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And what does it mean when your business is in the cloud?
We keep hearing about the cloud, as if it’s some sort of amorphous thing that’s hanging out there. I’ve heard people use the term who aren’t exactly sure what it means, but it sounds like something they should know about. Cloud computing encompasses a wide range of services, but I’ve enough to do with focusing on accounting programs, so I’ll stick to that.
If you do your accounting “in the cloud,” your data is somewhere off-site. Where off-site depends on what sort of cloud based solutions you’re using. There are two main categories for accounting:
Hosted solutions: With a hosted solution, you use the same accounting program you use now, except a hosting company keeps the file on its servers, and you access the program through the host. This means you can access your QB file from any computer, and you can share the data file with other users. One of the drawbacks to this method is that you must pay for the hosting, and for a QuickBooks license for each user. Hosting per user per month starts around $50 and up. However, it’s the same program you’re used to using, whether it’s QuickBooks or Peachtree or another software. It works just like your desktop version because it IS the desktop version.
What other drawbacks are there? A plus is that should your servers go down, or your computer system, your data is still safe with the host. But if the Internet goes down, you can’t access it.
Hosting is a good solution if you want the same functionality as you have with your desktop software, and if you have multiple users at multiple locations, or if you just want your data somewhere else.
If you have QuickBooks, you need to use a QuickBooks Authorized Host. There are several that are highly rated, and make sure you do your homework first.
A different solution to hosting a desktop program is moving to an online solution. QuickBooks has QuickBooks Online, which is not at all like working with QuickBooks desktop. The interface is different, and the apps that work with it are different. The marketplace is growing for online accounting solutions, and all providers are improving their software on an ongoing basis. The cost for several users can be less than one hosting license, depending on which program you select. QuickBooks Online has several versions, with the lowest cost one not much more than a check register. Other online accounting programs include Xero, Wave, Monchilla, Less Accounting, and Kashoo (which I’ve heard has been bought by Paychex). I haven’t yet found one that can do as much as QuickBooks Online, but I’m always looking.
An advantage to an online program is that you don’t have to worry about upgrades and keeping your software healthy – it’s all included in the monthly cost. You and multiple users have access from multiple locations, making collaboration easier.
A drawback is that, again, if the Internet goes down, you’re out of luck. There are times when people have not been able to login to QuickBooks Online, so it does happen. My experience has been that it happens infrequently. If you need to process payroll and you’ve waited until the last minute, you may have a problem.
Something else which may be either a drawback or a plus is that the online solutions will automatically download your bank and credit card transactions daily. This is a drawback if you’d rather enter them yourself, and a plus if you’d rather just classify the transactions that come in. Accounts still need to be reconciled monthly however, which I’ve found to be a common misperception. Don’t trust that just because it’s downloading that everything is correct – transactions are missed, things happen, and in accounting we like to reconcile everything to ensure nothing is missing.
Online accounting, whether hosted or an online solution, has benefits and disadvantages, like anything else. It works for me and many of my clients because we can work on the same file at the same time, which reduces my time and therefore their costs.
While QuickBooks desktop still has the most features, and I use it daily, the online solutions are making strides in improving their products. If it’s not right for you now, it may be later, or you may want to keep using your desktop solution. You have the freedom to choose what works best for you.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
A Cloud Journey
First in a series about Cloud Accounting
CBS Website
I started my business in a haze of excitement and enthusiasm, unprepared but having no choice but to make it work. There was no cloud then, other than the type in the sky. Living in the Pacific Northwest, we had more than a few of those, and personally, I had a few dark clouds as well.
To take care of my clients, I traveled. I drove from one client to the next, often bringing back boxes of statements and receipts to my office, where I would attempt to put them in some kind of order and enter them into my QB Desktop software. Sometimes clients wanted me to work at their office, such as the weird guy out in the country who I eventually fired for inappropriate behavior. Sometimes clients wanted to stand over me and watch what I was doing instead of tending to their own business. After a series of increasingly responsible corporate jobs I found this both insulting and time consuming – I can work so much faster when I’m not being surveilled.
Sometimes clients wanted me in their office, in a separate room, where I would use generous amounts of Red Bull and chocolate to keep myself awake while I tried to figure out why the CPA changed my ending bank balances. (Has anyone else experienced this? CPA’s who change the bank amounts to coincide with their year-end ideas? And then never reversed their entries?)
Not only was this method of working annoying, it was time consuming. Clients weren’t always right around the corner from me, and since I was starting out and needed the money, I took every job that came along, whether it was a good fit or not. So I drove, a lot. I drove into downtown Seattle, where at least the client paid for my parking, and I drove down the 405 to Bellevue at rush hour, and I drove to Gold Bar, which is rather like driving from Earth to Mars.
Sometimes I would pull over to the side of the road and take a nap.
And then I started hearing about online applications that would do everything we could do with the desktop. A NetSuite rep met with me, and wanted me to promote their software. But I didn’t understand how it worked, and I didn’t have time to learn anything new, so I let it pass by.
I kept working like I had been.
Then I became accounting manager for a web-based accounting firm, and I found I never had to go anywhere. Eight hours a day, every day, I sat at my desk and directed activities, opened and closed numerous QB and Peachtree files we hosted, even a few programs I’d never heard of, and hoped never to again. My staff was spread out across the U.S., and so were our clients. We could be anywhere we were needed. Our clients were given scanners so they could easily upload documents, and I was sold.
It wasn’t perfect, partly because I was a manager and glued to my desk for the work day, but it was definitely an improvement. There was no traffic, no wasted time, no watching the cost of gas creep up until I wondered if it was worth it. There was just the work, available at all times.
And there’s one of the problems with working in the cloud: the work is always there, and, if you’re anything like me, sometimes you can’t resist logging in and doing it, even when I should be doing other things, things that would indicate I’m a well-rounded person, and not a workaholic.
I’m not a particularly well-rounded person, but neither am I a workaholic.
NEXT: What is the Cloud?
I started my business in a haze of excitement and enthusiasm, unprepared but having no choice but to make it work. There was no cloud then, other than the type in the sky. Living in the Pacific Northwest, we had more than a few of those, and personally, I had a few dark clouds as well.
To take care of my clients, I traveled. I drove from one client to the next, often bringing back boxes of statements and receipts to my office, where I would attempt to put them in some kind of order and enter them into my QB Desktop software. Sometimes clients wanted me to work at their office, such as the weird guy out in the country who I eventually fired for inappropriate behavior. Sometimes clients wanted to stand over me and watch what I was doing instead of tending to their own business. After a series of increasingly responsible corporate jobs I found this both insulting and time consuming – I can work so much faster when I’m not being surveilled.
Sometimes clients wanted me in their office, in a separate room, where I would use generous amounts of Red Bull and chocolate to keep myself awake while I tried to figure out why the CPA changed my ending bank balances. (Has anyone else experienced this? CPA’s who change the bank amounts to coincide with their year-end ideas? And then never reversed their entries?)
Not only was this method of working annoying, it was time consuming. Clients weren’t always right around the corner from me, and since I was starting out and needed the money, I took every job that came along, whether it was a good fit or not. So I drove, a lot. I drove into downtown Seattle, where at least the client paid for my parking, and I drove down the 405 to Bellevue at rush hour, and I drove to Gold Bar, which is rather like driving from Earth to Mars.
Sometimes I would pull over to the side of the road and take a nap.
And then I started hearing about online applications that would do everything we could do with the desktop. A NetSuite rep met with me, and wanted me to promote their software. But I didn’t understand how it worked, and I didn’t have time to learn anything new, so I let it pass by.
I kept working like I had been.
Then I became accounting manager for a web-based accounting firm, and I found I never had to go anywhere. Eight hours a day, every day, I sat at my desk and directed activities, opened and closed numerous QB and Peachtree files we hosted, even a few programs I’d never heard of, and hoped never to again. My staff was spread out across the U.S., and so were our clients. We could be anywhere we were needed. Our clients were given scanners so they could easily upload documents, and I was sold.
It wasn’t perfect, partly because I was a manager and glued to my desk for the work day, but it was definitely an improvement. There was no traffic, no wasted time, no watching the cost of gas creep up until I wondered if it was worth it. There was just the work, available at all times.
And there’s one of the problems with working in the cloud: the work is always there, and, if you’re anything like me, sometimes you can’t resist logging in and doing it, even when I should be doing other things, things that would indicate I’m a well-rounded person, and not a workaholic.
I’m not a particularly well-rounded person, but neither am I a workaholic.
NEXT: What is the Cloud?
Thursday, May 30, 2013
QB Tips - Don't Delete Users
There is a theory that if you CAN do something, there's no reason why you shouldn't. This is a bad theory, and sometimes can be harmful, especially when you're dealing with QuickBooks.
QuickBooks allows you to delete users. You have a user, you decide to fire said user, you go in to your QB file and it has an option to delete said user. So you select it.
Why wouldn't you?
You wouldn't because it's a bad idea.
You can't delete accounts that have transactions in them, nor can you delete vendors or customers or employees with transactions.
So why should you be able to delete a user? If the user has transactions, and you delete the user, those transactions will have missing links. When we have missing links, we're in an excellent position to end up with data corruption.
The best solution? Just don't do it. Change their password, and leave them there, with all the transaction history linked to that user.
QuickBooks allows you to delete users. You have a user, you decide to fire said user, you go in to your QB file and it has an option to delete said user. So you select it.
Why wouldn't you?
You wouldn't because it's a bad idea.
You can't delete accounts that have transactions in them, nor can you delete vendors or customers or employees with transactions.
So why should you be able to delete a user? If the user has transactions, and you delete the user, those transactions will have missing links. When we have missing links, we're in an excellent position to end up with data corruption.
The best solution? Just don't do it. Change their password, and leave them there, with all the transaction history linked to that user.
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