Intuit recently issued Release 8 to address a variety of issues with QuickBooks Pro 2009.

Restoring Previous Approach; Improving New Approach

In responding to concerns of QuickBooks users, and especially to the concerns of QuickBooks ProAdvisors, Intuit has significantly improved the online banking experience.

Changes include the ability to switch to the exact same online banking functionality (and register view) that was in QuickBooks 2008 and the restoration of missing functions to online banking in QuickBooks 2009.

Ability to Use Register Mode (QuickBooks 2008 Online Banking)

Release 8 addresses the request from some heavy users of Online Banking to provide the same approach that had existed in QuickBooks 2008. We call this approach the Register Mode. In contrast, the default approach to online banking in QuickBooks 2009 is called the Side-by-Side Mode.

You can switch between the QuickBooks 2009 online banking approach (Side-by-Side Mode) and the QuickBooks 2008 Register Mode as often as you like. Your accounting data won't be affected.

To move back and forth between these two modes, choose Edit > Preferences. Click the Checking category, and then click the Company Preferences tab.

Improvements to the Side-by-Side Mode (QuickBooks 2009)

With Release 8 Intuit has made the following changes to the redesigned QuickBooks 2009 online banking to restore functionality that was available in previous versions.

• QuickFill now supports account numbers.

• Online banking remembers the last account used for all name types (customers, vendors, employees, and other names).

• Enter new names, accounts and classes using QuickAdd.

• Enter items on purchase transactions by using Ctrl+E to pre-fill the QuickBooks check or credit card charge form.

• Tab through fields on transactions using the "enter moves between fields" preference.

• Amount fields support "automatically place decimal point" preference.

• Save online banking transactions to QuickBooks using the Enter key or Ctrl + Enter.

Select which accounts to download transactions from within the Online Banking Center.

This is a significant update, and we encourage you to accept this update when it becomes available.

If you do not do so already, we recommend you ENABLE automatic updates.

To allow QuickBooks to update automatically, follow these steps:

1. From the QuickBooks Help menu, choose Update QuickBooks.

2. Click the Overview tab and click Update Now.

3. Select the desired downloads in the Update Now window.

4. Click Get Updates to download your selected updates.

5. When the Update Complete message appears, click Close.

6. From the File menu, choose Exit.

7. Start QuickBooks and click Yes to the message to install the update.

For more guidance, see the QuickBooks Product Update site.

If QuickBooks Is on a Network. Special instructions may help if you are using QuickBooks as installed on a network. Check with me if you are uncertain how to proceed.