QuickBooks 2012 R8 Released

Intuit has released the QuickBooks 2012 R8 update for the U.S. version of QuickBooks. This is another major update for the 2012 product, with a long list of changes. Please note that I have not had the opportunity to check or confirm each of the issues listed here. At the time I’m writing this the release is available as a manual update from the Intuit support web site. I would expect this to be released as an automatic update within a week, if all goes well.

Should you install this? There are a lot of changes here! My usual suggestion is to wait a week until this is available as an automatic update – let OTHER people try it and see if there are any big issues. I’m not aware of any issues at this time, but I’ve only been using it for a very, very short time. With this many changes I tend to be cautious. On the other hand, look at the list of changes, there could be some that significantly affect your operation, so you may want to go ahead now.

Note that when you install this there is a file conversion. I don’t know what they are changing in the database. I recommend that you make a backup copy of your file before installing. This kind of file conversion is not unusual for an intermediate release like this, where they are probably cleaning up some minor details or adding some info for a new feature (like the IPN settings). According to Intuit, the converted file should still be able to be opened with older revisions of the 2012 product. However, I still recommend making a backup, as I’m a cautious person…

Data Corruption Problem Corrections

In Bill Murphy’s recent article on the data corruption problem with Cost/Price Update a significant problem with Enterprise V12 was discussed where using the “Percent Over Cost” markup option. The R8 release addresses this very serious problem with a number of fixes. At this point I’ve only been able to do some very brief tests, so I can’t say that this problem is totally resolved. However, initial results are very promising. Many of the symptoms of this problem are resolved.

• The word *overflow* will no longer appear in the Price column of the Item List when the price is set to zero.
• Overflow will no longer appear in the Markup Percent field when cost and sales are set to zero.
• When the Markup global preference is set to Percent over Cost and you edit the Markup of an item, you will now be able to enter a whole number (not a % symbol) in the Markup Percent field. The program will calculate the sales price correctly when you click Recalculate button.
• The Verify and Rebuild functions have been updated to do a better job at detecting and fixing some cases of the Overflow error.

In my very brief tests it looks like the actions that would create the reported overflow condition now work correctly. I didn’t see that a verify or rebuild fixed this particular situation, however.

Bug Fixes, All Versions

• QuickBooks can now print large numbers of 1099 forms without interruption.
• You should see improved performance when syncing contacts with Outlook.
• QuickBooks will no longer display an incorrect check number after clicking Edit Transaction on a check where the number has been changed but not yet recorded.
• Sales Orders will now show under the Upcoming and Past Due sections on the Calendar.
• Items created in a previous year will no longer be excluded from the Past Due section of the Calendar.
• You will no longer see duplicates in the Select Forms to Send window if the Save button is clicked on an invoice marked To Be Emailed.
• The Askforcd program program, a part of the installation process, is now digitally signed.
• Non-admin users can now access QuickBooks Statement Writer.
• Blank rows will no longer be displayed when fixing duplicate names in QuickBooks Setup.
• Quickbooks will no longer unexpectedly close when you open a company file through the File menu when the No Company Open window is not displayed.
• Item QuickReports and the Inventory Stock Status reports will now show the same quantity when using the same date parameters.
• Purchase Orders / Billing / Receipts:
  • PO’s will now show as “closed” after they are completely billed and received.
  • When you create a bill from a PO the received quantity will be considered when calculating the quantity for the items on the bill (if you have prior item receipts).
• The Condense Data feature now works correctly when the option to Create a report showing which transactions cannot be removed is selected. There are a number of other internal changes designed to improve performance of the Condense feature.
• QuickBooks will no longer display an unrecoverable error 14930 82988 or 14503 77225 when opening a company file.
• In multi user environments you may run into the H202 error. This error display has been updated to include detailed information to help you identify the cause of the error.
• Customer email address can now be seen on the Name History on the Transactions pane when creating or viewing invoices.
• QuickBooks will no longer display the Error Failed to open file: (File path) The specified file was not found when opening an attached document that has special characters in the name of the file. (#, % etc.).
• There are improved error messages when deleting documents that show in the Document Center that have been moved or removed from your file system.
• Extra text has been removed from a QuickBooks information message when user checked for QuickBooks Merchant Services reminders.
• The Merchant Account signup process has been streamlined.
• QuickBooks will now display a confirmation message once a report is emailed using the webmail option.
• The Report Center performance should be improved, as they are now referring to some new servers.
• QuickBooks will no longer display the Unrecoverable Error 11296 98535 when opening QuickBooks with some company files.
• Fields and drop-down lists will no longer overlap when changing Assembly Item setup options.

New Features  in QuickBooks Plus

The “Plus” subscription versions  of QuickBooks include two new features. Keep in mind that you will only see these features in Pro or Premier if you subscribe to the Plus program, or if you have installed the ProAdvisor version of QuickBooks Accountant (Premier).

There is a new feature added to improve how QuickBooks handles bounced checks. At this time I don’t have details of this new feature.

You now have the ability to print bills, which is a feature that people have been asking for a long time. It does have some limitations, though (at least as far as I can tell at this time).

You’ll note that there is a new Print option in the Enter Bills window.

Bill with Print Option

This lets you print the bill. In my sample, I had an entry on the Expenses tab, and on the Items tab. The printed bill will print two pages in this case, with the Items on one page and the Expenses on the other.

I don’t see any way to edit the template for this printed Bill. There isn’t an obvious template in the template list, and there is no customization button in the Enter Bills window.

Enterprise

• Users assigned to the Time Tracking role will now be able to see time activities on the Calendar.
• If you have not enabled the Inventory preference, the inventory menu will no longer appear.
• Enhanced Inventory Receiving:
  • When Enhanced Inventory Receiving has been successfully enabled, it will use the home currency set in your currency preferences when displaying amounts in the created or modified accounts section.
  • The purchase order status will change back to “open” when bills linked to it are deleted.
  • There are a number of program updates that will prevent crashes during the conversion when you enable Enhanced Inventory Receiving.
  • When changing a service item’s income or expense account, QuickBooks will no longer replace the Inventory Offset account for affected historical transactions.

Advanced Inventory (Enterprise only)

• The Print button in the Setup Advanced Inventory screen will now work correctly.
• The Transaction List by Serial Number report will now display items used in build assembly transactions.
• QuickBooks will now use the next default Doc number when duplicating the inventory transfer transaction.
• When exporting the Inventory Valuation Summary by Site and Inventory Stock Status by Site reports to Excel, the totals will display the correct totals from QuickBooks and not zeroes.
• In the Inventory Center, the Quantity on Hand will now automatically refresh when transferring items to different sites.
• The Filter Report by Serial Number window will no longer appear when processing multiple reports that include the Transaction List by Serial Number reports. Instead, the report will remember the last serial number used.
• When performing a condense, QuickBooks will no longer crash when inventory adjustments with serial/lot numbers are within the date range.
• Additional boxes will no longer appear on printed invoices or PDFs when Serial Number is selected to print in the columns.
• The message Default components to same sites as finished assembly will now appear when you select to bring back one-time time messages.
• The warning message The number of Serial #s is less/more than the Quantity Specified will now display, or not display, based on your preference.
• You will now be able to view lots with negative quantities in the Lot Number Count column when creating adjustments for Lot Numbers.
• An Inventory Site filter has been added to the Inventory Valuation Summary By Site and Inventory Stock Status By Site reports. I believe that this existed in earlier versions, but had been removed, now it is back.
• If you are using FIFO inventory, the Inventory Valuation Detail report used to list the average cost as a column, although this actually is the calculated average. I think that they have removed this, rather than just renamed it (haven’t checked at that yet). This was confusing (as I pointed out in my article on the FIFO inventory feature).

Accountant Editions

• If you were using the Accountant Center that would always be displayed on top of everything when you opened a file. Now you have the option to have the Home Page display on top.
• This release fixes a problem that prevented the Accountant Center from opening in some situations.
• You will now be required to answer the Challenge questions when restoring and changing the password from the QuickBooks File Manager.
• QuickBooks File Manager in-product Help articles have been updated to display 2012 instead of 2011.

Intuit PaymentNetwork

• When credits have been applied to an invoice before it is sent, Intuit PaymentNetwork (IPN) will now present the net amount (not the gross amount) as the default amount to be paid online. Note that credits applied after the invoice was sent will not be reflected in the amount to be paid unless the invoice is re-sent.
• Intuit PaymentNetwork will now restore the existing or default value if the account combo box edit is cancelled.
• Enable Online Payment will now be automatically checked when creating an invoice from an estimate if the customer online payment link setting is set to  “Always on for this customer”.

In addition, there are several changes in Intuit PaymentNetwork preferences.  You now have the option to specify if you want to allow just ACH (bank account) payments, or both ACH and credit card payments.

In addition to the general preference shown above, you can override this on a customer-by-customer basis.

These general and per-customer preferences set up the default value for a new invoice, but you also have the option of overriding this on an invoice-by-invoice basis. Here is what you see at the bottom of the invoice:

This only works if your IPN account has been approved to accept credit cards. If it hasn’t, then if you enable credit cards for an invoice you will see an agreement window similar to the following:

You may also see this kind of message if you override the default preference settings in a particular invoice:

I really like these new options, as they address one of the issues I have had with IPN since they added credit cards as an option.

Payroll

• Saving a timesheet with the Save and New button will no longer save with incorrect columns and/or close with an unexpected error.
• Timesheets will now correctly show Employee names first in the list when you have already recorded a prior timesheet using the Save and New button.
• Enhanced Payroll for Accountant subscribers will now have the ability to print a custom logo on pay stubs and paycheck vouchers.

Excel

• When a report using “aging” is created from the Customer Center and exported to Excel, the aging figures will remain unchanged.
• QuickBooks will no longer create a new worksheet in Excel when updating an existing worksheet.

There are several new features in Excel exports.

There is a new option to Replace an existing worksheet in the Excel export window.

There are two new options in the Advanced options dialog.

One is to Create backup worksheet during update”. This was added since the new worksheet is no longer automatically created.

The other is the space between columns option.

Here is a worksheet without the option enabled:

Here is a worksheet with the option enabled:

Integrated Applications (QuickBooks SDK)

There are several changes to the code that is used by third party software developers using the QuickBooks SDK.

• An application can now add employees from other countries without an error.
• There is no longer a failure to close the QBW32.exe file when there is no automatic login permission.
• SDK applications can now open connections on Terminal Services machines (in most cases).

Wait – What About the R7 Release?

Wasn’t the last one the R6 release? Don’t worry – as I understand it the R7 release number was used in a non-US release, so it is being skipped in the U.S. Note also that the R6 release wasn’t issued as an “automatic” update, so even if you think you are up to date you may still be at R5.