It feels difficult to write
something about a product when the technology has changed in a drastic manner
in the last one and a half decade. The same thing applies on QuickBooks which
has evolved a lot and emerged as one of the best accounting software in the
entire world. If we will talk only about the old version of QuickBooks then it
will not be justice with the product’s performance. It has numerous features to
discuss on which can provide benefits and at the same time some lacunas too. In
the beginning, when it was launched, consumers were not aware of these kinds of
software which can help them in their routine work whether it was personal or
official. Lack of awareness users couldn’t find out the weak points of the
software and used that which provide other software an edge over QuickBooks.
Initially, it was known as
Quicken which was lacking the function of “double entry accounting” and its DOS
version was based on Quicken codebase for Windows and Mac users had their Mac
version. The function of “double entry accounting” is important for managing
the business and it was not there in Quicken hence it doesn’t appeal much to
the users as it was not even properly secured for the audit trail and was up to
date according to accounting standards. Due to the mentioned reasons, this
software had gone through the process of changes which it was in need for
improvisation.
Later on, when QuickBooks
launched its new versions in the year of 2000 and developed the Basic and Pro version,
there was a change in the software. Before the launch of new version it
appealed only to the small scale business market but after the launch of
improvised and updated version, where it removed the gap of double entry system
and full audit trail provided it a huge market of users. By the end of 2003, it
offered industry-specific versions where reports were designed especially for
the industries and that was a turning point for the Intuit Corporation and it
never looked back after that.
Apart from this change in the software Intuit
kept on changing in the software with lots of features and provided the users a
better version of the software in almost every 2-3 years of gap. In those
improvised versions, it included many features for the users and made it users
friendly which enhanced its market value as well as revenue. We would like to
mention some of the features which made it more popular in the world and almost
captured the 94% market of U.S. up to the year 2016 and which can be counted as
an achievement for the company. The main features which we will like to mention
over here are:
· It included specific version for the industry base such as professional
services, wholesalers, manufacturers, contractors, and non-profit organizations.
·
It improvised the software with some more features like few improvements
in income tracker, pinned notes, and improved registration process.
· Some more features were launched in the year of 2016 where it added
batch transaction facility, tracking of bill, continuity to feed label printer
support, and batch delete/void transactions etc.
·
In the year of 2017, QuickBooks came up with improved version and
features included such as automated reports, smart search and improved viewing
of report filters.
Apart from above features Intuit Corporation
continuously kept on adding new features which provided it a lead in the market
and at the same time benefits to the users. Intuit integrated numerous
web-based features to provide a user-friendly software like remote access
facility, payroll assistance and outsourcing system, electronic payment system,
online banking system, mapping function with the help of Google Maps, Online
marketing option through Google, improved email facility with integration to MS
Outlook, time tracking option of employees, import system of Excel
Spreadsheets, pre-authorization of electronic funds. Intuit started its new
version for Linux server as well.
Intuit launched its online software in the form
of “QuickBooks Online” where users can utilize its features by paying a monthly
subscription fee in place of one-time payment. In the online version, users
have not to update the software on a regular basis as it is updated by the
company itself. It can be run on almost every browser such Chrome, Firefox,
Safari, and accessible on Android, OS X.
Well, it is hard to believe after going through
the journey in such kind of manner that how QuickBooks evolved and made itself
a number one accounting software by upgrading very timely and provide the users
some extra features at regular intervals. Intuit Corporation made QuickBooks as
one of the best accounting software for such kind of add-on features and kept
it ahead of others.
We will discuss some weak points of QuickBooks
but not in this article but in next series of article on QuickBooks.
