Tag: quickbooks online

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Client Experience and Perceived Value: It’s Looking Cloudy for Accountants Working with Small Business

Client Experience and Perceived Value: It’s Looking Cloudy for Accountants Working with Small Business

Every day it seems there is another professional accounting or bookkeeping firm asking questions about how to get new clients for their new “online accounting” business.  Most of these professionals are likely missing the point that their current clients are probably already looking at online accounting solutions and services. Just like in the days when QuickBooks was beginning to take the lead in the market; today’s increasingly popular online accounting solutions are gaining popularity with the direct users, and are bringing those solutions to the professional community (not the other way around).  Professionals who wish to build their businesses on what the market demands would do well to recognize that the push to the cloud coming from their clients is a reflection of past activities, and firms riding the wave are much more likely to see success than those fighting it.

In reflection, remember that QuickBooks, unlike the other business accounting and financial products at the time, was a retail product marketed to and sold via retail and direct-to-customer outlets rather than via a channel or reseller approach.  At that time, State of the Art Software (which became Peachtree and then Sage 50) was the solution preferred by most accounting professionals, yet more and more small business owners would come to the professionals with the QuickBooks product already in hand, so accountants threw up their hands and adopted (if not embraced) the software.  Over the years, QuickBooks became the “go to” software for small business accounting, and many professional firms didn’t just gear up to work with it, but went as far as developing standards and practices based on the product.

With the introduction of high-speed broadband access, business Internet connectivity and affordable remote/mobile service, businesses are now finding that their options for shopping for, purchasing and implementing various solutions to business problems is possible at any time and from anywhere.  Even more, social computing and the blurring of the lines between personal and business use has made it all but assured that new business owners will seek online solutions where they can access business information and perform business-related activities regardless of location or mode of access.  This is what they have come to expect as consumers of information and services, and the expectation extends no less into their small businesses.

Professional firms must recognize that these evolving paradigms represent opportunity, taking advantage of cloud-based, real-time collaboration models to provide more timely value to their clients.  Where the more traditional on-premises and paper-based models have flourished, the online working models representing lean process and sustainability become the focus.

The movement to the cloud for small business accounting started with the consumer, who ultimately became the small business, and who may eventually become the big business. The professionals who recognize the value of and wisely adopt cloud technologies and online application services in their businesses – specifically in terms of how they work with clients and deliver value – are the firms which recognize that the client experience and perception of value delivered are the most important elements of all.

jmbunnyfeetMake Sense?

J

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Intuit QuickBooks 2014: Another Move Towards Unification of Features and Software as Service

Intuit QuickBooks 2014: Another Move Towards Unification of Features and Software as Service

qb2014Intuit QuickBooks is the recognized standard for small business accounting, and the introduction of the QuickBooks Online Edition was a testament to Intuit’s understanding that users are looking for SaaS solutions as well as traditional desktop products.  While it may seem that the entire market is moving to online applications and everything-as-a-service, the Intuit desktop products remain the leading business computerized accounting tools.  Intuit does seem to recognize that many things can be done better with a “software-as-service” model , and that the number of businesses seeking purely web-based solutions is growing, and this is evidenced by the fact that many features and presentation elements in the Online edition are making it into the desktop editions.  Creating consistency throughout the product line makes sense for users, and leveraging the benefits of shared service makes sense for Intuit.

In a previous blog article entitled Changing How We See Software: QuickBooks 2013 interface frustrates power users, I had suggested that many of the interface changes introduced with the 2013 QuickBooks desktop editions were a step towards unification of interfaces (to the degree possible) between desktop and Online editions.  Additionally, integrations with various connected services, Intuit payroll and payment solutions, and other online service elements clearly demonstrate that certain functionality and service offerings will be provided consistently through either solution set.  Another new “unified” feature announced for QuickBooks desktop is the Income Tracker, a feature that originated with the QB Online edition.

The Income Tracker provides you with a fast way to see the status of your unbilled and unpaid transactions, and provides you with features to improve billing/collections as well as perform a number of batch procedures… This feature was first developed in QuickBooks Online, and this year Intuit has brought it into QuickBooks Desktop

http://www.sleeter.com/blog/2013/09/quickbooks-2014-income-tracker/

The introduction of a purely subscription licensing model for the desktop products is yet another move towards enabling the pay-as-you-go subscription model for purchasing software.  Businesses are able to purchase “plus” subscriptions, which provide not only perpetual most current version software but also deliver support for the life of the subscription.  This is another change from the more traditional boxed software approach, where the product was a one-time purchase and came with short-term or limited support.

It seems that many of the changes introduced with 2014 indicate that online service and subscription pricing models will continue to introduce themselves into the QuickBooks desktop products, and users who change from one solution to another in the product family will find more familiarity and consistency in the attached Intuit services they also use.

Many independent software vendors and developers of business applications are recognizing the value of subscription service models and the benefits of leveraging web-based applications and shared services within their solutions.  For software companies, turning a one-time sale into a recurring revenue stream is highly desirable.  From a development perspective, one project could service the entire product line, rather than efforts being divided among multiple products.  From an operational perspective, infrastructure and personnel are able to centrally service the functional requirement, providing the same benefits of shared service that users of SaaS solutions experience (it may simply be internal rather than external customers being served).

The point of the discussion is that, while QuickBooks desktop editions may not be going away any time soon, there is wisdom (and business necessity) which is likely to drive even more subscription model SaaS inclusions in those products that were once purely and firmly planted on the desktop.  Even good old QuickBooks must change, and for the most part, users are seeing benefit in those changes.

Make Sense?

J

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Hosted QuickBooks and Office 365 a Complicated Technical and Licensing Model (until now)

When Intuit acknowledged the ability for companies to host QuickBooks desktop editions, service providers were presented with the opportunity to offer hosting for the QuickBooks desktop editions from their host servers and infrastructure.  The benefits of using QuickBooks desktop products in a hosted environment are many, including the introduction of mobility, disaster recovery, remote access and other things now associated with cloud computing models.  But the evolution of application delivery technologies and software as subscription service models is challenging the “traditional” approaches used to deliver hosted QuickBooks services.  One of the greatest challenges facing these QuickBooks hosts is the changing landscape of Microsoft Office licensing, because QuickBooks is just no fun without Microsoft Office.

While the QuickBooks application handles a variety of essential business functions, it relies upon other software to accomplish certain important tasks, such as reporting.  Most of the QuickBooks reports can be exported to Excel worksheets, allowing users to refine and manipulate the document outside of QB;   QuickBooks Enterprise Edition uses Excel to handle consolidated reporting.  QuickBooks uses Word for writing customer letters, and Outlook as a tool to email invoices.  There is a lot of functionality in QuickBooks that relies on the MS Office products, so it is pretty typical for a QuickBooks user to also be an Office apps user.  In order for the applications to work together properly, they need to be installed on the same computer.  If QuickBooks is hosted “in the cloud” with a hosting provider, and Office 365 applications are installed on the local PC, the two applications don’t “talk”, and the integration isn’t seamless or even functional.

image credit: Microsoft Corp | Microsoft.com

When a small business subscribes to Office 365 (or Microsoft 365 now), they are provided with rights to install their Office applications on their devices (depending on the subscription level).  While this enables users to have Office apps on multiple computers they use at different times, it does not provide authorization for the application to be installed on a hosted server where it is accessed by those users.

What this means is that customers who purchase Office 365/Microsoft 365 subscriptions to get their MS Office productivity applications can’t generally use those licenses in a hosted environment.

But there is an answer for small businesses who want remote and mobile access to their QuickBooks desktop editions and who also have Office 365 application licenses. The answer is to deploy QuickBooks desktop on a Microsoft Azure cloud server. This solution allows users to run their QuickBooks software as well as their qualifying Microsoft Office (M365 Apps for Enterprise) licenses on the Azure cloud server. The cloud platform enables the anytime/anywhere access desired and keeps all the applications and data secure and available for those who need access.

There is almost never just one way to solve a problem, and the cloud is introducing new options – and challenges – at all levels.  As application licensing and delivery models continue to change, solution providers will come to recognize the value they provide in bringing the right selection of services and technology models together to benefit not just their customers, but their own revenue streams and profit potential.

Joanie Mann Bunny FeetMake Sense?

J

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The Most Popular Models for Working with QuickBooks Desktop Editions and the Cloud

cloud-computingWhen Intuit created the Authorized Commercial Host for QuickBooks program, a variety of providers were enabled to offer not only managed application hosting services for QuickBooks desktop products, they were also permitted to provide QuickBooks desktop product licenses for rent.  By allowing these hosting providers to also license the QuickBooks products on a subscription basis, the entire solution – the hosting of the QuickBooks, the management of the company data files, and the licensing of the software – was able to be packaged together and offered as an equivalent of the SaaS solution.  The benefits of running tried-and-true business applications on the business network had already been proven, and creating the ability to access this resource at any time and from anywhere (mobility!) became the feature which encouraged a wide variety of large and small business to move to “cloud” and online working models.

While the complete hosted application model – where the business desktop applications and associated data are installed and managed on the service provider servers – addresses a broad requirement for many companies, there remains a large community of users who have needs which do not extend to “cloud server” or remotely hosted desktops and complete managed application services.  For these users, having access to the data file from anywhere is the primary goal (maybe even multi-user access for just a couple of users), and management of the software and license across multiple computers is not their first consideration.

Here are the most popular models for working with QuickBooks desktop editions in/with the cloud.  Each of these approaches solves a different business problem, so it is important to understand which problems need to be solved before shopping for the solution.

1. Storing the QuickBooks file in a file sync solution

Solves: gives access to the data file from various locations (not at the same time)

Doesn’t solve: no multi-user access in real time, still have to purchase QuickBooks licenses, install and manage applications, and secure and backup data

The popularity of Dropbox and similar file sync solutions clearly demonstrates the value of giving users the ability to store, sync and share files securely via the Web.  Further, these services allow people at different locations to access files in a relatively collaborative manner, giving otherwise disconnected users the ability to sort of work like they’re on the same network and using the files in near-realtime.  While this approach works awesomely well for Word documents, PDFs and other files, it doesn’t work as well for QuickBooks company data files.  It’s pretty much an automated approach to using a file storage solution (like any web drive, file share service or such). To clarify, users can store copies of QuickBooks company files in a Dropbox or sync folder to have that file sync’d to the host and to other permitted computers, but a “live” QuickBooks data file doesn’t like living in this type of folder.  The sync or file sharing method of applying a cloud solution to QuickBooks allows for only one person to be in the “real” file at a time, and each user still has to purchase, install and manage the QuickBooks software on their PC.  Oh, and bandwidth will become an issue when files must be sync’d frequently and when the files are fairly large (which QB files tend to be).

2. Using secure remote access to QuickBooks, remote desktop or remote app solution (like hosting, but the host just happens to be an on-premises computer already in place)

Solves: gives access to the file and applications from various locations, allows for multi-user access to company file, allows access to just QuickBooks or any combination of applications on the host computer; low-cost solution providing mobility and device independence just like commercial hosting but at a fraction of the cost

Doesn’t solve: have to purchase QuickBooks licenses, install and manage applications on the host, and backup data

Secure remote access solutions like MyQuickCloud allow users to connect to applications that are installed on existing workstations or servers. This approach provides users with access to QuickBooks and other software installed on the in-house computer.  The problem with this model is that the bandwidth and the in-house computer need to be sufficient to support remote users, and the activities of the user sitting at the in-house computer will take priority over the remote user requests.

3. Using a hosting provider and/or platforms for QuickBooks, remote desktop or remote app type of solution

Solves: gives access to the file and applications from various locations, allows for multi-user access to company file, may allow for rental licensing of QuickBooks software, files are backed up by service provider

Doesn’t solve: commercial hosting is not a very low-cost solution for those who only need file sharing

Application hosting models allow users to connect to servers where the applications are installed and managed by the service provider and delivered to customers as subscription service.  This approach provides customers with flexible options for accessing QuickBooks software installed and maintained on the host’s servers, and to have the multi-user capabilities of the product just as it would function on a local network. Application hosting models are generally offered as standardized service or as custom service, with variable pricing and features associated with each.

Because these hosting models require that all components of the delivery be combined to deliver the service – from networks to servers to desktop virtualization to application virtualization, application licensing, data management… it’s a big list of things – the cost of service may seem a bit high for a single user or very small business to bear.  This is among the reasons for continued popularity of do-it-yourself remote access solutions that deliver mobility but fail to address any sort of system management benefit.

When business users ask about using their QuickBooks desktop editions in the cloud, it makes sense to drill down into the details of what they’re really looking for.  In many cases, the QB user simply doesn’t know how to ask for what they want, using popular terms without real understanding of what they mean.  This is something which frequently happens when a prospective customer contacts a QuickBooks hosting provider, and the sales department of the hosting provider isn’t generally in a position to offer consultation – they are there to sell their solution to the prospect.  The result is that the customer doesn’t really get what they want, and the provider gets a bad review.

The problem isn’t necessarily with the provider or service (I wish more sales teams were able to offer more consultative approaches, but that’s an entirely different conversation); the problem occurs largely due to the variety of services being offered around “cloud QuickBooks” and the ambiguity which exists in much of the marketing language around them.  Maybe this information will help businesses as they look to find solutions to the variety of problems with “enabling” their desktop QuickBooks to work with the cloud.

Joanie Mann Bunny FeetMake Sense?

J

 

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Hosted QuickBooks Need Drives Hosted QuickBooks Approach: QuickBooks Desktop Editions in the Cloud

Intuit QuickBooks essentially “owns” the accounting/bookkeeping software market in the US, having an enormous share of distribution and millions of users.  Even with the emergence of new web-based and SaaS solutions designed to address the needs of small business bookkeeping, the visibility and momentum of the QuickBooks brand has kept it in the lead position and users continue to adopt the QuickBooks desktop and online editions in record numbers.  What may be a surprise to folks who believe “the desktop is dead” is the reality that quite a lot of the adoption and usage continues to be centered on the QuickBooks desktop edition products rather than the purely Online, SaaS product, and this is at least in some part supported by the hosted QuickBooks service model.

The desktop is dead. Long live the desktop!

Software-as-a-Service and “the cloud” have become the focus of the entire information technology industry, and this new paradigm of computing continues to evolve and reveal potential at every level.  What’s interesting is that the paradigm – which involves mobility, anytime/anywhere access, managed service delivered as a utility subscription, and more –  is bringing new life to what many have come to refer to as “legacy” applications (like QuickBooks desktop editions).  While many technologists would have us believe that the traditional desktop is dead, the reality is that the traditional part of it is all that may be dying… the desktop and what it offers and represents isn’t dead at all.  In fact, it’s very much alive and well and continuing to do what it was intended to do, perhaps a bit better, due largely to advancements in desktop and application virtualization and other discoveries.

Several years ago the Application Service Provider model established itself, positioned to provide hosting of business applications as a subscription service (“several” is somewhat of an understatement; the first real ASPs emerged around 2000-ish).  Using Windows Terminal Services and other tools, these early providers recognized the benefits of hosted and managed desktops, and further recognized that the value of the service existed largely with the applications and not simply the outsourced desktop.  Back then, there was an awful lot of talk about how the “desktop is dead”, because delivered applications would become the norm.  Then the dotcoms busted and a lot of ASPs went out of business, leaving a rather poor taste in the mouths of consumers and independent software vendors (ISVs) alike.

As web-based, SaaS and “cloud” solutions began to emerge and prove their viability, business users returned to the web in search of solutions to mobility and secure remote access to business applications and data.  While a great deal of success has been realized by many of these SaaS solution providers, there has remained a significant need and desire for desktop applications, desktop presentation, and desktop functionality.  The adoption by the market of SaaS and cloud services eased the adoption of hosted application services, as well, and now there are a wide variety of providers offering an equally wide variety of hosted and virtualized desktop and application services (application services like hosted QuickBooks, for example).

The popularity of the QuickBooks desktop products, coupled with new capability offered through advancements in hosting and application delivery solutions, directly address the desire of the market to eliminate complexity and reduce cost of IT operations.   Hosting is somewhat of an “equalizer” between QuickBooks desktop and QuickBooks Online, allowing the QuickBooks desktop users to have the same managed subscription service as Online Edition users, but with the rich features and full functionality present in the desktop editions.  Businesses wanting to run QuickBooks in the Cloud are not forced to transition to the product which may not fully meet their needs, or which is simply unfamiliar to them – they can continue to utilize their trusted QuickBooks desktop editions, only in a hosted/delivered environment.

Here’s the catch:  It’s a good idea to only work with an Intuit-authorized Commercial Host for QuickBooks, because there is no other lawful way to obtain QuickBooks hosting services from a service or solution provider.  No, it is not lawful to provide QuickBooks hosting services unless the hosting provider/service is actually authorized by Intuit to do so, and anybody using QuickBooks software has already agreed that they will not utilize the software with a hosting provider or similar entity without specific authorization.  The hosting provider risks being targeted for unauthorized software distribution, and the customer risks losing their right to the software and services by violating the EULA terms.  Even if the software doesn’t cost a lot, businesses will recognize that their business data has value, and keeping their software in a usable and properly licensed state is necessary to preserve the value of that data.

The End User License Agreement for QuickBooks products – an agreement between Intuit and the consumer – spells it out in plain language and describes specifically how the QuickBooks product is NOT eligible to be hosted, or provided by a hosting service. Note that this includes situations where the hosting company is providing the actual QuickBooks software, and in situations where a business already has their QuickBooks software and provides it to a commercial hosting company to have it installed and managed and provided to users.  In short – QuickBooks is not supposed to be installed and managed by a 3rd party hosting provider who is not authorized by Intuit as a commercial host for QuickBooks regardless of whether or not the customer provided the license.

Further, by accepting the EULA in order to use the QuickBooks product, users accept the fact that Intuit has the full right to terminate that license in the event that terms of use are violated.  Remember that these license agreements provide USE RIGHTS, not ownership, of the product.  You have to use the solution under the terms and conditions of the license, or you lose your rights to the product, support, or any other benefits included.  http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/articles/INF20630

Why Businesses Use QuickBooks Hosting Services

The reasons why businesses elect to have their QuickBooks solutions hosted come in many forms, which explains why there are a variety of options for getting hosted QuickBooks service.

For users of the QuickBooks Enterprise products, managed IT service may be the primary goal in adopting a cloud hosting model.  Hosted and managed IT services, including hosted desktops and managed applications, allows the business to benefit from predictability in IT cost and to transition from a regularly scheduled capital-intensive upgrade cycle to a consistent and budgetable operational expense.

Users of QuickBooks Pro and Premier, on the other hand, are more likely to see mobility, remote access, and real time collaboration as the primary benefits of a hosted model.  While the small business owner will frequently argue about the true cost of IT management (which is pretty arguable when the totality of their infrastructure consists of a standalone PC), it is the access to the application and data at any time and from anywhere that gets this single user online – generally with a smart phone or tablet computer or some such mobile device accompanying the requirement.

In many cases, there are other drivers in the business moving the organization along the path towards “cloud enablement” of their solutions, and QuickBooks is simply one of the products to contend with.  Hosted QuickBooks may not be THE REASON for going to an online working model, but it is one of the core components which can cause the project to either see success or fail miserably.

I have seen situations where an entire organization’s computing infrastructure was re-deployed as SaaS service, but the one critical thing they forgot was the controller’s requirement for QuickBooks Pro.  Months of time and many dollars were invested in moving the rest of the company to online application service, only to find that they all returned to local application use because of the requirement to work collaboratively with the controller and with reports and data produced through QuickBooks.  On the other hand, I’ve also seen where the accounting department was the only group moved to the hosted environment (in this case, the provider was focusing on QB and not on the rest of the business requirement), and this group also returned quickly to local operation in order to continue collaboration with internal team members and to benefit from the integration of applications (e.g., QuickBooks working with MS Office, etc.).  One size certainly does not fit all, and any purchaser of a hosted QuickBooks solution should keep in mind the entire business requirement in case QuickBooks is only a piece of the puzzle (albeit an essential piece).

Hosted QuickBooks may come as a published or managed application, as a desktop application on a remote or virtual desktop delivery, or as an application“delivered” to the user’s PC.  In any case, whether QuickBooks is viewed as a point solution – delivered alone as a single application – or whether it is part of a larger virtualized desktop or application deployment, it remains one of those products that satisfies a fundamental need in small businesses, and now it’s available in the cloud.

Joanie Mann Bunny FeetMake Sense?

J

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QuickBooks And The Cloud

qbcloudThere is a lot of buzz about Cloud Computing. I think we all understand that the “Cloud” is that little picture you always see representing the Internet, and that’s what the term refers to: the computing platform isn’t in your office, it’s “out there”, across the Internet. Just think of the Internet as a really long cable that connects your keyboard and monitor to the system that is really running the software.

When companies like Intuit talk about Cloud Computing and QuickBooks, it’s a little bit confusing, given that a large part of their QuickBooks market is still based on locally-installed desktop software. And, with the volume of 3rd party developers with widgets, gadgets, plugins, extensions, and integrations with desktop QuickBooks, the momentum of the desktop solution seems unstoppable. But there has been a catch to the old model of plugging into QuickBooks, and it’s catching on really well.

The creation of the IPP (Intuit Partner Platform) and changes to software integration platforms for QuickBooks introduced an entirely new range of capabilities for QuickBooks developers. Finally, persistent connections to Web-based and other applications may be crafted for QuickBooks desktop, allowing the locally-installed QuickBooks to “speak” over the network to other applications or platform services. This development opens up an entirely new model for extending QuickBooks functionality – extending to a Web application framework.

Businesses are able to take broad advantage of Web-based application services and the features they can deliver without compromise to their choice of accounting and financial management system. Extending access to operational, sales, service, and other users within the enterprise has become a simple and seamless operation. For example, a business that needs to extend QuickBooks Enterprise system to accommodate multiple inventory or warehouse locations can do so easily by simply plugging in a web-based warehouse management solution that has an integration with the QB desktop product.  This solution could be a SaaS (software as a service) application which not only provides functionality for multiple warehouse management, but is designed as an anytime, anywhere application to allow those multiple locations to access the system when they need to.

By creating the means for businesses to use the Web to extend their QuickBooks software, Intuit has extended the useful life of the QuickBooks product. Functionality is no longer limited to what can be built and installed on the PC – the application is now able to be extended in numerous ways and on numerous platforms. Businesses are able to take advantage of the best software fit for their organizational operations – including leveraging the anytime, anywhere benefits of a Web-based application service – and still are able to utilize their QuickBooks.

Consider how beneficial it would be to businesses who elect to take advantage of the Web for them to be able to run their QuickBooks (feature-rich desktop QuickBooks) in an anytime, anywhere sort of environment, as well. From a QuickBooks hosting provider, businesses can get services for QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise – allowing organizations to have their QuickBooks financial applications managed, protected, secured, and made available to users all the time and from any location. The hosting service can also support integrations and extensions for QuickBooks – for both desktop and Web-based applications and services. And, with the commercial provider’s ability to provide authorized subscription licensing for both QuickBooks and Microsoft Office, a business can have a complete, outsourced IT solution and pay only monthly service fees to get it. No upfront expense of purchasing software. No installation or system management to worry about. The QuickBooks financials, as well as the solutions it connects to, are connected in the cloud.

Make Sense?

J