What do people think of AE 2009?

There are lots of good new features in 2009 that we really like in our firm - but we can't let clients who need online banking upgrade because Intuit destroyed the online banking feature, it's no longer usable.

I wanted to update you all with some specifics and timelines for our online banking fixes. We will be releasing some of the online banking fixes in late December 2008 in a patch to QuickBooks 2009 Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions. The following fixes for online banking will be included:

• “Quick fill” capability: Type in a dropdown in online banking and have QuickBooks automatically fill in the rest of the name

• Add new: Select “Add new” from a dropdown and be able to add new names, accounts, and classes within online banking

• Manual match: Select a QuickBooks transaction to manually match to the downloaded transaction. You will be shown a view of the register that includes transactions that have not yet been reconciled and were not automatically matched by online banking

I know that there is a big need for the ability to review and add multiple transactions at once -- to easily review recognized transactions, edit them, and then save in a batch. We are working hard on a fix for this as well. I will continue to provide updates on our progress and timing for the “review and add multiple” fix.

Another note, some folks are having trouble with connecting to Bank of America. BofA is planning an update so that they support QB2009. They have told us that it should be working by the end of the week.

I know how important it is to you all to have specific details and timing information. So, I will continue to update you all on this community post as soon as I have information I can share. You all have been very helpful and encouraging in our emails and phone calls. Thank you for your help and patience. Our teams are working hard to address your concerns and your support means a lot to us.

If you have questions or suggestions, please email me (click on my profile for my email address) -- I created an inbox for this issue so that I can quickly respond to your comments.

TO: GREG - that sounds like you're adding those fixes to the banking window - I don't think you're "getting it" - we're keeping clients from updating because online banking is no longer the simple, logical, easy to use window it used to be. The banking window is a mess, it's crowded, it's complicated, some of the commands on it don't make sense, it's a mess. Does this "fixing the window instead of fixing online banking" approach mean that we're stuck with this unholy mess forever? If so, we'll start looking at other software for our clients who really need online banking to capture sales and disbursements that are ACH based (ACH is becoming more and more common).

I installed QB2009 as a single user on my laptop and now I can't open any files using QB2008. The client files are on the server. Even after updating to R3 which is supposed to resolve this probem and even after un-installing QB2009, the problem remains. The only way I can use QB2008 now is to copy the files to the desktop. Any solutions?

This to Elyse...

Hi Elyse - There was a problem where you could not double click on the data file in previous versions after installing QuickBooks 2009. This was resolved in R3. If you can open the file on the desktop and not on the server, then the problem is quite different and and not related to 2009. What error do you receive when attempting to open the file on the network? There are numerous error conditions that could cause problems that can cause issues with opening the file over the network and we have KBs to cover most of them.

Does this help?

One common issue that is easy to check is if the Client/workstation has “hosting” turned on, you will not be able to open the data file. Knowing the error they are getting will keep us from suggesting a “bag of tricks” for the problem. A quick search of the support site will identify how to proceed

Hi, Alisonball reference to our Contract Premier Edition 2007 is single user i want to upgrade it to current and also switch over to multi user, can you suggest me what to do please?

Hi there!

you can upgrade seamlessly from Premier Contractor 2007 to Premier Contractor 2009 (three user). You would just need to buy the 2009 software, install it, then use the new software to open your older data file. (Always be sure to make a backup first though!).

As to getting the software itself? You have many ways you can purchase your three-user copy of Premier Contractor 2009... you might choose to check QuickBooks.com for any deals that may be running, or, you could call a QuickBooks ProAdvisor (you can search for a local ProAdvisor by going to http://findaproadvisor,com ) or, you can check Staples, or Office Depot, or even do an internet search.

hope this helps!

Alison

My office is having an issue with duplicated transactions using the new R7 update. Is there a known issue with the R7 update.

Also when I try to add a transaction using an existing renaming rule i get the error that this alias already exists. Is this a result of the above issue or an altogether separate issue. We use all versions of QuickBooks but have only worked in 2009 R7 Premier AE and QBES09.

Hi there,

I am not aware of any issue with duplicate transactions... but I am wondering if you would be willing to engage directly with Greg Wright on that - he is the leader of the group that released the Online Banking updates that were included in R7.

You can click on his photo (scroll up in this string) and reach him that way.

Thanks!

Alison