Client Survey: Automating the Accounting Department – Part 2

 In Better Business Finances, Post, QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Enterprise, QuickBooks for Mfg + Distributors, QuickBooks for Service Businesses, QuickBooks Online (QBO), QuickBooks Tips and Training

In part one of my automating the accounting department survey, we looked at feedback from small businesses in relation to automating:

  • Accounts payable/bill paying
  • Time tracking
  • E-Commerce

Let’s take a look at the remaining survey topics now…

AUTOMATING THE ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT: SALES TAX

Question: “What is your level of interest in automating your sales tax collections and reporting with products like Avalara, TaxJar or Vertex?

Here are the results:

Automating sales taxes for QuickBooks

RECAP:

  • 53% said they don’t have to worry about collecting or reporting sales taxes
  • 34% has little to no interest in automating this process
  • 10% had moderate to serious interest in automating
  • 3% said they are already automating

TAKEAWAYS:

AUTOMATING THE ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT: MOVING FROM QUICKBOOKS DESKTOP TO QUICKBOOKS ONLINE (QBO)

Question: If you are currently using any desktop version of QuickBooks (Pro/Premier/Enterprise), do you have any plans to move into QBO?

Here are the results:

Moving from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online

RECAP:

  • Nearly 19% said they are already using QBO
  • Over 62% said “no way, we’re sticking with QuickBooks desktop”
  • 7% said they are planning to move to QBO in the next year
  • 12% are thinking about a move, but not sure at this time

TAKEAWAYS:

  • Wow! I did not anticipate the overwhelming response of businesses that have no intention of moving to QBO – over 60% feel that way!
  • It’s important to note that Intuit is moving (and moving rapidly) in the direction of QBO, even if some businesses are choosing not to follow along
    • Intuit has been very candid in their updates to the investment community. The majority of their software development money is being allocated to QBO and not QB desktop.
    • I think we’re seeing that strategy in action as well – lots of new features rolling out regularly in QBO. The “new features” that have rolled out in annual updates of Pro and Premier over the last several years have been quite underwhelming to me.
    • If you didn’t know any better, you’d never know a desktop version of QuickBooks even existed any longer. You have to scroll way down to the bottom of their web site to find them listed.
  • I recently held a webinar that discussed this very topic – “Moving to QuickBooks Online – Should I? Shouldn’t I“. We covered a LOT of ground to help educate everyone about “what to know before you go” as well as what to know once you get there. Hope you check it out!

OTHER AREAS OF AUTOMATION?

Is your business considering other areas to automate your accounting department?

If so, we’d love to hear about them!

 

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Showing 2 comments
  • Roberta
    Reply

    I create invoices and estimates that are more than one page long. It would be nice to have a template design to format the second page differently from the first. Any chance of this happening?

    • Scott Gregory
      Reply

      I don’t anticipate seeing anything forthcoming relating to this.

      We’ll have to see what the release of QuickBooks 2021 later this month looks like…

      Scott Gregory

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