QuickBooks 2008 - multi-currency dilemma!

I just have to say it: what was Intuit thinking when they removed the multi-currency feature from their 2008 QuickBooks product line?

In order to include all of the improvements to QuickBooks into QuickBooks 2008, we had to make some hard decisions on what features we should include.

Multi-currency got removed?!? Technology has allowed many small businesses to access a world wide audience. The ability to offer multi-currency, even if it is only two or three options (USD, CAD, Euro’s), is critical to the buying experience!! Intuit believes this only happens “occasionally”. Wow. How completely disconnected.

Now in their defense Intuit came out with QuickBooks Multicurrency Edition which is actually the QuickBooks 2007 Premier Edition with new tax tables so it doesn’t contain any of the new features and improvements in QB2008 but it will support multi-currency transactions. But who knows how long they will support this? Funny, you can only buy this through calling QuickBooks Sales.

Intuit will also provide guidance on how to handle the occasional multi-currency transaction within QB2008 here but when you read items like:

Note that since QuickBooks supports only Canadian dollar amounts, you’ll have to create and print a separate copy of the US invoice outside of QuickBooks.

Yeah, like I have the time to do double entry.

It’s unfortunate. Business Ready has always been a huge supporter of QuickBooks for our clients. We were encouraged when Intuit originally announced that QB2008 was supposed to be their move towards a global version. Imagine our disgust when we saw the ‘global’ version didn’t have multi-currency. Sigh.

Yes, we are actively looking at other accounting software packages to recommend to our clients and will post shortly. For now, stay on your QB2007! Although, if you are using the payroll functionality, and require multi-currency, then migrate to the Multicurrency Edition. Hopefully Intuit will see the error of their ways and the next version will have multi-currency functionality back in and improved.

UPDATE (12/2008):  Unbelievable!  QB2009 - US version - offers multicurrency again.  Does the Canadian version?  NO!  Honestly people, what up?