Summary of QuickBooks Enterprise v21 (2021)

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Intuit has just released the QuickBooks 2021 Desktop product line-up. 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. General availability is changing for 2021 as retailers will only be promoting the ‘Plus’ (subscription) versions of the software starting about a month after the initial release.  

Insightful Accountant has been evaluating various pre-release versions of these products for months and has spent hours communicating with Intuit personnel, including product managers and developers, so we can help you learn about the new products.

This year I chose to break out the QuickBooks Enterprise (only) features into this article which is being run as a companion to my synopsis of the ‘core features’ found in the QuickBooks Desktop 2021 product line-up. You can find my Summary of the 2021 QuickBooks Desktop Core features here.

We will be publishing a series of articles on the individual features and many will be longer than the ‘minute reads’ of past years. I will also be once again writing ‘My Favorite Newbies’ to give you my impression of the specific product features I like best.

Tomorrow, we will publish a Summary of the 2021 QuickBooks for Mac features. You will also want to tune in for our September QB Talks webinar scheduled for 2 PM Eastern on September 16, 2020, to hear about QuickBooks 2021. There will be more information about that webinar in an article tomorrow along with the opportunity to register.

QuickBooks Enterprise Only Features

This article focuses on those features found exclusively within QuickBooks Enterprise v21 (unless otherwise noted) including:

  • Data Level Permissions
  • Sales Prices on Barcode Labels
  • Enhancements to Landed Costs
  • Improved Alternate Vendor Reports
  • Batch Delete for Sales Orders (Enterprise Accountant Only)
  • Mandatory Serial/Lot Number Tracking Option

Data Level Permissions

QuickBooks Enterprise Administrators have expressed the need for additional security when it comes to customer and/or vendor records for certain Enterprise users because there has been no way to limit access to the records associated with every customer or vendor. New for 2021, QuickBooks Enterprise v21 Platinum and Diamond Subscribers can use Data Level Permissions to provide more granular security for viewing, editing, or deleting specific customer or vendor records and related data by only those users who have been authorized.

Data Level Permissions allow QuickBooks Enterprise Administrators to give access to restricted customer and vendor records and data based upon specific roles/users.  Data level permissions are established under User Roles to which Users are then assigned. The Administrator can create multiple roles with restricted access to avoid any need to manually delegate or enforce responsibilities.

Only users/roles with the appropriate authorized permissions will have access to view confidential records along with the related transactional data and financial records.

Feature Availability: At the time of initial release, the Data Level Permissions feature is scheduled only for QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise v21 Platinum and Diamond subscription customers.

Barcode Price Labels

In addition to the Barcode and Item Name. printed barcode labels can now include item sales price. You have the option of selecting the price in the same manner as in selecting Item Description (to be printed on the barcode label). To access this feature, select File from the QuickBooks Enterprise menu bar, then choose Print Forms and then select Labels (as shown below).

By including Sales Price, you are providing your customers with greater pricing visibility for each of your inventory items.

Feature Availability: At the time of initial release, the Barcode Price Labels feature is scheduled only for QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise v21 Platinum and Diamond subscription customers.

Enhanced Landed Costs Feature

The Landed Costs feature was first released in 2020 within QuickBooks Enterprise v20.  The Landed Costs feature automates the process of allowing users to add the costs of shipping, freight, tariffs, import duties, insurance, and other miscellaneous costs into their actual item costs to provide them greater visibility into true product costs.

Users must turn-on the Advanced Inventory Landed Cost preference before setting-up Landed Costs. From the QuickBooks Enterprise File menu, select Edit, then choose Preferences, now select Items & Inventory, then choose the Company Preferences tab, then click on Advanced Inventory Settings, and then select the Landed Cost tab.

QuickBooks Enterprise v21 gives users more control and flexibility over how they calculate and share landed costs. They now can select either an Other Current Assets account-type for use by the Landed Cost feature (as was originally released in v20) or select a Cost of Goods Sold account-type (new for 2021).

Feature Availability: At the time of initial release, the Advanced Inventory Landed Cost feature is scheduled only for QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise v21 Platinum and Diamond subscription customers. The Landed Cost feature was rolled-out first to the United States and then to Canada during 2020, this enhancement for 2021 is being released similarly.

Improved Alternate Vendor Reports

The Alternate Vendor feature was also released in 2020 as part of QuickBooks Enterprise v20 to significantly enhance the ability of inventory-centric businesses to make better purchasing decisions and improve profitability. This feature allows users to associate up to four (4) Alternate Vendors with each of their items, and also assign unique vendor part numbers, costs, and lead times to each vendor for each of their items. All of this is intended to give QuickBooks Enterprise Advanced Inventory users more choice in their buying decisions.

Some users of the Alternate Vendor feature indicated that they needed enhancements to various standard inventory reports to include alternate vendor information. QuickBooks Enterprise v21 improves these various reports by including the Alternate Vendor column simply by clicking the option to Display Alternate Vendor column using standard report customization methods. You can easily add Alternate Vendors too either the Inventory Stock Status by Item or Inventory Valuation Summary reports for 2021.

Feature Availability: At the time of initial release, these improved Alternate Vendor reports are scheduled only for QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 21.0 Platinum and Diamond subscription customers. Alternate Vendors were rolled-out to both the United States and Canada during 2020, this enhancement for 2021 is being released similarly.

Batch Delete Sales Orders (Enterprise Accountant Version Only)

Some features found for the first time as part of the 2021 QuickBooks Enterprise v21 ‘new release’ were slipstream released as part of an update to QuickBooks Enterprise v20. One such feature was Batch Delete that was part of the R7 (May 2020) update to QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant Only. This feature allows Accountant Users to batch delete unlinked sales orders in a fashion similar to batch delete for invoices, bills, and checks. To access Batch Delete from the Enterprise Accountant version, select Accountant from the main menu, then choose Batch Delete/Void Transactions.

There is a reason that this feature is found only in the Accountant Version of QuickBooks Enterprise… it is an extremely powerful tool that requires considerable professional judgment during use. While it’s designed to give accountants better management over their clients’ files, and a more efficient way to batch delete sales orders, the data removed by this tool can not be undone. Further, some data impacted by its use may have unintended consequences, so great care must be taken before batch deleting or voiding Sales Order transactions (or any other type).

Feature Availability: At the time of initial release, Batch Delete for Sales Orders is scheduled only for QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant v21 customers as well as QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant v20 customers.

Mandatory Serial/Lot Number Tracking Option

QuickBooks Enterprise Advanced Inventory has given you the ability to track inventory serial or lot number in prior versions. But as of Release 8 of QuickBooks Enterprise v20, you have the option to set-up mandatory serial or lot number tracking for certain transactions. If you choose to make serial/lot number tracking mandatory, QuickBooks will now ask for the required details before you can proceed, helping your inventory stay organized.

While this feature was slipstreamed into the just-released R8 update to QuickBooks Enterprise V20, QuickBooks Enterprise V21 will be the first new product year to offer this functionality. To enable mandatory serial or lot numbers, select Edit from the QuickBooks menu, then choose Preferences, now click on Items and Inventory, then select the Company Preferences tab. Click the Advanced Inventory Settings button, and then choose the Serial/Lot Numbers tab, select Enable Lot or Serial Numbers, and then choose either Serial Numbers or Lot Numbers (if you have not previously done so). To make tracking mandatory under Default settings for the inventory and assembly items, choose Make serial/lot number mandatory for item receipts, sales receipts, invoices, adjust quantity, and transfer inventory. Click OK to finalize your configuration.

With Mandatory Serial/Lot number tracking in QuickBooks v21 you will get more efficient and accurate tracking of your inventory.

Feature Availability: The Mandatory Serial/Lot Number Tracking Option was just released on 9/3/2020 to QuickBooks Enterprise v20 as part of the R8 update. While this feature was listed in some promotional descriptions made available to us, at press time it was unknown if the feature would be immediately available to QuickBooks Enterprise V21 Platinum and Diamond subscription customers at the product’s initial release on September 8, 2020.

Remember, you can check our Summary of the QuickBooks Desktop 'Core' features here.

Editor's Acknowledgements

Special thanks go out to my good friend Laura Madeira who allowed me to cross-check my articles with advance copies of her features to make certain that we were consistent in providing accurate information regarding the 2021 release. Laura, and her co-author Karen Siewert, have written three separate articles this year covering different aspects of the QuickBooks 2021 release, please be certain to check them out at Intuit's Firm of the Future blog:

I also want to thank the following Intuit personnel for their dedication in providing information, numerous briefings, and responding to my questions, as well as in guiding the actual product developments within QuickBooks Desktop and this release: Rachna Arya, Nipun Bhatia, Aditya Dixit, Sowmya Murthy, Madhumita Tayade, Muthuraj Thangavel, Tulasi Vijay Kumar Thulluru, and Raman Verma. I also want to say thanks to Michelle Berg, Mindy King, and Shawn Sturgeon from Intuit for additional product briefings and information along with the various members of Intuit's Alpha & Beta Product Testing Teams for QuickBooks 2021.

Of course, there are entire teams, composed of hundreds of Intuit personnel behind all of these people that make the magic happen and we so often forget to say, thank you, to them, so to all involved, “Thank You for Another Great Product"!

Note: Some images used in this feature are displayed directly as provided by Intuit, others may have been modified from the source material Intuit provided.