Intuit has announced QuickBooks Desktop 14 for Mac OS X. The software is scheduled to go on sale Sept. 23.

According to Rob Lips, vice president and general manager of Intuit’s QuickBooks Desktop business unit, the latest release provides more streamlined access to the critical information small businesses need to know. Updates include:

° Left Hand Toolbar, which provides one-click access to users’ data and transactions;

° A new home page, which offers home page access to an overview of company financials and important business insights. The redesigned experience provides a dashboard view of end-to-end company performance; no report running is necessary.

° "Set Up and Go" simplifies the set up process no matter if users are new to QuickBooks or switching from QuickBooks for Windows. The feature provides a recommended set of key activities to get going fast in QuickBooks for Mac.

° Centers enhancements -- users can complete tasks more quickly through reorganized customer, vendor and transaction centers;

° The ability to track sales reps’ performance, whether they are employees or outside vendors;

° Sales tax enhancements -- users can ddjust sales tax paid for rounding, fees or discounts with no journal entries required. Users can now indicate sales tax paid from credit card accounts.

° The ability to search text within reports to find key words and phrases, making it faster and easier to find information;

° The ability to import journal entries.

QuickBooks for Mac 2014 will be available at www.quickbooks.com/mac or by calling 888-729-1996 beginning Sept. 23. It's expected to be available at Apple retail stores, Apple.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Costco.com, Fry’s, MacZones, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples in early October. Pricing starts at US$249.95 for a single user license.