Intuit has begun to roll-out the Maintenance Release 5 (R5) Update to the 2021 QuickBooks Desktop product line. The changes, improvements and fixes elaborated below were included in this release for QuickBooks Pro 2021, QuickBooks Premier 2021, QuickBooks Accountant 2021 and QuickBooks Enterprise v21.0.
Be aware that each new update also includes all the changes from earlier updates. If you have automatic updates turned on, QuickBooks will download the updates for you and prompt you to install it. You can manually download the update from the Official Intuit QuickBooks Downloads and Updates Webpage (product/version specific). If you don't want this update automatically downloaded, NOW is the time to turn-off Auto Updates.
Release 5 (R5) - April 2021
What's Important in Release 5 (non-italics), Editor's commentary (in italics).
User Management / Data Level Permissions
Intuit account will be disconnected from the company file for the QuickBooks Admin user who:
- linked the Intuit account to the Company File before Dec 2019, or [This is especially noteworthy!]
- hasn't signed into the Intuit account for more than 180 days, despite three email reminders. [This is especially noteworthy!]
Non-Admin users of QuickBooks Enterprise with the Accounts Payable role can now send a Request for Access (RFA) to the Primary Admin to join the company file Intuit account.
User Management for Accountant edition
When opening an existing company file, or creating a new one, the admin will be prompted to sign in to their Intuit account. [This is especially noteworthy!]
Account Management
Accessing Manage My QuickBooks account, from the Help menu, no longer requires an Intuit account to sign in if the user has already done so elsewhere in the file. [This is especially noteworthy!]
Payroll
New Federal compliance rules require Payroll customers using Direct Deposit service to update their Payroll account information by July 31, 2021 to avoid disruption.
Discovery Hub
A new way to explore the best of what QuickBooks has to offer. Open Discovery Hub via an icon in the top menu bar to learn about the latest and relevant features.
Payment Links
Get paid quickly and conveniently by emailing selected customers a secure Payment Link. Collect advance deposits and prepayments on statements or initial consultations.
Issue (Bug) Fix
Fixed issue where Processed Payment Receipt wasn't aligned after processing transaction.
Should You Update?
While there are a number of items that I have made mention as being 'extremely noteworthy' in this release, I don't see anything in R5 that won't wait for at least a week to give time to hear what others might experience if they go ahead and install it. In fact some of those noteworthy items might very well be good reason to wait to update, or perhaps not update at all, depending on your point-of-view.
The Payroll provision will be required for those with payroll, but that's not till the end of July, so there is time to 'wait and see' what happens with the update itself.
If you aren't in a rush then hold off for a week to 10 days to see if anyone experience issues, so you may want to make certain that 'Auto-updates' have been turned-off inside QuickBooks until you are ready to proceed with this update.
If you do proceed with updating to R5, let us know if you experience issues by posting comments to this article.