions before entry).

How to access it:

1. Upon opening a data file, QuickBooks will prompt you that memorized transactions are due to be entered. Regardless of how many transactions are involved, you will see a window with details of the transactions in question.


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2. You can uncheck whatever transactions are not to be automatically entered at the time, and then click on whether to enter those transactions still checked immediately or to leave them to be entered later:

3. If one or more memorized transactions are not chosen to be entered at the time, you see the window Enter Memorized Transactions Later, indicating that the memorized transactions will be available upon the next login into the company file:

4. Also, upon memorizing a transaction for automated entry or for adding to the reminders list, there are additional frequency choices:


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How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it adds more frequency choices (such as twice a month) for transactions that were not there before. It also allows you to determine which automatic transactions (not all or nothing) to enter. Also, you will only be given the choice of automatic transactions that are in areas to which you access.

What pain does this feature solve? Previous to this, you were only allowed to see that a certain number of automatic transactions were due to be entered. You did not know which transactions they were (unless it was only one transaction) and had to choose, sight unseen, to enter all of them or none of them. If you chose to enter all of them, oftentimes there were transactions that should not have been entered and reporting errors resulted, and then the transactions had to be deleted or edited. If they chose not to enter any of them, they had to enter the data file and look at the list of Memorized Transactions to see which ones were due so that they could enter them on the spot or wait until they closed QuickBooks and opened it again to answer the prompt.

Who should use it? Anyone with a lot of automatic transactions should use it.

New! Batch Timesheets

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: Enter the same timesheet information for multiple employees or vendors.

How to access it:

1. This is accessed by selecting Employees > Enter Time > Use Weekly Timesheet.


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2. Then, in the drop-down menu next to Name, choose Multiple Names (Payroll) for employees orMultiple Names (Non-Payroll) for vendors.

3. Once the Multiple names option is chosen, checkmark the names for which hours are to be tracked in the next window, Select Employee, Vendor or Other Name, and click OK.

4. Then enter the common hours for the week for all the names chosen and select Save & Close orSave & New.


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How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it saves time entering the same hours for multiple employees or vendors, and is very useful if this is something that happens week in, week out (for example, hourly employees who never work overtime but have the same hours every week). It makes payroll processing faster and easier. In addition, if invoicing customers forthese hours, it makes invoicing them faster and easier as well. In fact, in the new feature BatchInvoice for Time & Expenses, if there are common hours and common expenses, these two features together (possibly combined with memorized transactions for expenses) can make invoicing quick and easy, meaning that invoices get issued faster and payments received faster.

What pain does this feature solve? This feature cuts down considerably on the time required to enter time, and can cut transcription errors down considerably as well. This puts less stress on the administrative function, freeing up time for other tasks. Payroll and invoicing can be processed faster and easier and with fewer errors as well. Cash flow can only benefit from faster invoicing.

Who should use it? Anyone who does time tracking for more than one person, in which two or more employees have similar or identical hours, should use this feature. In fact, if two or more employees have similar but not identical hours, this feature should still be used, and the hours of the employees who differ can be edited. This would save a lot of data entry time and errors.

New! Batch Invoicing for Time and Expenses

(Premier, Accountant and Enterprise)

What this feature does: Select customers with unbilled time, items, expenses, and mileage, and create invoices for all of them in a couple of clicks.

How to access it:

1. First, enable invoicing for time and expenses by making sure that the Company Preferences are set up to allow the you to create invoices from a list of time and expenses. Access this by selecting Edit > Preferences > Time & Expenses > Company Preferences and then check the box next to Create invoices from a list of time and expenses.


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2. With that preference enabled, when it comes time to invoice customers for time and expenses, select Customers > Invoice for Time & Expenses.

3. A window appears showing all customers and jobs with time, expenses, mileage and items to invoice for the date range chosen at the top of that window. Also choose the template desired for the invoices to be produced in a batch. Check any or all of the jobs that are to be invoiced.


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4. You can then edit the options for all the checked invoices to share, regarding notes and item descriptions, as well as markup information.

5. Then you can review the billables, job by job:

6. When everything is reviewed, you can choose to create all the invoices.

How does this improve your efficiency? It considerably speeds up the invoicing process, and if invoicing is faster and easier, collections are more efficient and bad debts are reduced.

What pain does this feature solve? It solves the pain of doing invoicing one by one for jobs which have time and expenses, which is so tedious that people have been known to put off invoicing.

Who should use it? This is great for those who have regularly scheduled expenses (which could be recorded as memorized automatic transactions) and time (which can be recorded in batches across many customers). It is for those who do not use multicurrency and who have only one Accounts Receivable account and generally only one invoice template.


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New! One Click Transactions

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: Create a payment or a credit memo duplicating the contents of an invoice in one step. Or, pay a bill in one step.

How to access it: To create a credit memo duplicating the contents of an invoice, access this functionality in an invoice directly from the Create drop-down icon and by selecting Credit Memo for this Invoice. (Alternately, with the invoice open, select Customers > Create Credit Memos / Refunds.)

This is the original invoice with the option to create a credit memo:

This is the resulting credit memo:


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To create a payment for an invoice, access this functionality in an invoice directly from the Create drop- down icon and by selecting Payment for this Invoice. (Alternately, with the invoice open, select Customers > Receive Payments.)

This is the original invoice with the option to create a payment:

This is the payment for the invoice:


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To pay a bill in one step, select the Pay Bill icon at the top of the bill.

Paying a bill in one click directly from the bill:

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it speeds up navigating to related entries such as paying bills or receiving payment. It also cuts down on entering data twice, as it eliminates the need to enter credit memos line by line for returned goods to mimic the original invoice.

What pain does this feature solve? Credit memos based on returns do not have to be entered line by line to replicate the contents of the original invoice anymore. It also means that bill payments and customer payments no longer have to be entered by leaving the original bill or invoice to get to the payment transaction.


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MORE INSIGHTS AND SAVE STEPS

There are features in 2012 which are so powerful and multi-functional, they straddle the dividing line between the benefits of having more insights and saving steps. You can enjoy faster workflows while seeing more valuable information about your businesses…all provided automatically by QuickBooks.

New! Inventory Center

(Premier, Accountant and Enterprise)

What this feature does: The new Inventory Center looks a lot like Vendor, Customer and EmployeeCenters (inventory list on left, details and transactions on right and with an available notes field).

How to access it: The Inventory Center is found on the Home Screen in the drop-down box next toInventory Activities:


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It is also found by selecting Vendors > Inventory Activities > Inventory Center.

Easily find and locate inventory tasks, items and reports, all in one place. As in the other Centers, there is now a Notes field for each inventory item for quick identification. (This Inventory Center is for Inventory and Assembly items only, not other types of items. QuickBooks Enterprise also allows for an image for each item.)

How does this improve your efficiency? All the pertinent information about inventory and assembly items and related transactions appears in one place, and you can click through to see reports and transactions. It is also cool because now items have notes! In fact, even items that are not inventory and assembly items now have a notes field.

What pain does this feature solve? You no longer has to run a QuickReport on an item to see what transactions included it. The Inventory Center gives all the information about the item in one place, and standard reports like Inventory Valuation Summary and Stock Status are available at the click of a button without searching through the menu for it.

Who should use it? Anyone with a lengthy inventory item list should use this.


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Improved! Shipping Manager

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: The Shipping Manager within QuickBooks now integrates with USPS (whereas prior to this year, it integrated only with UPS and FedEx).

How to access it: Access this feature by selecting File > Shipping. You can ship USPS packages, find drop off locations, schedule pick-ups, track or refund a shipment, or print a SCAN form. You can also print USPS shipping labels directly from QuickBooks, and select desired USPS Services, all via a link within QuickBooks to Stamps.com:


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How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it enables you to send integrate your shipping within QuickBooks. It was cool before; it is even cooler now that the USPS is one of the supported shippers.

What pain does this feature solve? This means that shipping labels do not have to be done manually, and the information on them comes directly from your invoices so data does not have to be entered twice.


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MORE FEATURES YOU WILL LOVE

New! Company File Search

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: This is the evolution of the QuickBooks Search and features a new “persistent search bar” which appears in the right side of the screen near the icon bar. You can search for details in QuickBooks transactions or lists (as well as answers to questions on how to use QuickBooks; see section on Integrated Help).

How to access it:

1. Type a search term to find it in the company data file, ensuring that Search Company File is checked in the drop-down box. Then click on the magnifying glass to initiate the search:


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2. Clicking on a search result opens a second window (to edit a list entry or create a transaction).The results can also be filtered by transaction type, amount, and/or date range:

3. The QuickBooks file’s icon bar can be customized not to show this persistent search bar by right- clicking on the icon bar, choosing Customize Icon Bar, and then un-checking the box next to Show Search Box in Icon Bar.

This function can be accessed by hitting F3 as well.


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How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it allows you to choose from various subcategories of results such as the different types of transactions, and they can refine the search by date. It looks for all instances of the search term, regardless of whether it results in list entries or transactions. This feature requires indexing of the file (it can be done automatically every so often or you can initiate a manual index), but the indexing is incremental. This means that the first indexing may take a few minutes but subsequent indexing will be almost instant.

What pain does this feature solve? You no longer have to look for different types of help or search results to get the answers they need. Also, QuickBooks does not “forget” the original search term when you click on one of the results, as it opens the next set of results in a second window.

Who should use it? Everyone should use it.


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New! Integrated Help

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: This is the evolution of the QuickBooks Search and features a new “persistent search bar” which appears in the right side of the screen near the icon bar. You can search for answers to questions on how to use QuickBooks (as well as search in the company file for particular search terms as detailed in the Company File Search section).

How to access it:

1. Type a search term to find help in accessing a QuickBooks function:

2. Clicking on a search result opens a second window:


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3. This icon bar can be customized not to show this search bar by right-clicking on the icon bar, choosing Customize Icon Bar, and then un-checking the box next to Show Search Box in Icon Bar.

This function can be accessed by hitting F3 as well.

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it is a single interface to help QuickBooks users get answers to their questions from the support center, knowledge base articles, and the QuickBooks Live Community. It enables you to find answers to virtually any question regarding QuickBooks or the data file without looking for a specific type of Help or Search feature. You can also choose from various subcategories of results such as the different types of transactions, and you can refine the search by date. This is a living source of help, so you always get the latest and greatest answers to their queries.

What pain does this feature solve? You no longer have to look for different types of help or search results to get the answers you need. Also, QuickBooks does not “forget” the original search term when you click on one of the results, as it opens the next set of results in a second window. And you do not have to leave QuickBooks to get the help you need.

Who should use it? Everyone should use it.


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New! History Pane

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: The history pane, introduced in 2011, now includes a separate Customer/Vendor tab and Transaction tab. Notes can be assigned to the customer/vendor as well as to the individual transaction. Existing notes can be edited as well.

Transaction Tab of History Pane:

Vendor (in the case of a purchase transaction; customer in the case of a sale transaction) history pane:

How to access it: Access this feature in bills, bill credits, item receipts, purchase orders, invoices, credit memos, and estimates.

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it allows you to get direct access to information about the customer, vendor or other transactions for the same name without leaving the transaction window.

What pain does this feature solve? You no longer have to leave a transaction to go the Customer Center or Vendor Center, to get more information such as a credit limit, QuickReport, what’s outstanding or notes. This can alert you to large balances or outstanding estimates, meaning that less will fall through the cracks and fewer receivables will become bad debts.


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New! 1099 Refresh Set Up Wizard

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: Quickly prepare and file 1099s and 1096s for tax time in a new, fail-safe way.Select vendors and choose which QuickBooks accounts from which to pay these vendors. Print1099s and 1096s or e-file them directly through QuickBooks.

How to access it: Access this feature by selecting Vendors > Print/E-file 1099s and 1096s and follow the Wizard.

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it allows you to create and e-file 1099s and 1096s with very few clicks of a mouse.

What pain does this feature solve? The QuickBooks user no longer has to run reports and fill out 1099s and 1096s manually.


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Improved! Condense Data

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: This feature, formerly known as Clean Up Data, now features improved inventory condense, more options to remove non-posting transactions, and accountant-only (in QuickBooks Accountant and QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant versions) condense options such as single summary entry, clean break (remove all transactions before a specific date so that you can start over as of a specific date – a huge time saver), and period copy.

How to access it:

1. Access this feature by selecting File > Utilities > Condense Data and by following the prompts.


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2. You will receive a prompt to run a Clean up Attachment Links utility for any attachments that were linked to transactions that were condensed.

3. Then you receive a confirmation of any links that were cleaned up.

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it allows you to have control over just how much of the data file you want to extract upon condensing. Users, preferences, reports, templates, lists, etc. are retained from the original data file. Unreconciled bank and credit card transactions can be kept while having one summary entry for all prior transactions(two of the options of the condense feature) so that these accounts remain ready to reconcile.

What pain does this feature solve? New company data files do not have to be created entirely from scratch. This means that lists do not have to be recreated.

Who should use it? Also, users who want a new data file with the same lists, users, preferences and templates as an existing file might want to use this feature to fast-track the creation of the new entity.


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New! Easy Setup

(Pro and Up)

What this feature does: Use the Express Start setup option to get going in QuickBooks quickly and easily; answer five basic questions in three screens and get going! This is great for new users and non-accountants who may experience trepidation (and who might put off starting to use QuickBooks as a result) at the notion of a full company setup. The answers to the questions can be modified later if desired.

How to access it: Access this by selecting File > New Company. When the QuickBooks Setup dialog opens, click on the Express Start button.


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How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it lets you set up your company files within a couple of minutes, even though you may not know everything you need to know ultimately to use QuickBooks to its fullest on an ongoing basis.

What pain does this feature solve? Prior to this, you may have delayed using QuickBooks because you didn’t know how to get started, leading to bad business decisions and a backlog of entries to post once QuickBooks was actually used.

Who should use it? Any company that is new (or new to QuickBooks) should use it if it is being created by someone who is not well-versed in QuickBooks.

New! Auto Data Recovery

(Pro/Premier, not Accountant or QuickBooks Enterprise)

What this feature does: This is a hidden feature in Pro and all non-Accountant flavors of Premier. It comes in very handy when there are corruption problems that prevent you from opening the data file at all. It picks up where the File Diagnostic Tool and the verify/rebuild functions leave off.

How to access it: Auto Data Recovery lurks in the background. It stealthily makes copies of the data and*.TLG files and places them in a subfolder (named “QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery”) of the directory in which the data file resides. To prevent confusion, despite the separate nested location, the files have a *.ADR name. These files are created every 12 hours, with a maximum of two files (12 hoursold and 24 hours old) for each company (so that there are two historical points to which you can restore data if necessary).

How does this improve your efficiency? This feature is cool because it enables you to restore the data file even if no backups or portable copies were taken. It’s also cool because there are two historical points from which to choose for restoration. In fact, testing has shown this to be useful in other situations, such as in company files that open but are missing data such as a vendor list.

What pain does this feature solve? This solves the pain of having to contact the Data Recovery service of Intuit, and it also means that you do not have to stop working until the file is recovered. It also means that those who have not taken recent backups can still access a prior working point for their files without having to re-enter too much information.

Who should use it? Since it’s in every Pro and non-accountant edition of Premier, it should be used by anyone with corruption problems.