So what is this Intuit Workplace App Center?
Well the Intuit Workplace App Center is where you can buy or try for free, 3rd party software that lives on the web rather than on your computer. Otherwise known as “hosted” or SaaS (Software as a Service) programs that you don’t own, but rather pay a monthly fee to use this software and all the data is stored on servers owned by Intuit.
Anything that you can currently try for free, will most likely incur a monthly fee for continued use at some point and unless you are connected to the internet you cannot access anything that you have stored in them.
The App Center is accessed via the Icon Bar at the top of QuickBooks
When you click on the App Center icon, a browser window opens directly within QuickBooks that takes you to the home page of the Intuit Workplace App Center where you can browse through about 25 different programs in 4 categories:
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Apps that help you run your business
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Apps that help you to manage your work
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Apps that help you to grow and manage your customers
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Apps that help you to reduce your costs
For those of you who like to own your own software and have that data live on your computers, the Intuit Marketplace still exists with hundreds of beefy applications that really extend the power of QuickBooks – visit http://marketplace.intuit.com to see a complete listing of 3rd party programs that perform a wide range of functions that you cannot obtain directly from within QuickBooks.
Of course, once you arrive at the Marketplace you’ll see the same apps featured there as on the App Center – not to worry, there really are other programs available – use the “Search” feature in the upper right corner and type in some key words.
In my opinion it’s a real shame that Intuit seems to have forgotten their long-time developers (many who have been around since 2002).
From another very reputable blogger (who is both a ProAdvisor & IDN Developer) who has been putting Enterprise 10.0 through it’s paces – while I’ve not even installed it yet.
http://qbblog.ccrsoftware.info/2009/09/quickbooks-enterprise-10-0-not-ready-for-prime-time/
QuickBooks 2010 registration seems much more automated, with as much as possible being handled online. In most cases, this should mean that users who upgrade will have to input less data, which will save them time and trouble.
However, there’s a potential problem that can occur in Steps 3-5 that you need to watch out for. If you begin registration and have a file open, the data in the file will automatically populate the registration fields. If the open file doesn’t contain the information you need to use for registration this could be troublesome. I had a “test file open when I began the registration process”. So in MOST circumstances this should not be a problem.
If you notice that this is happening onscreen, delete the incorrect data and then fill in the correct data.
Registration Wizard
Step 1 – Begin Registration
Step 2 – An internet connection is established
Step 3 – Create an Intuit Account (option #1) OR sign into your Intuit Account (option #2).
Use Option 1 to create an Intuit Account if this is the first version of QuickBooks that you have purchased OR if you are upgrading from an older version (Quickbooks 2008 or older if I remember correctly).
Use Option 2 to sign into your existing Intuit Account, if you are upgrading from the 2009 version.
Step 4 – Create a New Profile OR Select an Existing Business Profile
If you already have an Intuit Account, after you sign in – you will have an opportunity to Select the Business Profile that Intuit has on file for this account OR you can create a new business profile.
Step 5 – Review OR Create your business profile.
If you select an existing business profile, the window below will have the last known inforamtion regarding that profile already entered and you will have an opportunity to review and/or update the information.
When you create a new profile, you will need to complete ALL required information.
Step 6 – Register QuickBooks
Unfortunately after I’d done all of this, I still had to call Intuit in order to obtain a “Validation Code” 
Now THIS could be caused by the fact that I have registered a new version of QuickBooks each year since the 1990′s – beginning with Version 1 in DOS and am both a ProAdvisor and an IDN Developer.
I’m sure you all have been reading snippets of information on the web and quite possibly you’ve been receiving marketing literature from Intuit about the release of QuickBooks 2010.
Well, it’s official. You can order QuickBooks 2010 beginning September 28, 2009 – directly from Intuit or through the Affiliate Page on our website at a discount of 10-20% – visit http://www.sunburstsoftwaresolutions.com/order-quickbooks.htm
Usually, with the official QuickBooks release announcement, we also release our own independent “Annual Review” of the new features (and what we think of them) that are in the new version of QuickBooks.
Our Review of What’s New In QuickBooks 2010 will not be so timely this year, we have had a VERY tight time frame in which to test and work with a Final Release version – just a little over a week; so we felt that it was more important to FIRST ensure that our software would work as “expected” by our customers – before focusing on a comprehensive write-up of new features.
Below is a partial list of the new features & functionality that we’ve found in QuickBooks 2010 and we will be releasing our “What’s New In QuickBooks 2010″ on October 5, 2009; watch for announcements here and on the “Home Page” of our Technical Support Area on our main website:
- Document Management – attach files of any type (pdf’s, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, scanned items) to QuickBooks Customer records, Job Records, Vendor Records, Item List entries, Chart of Account Entries. These documents will be stored in a web-based software program and linked to your QuickBooks file.
- Rapid List Entry – allows users to enter, edit and save multiple list items (Customers, Jobs, Vendors, etc.) all on one convenient spreadsheet like table.
- Favorites Menu – create your own “Favorites” menu of commonly-used and/or hard to find menu items and tasks.
- Electronic Check Processing – a check scanning service offered through QuickBooks Merchant Service accounts.
- Additional Custom Fields (Enterprise ONLY) – more custom fields for items and names, new data formats and data validation.
- Build Assemblies (Enterprise ONLY) – the “transaction” form is now a template. Line items can be modified on the fly and printed.
The following items have been improved, according to Intuit literature that we have seen:
- Forms Customization – now easier and faster to make QuickBooks forms look more professional.
- Company Snapshot – allows users to customize what “widgets” they want to see and provides additional widgets for greater insight into the business.
- Condense/Archive – improved logic to more reliably reduce the amount of data in the QuickBooks company file.
- Easier Installation – installing QuickBooks is easier than in previous years.
- Improved Product Registration – reduces time to register QuickBooks.
- Expanded Client Data Review – QuickBooks Premier Account & Enterprise Accountant versions.
- Improved Intuit Statement Writer – sold separately.
- Improved Report Center
Payroll Updates/Enhancements
- Check Signing Feature – Scan your signature, save the image, and then use it in QuickBooks when you print checks on your pre-printed check stock.
- Easily Retrieve Your Payroll Service Key – an on-line tool which requires your Federal EIN, order number OR phone number.
- Certified Payroll Report – compliant with the requirements of the Federal WH-347 & WH-348 according to Intuit (not quite in our opinion)
Watch for continued updates here on our blog as well as on the Technical Support Home Page on our website.
Well I spent all day Wednesday upgrading my computer from Windows Vista Home Premium to Window 7 Ultimate final release.
I was actually able to do an upgrade! Very cool, very easy and VERY FAST.
Do you want to upgrade your current Windows Vista computer? If so, do yourself a favor and download the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor – it will tell you if you can do an upgrade (keep your settings and software) or if you have to do a clean install (reinstall all software & restore ALL files).
This tool will also tell you if your current Windows XP machine is CAPABLE of running Windows 7 and which version you should pick. From all the information that I’ve read, you can NOT do an upgrade from XP to Windows 7 – but rather you MUST do a clean install – which means backing EVERYTHING and I do mean EVERYTHING up, doing what is called a “clean install” and THEN you’ll have to reinstall ALL of your software and all of your data.
If you are running XP, you might be better off just waiting to get Windows 7 when you have to purchase your next new computer. For additional information on Windows 7, visit the Microsoft Windows 7 site – be sure to compare the different versions that are available.
So, let me tell you about my new computer! I’m as excited as a “kid in a candy store”; but seriously I HOPE this is the last computer that I have to buy for a LONG time.
Here are the specs:
- Hewlett Packard E-9150t desktop
- Intel (R) Core (TM) i7 CPU
- 950 @ 3.07 GHz
- 8.00 GB of RAM
- 64-bit Operating System
- Running Windows 7 Ultimate – final release
So I started out bright and early Wednesday morning (5 a.m. EST) and started with the Upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 – it took under an hour and yes I had what little software that I had wanted to save from Vista – which was mainly all of the HP stuff.
Everything seemed to be running smoothly – it remembered my network connections and everything. Next I started installing like a fiend:
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Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
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QuickBooks 2010
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Certified Payroll Solution – our software
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Construction Application for Payment Solution – our software
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Crew/Overtime Entry Solution – our software
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Wage Manager Solution – our software
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Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0
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RoboForm
AND then came the biggie, a Cannon MX330 series printer/fax/scanner, when I insalled that I just used the regular installation CD that came with it – works like a charm.
Thursday, I spent time doing some preliminary testing with our software in conjunction with QuickBooks 2010 and Windows 7 and am happy to say that I’m pleased with the initial results.
We’ll be doing more in-depth testing over the next month, so stay tuned….
