The changes, improvements and fixes elaborated below were included in this release for QuickBooks Pro 2018, QuickBooks Premier 2018, QuickBooks Accountant 2018 and QuickBooks Enterprise v18.0. 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).
What's it all about? In a nutshell: Payroll compliance. You probably are aware that the W-4 form is changing for 2020, and Intuit almost always has to issue a 'programming' release to the core product to support the needed payroll update required to match the federal form changes.
The official release notes address the changes, improvements and fixes in this manner:
US Federal W-4 2020
- QuickBooks Payroll now supports the new 2020 W-4 as well as continuing to support the 2019 and prior W-4.
Payroll Reports
- You can now generate reports for State Mandated Retirement deductions for Oregon, Illinois and California.
US Payroll Compliance
- Payroll has been updated to ensure continued compliance with United States payroll tax laws.
Simplify Install
- The install experience has been updated to be easier and more stable.
Bug Fixes
- Fix an issue that caused non-admin users in QuickBooks Enterprise v19 to see "Cannot find file"error when opening Employee or Payroll center. [I am not certain why an issue impacting QuickBooks Enterprise v19 (as cited in the official release notes) would be addressed in a 2018 Release update? It maybe that this is simply a 'scriveners' error within Intuit's release notes, and it was intended to read 'v18', or it could be that this entire note was improperly recorded in the 2018 release notes when it should be part of 2019 release notes not yet posted. We were unable to clarify this prior to the deadline for publication.]
Should You Update?
Well, this is always a question, but if you are going to need to deal with the new W-4 forms then you are probably going to be required to update to this newest release in order to do so. You may want to hold off a week or so to see if any adverse findings are reported, but beyond that you really will have little time to otherwise evaluate the safety of this release.