QuickBooks, as usual, has gotten a jump-start on the New Year by offering the 2018 version of QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Accountant, and Enterprise 18.0. The new versions of QuickBooks offer a variety of improvements and additions.

 

 

Multiple Monitor Support

QuickBooks now offers the ability to spread the program across two monitors, allowing for more viewing space for windows within the program. It is important to note, however, that this function will only work if your monitors are the same size. Also, if you access QuickBooks via a hosted environment, meaning QuickBooks is not installed on your PC but rather accessed from a remote server, the multi-monitor mode will not work.

 

Past Due Stamp

Invoices will now have the option to include a "Past Due" stamp. This stamp, which looks similar to the "Paid" stamp, is enabled in the Invoice Template Basic Customization Window. Enabling this feature will automatically include the stamp on any invoice dated after the due date. This feature may be turned off for individual invoices without changing the template settings.

 

Copy-Line and Paste-Line Keyboard Shortcuts

2018 adds two new keyboard shortcuts; Copy-line and Paste-line. When creating/editing invoices, estimates, sales receipts, sales orders, credit memos, purchase orders, and timesheets, the keyboard shortcuts CTRL+ALT+Y and CTRL+ALT +V can be used to copy and paste an entire line, respectively. In prior versions, this function was only available via an edit menu.

Note: These keyboard shortcuts are different from the more commonly known copy selection (CTRL+C) and paste selection (CTRL +V).

 

Also new in all versions of QuickBooks 2018: A search box is available in the Chart of Accounts window and a Cash/Accrual Toggle is available on the face of a report. The Chart of Accounts search box is located in the top left corner of the window and is able to search both alphabetically and numerically. The Cash/Accrual toggle, also located in the top left corner of a report, switches the selected report from cash basis to accrual basis. This feature was previously only available by opening the Customize Window on the selected report.

 

 

Payroll Liability Payment Reminder

This feature is available to users that have the Enhanced Payroll Subscription.

Seven days prior to a liability becoming due, a visual reminder will show up on the Pay Liabilities icon on the home page. The reminder will look like a red circle with a white exclamation in its center.

 

Inventory Report Customization

This feature is available in Premier, Accountant, and Enterprise 18.0.

Inventory Valuation Summary, Inventory Valuation Detail, Inventory by Stock Status by Item, and Assembly Shortage by Item (only available in Enterprise 18.0) will all now have added customization features. Previously the only customizable feature in the aforementioned reports was to change the report date range. Now the reports can be customized so they show only the columns that are selected in the Customize Window.

 

Merge Vendor Reports

This feature is available in Accountant and Enterprise 18.0 but can be accessible in Pro and Premier with the Accountant Tool Box. This feature is a remedy in case a new vendor is created for an already existing one that used a slightly different name. This feature allows you to merge the records of up to four different vendors at once; previously only two could be merged at a time. Of the existing vendors, a master vendor is selected and the remaining vendors will be merged into the vendor. It is important to note that this feature will not work with tax authorities, vendors that have been paid using online banking, payroll service vendors, and vendors with direct deposit.

 

Available only in Enterprise 18.0

Two new features available only to Enterprise users are Mobile Inventory Scanning and an improved Sales Order Fulfillment Workflow. For both of these features, users must also have an advanced inventory subscription.

 

The Mobile Inventory Scanning allows for a barcode device or Android phone, first connected to QuickBooks, to record inventory and pick quantities in a warehouse or remote location.

The Sales Order Fulfillment Workflow feature gives real-time access to the status of sales orders and picklist details via a mobile device that is connected to QuickBooks.

 

One important requirement across all 2018 versions of QuickBooks is the need to have Internet Explorer v11. Many functions within QuickBooks will not be available to use without this specific Internet browser.