Did you get a new computer for Christmas, more than likely pre-loaded with Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 2016? Now you are wondering if you can load your current version of QuickBooks desktop (Pro, Premier or Enterprise) and if you are going to have compatibility issues.
Microsoft Windows 10 features:
- New start menu which looks more like the start menu from Windows 7.
- Virtual Desktops (task switcher).
- New version of .NET framework (4.6).
- New browser called EDGE (although Internet Explorer 11 is still available to use).
Intuit has announced that only QuickBooks 2015 and 2016 will be compatible with, and supported for, Windows 10. Upon initial release of QuickBooks 2016, Intuit reported that it was ‘fully compatible’ with Windows 10. While you might experience some ‘issues’ with QuickBooks 2016 under Windows 10, the two applications are functionally appropriate for each other and you should be able to resolve any issues without too much effort. You do however need to remember that QuickBooks requires some features that are based upon Internet Explorer, and while some people report they can use ‘EDGE’ we only recommend that you use Internet Explorer 11 (under Windows 10), rather than the new ‘EDGE’ browser.
While many people have reported issues when installing, or attempting to use a variety of QuickBooks features from 2015 under Windows 10, the recently issued ‘Maintenance Release 9’ supposedly improves the ‘support’ (aka: compatibility) of QuickBooks 2015 running under Windows 10. We are only ‘now’ recommending the upgrade of QuickBooks 2015 to the Windows 10 operating system as a result of Release 9, so if you have been waiting you may wish to upgrade now; however, if you use any of the 3 Intuit products that are impacted by Release 9 (Contacts Sync, Scan Manager, and Shipping Manager) you may want to still ‘hold-off’ on such upgrades. Furthermore, if you have any other applications that will require MSXML 4.0 which are not compatible with MSXML 6.0 (that must be installed with Release 9) then you will need to hold off as well.
While testing and forums indicate a variety of compatibly and incompatibility of earlier versions of QuickBooks, 2014 and prior, our recommendation is that you should not attempt to run QuickBooks 2014 on a Windows 10 system that has essential business functionality.
Microsoft Office 2016 (2 different versions are available):
- Microsoft Office 2016 is the latest Office desktop suite, which is locally installed on your computer. It is available in either 32-bit or 64-bit versions.
- Microsoft Office 365 is the same as the desktop product, just licensed differently with Microsoft. As long as your version of Office 365 is locally installed on your computer (meaning you can use Office without an internet connection, it is a locally installed product) it is supported only according to the specific system requirements for your version of QuickBooks (Note: It may not be supported for all related features.). There is also a web based version of Microsoft Office 365 which allows you to access Office apps in the cloud via a browser. this version is not supported by any version of QuickBooks
What about QuickBooks and Microsoft Office 2016/365 products?
Well as it turns out, Intuit says that QuickBooks 2015 and 2016 have only the following compatibility:
- Office 2010 and Office 2013/365 (including Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013) both on 32 and 64 bit. (Note: Office 365 is only supported when it is locally installed, not the web version.)
- Preparing letters requires Microsoft Word 2013, 2010, or 2007 (32 bit)
- Exporting reports requires Microsoft Excel 2013, 2010, or 2007.
- Contact Synchronization with Microsoft Outlook requires Outlook 2013, 2010, or 2007.
- Synchronization with Outlook requires QuickBooks Contact Sync. (Contact Sync does not work with the Microsoft Business Contact Manager Outlook plug-in. If a sync is performed, duplicate records could result) Note: QuickBooks 2015 may not work with Contact Sync if you have installed Release 9 which requires a change in MSXML from 4.0 to 6.0.
You will notice that nowhere does it say anything about Office 2016/365. Nevertheless both QuickBooks 2015 (all desktop versions) and QuickBooks 2016 (all desktop versions) seem to be compatible for:
- Preparing letters with Microsoft Word 2016 including use of the mail-merge document feature.
- Exporting reports (and data) to Microsoft Excel 2016. Importing data from Microsoft Excel also seems to work fine.
Enjoy your New Computer
Within reason you should be able to use QuickBooks 2015 and 2016 with your Windows 10 computer that included Microsoft Office 2016/365 (the local based install version, not the web-based version) without issue. While you may have to tinker a bit to get things 'up to par', or working exactly as you want, if you have the latest maintenance releases and updates of all the software you should be on your way to the most 'up to date' computing you can have, 'this side of an Apple'.