Here's where you will find answers to commonly asked questions about choosing, upgrading, and using QuickBooks software. If you need more information before making your purchase decision, please call us at (866) 676-9668 .
QuickBooks offers a range of accounting and business planning tools designed to help small businesses organize their finances with ease. Because every business is unique, only you can decide which QuickBooks edition is best for you, but we make it easy by letting you try QuickBooks for up to 60 days at no risk.1Learn more about your different QuickBooks options.
In addition, you can save time and boost your efficiency with additional products to help solve all your business needs. Process payroll with QuickBooks Payroll, accept credit card payments with QuickBooks Merchant Services, order QuickBooks Checks, Forms, and Supplies, run your store with QuickBooks Point of Sale, and more.
Try QuickBooks for up to 60 days at no risk. If you're not 100% satisfied for any reason, please call customer service within 60 days of purchase at 1-800-446-8848 to request a refund. To process your request, the agent will need the product license number located on the CD.
QuickBooks 2012 has new tools to give you faster access to information when you need it, and lets you streamline your every tasks. You'll save time and be more efficient.
Learn More about QuickBooks 2012.
In most cases, you can upgrade your QuickBooks in under an hour.2 Many files take even less time. Your data and previous preferences are transferred at the same time.
if I upgrade to QuickBooks 2012?
Yes. When you install QuickBooks 2012, the new software will find the older version of QuickBooks on your computer and import your company file and preferences for you.
If you need up to 5 users accessing QuickBooks at the same time, you should upgrade to Premier. If you need more than 5 users, you should upgrade to QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.
Windows Vista: For the easiest and most effective transition to running QuickBooks on the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system, Intuit recommends using QuickBooks 2008 or later. Although older versions may install successfully, only QuickBooks 2008 or later and Enterprise Solutions 7.0 or later are supported on Windows Vista.
Windows 7: Only QuickBooks 2010, 2011 and 2012 (Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions) are designed to be compatible with Windows 7. You can still install and run QuickBooks 2007, 2008 and 2009 on Windows 7, but be aware that you may encounter problems we cannot resolve.
QuickBooks offers a wide range of solutions for virtually every business, from those just starting out to those that have grown bigger and more complex. As your business needs change, you can upgrade to other QuickBooks products with more features or more capacity easily and painlessly- all of your data goes with you.
Compare QuickBooks products
What's New in 2012
Quicken is specifically designed to handle personal finances, while QuickBooks handles small business finances. Each product is tailored (features, reports, and workflows) to meet the needs of those specific audiences. If you prefer to track personal and business income and expenses in the same place, pay your personal bills and business expenses from the same account, and run a small, home-based, Schedule C filing business with no employees, then Quicken Premier Home & Business might be the right solution for you.
QuickBooks Payroll, a subscription-based service, works right inside QuickBooks. QuickBooks Payroll Services help you make your payroll easier and more accurate through automatic calculations, the latest tax tables and forms, at-a-glance screens to manage activities, built-in Direct Deposit 3, and 1099 E-File service that imports your data from QuickBooks. There's no double-entry, and nothing new to learn.
Learn more about a variety of timesaving, easy-to-use Payroll Solutions
Yes, you can meet your business needs with tested and proven software that integrates with QuickBooks. Search by your specific industry, business function and/or QuickBooks version for solutions that will help eliminate double data entry, streamline business operations, and save you time, so you can focus on growing your business. Research and compare software applications for tasks such as project management, complex estimating, and customer scheduling, created by credible, top-rated developers.
Visit QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace today.4
Yes. You can accept all major credit cards and debit cards right in QuickBooks if you have an Intuit QuickBooks Merchant Service account, the only payment processing solution that allows you to process payments directly into QuickBooks5. No new hardware, software, or phone lines are required. Eliminate the need for double data entry; just process the credit card and debit card transactions directly in QuickBooks5 and the data is automatically recorded in your QuickBooks software.
QuickBooks now also helps you keep more accurate records by telling you which customer payments have been deposited to your bank and by allowing you to download your QuickBooks Merchant Service fees directly into QuickBooks. QuickBooks Merchant Service is sold separately. No teaser rates, no hidden fees, no cancellation fees, and no long-term contracts.
Intuit offers a variety of solutions to help you meet all your business needs, including:
- Point of Sale
- Checks, Forms and Supplies
- QuickBooks Connect (web & mobile access)
- and much more!
Yes, you can import your existing data from Excel files. QuickBooks provides templates that make it easy for you to import your existing customer, vendor or product information.6
Yes, you can with QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions.7 You can directly convert data from Quicken and Quicken Home and Business Editions '98 through 2012 (older editions require some additional steps). QuickBooks provides detailed step-by-step instructions for the entire conversion process.
Office Accounting/Office Accounting Express data into QuickBooks?
Yes, you can easily import your Peachtree, Microsoft Small Business Accounting, and Microsoft Office Accounting/Office Accounting Express business data into QuickBooks. We've created a special site to provide conversion tools and information to help you easily move from your current accounting software to QuickBooks8. Visit our Switcher center.
The multi-user mode8 in QuickBooks Pro and Premier allows multiple users to collaborate on the same company file at the same time. All users must be networked and must each have their own QuickBooks license.
Multi-user mode enables more than one person to work on a company file at the same time increasing collaboration and productivity. It improves accuracy because all users are working on the most up-to-date data. Additionally, it ensures data stays protected because individual user access levels can be set. To enable multi-user mode, go to the File menu in QuickBooks and choose "Multi-User Mode".
If you need 5 or more users accessing QuickBooks at the same time, please see our QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions products, or call us at 1-866-676-9668.
Our standard license agreement requires separate QuickBooks licenses for each person who uses QuickBooks software. However, if you have both a laptop and desktop PC, and you're the only person using QuickBooks, you only need one license. You need to get additional licenses when additional people need to use QuickBooks on their computers. Complete details on our license agreement.
The most common scenario is when more than one person in the business needs to use QuickBooks, even if only for certain specific tasks. For example, a business owner may want to have a copy of QuickBooks solely for running reports, doing payroll, and printing checks, but his office manager needs to use QuickBooks to enter sales orders and receipts. Accordingly, the business needs two licenses.
to get an additional license for this person?
If another person is solely reviewing printed reports that you generate yourself in QuickBooks, then they don't need to get their own QuickBooks license. However, if they install and/or use QuickBooks, then they will need a separate license.
to purchase separate licenses for both computers? If so, how do I do that?
Under the single-user license, you may install QuickBooks software on one computer for access and use by only one specific person; and, install the software on one additional portable computer so long as only the same specific person accesses and uses the software.
You can configure your QuickBooks to suit however many users you need. If you have more than 3 users of Pro or Premier, we recommend that you call 1-866-379-6635 and order from one of our sales consultants. They will ensure that you are set up with the proper number of licenses.
If you already have a copy of QuickBooks, you can also add additional licenses from within the product. To do so, go to the Help menu, click on "Manage My License" to purchase additional licenses. You will see a web page that allows you to select "Purchase additional licenses via phone" or "Purchase additional licenses via web". If you choose to purchase additional licenses by phone, you will be given a phone number to call and a representative can assist you in purchasing an additional license. If you choose to purchase additional seats over the Internet, you will be directed to the in-product e-Store to make your additional purchases.
Please call our sales consultants at 1-866-379-6635 to learn more about the cost of adding an additional user or license.
Or, if you already have a copy of QuickBooks 2012, you can purchase additional licenses from within the product.
Yes. You can run as many companies as you want from one copy of QuickBooks. Of course, you'll still need a separate license for each user of QuickBooks if you have multiple users.
QuickBooks can accommodate up to 30 simultaneous users.9 You can directly convert data from Quicken and Quicken Home and Business Editions '98 through 2012 (older editions require some additional steps). QuickBooks provides detailed step-by-step instructions for the entire conversion process.8 QuickBooks Pro and Premier Editions are best suited for businesses with 1-3 users. (Note that one license is required for each user. A server does not count as a user if no one works on QuickBooks on the server itself). If your business has 5 or more users, please call us at 1-866-379-6635.
You do not need a separate license if you install QuickBooks on a server for other users to access, but no one directly uses QuickBooks on that server. By choosing the Server Installation during the Installation Interview, QuickBooks will install a version that is appropriate for server access but not for regular QuickBooks use.
If you install QuickBooks on your server, you still must have a license for every user of the program. Only certain configurations involving shared company data files are allowed.
You can access additional help on multiple users in several different places:
- During the QuickBooks installation process
- In the materials included with your QuickBooks software
- On our support Web-site
Move up to QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions when you're at the point where you need to handle larger amounts of data (resulting from having more customers, vendors, inventory, and transaction volume) and multiple users with ease. With Enterprise Solutions, you get twice the list capacity of QuickBooks Pro and Premier Editions, and you can scale up to 30 simultaneous users with 200 percent faster performance.9 The software also offers in-depth security features with different levels of access to more than 150 individual reports. And it includes 13 predefined user roles to make new user set-up fast and easy. Learn more about Enterprise Solutions.
- Windows XP (SP3), Vista (SP1 inc 64-bit), 7 (inc 64-bit)
- At least 2.0 GHz processor, 2.4 GHz recommended
- 1 GB of RAM for single user, 2 GB of RAM recommended for multiple users
- Minimum 2.5 GB of available disk space (additional space required for data files)
- 250 MB for Microsoft .NET 4.0 Runtime (provided on the QuickBooks CD)
- Minimum 1024x768 screen resolution, 16-bit or higher color
- 4x CD-ROM
- All online features/services require Internet access
- Product registration required
- Microsoft Word and Excel integration requires Word and Excel 2003, 2007, or 2010 (inc 64-bit)
- Synchronization with Outlook requires QuickBooks Contact Sync for Outlook 2003, 2007, and 2010 (inc 64-bit) (downloadable for free at: www.quickbooks.com/contact_sync).
- E-mail estimates, invoices and other forms with Gmail™, Yahoo!® Mail, Windows®
- Compatible with QuickBooks Point of Sale version 7.0 and later
- Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later), Vista (w/ UAC on), 7 (w/ UAC on), Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Small Business Server 2008.
- A high-speed Internet connection (DSL, cable modem, or higher)
- Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
- 2.5 GB free disk space
After installing QuickBooks, you can delete the installations program from your computer to free up disk space. The QuickBooks Pro and Premier installers give you the option to auto-delete those files. Choose that option to free up disk space immediately.
Important: Customers with dial-up connections cannot download QuickBooks, due to the large file size.
File sizes and typical download times for cable and DSL modems are listed below. Actual download times will vary depending upon modem speed, Internet traffic, time of day, and other factors.
| Product | Download File Size | Estimated Download Time (cable modem) | Estimated Download Time (DSL) |
| QuickBooks Simple Start | 470 MB | 45 min | 90 min - 2 hr |
| QuickBooks Pro, or Premier | 470 MB | 45 min | 90 min - 2 hr |
For more details on downloading QuickBooks, see our download faqs9
or Locations?
has advanced user controls, reporting and inventory tools, plus support and upgrades for 1 year.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks.
QuickBooks Payroll Solutions
Accept debit, credit cards,
and checks in QuickBooks.
QuickBooks Merchant Service
Print checks and deposit slips
from QuickBooks.
QuickBooks Checks and Supplies
