QuickBooks Done Right

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• January-March 2008 Issue
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From the Jan./Mar. 2008 Issue

As we start off a new year, it is a great time to review the developments in the small business accounting market with Intuit’s QuickBooks. I hope you regularly read Doug Sleeter’s QuickBooks column since he always has useful ideas. I have grown to enjoy speaking with Doug and helping him where I can, including in his annual Sleeter conference. However, I thought it might be appropriate to discuss some of the opportunities for your business with QuickBooks, and to understand the impact of QuickBooks 2008 and beyond.

FOUR MAIN SETUP ISSUES
From field visits to tax and accounting firms as well as their clients, it is still common to see errors in basic QuickBooks setups. There are several correct ways to install QuickBooks, and dozens of incorrect ways. The main issues revolve around the new database introduced in 2006, attempting to support old versions of the product, speed and remote access. These four items frequently seem to be issues with installations.

• A SEPARATE SERVER
  Reasonably good results are occurring in firms that install QuickBooks on a separate physical server — a server only used for QuickBooks. This is particularly true for firms that have a large write-up practice using the product. A server-grade machine, often a 1U blade server, is added to the server farm with the sole purpose of supporting QuickBooks. By using a separate server, the database installation can install cleanly and without conflict from other applications. I have seen QuickBooks installed on both Windows Server and Windows XP using this approach. This separate server often helps with speed issues, as well.
• A VIRTUAL MACHINE
  As an alternative to a separate server, I suggest that a virtual machine approach to support each version of QuickBooks would work well. This approach allows disk files to act like servers, and to share the application among multiple users. This approach also provides the most isolation and portability of the QuickBooks applications, regardless of version year. Installing QuickBooks on VMware seems to work the best.
• A SEPARATE NAS UNIT
  Another common installation approach is using a separate NAS (Network Attached Storage) unit to store all versions of QuickBooks and QuickBooks files. The NAS approach could be used in conjunction with virtual machines to isolate different versions of the product.
• REMOTE ACCESS
  The ease of supporting QuickBooks with remote access is improving with each version. If remote access is particularly important to you, having a separate server or virtual machine for QuickBooks can make the remote connections easier via Terminal Server or Citrix. Intuit is evaluating the possibility of offering hosting services, but at this time has no formal plans to offer hosting services. Additionally, the WebEx Remote Access in QuickBooks 2008 has a new pricing plan with improved
  performance.

QUICKBOOKS 2008
So what does QuickBooks 2008 bring to our clients and our practice? First, QuickBooks 2008 has made gathering client data from the front-end easier. Additional support has been added for payroll and tax integration, with this version providing a framework for full-service solutions from firms that want to provide a complete client solution.

Ease of Use Improvements
QuickBooks 2008 was engineered to try to respond to the number one small business request — ease of use. Big improvements in 2008 were made in the following areas: ease of getting started, ease of getting paid and ease of getting data to accountants. The last few years, Intuit really improved setup so customers can get through the initial process fairly quickly. However, they found that after setup, customers experience a “moment of truth” where often they don’t know what to do next or where to start. This actually happens quite often whenever people adopt a new software program or application.

QuickBooks Coach
Building on the recent setup improvements, new in QuickBooks 2008 is the QuickBooks Coach. QuickBooks Coach provides quick and easy access to two ways to help customers get started: by viewing tutorials to learn more about key features in QuickBooks or by learning through doing with Coach Tips. This provides new QuickBooks users the flexibility to get familiar with QuickBooks in the way they learn best. Coach Tips is like taking a highlighter to mark the route to your destination on a map. But it also allows the user to work in full-functioning QuickBooks, with highlighted tips to guide users through the few most common tasks such as creating an invoice or paying employees. Many accountants help small business owners set up QuickBooks and then offer training. The QuickBooks Coach feature provides those accountants with yet another tool to help clients get trained quickly and easily.