QuickBooks for Mac 2021 Feature Summary

by

Intuit has just announced the release of QuickBooks Mac Desktop 2021. This year the product will only be available in e-tail and direct channels. QuickBooks Mac Desktop 2021 will not be available in traditional retail brick-and-mortar stores.

QuickBooks ProAdvisors with an Enterprise Software Bundle will be among the first recipients to be able to download the 2021 version of QuickBooks Mac Desktop on (or shortly after) September 8, 2020. Check your ProAdvisor Products tab for download availability.

Insightful Accountant has communicated with Intuit personnel, including product managers and developers, concerning the new features so we can give you a glimpse into the new version. This article provides a synopsis of those features. This is the second year in which I have posted the QuickBooks Mac Desktop summary separate from our QuickBooks 2021 Desktop 'Core' (for Windows) Summary because I realize that most of our readers who “love QuickBooks Mac” have little interest regarding the Windows versions.

Insightful Accountant will be including QuickBooks Mac Desktop in our September QB Talks webinar scheduled for 2 PM Eastern on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, when we discuss all of the QuickBooks 2021 versions. You can find out more about and register for that webinar here.

QuickBooks Mac Desktop 2021

For 2021 QuickBooks Mac Desktop has been enhanced to make receiving payments easier so you can boost your cash flow. A variety of features are aimed at streamlining the process whereby you can enhance your money-in. Optional QuickBooks Payments services and an internet connection may be required for several of these new features. Additional fees may apply. Subsequent to original publication Intuit posted a series of YouTube videos on these features, we have added the links to our summary for each feature.

Automated payment reminders

Easily set reminders for customers when their invoices are due.  This feature is designed to save you from the manual task of following up on overdue invoices by automating the process of sending payment due reminder emails for you.  You will easily schedule payment reminders along with configuring how you want the reminder emails to read. 'Video'

This feature requires QuickBooks Payments service which is sold separately.

Statement e-Payments

Send statements with payment links that encourage customers to immediately settle their balances via an online payment portal. 'Video'

Combine Invoice Emails

Receive quicker payments by enabling customers to receive multiple invoices in just one easy to process email.  With this new feature, you can transmit all of a customer’s invoices to them attached to a single Email without having to manually combine them outside of QuickBooks Mac. 'Video'

Just think of how much time this one feature will save you, and how your customers will over the fact that they no longer must open one email after another just to receive each of their invoices.

Sales Tax Codes

Record transactions using specific sales tax codes for out of state orders, multiple districts, and non-profit organizations. Quickly and easily identify all of your sales tax liabilities by specific sales tax codes on your Sales Tax Revenue Summary. 'Video'

e-File 1099s

Electronically file 1099 forms, without needing special forms or extra time for processing and mailing them. Easily determine if e-filing is right for you, and print copies of 1099s even if you do e-file. If your state participates in the combined federal/state e-filing program, e-filing your federal 1099s can simplify your state filing too.

There are additional fees associated with this feature. An internet connection is required.

Email Templates

Create and reuse different templates for email communications with customers. 'Video'

Credit/Debit Card Refunds

Refund Merchant Service charges, with just 1-click, from within the Credit Memo in QuickBooks. No more having to visit an online Merchant Service portal. 'Video'

Company File Search

Easily find and open company files with the addition of a file search option. Believe it or not, Intuit has found that even QuickBooks Mac users sometimes can’t locate their Company files, so this new feature will make it much easier for any user to find and open their Company files even if they don’t know where they are located.

Restore Backup Workflow

Restore QuickBooks files quickly with a simple to use backup file restore wizard. I have always thought that the process of restoring a QuickBooks Mac Backup was in many ways easier than restoring a QuickBooks (for Windows) Backup, because of the way that ‘Mac’ creates backup files (as a disk image). But apparently, some QuickBooks Mac users have indicated that they felt the process was too cumbersome, so for 2021, there is a new Restore Backup Wizard intended to streamline the process. 'Video'

If you are interested in our summary articles on QuickBooks Desktop 2021, or QuickBooks Enterprise v21 (2021), you can access those features using the Related Links at the bottom of this article.

Print Report Row Color Shading

QuickBooks Mac 2021 now offers color shading by rows when printing reports. While the shading is very subtle it is intended to offset report rows from one another to make them more easily identified and set them apart from one another.

An example of such a color row shaded report can be seen below. 'Video'

Editor's Acknowledgements

Special thanks go out to Intuit's Mindy King in providing information and graphics, as well as responding to my questions specific to QuickBooks Mac 2021 Desktop. Without her, this article would not have been possible.

Thanks also to my good friend Laura Madeira who allowed me to cross-check my articles for QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Enterprise 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: All images used in this feature are displayed directly as provided by Intuit.