Best Software Introduces ACT! Link 2.0 for use with QuickBooks(email this article)

Scottsdale, Ariz. – August 20, 2003 – Best Software (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies) today announced ACT! Link™ 2.0 for use with QuickBooks. The product integrates ACT!, the company's best-selling contact manager, with Intuit's (Nasdaq: INTU) latest versions of QuickBooks® financial management software, QuickBooks Pro Edition 2003, QuickBooks Premier Edition 2003 and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 2.0

ACT! Link for use with QuickBooks enables critical data such as sales contacts and invoice status to be automatically shared and updated between the two programs  thus eliminating the need for duplicate data entry on linked contact records. The latest version offers several new features including the ability to quickly link all ACT! and QuickBooks contacts at one time. Users receive suggestions based on contact name, company name and/or phone number in order to confirm a perfect match. In addition, users can match up ACT! contacts with customers and vendors that already exist in QuickBooks.

"The latest update to ACT! Link for use with QuickBooks provides extensive information about my customers' Order and Pay History without having to leave ACT!," said Sheila Williams, a computer and quilting software consultant. "For example, a manufacturer called last week wanting to verify if and/or when a customer purchased a program because although the customer didn't mail in the registration card, they wanted to take advantage of upgrade pricing. I was able to look up the customer's contact record in ACT!, click on the QB Tab, view the customer's purchase history, and provide the manufacturer with purchase dates all without having to open up QuickBooks. This detailed integration provides me ready access to all customer data and saves me a lot of look-up time."

Additional new features include the ability to:

·       Automatically schedule activities in ACT! for QuickBooks transactions – For back office due dates, users can schedule an ACT! activity to call customers or vendors or set an alarm in ACT! as a reminder to stay on top of estimates, completed sales and invoices. Users can also see the transaction details for any QuickBooks activity scheduled in ACT!. New activities will automatically be scheduled each day by clicking on the QuickBooks tab.

·       Drill down on QuickBooks accounts receivable in ACT! – Sales and customer service staff can view invoices, estimates, payments, and sales to get a clear picture of a customer's activity and purchasing habits. They can select specific date ranges for the transaction type and drill down on all QuickBooks transactions to view the details.

·       Create an estimate or invoice while in ACT! – Sales can easily create an estimate or invoice in ACT!, viewing the QuickBooks product list and tax table within ACT, and it will use the "Next Available" sequential reference number generated by QuickBooks.

·       View QuickBooks Customer Summary for complete customer details – From within ACT!, users can view balance due for any customer to gauge if they are in good standing, see last purchases and payments to schedule follow-up and reorder calls, and receive a complete history on what a customer has purchased this month, during the current fiscal year, or since they became a customer in order to identify top customers.

"In addition to convenience, ACT! Link allows me to generate reports so I can target customers based on their purchase history for my upcoming marketing campaigns, making them more effective," said Williams.

Availability and Pricing
ACT! Link 2.0 for use with QuickBooks is available today in North America and Canada for $99.95US at www.act.com/estore. For existing ACT! Link for use with QuickBooks users, this is a free update. To learn more about ACT! Link for use with QuickBooks, please visit  www.act.com/accountinglink.

For information about volume licensing of ACT or for five or more users of ACT! Link for use with QuickBooks, please call 1-888-855-5222.