Quickbooks Connect 2018 Recap: Our Top 3 Takeaways
Another year, another successful Quickbooks Connect. This event gets better every year, and we won’t be missing it anytime soon. There’s so much to say. We’ve learned so much and met too many amazing people to fit into a short article.
So instead, we’re going to briefly recap our top 3 takeaways from this year’s Quickbooks Connect festivities. If you couldn’t make it to San Jose, or if you did make it to San Jose and are still processing all the information like us, this list should help organize your thoughts.
Or, maybe you just need a water and some tylenol. Oh well!
1. “Anything is Possible”
“Anything is possible” was the theme of this year’s Quickbooks Connect. This core message was everywhere at the conference, embedded in keynote speeches, events, and the vibe of the festivities.
But, the theme was most present during a keynote speech by Amy Purdy, a decorated paralympic snowboarder. Amy lost both of her legs below the knee at the age of 19, and has since flourished in all of her endeavors. She was a finalist on Dancing with the Stars, and co-founded Adaptive Action Sports, which helps provide sports programs for disabled youth, young adults, and veterans.
But, what’s that got to do with accounting? Admittedly, Amy said that her 75 year old mother is her current accountant. She’s looking to retire, so Amy is also recruiting a personal bookkeeper.
Amy’s keynote, and the theme of Quickbooks Connect had more resonance with the attendees than that, though.
Accountants and bookkeepers are constantly bombarded with the threat of new technologies and software programs taking their profession from them. It can be hard to see a different path, or a different way to run a business that’s been going along the same way for so long.
Intuit, Quickbooks, and all of their app partners are helping bookkeepers and accountants find their way in this new landscape. With their help, and some ingenuity, anything is possible.
2. New Quickbooks Online for Accountants (QBOA) Features
Let’s take a break from the sappy for a minute. Quickbooks Connect is also a great opportunity for the platform and Intuit to release and present new features, apps, and services for accountants. This year was no different.
We have a new overview screen! Users can now view a company profile overview, banking activity, compare balances, and even common issues. None of this is new, QBOA has had these capabilities for a long time. But the new homepage brings all that information to one place. No more scouring looking for balance sheets anymore. It’s a revelation!
The QBOA team is all about saving you time. Instead of searching through their thousands of apps, users can now see exactly what the app will charge based on work amount without having to dig too deeply. This saves a ton of time when building app stacks, and lets users explore more efficient and cost effective ways to run their practices.
Another effort to up automation is the “Email to work” feature. In the “Work” tab of QBOA, users can now forward meeting emails to create tasks automatically. QBOA takes the contents of the email, and uses natural language processing to retrieve the date, task, and any other specifics you need for an upcoming meeting or project.
The teams at Quickbooks and Intuit want to make all of our experiences of their platforms better. Thanks to Quickbooks Connect, we’re able to see the features, and the reasons behind them, first hand.
3. Small Businesses and QBO: Anything is Possible
Of course, we had to talk about small businesses. At Veem, we pride ourselves as the only global payments platform built for small businesses. So, we had to get in touch with some at Quickbooks Connect, and get the low-down on how they were getting along.
The overriding opinion from small business owners was that building a business is hard. Everyday brings tougher decisions to make, and challenges to overcome. But, and this is no surprise, when asked if the struggles were worth it, small business owners gave an overwhelming yes.
The struggles are many, but platforms like Quickbooks are helping business owners overcome, achieve, and grow.
A lot of these issues revolved around payments (obviously, it’s what we do). We loved hearing the story of an art designer who just wanted to get paid. The problem was that once her project was sent out, her payments weren’t showing up on time, if they were sent at all. Especially with freelance and contract work, it’s hard to get that money unless you’ve signed a legally binding contract.
With Quickbooks, freelancers, contractors, and everyone in between are able to keep track of their accounts payable and receivable. That includes paid and unpaid invoices.
On average, it takes small businesses 28 days to get paid. The reasons for delays vary, but major contributing factors are slow banking processes, issues with invoicing, and outdated payment methods.
So, send and keep track of your invoices with Quickbooks, and use the Veem/Quickbooks integration. We make paying and getting paid from international and domestic partners easier, faster, and more secure. No more delays, no more worries. Plus, sign-up is as easy as having an Intuit account. Simply input your login info, and your information is migrated over into Veem’s intuitive platform.
We want to thank Intuit and Quickbooks for putting on another amazing event. We learned a lot, met a lot of people, and made a lot of memories. We hope the festivities were as good for you as they were for us.
See you next year!
