QuickBooks Enterprise 11 Upgrade - Should I upgrade from version 9

Do you think you would use the improvements introduced in v11? If you think you will actually benefit from those improvements then I would go ahead and upgrade. If not, then you have another year until v9 will be sunsetted. If v9 suits your needs why not wait another year to upgrade? I'm in the "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" generation.....

ps. I only insist that my clients upgrade when the version they are using is being sunsetted (2008/v8) OR they have an improvement in the current version that they need.

Why insist on an upgrade? Who cares if it's being sunstted? I still use 2006 pro and it works fine, I actually liked Ver 2.1 for DOS better, but my old CPA asked me to update.

Like Laura said.....If you are happy with v9 stay with it. Unless you can use, or need, the new features in v11, then only upgrade after the newer version is out for a few months to get the bugs worked out of it.

Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

Laura/Randy, Thanks for the replies! Yes, there are some features in QBE v11 that I would really like to use (i.e. custom lists, DSO calcs, etc.). That said, I cannot risk any accounting freeze spanning more than 1 (maybe 2) days. From the various reviews...it appears that some v11 upgraders have been shutdown for many days (...this is not something that would be acceptable) or had to go back to an earlier version (or release), etc. In fact, from Intuit's own site...the negative comments I've seem to greatly outweigh the positive. Our upgrade from QBPro 2006 to QBE v9.0 went flawlessly. I'm not finding that many flawless reviews from QBE v11 upgraders...:-(

How to know if you can safely apply an update:

Verify you have good backups now.

Download the update but install it into a test directory. Have a power user play with it using a sample file to verity that it can find and print to all the printers, find all the network drives and the like. Let them have a couple days if they want.

Now make a copy of your real data file. Run the conversion on it (the copy) and verify that everything is correct after the conversion. Run a bunch of reports including the "nasty" one that every company has. Make sure this all works.

Now on the next day, continue to use the old software but make a stack of everything that was entered. Someone stays late and enters it into the new software. Run the reports and verify. Obviously you can't resubmit credit cards or payroll or e-mail invoices. Again lots of reports and make sure things match.

Now on a Friday have the user(s) not enter a couple dozen live transactions into the old software. Should include nasty ones and ones that need to process externally. On Saturday, after backups!! you convert the live data file. Again make sure it converted correctly before going farther. Then you have the user input those transactions and make sure all the processing happens correctly. They may need to enter and journal them into the old just to be sure everything matches afterwards.

If it matches now, you can demote the old software and promote the new. Full backups again!

On Monday everyone is on the new software and you have confidence they won't have problems. If you are super nervous, you have a full backup and for a couple days have them keep paper copies of the entries they make so if you have to revert, everything is saved.

This process applies to any software update and any old salt IT type will tell you just about the same thing.

I am not aware of any issues caused by upgrading to 2011. There are some issues with R4 but R5 has just been released so that should no longer be reason to be worried. I do recommend installing any new version to its own folder. Program upgrades can cause problems so installing the new version separately eliminates this possibility.

When it is time to upgrade the file make a backup file and restore it in

There are cases where a sunsetted program actually starts to fall apart. Reports & features don't work as they used to, etc....

And if you are using any of the Intuit services such as payroll, e-mailing invoices or Merchant services then you have no choice but to upgrade to a new version when these services stop working.

No payroll, their fee for merchant services are extremely high so don't use them either. I prefer Intuit NOT have copies of my invoices so I do not use their email service, I print to PDF and then email the file.

Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

I find their Merchant Services rates to be competitive. Why would Intuit save your emails?

Best,

Peter

Why does Google save everything? Market research, maybe? Compile data on their users?

Could be many good reasons to look at it, save it, compile it, etc. Can also be lots of bad reasons for the same.

I go months without a credit card charge, so the most importmant thing to me is their monthly fee, which I beleive was $60 last I looked, I pay $5.00. I am not a retail business, most of my customers I bill at the end of the month or when their project ships.

Randy Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

Its actually only 19.95 per month these days.

Here is another payment solution for you to check out: