More about QuickBooks.com and Related Services

Automatic QuickBooks Product Update

Intuit works year-round to make QuickBooks better. From time to time, we place updates on our Web site for customers to download. An update might include a timesaving new feature, minor repairs to keep software running smoothly, or timely information relevant to customers' businesses. With the Automatic Update feature, QuickBooks only connects to Intuit servers when you are already connected to the Internet. You always have the option of turning off this feature. To do this, go to the "File" menu within QuickBooks, select "Update QuickBooks" then click the "Update Options" link and follow the instructions. You may obtain the same updates by going to the "Update QuickBooks" screen and clicking on "Update". You may also manually download program updates by visiting the QuickBooks Web site.

The update feature transmits technical information to Intuit about the computer's connection and the QuickBooks software being updated. A secure connection protects customer-sensitive information during an update. The Automatic Update feature is only used to update your software and some services to which you have subscribed. During an update, QuickBooks downloads only the files necessary to provide the update.

QuickBooks Merchant Service and QuickBooks Point of Sale Merchant Service

The QuickBooks Merchant Service enables you to accept payment by credit card from your customers by phone, mail, in-person, or online when used with QuickBooks Online Billing. QuickBooks Point of Sale Merchant Service enables you to accept payment by credit card from your customers integrated with QuickBooks Point of Sale. To use these services your company must apply for a merchant account with Innovative Merchant Solutions, an Intuit company.

To apply for a merchant service, you will be required to supply both business and personal information, including: business name, EIN, telephone numbers, owner's name(s), addresses, phone numbers and social security numbers. This information is used by Innovative Merchant Solutions, an Intuit company, for making a credit decision on your application. Also in order to support the transaction reporting and downloading features of QuickBooks Merchant Services, we store QuickBooks Merchant Service customer authorization data and credit card transaction and settlement data.

QuickBooks Billing Solutions

QuickBooks Billing Solutions allows you to transmit invoices, statements, and estimates (forms) electronically from QuickBooks software to your customers. Intuit does not maintain data on your customers, nor do we contact your customers, other than to fulfill and support your and their use of the service.

For forms that are transmitted using the service, advanced features such as receiving online payment, tracking, reminder, and online account view capabilities may be available, depending on your service plan. To use this service, we ask that you first sign in with QuickBooks Business Services. This helps us determine the active and available plans for your company, and will allow you to access the service securely outside of QuickBooks later on. In order to provide one step sending, your transmissions are routed via a secure connection through Intuit servers for formatting and final delivery.

• E-mailing from QuickBooks. When you send e-mail utilizing from QuickBooks using the FREE feature, only the data necessary to support the service is stored on Intuit servers. This data includes the "from", "to", "cc", and subject line and will be used to deliver the form and notify you of any problems with the form delivery.
• E-mailing as a Billing Solution customer. When you send e-mail utilizing the Billing Solutions service, additional form data must be stored on Intuit servers to support the full functionality of the service. This form data may include items, quantities, terms, customer information and amounts and will only be stored and used to provide the full functionality of the service. The Forms Delivery Tracking feature enables the sender to determine if the recipient has viewed e-mailed invoices and estimates. Viewing is tracked through the use of a single pixel gif included in the e-mail or when a recipient clicks on a link to an online copy of the invoice. Invoice recipients are notified of this feature through a brief disclosure included with e-mailed form messages sent prior to the first use of this technology.
• Invoice Mailing through Billing Solutions. When you transmit invoices to be mailed through QuickBooks, the invoice information is electronically sent to Intuit, then securely forwarded to a specialized third party company that prints, stuffs, and mails your invoices via the U.S. Mail to your customer. The third party does not keep invoice data for longer than required to fulfill the service.

The information collected about the usage of the Billing Solutions service will be used in the aggregate to help us evaluate and improve the service. This information may also be used for customer support reasons when a problem is detected and your involvement is needed to help fix the service.

QuickBooks Online Edition

When you sign up for QuickBooks Online Edition, we collect information about you and your business. To set up an account, we need information about your business such as an address, phone number, contact person and e-mail address. We will use this information to communicate with you about your QuickBooks Online Edition account. We may also use this information to tell you about products or services we think might interest you or to invite you to participate in a product or service-related survey. We provide you with the opportunity to indicate your contact preferences in at the time of registration and in the Choice and Control section of this privacy statement. You can add, modify or remove business or personal information as needed and at any time by logging into the QuickBooks Online Edition Web site. You are responsible for creating, updating and maintaining the confidentiality and security of your user id and password.

Personal information you enter when using QuickBooks Online Edition is not shared outside of Intuit except as required to fulfill your service or where it may be required by law. Information you enter into QuickBooks Online Edition may at times need to be accessed or logged for the purpose of troubleshooting and resolving a problem. In addition, we may review and measure data, traffic and product usage trends to help us understand how customers use the product and for overall quality and performance standards. We may also combine your business information with other data in a way that does not identify you personally. We may use this anonymous, aggregated information to understand our business and customers better, so that we may make improvements to our products and services.

QuickBooks Online Edition takes many precautions to safeguard your company information. You must access our product through a secure connection, protecting your information as it travels over the Internet. Also, our servers are backed up nightly, and those backups are stored remotely so that your information is safer in the event of a natural disaster. Additional details of the security safeguards we use to protect your information can be viewed the "Protect Your Information" section of this Privacy Statement.

Our Online Banking Feature gives you the option to automatically or manually download financial information from your financial institution into your QuickBooks Online Edition company. To provide you with this service, we must access your online account. We request the user name, password and any other information ("log–in credentials") that you have set up with your financial institution to enable access. We use your log-in credentials to routinely update and maintain the financial information you download, to address errors or service interruptions, and to enhance the type of data and automation services we may provide to you in the future. If we store your log-in credentials, they are encrypted and stored on our firewall-protected servers. For some financial institutions, you are required to manually update your financial information, and re-enter your login information prior to each transaction download. Information is transmitted using secure socket layer technology and is encrypted, so it is unreadable during transmission. It is then stored on our secure servers. We also periodically receive aggregated, anonymous, general usage information from financial institutions or their processors, including which online services are used and the frequency of usage. These metrics help us to evaluate how we can improve our services and assist us with troubleshooting and technical support.

QuickBooks Payroll

Intuit provides several options to perform payroll services for your company. To sign up for these services, we may require you to provide your company Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) to pre-populate Federal Payroll Tax forms for your printing and submission to Tax Agencies. If you use Direct Deposit, we may use this information to authenticate that you are a business with a tax ID number on file with the IRS. With Assisted Payroll, we also use your EIN and state identification numbers to enroll your company with the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) and state-specific systems so that we can make payroll tax payments on your behalf.

To assist you during the sign up process, we will pre-populate some of the requested information, such as the name of your bank. You will have the option of changing any pre-populated information. You will also be asked for certain employee information, such as name, address, and social security number. This information will be used to process your payroll and may help you provide year end wage and withholding statements to your employees (W-2’s). The section of this privacy statement titled "We Protect Your Information" details the security safeguards we use to protect your and your employee's information.

If you sign up for Direct Deposit or Assisted Payroll, we require you to provide certain information. You will be asked to provide information about your employees, including the employee’s name, and bank account information. In addition, we require you to provide your bank account and signatory information for the account from which you want to fund payrolls. This information will be used to process your Direct Deposit and, for Assisted Payroll, pay your company’s federal and state payroll taxes. We also use bank account information to collect processing fees from you, including normal fees for services and special processing fees outlined in our Terms of Service.

Whether you use an online or desktop payroll solution, we may offer you the ability to view your payroll tax forms online. Before you access your payroll tax forms or services online, you will be required to provide information to authenticate you. The section of this privacy statement titled “We Protect Your Information” details the security safeguards we use to protect your and your employee’s information.

Ordering Software Online

When ordering software online, we offer you the option of creating an Intuit "My Account" to store your contact, billing, shipping, and payment information so that you do not have to enter it each time you make a purchase. Your "My Account" information is stored on our firewall-protected servers. We request that you select a login name and password to access your account. As part of your purchase, you may initiate software downloads from our site. To complete the download process you must set up an Intuit "My Account". During the download, we record your order ID.

Feedback

We invite you to share your thoughts about your QuickBooks software product, service or QuickBooks.com. To better understand your issue or suggestion, Intuit may record information about your QuickBooks product or service, such as the product you are using and the help screen you are on, browser version and operating system.

Discussion Forums and Blogs.

Discussion forums, blogs and other community oriented functionality enable forum members to communicate with other members. To participate in the forum, we require that you register with a valid e-mail address. We may use your e-mail address in the event we need to contact you regarding your postings or to inquire about your Forum experience. We recommend that care be taken in posting personal information on this message board, as any information you provide is accessible by other users.

Personalized URLs (pURLS)

On occasion, we may create a unique web URL link for certain customers who are open to contact for special offers. If you visit one of these sites, you may find it customized with references to products and/or services that we believe may be of interest to you, based on your previous interactions and information you have provided to us. While you are visiting these Web sites, we may collect information about your visit to better tailor the site to your interests. If you choose to visit one of these personalized web URL links, we will collect information about your visits and may associate that information with other information about you and your relationship with us. If you do not wish your information to be used in this way, do not accept the invitation to visit these sites and visit us at www.quickbooks.com. You may also specify your contact preferences by visiting our Privacy Web site.