Intuit has started pushing out the R14 update during May, 2023 to QuickBooks 2021 Desktop Products, including Enterprise 21.0.
You may have already seen this update pending if you have automatic updates turned on, otherwise you can check for manual updates from the Help menu.
You can manually download the update from this Official Intuit QuickBooks Downloads and Updates Webpage (product/version specific).
Intuit pushes out release updates to resolve issues, fix problems and to enhance the experience for QuickBooks Desktop users.
If you don't want this update automatically downloaded, now is the time to turn-off Auto Updates.
The most recent update for May 2023 (Release 14) is primarily focused on functionality in the areas of Payroll, QB-Email and feature improvements associated with migrating QuickBooks 2021 to QuickBooks Online.
Employee Center Functionality:
- Revamped the employee center experience, making it easier for you to enter required information for your employees.
- Updated the Employee info page and discovery items to help you identify incomplete employee profiles and understand benefits of complete employee profiles.
401(k) via Guideline 401(k) Functionality:
- Allows users to provide 401(k) retirement benefits to employees through Guideline 401(k) from within QuickBooks Desktop. All Enhanced & Assisted Payroll customers can access Guideline 401(k).
- Sign-in to QuickBooks Desktop as the Admin, sign-in to Intuit Account to be accessed and sign-up for Guideline 401(k) retirement plan.
QB-Email Functionality:
- QB-Email is a subscription feature that allows customers to send emails via TxE, a technology which has been deprecated.
- The entire Intuit ecosystem is onboarding to OINP, so to maintain security and follow the ecosystem wide goal, QB-Email also has been onboarded to OINP as part of this initiative.
- OINP technology provides a more effective, secure and better approach to sending emails than the prior TxE technology.
Migrating from Desktop to Online:
- QuickBooks Desktop "favorites" now will transfer to QuickBooks Online when users choose to migrate from Desktop to QBO.
Is Now the Time to Update?
If you are interested in providing the 401(k) retirement benefits through Guideline 401(k), you'll want to download this newest update.
If you use QB-Email, you should update to the new technology, which provides a more effective, secure and better approach to sending emails.
If you are an Enterprise Solutions user with Shopify integration, consider updating to provide better control and security over the integration.
Or, if you are considering migration from your QuickBooks 2021 Desktop version to QuickBooks Online, you'll want to update desktop 2021 to R14 prior to migration.
If you aren't really interested in these specific features, you may not need this update right away. Of course, if QuickBooks downloads the update, you are going to have to decide to update pretty quickly since you will only have three log-in opportunities before QuickBooks makes you accept and install the update.
If you are not in a rush to get to any of these few things, and you decide to hold off to see what others are saying, you may want to make sure Auto-updates have been turned-off inside QuickBooks until you are ready to proceed with this update.
If you go ahead and install the update as I did, let us know what you think by posting your experience(s) in the comments section (below) to this article.
Disclosures:
Portions of this feature have been adapted from Intuit source content provided through Intuit QuickBooks media sources. Source materials adapted by Insightful Accountant are furnished solely for educational purposes.
As used herein, QuickBooks, QuickBooks Desktop (QBD), QuickBooks Enterprise and specific feature (products related thereto) refer to one or more registered trademarks of Intuit Inc., a publicly-traded corporation headquartered in Mountain View, California.
All other trade names used herein that refer to products which may be registered or trademarked, are held by their respective owners; they are referenced solely for informational and educational purposes.
This is an editorial feature, not sponsored content. None of the vendors within this article have paid Insightful Accountant or the author any form of remuneration to be included within this feature. The article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes.
Publication of this article does not represent an endorsement by either the author or Insightful Accountant.
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