QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 8.0: Third-Party Power Plug-ins Abound What's New in QuickBooks Enterprise 8.0? Theresa Carey
What's New in QBE 8.0?
Most of QBE's new features come by way of third-party software publishers that have formed alliances with Intuit. Some of them are free, but most require an additional monthly fee, depending on the number of licenses you'll need. These third-party tools, however, greatly expand QBE's functionality.
A relationship with Business Objects software developer provides integrated business intelligence (BI) tools. Business intelligence can give management dashboard displays of sales, profit-and-loss "what if" scenarios, profitability, and budget variance. Intuit says the BI tools were integrated due to customer feedback.
Advanced inventory functionality comes courtesy of an alliance with Velocity Inventory for Enterprise Solutions, which is intended to help product-based businesses with multiple warehouses be more efficient with real-time inventory tracking.
If your company has field service representatives, you can add WorkTrack Service Management, which helps manage workflow via the Web. It's designed to eliminate manual errors in order to create additional efficiencies in the office and the field. QBE includes one dispatcher's seat license, and additional licenses incur an incremental monthly fee.
Next up — TrueCommerce EDI (electronic data interchange), a form of business-to-business electronic commerce. This add-on consists of three components: the TrueCommerce Transaction Manager, which enables the electronic exchange of business documents; a business system plug-in, which integrates EDI into QBE; and an electronic partner plug-in that allows your system to communicate with a customer or vendor. Additional partner plug-ins require additional fees.
Some of these plug-ins constitute the "free razor" type of offer — but understand you'll pay plenty for new "blades." Still, adding third-party capability makes sense as it allows each business to tweak the program to its specifications rather than trying to write a single package that will work for every business on the planet.
Here's a useful addition to QBE that doesn't incur an additional fee. Google maps and directions are now built in to any file that contains an address — customers, vendors, and employees.
And, in a nod to the competition from Microsoft, QBE integrates with Microsoft's Outlook or Outlook Express so that you can send forms such as invoices, receipts, and purchase orders from within the accounting system.
Paying the Piper
A five-user license will run you $3,000, which includes a Full Service support plan for one year from the date of purchase. Renewing the service plan runs $750 per year. The program scales up to 20 users for $9,000, plus $2,000 annually for the service plan renewal. Numerous add-ons — such as payroll, multi-site inventory management, point-of-sale systems — can jack up the price considerably as will checks, forms, and supplies.
Accountants pay $849 for a single-user accountant's edition; Intuit is aggressively reaching out to the support community by encouraging professionals to join their ProAdvisor program, which includes the Accountants version of the software plus access to online training and certification courses.
Given the huge installed base of the regular QuickBooks software and the migration path made possible to the mid-range QBE product, joining the ProAdvisor network looks like a worthwhile investment for anyone in the support community.
Though three grand sounds like a lot more than, say, QuickBooks Premier's 5-user license for $2009.95 ($1,199.99 for a three-user license, plus $405 for each additional license), QBE is designed for companies that plan to grow beyond the need for five people to access the files simultaneously. And compared to other products in the mid-market category, such as Great Plains, QBE is less expensive overall.
Right for Your Growing Business?
QBE is flexible enough to handle a wide array of demands. When making the choice for your company, consider how the program handles complex inventory tasks, such as serial number tracking, barcode tracking, and backorder processing. Get a hands-on demo of all the programs you're considering to see how they handle these difficult tasks before you make a buying decision.
For growing companies that have less intense inventory-management needs, QBE 8.0 has a lot to offer and ought to be on your list for consideration. Intuit has thrown a great deal of support behind this product and has committed to developing and expanding its capabilities, so it's not going to disappear from the market any time soon.
QBE's Web site offers piles of demos, videos, and assessment tools, all intended to guide you toward purchasing the product (of course!), but it's one of the more in-depth product information sites out there.
Theresa W. Carey specializes in financial technology and has written about subjects ranging from online brokers to enterprise accounting systems for Barron's, the Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine and many others. When not checking out programs and Web sites that manage money, she plays and coaches volleyball. Her Web site is InvestorBrain.com
