Headline Feeds
Over the years, Intuit's QuickBooks has had its detractors in the Mac community, but with the release earlier this month of a new version of the accounting software, the company hopes it can win more hearts and minds in the Applesphere.
QuickBooks 2010 ($199.95) improves on the "Mac-like feel" of its predecessors and has new features aimed at making small businesses more profitable, according to Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU).
One irritant in past editions of the program was the time it took new users to get up and running with the software. Some users needed to fill out as many as 100 screens during the initial set-up interview for the product, a process that could take hours to complete. That's been improved in the latest incarnation of the application. "We took a look at the interview and focused on the absolutely critical things we needed to ask small businesses when they're getting started," Intuit Product Manager Will Lynes told MacNewsWorld. Now a company profile can be created with as few as two screens.
Better Inline Help
Inline help for new users, who represent about 50 percent of sales 
for the product each year, has been polished as well, with a feature called "Guide Me." When Guide Me is turned on, the software's home page is altered to highlight key tasks used by small businesses when they start using the application -- tasks such as entering and tracking customer information, creating invoices, keeping tabs on payables and monitoring expenses. "Eighty-plus percent of the folks we talked to said some combination of those five things is what they wanted to accomplish when they bought QuickBooks," Lynes explained.
When performing one of those tasks, Guide Me displays a sidebar with helpful, jargon-free information about completing the activity. "We tried to throw out the accounting jargon and use language that small businesses will know and understand," Lynes noted.
"We've tested this with small businesses and have been excited and impressed to see that with this new process from start to finish -- from initial interview to getting started with real activities -- takes a matter of minutes," he maintained. "That's a big improvement and big time savings for customers."
End of Zero Balance Statements
Intuit has also buffed up QuickBooks' handling of statements and batch email. Users now have more control over who receives statements. With prior versions of the software, Lynes commented, "you could end up generating statements for customers who didn't even owe you money." In addition, custom messages can be added to batches of email messages. Past versions required such messages to be added to individual emails manually.
A calendar feature has been added to the program so dates can be easily obtained from anywhere in the software. "Customers were frustrated that QuickBooks didn't have any pop-up calendars they could easily refer to," Lynes confessed, "so they'd have to find a calendar or open up iCal, track down a date, and then enter it in QuickBooks. It added a lot of steps to this really basic task of finding a date."
The program's preferences section, he added, has been improved by consolidating them into a single location. It's also easier to find specific preferences through a new search function.
Improved Snapshots
The application's snapshot feature, which enables owners to get a quick, graphical look at key business operations, has also been enhanced. "Now I can customize it to show only what's relevant to my business and also use more graphical indicators to show what I'm doing," Lynes explained. "This is extremely powerful in improving your profitability and getting insight into your bottom line."
Reporting has also been made easier in the program. Reports can be flagged for later review and a new search function facilitates finding reports created in the software. In addition, more guidance is provided in creating and using reports.
Other features include better integration of credit card transactions, improved time tracking and payroll processing.
Roach Motel Data Model
With more than 40 new features, Intuit is aiming to at least dampen -- if not quell -- criticism of the product.
"QuickBooks for Mac is an acceptable product at the price," Rory Bowman, a Macintosh consultant in Portland, Ore., told MacNewsWorld. "On both Mac and Windows, however, it is extremely limited in its reporting and the ability to easily export basic data, such as a general ledger for analysis in other programs." He categorized that as a major failing.
"The general approach that Intuit takes is built on the 'roach-motel data model' where it is easy to get data in but not out," he added.
Cautionary Tale
Intuit's experience with its Mac applications may be a cautionary tale for software makers looking to take advantage of the Mac's growing popularity.
"When it comes to Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and the Macintosh, the ability for companies to provide afterthought or substandard products for that platform is simply not acceptable to that user base," Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy and analysis for Interpret, told MacNewsWorld.
"At the end of the day," he continued, "users are going to go to people who provide them with tier-one versions of their products."
Talkback: 
