The launch of SDK v1.1 and the new distributor program comes just a month after the Intuit Developer Network celebrated its first anniversary. To date, the QuickBooks SDK has been accessed by more than 21,000 developers and has resulted in nearly 80 integrated applications, available to QuickBooks 2002 users at the QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace (http://marketplace.intuit.com/).

"As part of the 'Right For My Business' strategy, Intuit has made the Developer Network a major priority, providing more choices for our small business customers with industry and general business applications. We also enable our developer members to create and market their solutions to our customers," said Esther Kruijver, director of the Intuit Developer Network.

Intuit Developer Network Successes
Intuit released the first QuickBooks SDK and launched the QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace, an online catalog featuring Intuit Developer Network member applications, in November of 2001. Not only has this given Intuit Developer Network members the ability to enable data sharing between their applications and the QuickBooks 2002 products, it also has given them a means for reaching Intuit's nearly 2.5 million QuickBooks customers — and with successful results.

"Since we posted our application on the QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace in November 2001, we have seen a significant increase in the number of qualified sales leads," said Curtis Pierce, CEO of Kurant Corporation, maker of e-business infrastructure software. "As a member, we were able to take advantage of the Intuit Developer Network resources to quickly develop and then market our application to a pre-qualified customer base."

The new version of the SDK represents significant progress towards the goal of "NED2" — never enter data twice. By allowing developers to automate more business tasks and improve workflow via data-sharing capabilities with the QuickBooks 2002 products, their customers can experience tremendous cost savings in time and data integrity. SDK v1.1 features enhanced data exchange capabilities for the "receive payment" transaction, "deleting and voiding" transactions, and for deleting list items. It also features improved support for Java applications and the first production version of the QuickBooks Foundation Class library, making it faster to work with qbXML. In addition to supporting the QuickBooks 2002 products, both SDK versions 1.0 and 1.1 will enable data integration with "Hercules" — a QuickBooks accounting solution for larger, more complex businesses — set to launch this summer.

IDN Membership Benefits for Developers
The Intuit Developer Network assists its members by shortening development cycles, providing brand association with QuickBooks, adding functionality to their products and providing an online marketplace to sell their products. For an annual registration fee of $1,000, new members also can enjoy features such as a free copy of QuickBooks Pro 2002 software, free technical support, and the opportunity to purchase ¾ at a discount — daylong instructional seminars with QuickBooks developers.

Developer Seminar Series
As part of Intuit's ongoing support for third-party software developers, Intuit hosts daylong QuickBooks Developer Seminars. These training sessions are designed to help them navigate the QuickBooks code, answer specific questions, and help them get applications to market as quickly and easily as possible. Topics covered include an insider's look at qbXML, the right way to handle errors and recovery, and guidelines for submitting an application to the QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace.

Currently scheduled QuickBooks Developer Seminars will be held on the following dates:

• April 9, 2002 - New York, N.Y.
• May 10, 2002 - Orlando, Fla.
• June 3, 2002 - Anaheim, Calif.
• June 24, 2002 - Chicago, Ill.

Developers can register to become members of the Intuit Developer Network, download SDK v1.1 or register for the seminar series at http://developer.intuit.com/.