QuickBooks 2016: The Missing Manual

Appendix A. Installing QuickBooks

QuickBooks’ installation process offers two basic options: Install the program from scratch or upgrade from a previous version. When you upgrade, you can run both the old and new versions on your computer at the same time, which is essential if you’re an accountant or bookkeeper who works with company files from clients who run different versions of the program. Even if you use QuickBooks to run your own business, you might want to keep your old version around in case you decide that you don’t like the new version. Be sure to back up your company file before you open it with the new version; once you open it in the new version of QuickBooks, it won’t run in the earlier version (see the box on Installing Multiple Versions of QuickBooks).

This appendix walks you through both paths of the installation process. You’ll also find out how to install QuickBooks 2016 on a company network, including where on a network you can store your company file—and which location to choose for best performance. (If several people need to access your company file at the same time, everyone has to run the same version of QuickBooks, so set aside time to install the program on all those machines.)

Before You Install

Intuit recommends a 2.4 GHz processor and 8 GB of RAM for a single user of QuickBooks Pro. If you run QuickBooks in multi-user mode, your server should have at least 8 GB of RAM for the first 5 users. You also need about 2.5 GB of free disk space and a 4x CD/DVD ...