QuickBooks Desktop 2020 Smart Help & Easy QuickBooks Upgrade

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Intuit just released QuickBooks 2020 Desktop, and over the next few days and weeks, QuickBooks ProAdvisors (for Desktop), Enterprise Users, and QuickBooks Pro/Premier 'Plus' subscribers will be notified about the availability of the initial release of the software. Soon thereafter, QuickBooks Desktop 2020 versions will start appearing on retailers' shelves. 

Insightful Accountant has been privy to various pre-release versions of these products for months, and has had multiple communications with Intuit personnel, including product managers and developers, so we can help you learn about the new products. This article takes a closer look at one or more of the features released as part of the QuickBooks Desktop 2020 (and associated) product updates.

If case you haven't read my article summarizing the Desktop Products then the chart below, courtesy of Intuit, reflects which new features are available in which QuickBooks releases. Of course, I would encourage you to read 'My QuickBooks Desktop 2020 Summary article'.

Be certain to tune in for the September edition of QB Talks scheduled for 2 PM Eastern on September 18, 2019 to hear about QuickBooks 2020, there will be more information about that webinar outlined in a future article. You can register HERE.

Smart Help and Easy QuickBooks Upgrade

A couple of features, Easy Upgrade and Smart Help, reflected in the above chart are really enhancements that are not exclusive to QuickBooks Desktop 2020 users; in fact they are for all Desktop supported versions 2017 and above. (Both features only are available in the U.S. versions at this time.) Because they will impact so many QuickBooks users as updates roll-out, I thought it was important that we address them with our first detailed article regarding the 2020 release.

Smart Help

This first feature is being incorporated into all supported QuickBooks Desktop versions (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020). Smart Help is intended to provide improved search capabilities along with task relevant content and give users access to live experts through messaging and call back options.

You can access Smart Help from the QuickBooks menu bar choosing Help and then selecting QuickBooks Desktop Help.

For contextual related assistance you can access Smart Help by using the F1 key from anywhere within QuickBooks; for example, let's say you were working on an Invoice an you had specific questions about customizing your invoice... this would be the perfect time to use the new Smart Help feature to get task relevant content or possibly live expert assistance via chat messaging, so you would access using the F1 key.

As part of the Smart Help implementation Intuit is committed to improving the content of help documentation available to QuickBooks users, with not only updated content, but more details and version relevance.

Smart Help also makes it easy for users to contact support...

and gives them access to live experts through messaging and call back options.

But be aware that Smart Help support options involving messaging with live experts or call back features require an active QuickBooks Care Plan and internet connection. Care Plans are included with Standard, Plus and Enterprise subscriptions, they are also available for separate purchase from Intuit. In addition, support hours and access may vary by Care Plan or subscription type. You should always read all disclosures associated with your specific Care Plan or subscription.

Easy QuickBooks Upgrade

The second feature I want to discuss is one you won’t even find in QuickBooks 2020, but you will find it making its way into QuickBooks Desktop 2017, 2018 and 2019.  While it was a feature available to ‘Plus’ users last year, it will now be available to upgrade all desktop users to QuickBooks 2020 within the U.S. (but this feature is not available in Canada or the U.K. at this time). 

Easy Upgrade streamlines the process of updating QuickBooks versions to just a few clicks of the mouse. For QuickBooks Pro and Premier users this feature is accessed from the QuickBooks menu bar by selecting Help, then choosing Upgrade QuickBooks.

QuickBooks then inquires if the user has already purchased a new version license or gives the user the option of purchasing a new license.

In response to either answer QuickBooks checks for any license available for the new version, and upon finding the license, asks the user if they are ready to proceed with upgrade.

QuickBooks Users with a ‘Plus’ version of their software, or using Enterprise have a slightly different interface, the feature is actually offered automatically upon startup with an option to proceed, unlike Pro and Premier the upgrade menu isn’t presently available. Because these users have their license upgrades tied directly to their subscription, the upgrades are available immediately at the time the notification pop-up appears within their software.

In either case, when the user selects the option to upgrade QuickBooks takes them through the update process by downloading the product, installing and activating the new version, making copies of their recent company files, and activating the new product license.

When the upgrade is done, all the user has to do is Open QuickBooks, it’s just that simple.

Well, that's really all there is for these two enhancements, please remember that our QuickBooks Desktop (for Windows) 2020 Summary can be found here, and the companion QuickBooks for Mac 2020 Summary can be found here. We will also be continuing our series on QuickBooks 2020 each day over the next couple of weeks with individual articles on the various features.

Editor's Acknowledgements

Special thanks go out to Laura Madeira who helped me by cross-checking my work with her own to make certain that we were consistent in providing accurate information regarding the release. For the official Intuit version of “QuickBooks Desktop 2020 – What’s New and Improved” by my good friend Laura Madeira be certain to check out this Firm of the Future blog website. 

I also want to thank the following Intuit personnel for their dedication not only in providing information, briefings and responding to questions, but in guiding the actual product developments within QuickBooks Desktop and this release: Chetana Arakanakere, Rachna Arya, Nipun Bhatia, Aditya Dixit, Varshitha Gokari, Sumit Poddar, Raman Verma. Of course there are entire teams, composed of hundreds of Intuit personnel, behind these people that make the magic happen and too often we forget to say, thank you, to them as well; so to all involved,"THANK YOU"!