Versions of QuickBooks

This book is intended to be of value to people using any version of QuickBooks accounting software. The emphasis is on QuickBooks 5 and QuickBooks 4, including the "Pro" versions. My desire to embrace all was limited by marketing concerns. People using the earlier versions are now familiar with the methods, and detailed coverage here would not be of much value to the majority of users.

With the introduction of QuickBooks 5 there came some new features, plus a new front end. This created a problem for a book trying to be inclusive of all versions. The Menu bar is now shorter, and the QuickBooks Navigator was added. This changed the access to the Preferences menu, which is mentioned throughout the book. In the earlier graphics versions it is on the menu bar. In QuickBooks 5 it is under the File menu, or on the Company tab of the Navigator. Detailed directions are given the first few times Preferences is needed. After that, the instructions merely call for access to Preferences and assume that you can find it.

The QuickBooks Navigator is intended to be an easier access to the various facets of QuickBooks. It is certainly an easier interface for the novice, but adds complications to the design of a book for all versions. Most lists and activities (but not print) can be reached through the Navigator, or they can be reached through the menu bar, or through icons as in earlier versions. The book gets bulky if all three methods are described every time. The choice was made to explain early on how to find your way around. Although QuickBooks 5 sets up with the icon bar turned off, it can be turned on through a preference (under the File menu). The Navigator also can be turned on or off.

The Macintosh versions, with a few small exceptions, do not need specific coverage. Problems peculiar to that platform are few and rare, a credit to Apple's handling of the operating system interface. Versions 3.1 and 4 are functionally identical to those versions on the other platform, but there the good news ends. While the programs for both platforms have much in common, all software must be thoroughly tested before sale. Since testing of the Macintosh versions had to be completely separate additional work, and the Macintosh versions never sold well, QuickBooks 5 was released only for the Windows platform.

While DOS users are presumably old hands, they have no experience in conversion to QuickBooks for Windows. Special procedures are sometimes needed. These have not been included here, but it is intended that they will be available from the World Wide Web. Access to this information is included in the purchase price of this book. It will not be intended to be visible using search engines. The plan is to include a sheet with this book, giving necessary instructions for finding the web page.

Enough of introduction. Let's jump into accounting.