QuickBooks Desktop 2024 is the latest annual release from Intuit, continuing their tradition of providing desktop versions with refreshed features. In this review, we evaluate the new QuickBooks Desktop 2024 from a small business user’s perspective to help you determine if upgrading makes sense for your needs.
Visual Improvements
The interface has been updated with a cleaner design while maintaining ease of use. Key visual enhancements include:
- Refined styling and colors for a modern look
- Improved iconography and navigation menus
- Multi-monitor support for expanded workspace
- Customizable themes to personalize the experience
The refreshed interface aims to reduce user fatigue and improve intuitiveness. For users who found earlier versions visually cluttered, the cleaner style is a welcome update.
Smarter Transaction Matching
Matching imported bank and credit card transactions with recorded transactions is now automated using AI and rules-based algorithms. Key benefits:
- Reduces tedious manual work reconciling transactions
- Provides match suggestions along with a confidence score.
- Learns from user feedback on matches over time.
- Flags for duplicate or uncategorized transactions
Smart matching alone can recover hours of manual reconciliation effort each month for small businesses.
Enhanced Reporting
The built-in reporting engine has been upgraded to deliver more insightful reports and flexible customization.
- New modern report templates for sales, expenses, payroll, etc.
- Drill-down within reports for deeper analysis
- Interactive pivot tables to explore data from new angles
- Improved trend and anomaly highlighting
- More export options, e.g., Excel, CSV, and PDF
Generating meaningful reports with a few clicks allows small businesses to spend less time gathering data and more time acting on insights.
Streamlined bulk payments
For businesses that need to run large volumes of payments, the new bulk payment interface enables:
- Payment scheduling with flexible dates and cadence options
- Bank account and payment method presets for rapid switching
- Email receipts to payees automatically.
- Downloadable payment summary for reconciliation
This time saver benefits businesses that run recurring bulk payments to contractors, affiliates, suppliers, etc.
Tighter Sales Tax Automation
Sales tax workflows have been upgraded to eliminate hassles and reduce penalties for non-compliance.
- Automatically pull updated rates from linked sales tax agencies.
- Apply updated rates across transactions with one click.
- Beware of rate change impacts before filing returns.
- Auto-sales tax payable calculation on invoices
By keeping tax rates up-to-date and automating calculations, it prevents potential issues from using outdated information.
Bottom Line Assessment
The focus areas improved in QuickBooks Desktop 2024, like smarter reconciliation, enhanced reporting, bulk payment automation, and sales tax compliance, deliver significant time savings and risk reduction for small businesses.
Users still on older versions with manual reconciliation, limited reporting, and a lack of automation can expect the biggest productivity gain from upgrading. The improvements make workflows more efficient, prevent errors, and provide greater visibility into business performance.
Things to Consider Before Upgrading
While QuickBooks Desktop 2024 brings useful enhancements, small businesses should assess a few aspects before upgrading:
- Hardware requirements: Confirm your PC meets the minimum system requirements for optimal performance.
- Add-on compatibility: Ensure any third-party add-ons you use are compatible with the new version.
- Learning curve: Be prepared for a slight learning curve as you adapt to changes. Leverage in-product walkthroughs and expert guidance to overcome this quickly.
- File size limitations: If your company’s file size is nearing the maximum limit, the upgrade may require optimizing the file first.
- Upgrade incentives: Explore any limited-time upgrade incentives or discounts Intuit may be offering to lower the cost.
The bottom line
QuickBooks Desktop 2024 delivers valuable features that can provide significant time savings and productivity gains for many small business users of older versions. An accountant can advise if the benefits warrant upgrading your specific situation. With proper planning and guidance, the upgrade process can be smooth and cost-effective.
What’s changed in QuickBooks Desktop 2024?
While this release contains valuable new features, QuickBooks Desktop 2024 retains much of what users rely on:
- The underlying double-entry accounting principles and concepts remain unchanged. Long-time users will feel right at home.
- Most keyboard shortcuts, menus, and icon locations are the same. Minimal relearning is needed.
- Core workflows for invoicing, expense tracking, inventory management, purchasing, etc. function similarly.
- Customizations like item lists, custom fields, and transaction templates are preserved after the upgrade.
- Integrations with apps like Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Mailchimp, etc. continue to work.
- Company data and transaction history migrate over time, so historical reporting consistency remains.
- Support for accountant collaboration features is unchanged.
Sticking with conventions for core accounting workflows, keyboard shortcuts, and integrations ensures users can become productive quickly after upgrading. Retaining existing customizations and data provides continuity for reporting and operations.
So while QuickBooks Desktop 2024 brings helpful innovations in targeted areas, it does not disrupt the aspects that work smoothly for most businesses. An advisor can validate if the new features justify an upgrade investment for the specific needs of your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the major improvements in Desktop 2024?
Smarter transaction matching, enhanced reporting, bulk payments, tighter sales tax automation, and user interface refresh.
Q: What version is QuickBooks Desktop 2024 replacing?
A: It is the successor to QuickBooks Desktop 2023, continuing Intuit’s yearly desktop release cycle.
Q: Will my add-ons work with QuickBooks Desktop 2024?
A: Check add-on compatibility. Many add-ons will have 2024-ready updates available. May require reinstalling some add-ons.
Q: Does 2024 work on both Windows and Mac?
Yes, QuickBooks Desktop 2024 supports both Windows and Mac operating systems.
Q: Should I upgrade from QuickBooks Desktop 2021 to 2024?
A: Consulting an advisor is recommended. The 3-year gap means you gain significant new capabilities that can optimize productivity.
Carefully weighing the new features, productivity gains, and upgrade costs will help small businesses make the right decision on migrating to QuickBooks Desktop 2024. Reach out to an accounting advisor for personalized guidance and a smooth upgrade.