Intuit has announced the release of a new accountants' version of the QuickBooks program, QuickBooks Premier 2002: Accountant Edition.

The newest addition to the QuickBooks library features real-time remote access to the popular accounting software for small businesses, as well as many other attributes. Using the new remote access feature, not only can business owners give their accountant permission to access their books and make necessary changes remotely, QuickBooks users at the company can access their financial data when they are away from the office.

"Since accountants use QuickBooks much differently than most small businesses, we have created a product just for them," said Dan Levin, vice president and general manager, QuickBooks Management Solutions. "On average, accountants who use Intuit products have 80 small business clients, so they need a flexible software solution with time-saving tools that will allow them to not only serve multiple clients, but serve multiple clients with varying needs."

QuickBooks Premier 2002: Accountant Edition provides many other new features including automatic numbering for general journal entries, higher-level security and password protection for a company closing date, new sales tax revenue and liability reports, and the ability to integrate with a variety of external software programs.

At present, more than 25 third party applications are on board for integration with the QuickBooks suite of programs, and this number is expected to grow rapidly in the year ahead. This third party integration is a result of the recent release of the QuickBooks Software Development Kit (SDK).

QuickBooks SDK Version 1.0 allows developers to enable their products to share data with QuickBooks Pro 2002, QuickBooks Premier 2002 and the QuickBooks Premier 2002: Accountant Edition. Developers can download the SDK on the Intuit Developer Network Web site.

The new QuickBooks Accountant Edition is expected to be available in retail stores in late December.