Intuit Announces QuickBooks 2012, Salesforce Add-on

QuickBooks 2012, the latest edition of Intuit’s popular small-business accounting software, will be available for downloads starting September 26, with boxed copies in retail and Web outlets set to go on sale on October 9, Intuit announced Tuesday.

The new edition introduces a slew of features that address everything from reports and tracking sales leads to batch invoicing and time sheets. Intuit also announced a new QuickBooks add-on for synchronizing data with Salesforce, the Web-based CRM service.

Key reporting innovations in QuickBooks 2012 include a calendar view to quickly see upcoming events (such as to-dos and deadlines for bills and invoices); the ability to share customized reports with other users in an online library; and the ability to apply existing Excel formatting to refreshed data exports.

A new lead center allows QuickBooks users to store basic CRM data for sales leads. QuickBooks 2012 also adds a document center for managing contracts, invoices, and other electronic files pertaining to transactions. The Premier edition of QuickBooks 2012 includes an Inventory Center for centralizing inventory-related tasks.

While QuickBooks 2011 introduced batch invoicing for routine items, QuickBooks 2012 (Premier version only) expands this feature to time and expense billing. All versions, however, allow you to create time sheets (for multiple employee) in batches.

QuickBooks 2012 Pro carries a suggested retail price of $230; the SRP for Premier editions (including several industry-specific packages) is $400. We’ll be taking a closer, hands-on look at the new version in the next week or so.