As a software product built on delivering a simple accounting-focused solution for small businesses, QuickBooks does laudable work. But start adding other processes—sales tax, inventory management, warehouse, and the like, and the solution no longer delivers answers. Just questions, spreadsheets, and workarounds.

Following our last blogs on the annoyances that come with a QuickBooks file size limit that holds your business back and the challenges that come from a desktop software in a remote world, we would today like to turn our attention to another challenge—or should we say commonality—of using QuickBooks: The use of workarounds.

Shadow IT and the Necessity of Workarounds in QuickBooks

As discussed in a recent article on the risks of Shadow IT, “Shadow IT is any IT service that is accessed without the oversight of company information technology teams. It can be in the form of spending approved by business departments or it can be accessed by individual employees without the knowledge of their supervisors.”

Why Employees Use Shadow IT

These services are often used either as a workaround, a simplification, or an ad hoc integration, and any way that you look at it, they present risks to both security and visibility ranging from unforeseen audits and penalties to risk of data loss, breaches, and more. Employees use shadow IT to overcome some kind of limitation or annoyance that comes from using a software product. Though not limited to QuickBooks, the product’s limitations are often a common reason that employees use it.

If it sounds scary, unvetted technology is one of the most common parts of QuickBooks. Everything from Excel Macros to side products might be considered shadow IT.

Another Tradeoff for QuickBooks Users

Yes, they may help you work around the limitations set in QuickBooks, but the problem comes in the lack of vetting from IT, the unnecessary permissions or access given to the workaround, or vulnerabilities in these workarounds that leave blind spots and openings for hackers.

Pair this with a lack of good user permission control, and one poorly vetted application could start running rampant through your storage, leaving you high and dry.

This is bad enough, but remember, if you’ve been paying attention to our series, you know that there’s a difference between business as usual and the current environment where security and product ability is already stretched thin.

Shadow IT and the Demonstrated Need for New Technology

That said, the use of shadow IT does provide one fringe ‘benefit’. It helps you understand how your employees work, demonstrates that your current software isn’t standing up to its promises, and points to the necessities that will be needed in any future solution.  If your goal is to eliminate the need for shadow IT, a new solution can take you there.

Better yet, with many new solutions delivering a marketplace-based source for vetted and easy to set up applications, it’s much easier to overcome the dangers of shadow IT.

For example, the Acumatica Marketplace gives users an easy way to find the right add-ons or integrations for the specific needs of the business, taking the shadow out of shadow IT.

Secure, Easy to Use and Configured for You: Get to Know Acumatica

Growing businesses need to handle growing challenges—and QuickBooks is rarely built to handle these. Built on modularity and easy customization, Acumatica helps you get what your employees want and need.

Acumatica delivers a full-featured accounting suite that addresses the most complex requirements for companies of all sizes. Plus, it integrates with Project Accounting, Customer Resource Management (CRM), Manufacturing Management, and other product suites offered by Acumatica.

We invite you to learn more about your journey from entry level to the cloud by reading Seven Signs You Need ERP Software, 5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management, and How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution. Read to learn even more? Contact us for a free consultation.

Running a growing business is hard. Despite the temporary hiccup caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it’s likely that over the past decade, you’ve seen your business take massive strides.

However, it’s likely that over the past few months, you’ve come to a realization: even if your people have valiantly adapted to the changes, even if you were able to adapt your processes and workflows to handle the new work-from home landscape, everything you’ve done to retool your company has been held back by your current business management product.

Growth Doesn’t Require Growing Pains

This is a common occurrence for growing businesses—buy a product to start out, use it for years, grow to love it, and ultimately grow beyond it. Of course, this presents a problem: if employees have gotten accustomed to a product, they’re going to be resistant to change—even if they know the product is not built for the future (or the present).

Call it comfort, call it embracing the status quo, but the reality is, it’s institutionalization. Those weird kinks in the system and the necessary workarounds are just part of the day.

The hassles your IT team had to deal with last month in order to get your employees remote access? Just one of the tradeoffs you needed to make to keep costs low, right?

After discussing the challenges and concerns businesses have had trying to get QuickBooks to work with a remote workforce, we would today like to turn our attention to another common—yet well-known—challenge: File Size Limits.

Are QuickBooks File Size Limitations Slowing You Down?

QuickBooks was built for the small business, delivering the processing power to match. This isn’t meant to be a knock on the product, millions of companies use the product and nearly as many love it. But nice words don’t increase capacity. A gallon is a gallon, a gigabyte is a gigabyte.

QuickBooks’ performance decreases as the size of the company file increases. Though there are no actual limits on the size of your company data file, performance may be hindered if your network is not capable of handling large data files.

Here’s a quick if/then scenario: If increasing file size means decreased performance, and performance is hindered if your network is not capable of handling large data files, then the worst possible scenario is… Having a larger-than-recommended file size and adding extra steps to access the software.

Imagine, one day, the government ‘strongly encourages’ employees to work from home to stop the spread of some kind of pandemic. We can only assume that something that’s already slow at the office is going to be unbearable when you nave to run it through additional steps to access and upload a file. Sound familiar? Because the likely situation is that you’re living in this environment now.

Learn more in 6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks.

Built to Scale, Built for Growth, Built to Process Effectively

While QuickBooks is built with a soft cap on the file size—a cap you start to feel with each passing day—true cloud solutions are built to grow with the companies that use it.

Built on a modular architecture and relying on some of the largest, most powerful data centers available, cloud ERP providers are able to deliver for you no matter the size. Imagine doubling in size tomorrow. Not a problem in the cloud.

One such provider, Acumatica, delivers a full-featured accounting suite that addresses the most complex requirements for companies of all sizes. Plus, it integrates with Project Accounting, Customer Resource Management (CRM), Manufacturing Management, and other product suites offered by Acumatica.

Pair this with buyer-friendly pricing and easy integration, and this solution can handle your needs without causing undue stress on your pocketbook. We invite you to learn more about your journey from entry level to the cloud by reading Seven Signs You Need ERP Software, 5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management, and How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution. Read to learn even more? Contact us for a free consultation.

Time flies when you’re working from home. After four weeks, it’s likely you’ve settled into the work from home mentality and got your home office set up the way you like. But even though you’re ready to work, what about your software? For many small, medium, or otherwise growing businesses using QuickBooks, the answer is… “well… kind of.”

The Pitfalls of Using QuickBooks Remote Access

It might have taken a week or two, it might be a bit finnicky to run, you might not have complete access to the integrated applications you need, and it might be a bit slower than normal. “Oh well,” you may think to yourself, “it was just a few hoops to jump through, but at least I’m safe from the virus and can finally sit down to work.”

A healthy portion of businesses chose to take the traditional desktop-only route—because “when would we ever need to access this from outside the office?” This left many businesses scrambling for remote access tools when the stay at home orders came through.

“Necessary” Tradeoffs

The question is, why? You could have opted to pay for hosting, you could have chosen QuickBooks Online, but up until a month ago, you didn’t need to. Hosting seemed like an unnecessary cost, and many users felt that there are too many shortcomings in QBO to consider it viable.

Somewhere during your decision, there was a tradeoff that had to be made, and you took the one that was the best for your business. But why should you have to make a tradeoff in the first place?

The problem with using QuickBooks in today’s business is baked into the product category—desktop software. It was built to run on a desktop. It could be installed in hours with minimal IT staff intervention. It does what it’s supposed to—when it’s not put under stress.

However, just like the fastest, most powerful PC processor couldn’t run dozens of computers at the same time, the term ‘desktop accounting software’ means that anything beyond the basics is considered ‘stress’ on the system. Whether it’s growth, complexity, or additional access needs, when desktop software is pushed to or past its limits, it falters.

Unchained from the Desktop, Comfort in the Cloud

It doesn’t have to be like this. As a growing company using QuickBooks, you might be finding that it is showing its limitations, especially now that you’re pushing the limits of the product even further.

Some software products are built in the cloud, others are cloud ready. Desktop-based products like QuickBooks are neither. Even “Enterprise Edition” only goes so far, and you’re likely out of luck if you want anything beyond basic accounting.

Even if you can access QuickBooks Enterprise over the Internet, Intuit will admit the product is not optimized for full cloud functionality. A lack of access to cloud data limits mobility and is thus less convenient than having a cloud-based system.

Learn more in 6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks.

Acumatica: The Ideal Option for Companies Outgrowing QuickBooks

QuickBooks by Intuit offers users a good starter accounting package at a good price. However, it is designed to handle basic accounting only. To manage business processes outside of financials requires an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, which can handle accounting and financial management needs along with other business requirements, such as manufacturing, distribution, and much more.

Here are just a few ways Acumatica differs:

• True cloud: Acumatica works on premises or in the cloud without additional equipment or software. QuickBooks Enterprise can be accessed over the internet, but even Intuit acknowledges that QuickBooks has not been optimized to be a true cloud product.
• Full function ERP: Acumatica offers your organization a complete ERP and CRM solution. While QuickBooks Enterprise contains some of these elements, it is ultimately an accounting solution and not a full function ERP solution.
• Scale as you grow: Acumatica allows you to scale as your company grows and can accommodate multiple companies and multiple currencies. QuickBooks Enterprise limits you to a maximum of 30 users and handles multiple currencies but not multiple companies.
• TCO: Because both products serve different purposes, it would be difficult to say which one has the best total cost of ownership. We recommend, however, that you apply due diligence when selecting a replacement product for QuickBooks to ensure you get a product that can continue to grow with your company for several years.

We have worked closely with many senior IT leaders on assessing the suitability of cloud ERP for their organizations. If you want to learn more about Acumatica cloud ERP and how it could help your business, let’s talk. Contact us for a free consultation and demo.

Additional Acumatica Resources

Acumatica Cloud ERP: Distribution Case Studies

Meeting the ASC 606 Compliance Deadline with Acumatica Deferred Revenue Accounting

Why Acumatica Outpaced NetSuite on the Most Recent G2 Survey

What kind of ERP solution should you get for your business? Or, if you already own ERP software, the question may be more along the lines of “How should I upgrade my ERP?” To help you in your decision making process, Acumatica has devised a useful ERP evaluation checklist. We highly recommend it. If nothing else, you will find it thought-provoking as you assess your business management software options.

The checklist suggests looking at ERP from five separate angles:

1. Productivity, i.e. how an ERP solution can make you and your staff more productive
2. Functionality, i.e. what the solution actually does regarding daily accounting and business management functions and beyond
3. Technology, i.e. how the product leverages technology in terms of usability, customizability and maintainability
4. Value, i.e. how the product maximizes features and functions versus cost for the usable lifetime of the product
5. Risk, i.e. how the product minimizes risk and facilitate security

Each of these angles translates into a detailed focus area on the checklist. Under productivity, for instance, the checklist contains nine questions. They touch on subjects like how easy the solution is to learn and whether it offers Wikis. Here are a few highlights.

Productivity

The checklist asks if the solution provides true universal availability. Is there access to the ERP system from any device, anytime? Does it enable employees to work from home, or on late/weekend shifts out of the office. Can personnel in the field use it on mobile devices? These have been good questions for some time now, especially given how limited certain legacy ERP solutions can be when it comes to mobility and universal availability. However, in the current moment, when virtually every American is working from home, it’s absolutely essential.

Functionality

The Functionality section of the checklist raises the issue of multi-entity accounting. This won’t be a big issue for some businesses. However, if you operate more than one corporate entity, multi-entity financial management and reporting functionality can be big time-savers. The checklist asks if a proposed ERP solution can support multi-company, multi-warehouse and international companies. It probes whether the solution can deal with financial consolidation between multiple entities, intercompany eliminations and reconciliations. These are all time-consuming and error-prone workflows if they have to be done by hand, toggling between separate accounting systems.

Technology

Business managers who evaluate ERP options may relegate the technology questions to the IT department. This is sensible, up to a point, but it’s wise to  understand as much as possible about the technology you’re buying. The checklist poses questions that are certainly relatable to a non-technologist. For instance, it asks if all functionality of an ERP solution is accessible through the Internet. This is natural for a cloud ERP like Acumatica, but it is not guaranteed by every ERP vendor. If a solution requires a separate software installation on the user’s device, that’s a reason to be circumspect about adopting it. That software will be something to maintain for all time.

These are just a few of the interesting details contained in the checklist. If you’re interested, we can walk you through the checklist and address the inevitable questions that arise. That’s the whole point of the checklist, in any case. It’s meant to make everyone smarter about their ERP choices. We can help fill in the blanks and point out where certain features and functions could benefit your unique business situation. Contact us to learn more or see a demo of Acumatica.

Additional ERP Evaluation Resources

Compare the Top 14 Cloud ERP Solutions

6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks

Why Growing Companies Need ERP Software

If you’re an IT lead for a business, should you want cloud ERP software? Setting any knee-jerk “love-the-cloud” vs. “hate-the-cloud” responses, the question is worth some discussion. In our view, every IT executive needs cloud ERP. The way you look at it may depend on how you envision your role in the business.

What we mean by “Cloud ERP”

First, let’s define what we mean by cloud ERP. In this article, the concept of cloud ERP refers to full-featured enterprise resource planning software, hosted in the cloud, with a complete range of business operations and financial functionality. It is not “ERP light.” Cloud ERP also means cloud-native software, built from the start to work in the cloud. Legacy ERP solutions that get ported the cloud have a number of innate difficulties that affect how well they can support the C-level IT exec’s mission.

Bear in mind, also, that cloud ERP might easily be part of a hybrid cloud strategy. It’s not all or nothing. Many companies are taking this approach. They’re adding cloud ERP functionality incrementally, phasing in new features while methodically phasing out on-premises systems as time and requirements permit.

What is your job?

This is not a trick question. The issue of whether you need cloud ERP will depend on your role, especially as it seen by senior management. If your job is to run a data center and support desktop machines, then cloud ERP might seem like an abstract concept or even a threat to your job security. If it isn’t hosted on-premises, what will you do all day?

However, if your job is to deploy technology for maximum business impact, then it shouldn’t matter where ERP is hosted. In that case, you will find a lot to like with cloud ERP. Cloud ERP enables you to get the most out of ERP without extensive IT support required. It takes many management and support hassles off your plate while providing a more flexible and quickly adaptable business management solution.

Plus, if your job involves managing IT as a cost center, cloud ERP can be transformative. There is a little to no Capital Expenditure (CapEx) with cloud ERP. As legacy ERP comes out of the data center or co-lo facility, you put those racks to new uses or stop using them altogether.

Reducing pain

Where does it hurt? Being an IT lead is a high-stress job. Cloud ERP can be a pain reliever, eliminating the difficulties that arise with disparate business systems, e.g. unsupported technology, proprietary application integration interferences, rigid architectures and poor analytics.

Acumatica cloud ERP, for example, is relatively easy to customize with standard development tools like Microsoft .NET and C#. It can integrate with other software products using standards-based APIs and Acumatica’s web services. Cloud-native ERP solutions like Acumatica also make it simple to deploy their full functionality to mobile devices and responsive webpages.

Cloud ERP then provides a streamlined path to sophisticated, organization-wide data analytics. If your job description includes helping the company make more strategic use of its data, cloud ERP is a great resource. The cloud makes it possible to ingest and store large volumes of data from multiple sources and deliver high-performing data visualization and reporting. You can give the people in your organization access to the data and tools they need to develop deep insights.

We have worked closely with many senior IT leaders on assessing the suitability of cloud ERP for their organizations. If you want to learn more about Acumatica cloud ERP and how it could help your business, let’s talk. Contact us for a free consultation and demo.

Additional ERP Resources

6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks

How ERP Software Can Save Your Business Money

How ERP Software Solves Your Business’s Top Financial Management Challenges