The 2012 versions of QuickBooks financial software from Intuit (http://www.intuit.com) are now available. New features in the QuickBooks 2012 Pro, Premier and Mac editions include:

° Calendar View, Excel Integration Refresh and Contributed Reports: you can provide new insights through a calendar view of important business tasks, such as invoicing and bill paying deadlines, improved Excel integration that retains formatting changes to reports exported from QuickBooks to Excel with each data refresh and a library of more than 1,000 (and growing) user-contributed reports.

° Lead Center, Document Center and Inventory Center: you can organize important information and make it accessible in three new central repositories.

° Batch Timesheets, Batch Invoicing for Time and Expenses and One-click Transactions: you can reduce repetitive tasks with a few clicks.

° Batch Online Banking Transaction Entry and Progress Invoicing: this simplifies the process of importing and renaming transactions from a user’s online bank to QuickBooks and reduces the steps needed to create multiple invoices from one estimate.

Also, QuickBooks for Mac 2012 introduces a redesigned user interface with more than 50 enhancements. In addition, new users receive one hour of free technical phone support through the new Get Started Right program.

QuickBooks for Mac 2012 features a stylized, detailed Mac look and feel that's compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion"). Customer and Vendor Info Panels, Transaction List and Improved Search provides immediate access to customer and vendor details, and to past transactions. A new search tool is designed to let you quickly pinpoint the data a user needs.

QuickBooks Financial Software Pro and Premier, including industry-specific versions, are available directly from Intuit (http://www.quickbooks.com). The products are expected to be available on Oct. 9 at Amazon, Best Buy, BJ’s, Costco, Fry’s, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Sam’s and Staples. Suggested retail prices are US$229.95 for the Pro version and $399.95 for the Premier version.

QuickBooks for Mac 2012 is available directly from Intuit (http://www.quickbooks.com/mac). The software is expected to be available at Apple retail stores, Apple.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Costco.com, Fry’s, MacZones, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples on Oct. 9. The suggested retail price is $229.95.

Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 12.0, including industry-specific editions, is available from Intuit (http://www.qbes.com). It is also available through authorized Intuit Solution Providers, which can be found at http://www.qbes.com/localhelp. Price for a five-user version is $3,000 or $2,400 for existing QuickBooks customers.