Blog : QuickBooks Customization

New: Unlimited Contacts for QuickBooks Customers and Vendors in Method

Method_Danny — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:34:00 GMT

When entering a customer or vendor into QuickBooks, you already have the ability to add contact information for the main contact, as well as one additional alternate contact. Is this sufficient? What happens when you have more than one contact at that company such as the accountant, manager, VP, or sales rep? In this day in age everyone has a cell phone, so if you’re like me, that alternate contact might already be used to store the main contact’s cell phone number. Then what? Thank goodness for the QuickBooks notes field! With today’s new Method feature, you won’t need to worry about where to store these additional contacts and can do away with the QuickBooks notes workaround.

Unlimited Contacts to QuickBooks Customers and Vendors

Method users will now benefit from the ability to add an unlimited amount of contacts for customers and vendors. This means you can now track every point of contact for each of your customers and vendors without worrying about where to store this information. Clicking on the “Add/Edit All Contacts...” button for a customer/vendor brings up a new contacts screen. In this screen you can enter in contact information for each contact at the company. Why stop there? Because Method has built in CRM functionality, you can also enter in detailed activities for each contact, such as phone call conversations, emails, meetings and more. So what happens if the fields we provided aren’t enough? Come on now, this is Method we’re talking about. Just add your additional fields to the new contacts table and drag the new fields onto the screen. By the way, if you’re concerned about how to avoid certain contacts getting sensitive information, keep track of that with the “Opt Out” check boxes.

If you’re wondering where these “additional contacts” live, they are stored in your Method account. Of course the main contact and alternate contact for the customer and vendor are synced with QuickBooks in real-time.

Two new features in one week – now that’s impressive!

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

Multi-currency and 5 other new features

Method_Paul — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:57:00 GMT

It was brought to my attention this week that we need to do a much better job at telling everyone about all the features we keep adding!

A little background: we were at the Midwest Accounting & Finance Showcase in Chicago this week, and we were lucky enough to be picked by Greg LaFollette for his walking tour where he brings a large group of accountants and consultants to a selected group of booths, and gives us 11 minutes, a microphone and a loud speaker. While Danny was speaking and listing features, Greg turned to me and said “now, how come I didn’t know you guys had document management in there now?”. Good point, I told him. We’re so focused on listening to feedback, adding features and capabilities to Method that we forget to stop and tell the rest of the community what we’ve done. I guess it is pretty cool that you can upload scanned receipts and attach them to QuickBooks transactions! Oops...we should have told everyone a few months ago when that capability came out!

So here are a few big things that are brand new in the platform this week:

1. Multicurrency
We now support multiple currencies! QuickBooks 2009 introduced the currency option to US versions of QuickBooks this year. This enables you to set a currency in your Chart of Accounts, Customers, Vendors and most transactions (for example Invoices, Bills, and Item Receipts).

You'll need to install a new Method Integration Engine to get this feature. It will not automatically update. In Method, go to QuickBooks > Customize, click Show Installations Steps, and then click Install now for Step 3.

Also, you will have to customize the screens in Method that you want to see the currency on. By default, your currencies will be synced, but will not actually show up in Method until you customize your screens and drag the Currency and Exchange Rate fields onto the screen.

2. “Select PO” on Bill and Item Receipt
We added the "Select PO..." button to the standard Bill and Item Receipt screens, allowing you to associate an existing Purchase Order to a Bill or Item Receipt just like you can in QuickBooks.

To use this feature, just go to Vendors > Bills, or Vendors > Items Receipts, choose the Vendor you have a Purchase Order for, click the Items tab, click Select PO, and then follow the on-screen steps.

3. Escape key closes Popups

I personally am so used to clicking the Escape key in QuickBooks that I found myself time and time again clicking Escape in Method before remembering I have to use my mouse to click "Cancel" or click the "X" in top right.

That's why I'm psyched about the fact that you can now click Escape in all popup up screens and the popup will close as if you had clicked the "X".

4. Complete Save, Close on CRM

This one actually come from internal feedback from our team, since we use Method CRM for our own use. When closing a CRM activity, rather than changing the status to Completed, and then clicking Save & Close, we added a new button called, "Complete, Save & Close". We also added this to the other tabs (Send an Email, Schedule a Follow Up), to save from always having to go back to the first Add / Edit Activity tab. We've been using this internally for weeks now, and love it, so we pushed it out to all Method users.

5. Up to 20 new lines in a grid

Previously, on an Invoice, Bill, or any other screen where you list line items, you had only 3 new lines of data entry before you clicked Update, and then clicked New Line again. This is fine most of the time, but in scenarios where you need many lines, you will find clicking Update and New Line inefficient. You can now edit the screen, edit the grid, and in Step 6 of the grid wizard specify the number of new rows you want to see when New Line is clicked.

6. Show / hide grid columns

You can now customize grids so that they include a number of hidden columns that can be shown on-demand. This is a big deal in case you sometimes need more information for searching, filtering or data entry, but these fields aren't always needed, so they don't need to clog up your screen.

For example, in the screen below, I added a "Location" column and a "Class" column to my Existing Invoices grid, so that I can quickly search for all invoices in a certain inventory control Location, for a certain Class - but I default them to be hidden since I normally don't need to do this.

That's enough for today. There's really another 20 or so little improvements that didn't make my list........but we don't need to show off!

What's next? Right now we’re working heavily on making Method work on Windows Mobile browsers. Let me tell you, we’re in a time warp - like it’s 1998 over here and Microsoft has just realized that the "Inter-web" is for real. In other words.....it's a big coding challenge since IE Mobile is extremely behind the times. If you are interested in signing up for a beta of this, please reply to this post, or send an email to method@methodintegration.com. We're especially interested if you are in the field services industry. There are goodies in it for you. I'll explain when you email....

Paul

The future of web apps: end-user web platforms

Method_Paul — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:20:00 GMT

Since the launch of Method, I'm asked more and more for my thoughts on what the future holds for small business software. You might be surprised that I respond that the future of small business software isn't software at all! The future is customizable web apps, built on end-user web platforms.

During the last 10 years, I have had the pleasure of working with thousands of companies, learning about their needs, as well as the software they depend on.

When it comes to my thoughts on which business technology will push to the forefront in the years to come, my nod goes to developers that can truly (I mean truly) satisfy the demands of small business. Sound like a cliché? Of course it is. Especially when you look at what small businesses actually want.

So, what does every small business want? Across the board it's actually the same. They want something simple their staff can use. But they don't want to sacrifice on the features they need. Oh, and did I forget? It's got to be very affordable and it's got to be today! In other words they want to have their cake and eat it too…..and it should be no more than 0 calories, and it can't cause a tummy ache.

Wait, wait! Don't despair software developers…...there is hope! Those of us who have started to get their hands dirty with end-user web platforms can report back: "We've seen the future, and the future is friendly."

Let's do a short history lesson.

Desktop Software Programs
The 1980's and 1990's saw desktop software jump on the scene. The model was simple: find a core problem for similar companies in an industry, and sell as many one-size-fits-all products as possible. For small businesses, it was certainly a lot cheaper and painless than getting a custom program made. But with desktop programs the famous Henry Ford quote comes to mind when selling his Model T car: "Pick any color - so long as it's black". Contrary to the desktop software model, companies in the same industry are not all that similar. So, in order to sell more products, developers over-complicate their programs by jamming in as many features as they can in an effort to say "yes" as often as possible. Ironically, this gave them the illusion of being useful, but ended up having the opposite effect.

Web 2.0 apps
In the 2000's, business apps started moving to the web, in the push towards Web 2.0. The big "ahh-ha" for web apps was that it became completely acceptable to produce a simple solution and stay simple. In fact web apps proved that smart, streamlined design made systems more useful than complicated desktop software. The best example, and a company I'm a big fan of, is 37Signals. They built an incredibly successful company on the idea of creating products that "do less than the competition — intentionally". Web apps were made to be simple partly from necessity: browser-based websites using html and JavaScript just have a hard time doing the fancy things a desktop program can do. So rather than try to mimic the desktop, successful web apps focused on being the opposite of everything desktop programs stood for, and used the browser based constraints to their advantage.

The other reason the web apps were successful was that they had the advantage of learning from the mistakes of desktop programs - since web apps are sold on monthly subscriptions they don't have to jam in features to justify selling annual upgrades. Companies like Salesforce.com built empires on being the "anti-software" based on this reason.

End-user web platforms
A shortcoming of Web 2.0's model of keeping it simple, though, is that a well disciplined web developer must say "no" much more often than "yes" to features requests, and must turn away users who start to outgrow their apps - otherwise they'll fall into the tangled feature trap that desktop programs fell into. This, of course creates friction with end users who justifiably can't be expected to appreciate the bigger vision that developers have for their apps, and get frustrated from hearing "no" to most of their feature requests.

Web 2.0 apps have taken us a long way. But they are no match for the next generation technology I refer to as end-user web platforms. Imagine you are an end-user and you have two, nearly identical apps to choose from. Which of the following would you choose?

Web App A: Developed by a programmer using code. Updates are made by feature requests only.
Web App B: Developed by a non-programmer on a platform. Updates can be made by users using drag and drop tools.

Of course you would choose Web App B! The platform app would always win. Web App A is a simple, useful app that solves today's core problems. But Web App B is a simple, useful app that not only solves today's core problems; it also imposes no limitations on solving tomorrow's problems - whatever they may be. Perfect for small business! It's like taking Henry Ford's Model T, clicking a button on the production line to paint it red, and then a month later clicking another button to add a sunroof, and then the following month clicking another button to add a rear spoiler! Who wouldn't want that?

I'm going to clarify what I mean by an end-user web platform. Unlike regular web-platforms, which are designed to be used by programmers, in an end-user web platform the user must be able to design and create a system themselves, without any programming knowledge. Users must have the same tools available to them as the developer that built the app.   In other words, here’s the big test: it must be possible for end users to re-create an entire web app themselves from scratch using drag and drop tools. No coding.

Now, that's a whole new way of thinking isn't it?

Method Integration - Suite of Apps
When we created Method, we weren't trying to start a revolution. We actually stumbled upon the idea of creating an end-user web platform. At first, it was a platform we created for ourselves so that we could create a suite of simple QuickBooks apps that enabled users to develop and share their own features. It was our solution for not having to put new features into our desktop software every year, thereby preventing it from getting more and more complex! So for the problem we were trying to solve, the solution that later became known as "Method" just made sense.   We had to create our own end-user web platform since, at the time, such a thing in the web world didn't exist.

Now that we have a platform, we can rapidly churn out useful, integrated apps for QuickBooks. Later this week, we'll be putting out Method Warehouse, which is an inventory management app for QuickBooks. It's amazing how simple inventory management can be when you strip it down to its core. It's all about knowing where your inventory is (locations and bins), how they got there (transfer orders), and how much material you need to build and purchase in order to meet finished good deadlines (MRP). The entire app is in one single "Warehouse Center" tab within Method. How were we able to make it so simple? Because the Web 2.0 world taught us to strip the problem to the core, solve the problem and nothing else.   But since it is built on an end-user web platform, users can keep it simple by adding only the features they need as they need them. Nothing less, nothing more.

Given the optimal solution provided to small businesses, tomorrow's web apps will be built more and more on end-user web platforms, so my advice to everyone is to hop on early and enjoy the ride.

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'till next time,

Paul

How to create a QuickBooks Deposit screen from scratch

Method_Paul — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:26:00 GMT

Danny and I have a deal. He gets to write all the fun blogs and announcements - and in return I get to do all the geeky "how do I?" blogs. Does it sound like I got a raw deal? No - not at all! I love showing off what Method can do....and I especially enjoy getting my hands dirty.

Today's blog is a long overdue movie tutorial on how to create a screen, from scratch, using Method. This is a great educational tool for anyone who wants an introduction into how to create and modify screens from scratch. It touches quickly on many key concepts such as choosing the correct table, how grids relate to a screen, how to arrange sections on a screen, and how actions can make your life easy. This blog is actually inspired by a simple email we received:

"Here is my scenario: my client has a manual system for capturing receipts which is broken into several different income accounts. They have no need to breakdown by an Item or Customer, they just need a way to book the deposit.

I would like to determine a way to setup a deposit entry screen with a couple of “preset lines” already setup so that all they have to do is enter the date and the amounts. I would also like them to have the ability to add lines for other miscellaneous deposit amounts.

Oh, I almost forgot, I need the ability to select the class for each line also.

Hope that makes sense."

I felt there was no better way to demonstrate a solution than to post a video onto YouTube that shows, step by step, how to create this Deposit screen. Unfortunately, YouTube only allows movies 10 minutes in length or shorter, and since the movie is a total of 17 minutes, I had to break it into two movies.

Part I of II:

Part II of II:

Please reply back with comments and questions. I'll be happy to offer some tips on how you can take my basic deposit screen and turn it into something even more customized for your individual scenarios.

Paul