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The first quarter is the easiest time for small businesses to initiate or switch payroll services, and QuickBooks Online Payroll Tax Service is helping them start the New Year on the right financial track by giving one free single-user copy of QuickBooks Pro® 99 to the first 1,000 small businesses to sign-up for Online Payroll Tax Service by March 31, 1999.

Until last fall, when the QuickBooks Online Payroll Tax and Direct Deposit Services were introduced, payroll services were often cost prohibitive for small business owners. Now with Intuit's new QuickBooks Online Payroll Tax Service, QuickBooks users can take advantage of complete payroll management integrated directly into the new 1999 versions of QuickBooks® and QuickBooks Pro® -- the #1 best-selling small business accounting software. For as little as $30 a month, small businesses can rely on QuickBooks Online Payroll Tax and Direct Deposit Services to handle the tedious payroll details automatically and cost-effectively.

"Intuit is combining the best accounting software with the power of the Internet to create a cost-effective Online Payroll Tax and Direct Deposit solution for our QuickBooks small business customers," said Rene Lacerte, group product manager, Employer Services Group. "We are using the accessibility of the Web and our QuickBooks user base of more than 2.2 million to open up a new payroll services channel. Until now, 79 percent of our payroll services customers were not using a payroll service before, so we're attracting new payroll users every day."

Since the QuickBooks Online Payroll Services were launched in October 1998, nearly 3,000 QuickBooks customers have subscribed to the services. QuickBooks Online Payroll Services support any business using QuickBooks 99. Customers with as many as 200 employees have signed up for the service, but the majority of service subscribers are small businesses with 5 to 10 employees.

The QuickBooks Online Payroll Tax Service manages virtually every payroll detail, handling all federal and state payroll tax filings; automating federal and state tax deposits; calculating, printing and mailing W-2s; tracking federal and state payroll tax laws; and reconciling QuickBooks records. With full integration with QuickBooks 99 and QuickBooks Pro 99, users simply input payroll data into their QuickBooks files as they do now, and push a button — from any Web-enabled location with QuickBooks 99 -- at anytime of day or night. There's no double-entry and no additional steps to complete that payroll. And the service is guaranteed to comply with federal and state payroll tax and all EFTPS requirements — or Intuit pays the resulting payroll tax penalties.

Although prices vary by business, Intuit has made its pricing as simple and straightforward as possible. Currently, the typical costs for the QuickBooks Online Payroll Tax Service is $20 per month, plus $1 per employee per pay period, which equals $30 per month for a small business with twice-monthly payroll and five employees.

Intuit's Online Direct Deposit Service, which also is available separately from the Online Payroll Tax Service, allows small businesses to automatically — and cost-effectively — pay employees electronically (includes paychecks, expense reimbursements and bonuses). The service, available for $1.50 per pay check per employee, allows the employee to designate up to two direct deposit accounts, and either the employer or the employee may cover the fee.

Both the Payroll and Direct Deposit Services are protected with a personal identification number and passwords from within QuickBooks, so users can feel assured their data is well protected.

To sign-up for QuickBooks Online Payroll Tax and Direct Deposit Services and take advantage of the Intuit's New Year's subscriber offer, business owners should call 1-800-332-4844 and reference the special offer code: #567037. Participation in the Online Payroll Tax Service is subject to application and approval.

Service Requirements
To use QuickBooks Online Payroll Tax and Direct Deposit Services, customers must be a QuickBooks 99 user and have an Internet Service Provider. Each user in a multi-user environment will need his or her own copy of QuickBooks Pro 99 to share data. Up to 5 users can have simultaneous access to the same QuickBooks Pro data file. QuickBooks 99 and QuickBooks Pro 99 are optimized for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT peer-to-peer networks; Windows NT server or Novell NetWare network. QuickBooks 99 suggested retail price is $119; $219 for QuickBooks Pro 99; and $599 for QuickBooks Pro 99 Five User Value Pack.