There are hundreds and hundreds of applications and solutions that "work with QuickBooks" - many of which were designed specifically to extend the accounting program's functionality - and choosing which ones offer the most value can be difficult. We asked the experts interviewed for this report's cover story to pick some of their favorites; the list below is the result.
ACTIVECONTACT
Synergration Inc.
www.synergration.com
Pricing: Varies; starts at $9.99 per month for a single user.
A small CRM package that provides companies with an array of contact management tools that can be accessed anywhere there's an Internet connection. Works with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise versions.
AUTOFY
Propelware
www.propelware.com
Pricing: $395 per year.
Automatically synchronizes a variety of business records between desktop and enterprise software, as well as online data sources. Accounting invoices, sales transactions and customer contact information can be exchanged between software platforms such as QuickBooks, Salesforce.com and Microsoft Office.
BEGINNING BALANCE TRANSFER UTILITY
Karl Irvin, CPA
www.q2q.us
Pricing: $129.00.
This app lets users take the ending balances in one QuickBooks file and make them the beginning balances in a new QB file, allowing you to start a new file with the least number of transactions in it. It can transfer the trial balance, AR, AP and inventory balances as of any date selected by the user, as well as uncleared bank transactions.
BIG RED CONSULTING'S TRANSACTION COPIER
Big Red Consulting
www.bigredconsulting.com
Pricing: Starts at $79.
Use this tool to transfer QuickBooks data from one company to another. The tool supports all transactions supported by QuickBooks, including most QuickBooks data types. Using Excel, users can view and change or filter data before sending it to the destination file.
BILL.COM
Bill.com
www.bill.com
Pricing: Starts at $19.99 per month, additional charges for more users.
This paperless online bill payment and processing solution also allows for the e-mailing or faxing in of bills and invoices for processing and verification.
BILLQUICK 2010
BQE Software Inc.
www.bqe.com
Pricing: Varies; starts at $495.
Time and expense tracking, project management and billing software that works on-premise and online.
BUSINESS E-INVOICE
SkyHill Software
www.skyhill.com
Pricing: Varies; typically $.045-$.060 per invoice.
Anything that speeds payment is good; this online solution syncs with QuickBooks to send invoices to clients and customers, then allows them to pay directly from their bank account, and finally automatically enters the payment information into QB.
CCRQINVOICE
CCR Software
www.ccrsoftware.com
Pricing: $75 per license.
Works with QuickBooks to process invoices and sales orders, and produce estimates. CCR also has CCRQBOM for the manufacturing sector and CCRQInventory for inventory adjustment.
CLIENT DATA REVIEW TOOLS
Intuit Inc.
http://accountant.intuit.com
Pricing: Contact vendor.
Allows accountants (or any user) to review and clean up a client's data files, from troubleshooting account balances to identifying incorrectly paid sales taxes.
CONTACT MANAGER/CRM
Intuit Inc.
www.intuit.com
Pricing: $9.95 per month, up to five users.
Syncs with QB to view financial transactions such as invoices, estimates and payments; imports contacts from Microsoft Outlook and/or Excel Customer; consolidates contact information, key financial indicators, pending tasks and special notes.
DATA TRANSFER UTILITY
Karl Irvin, CPA
www.q2q.us
Pricing: $99-$149.
This allows QuickBooks users to merge list and transaction data from one QB file to another. QuickBooks files are opened and closed by the Transfer Utility and the regular QuickBooks program does not have to be running. Small transfers can be made in less than a minute.
1-CLICK E-COMMERCE INTEGRATION
Intuit Inc.
www.intuit.com
Pricing: $99-$299.
Allows users to integrate e-commerce systems with QuickBooks, including Paypal, Yahoo Stores, OSCommerce, Mal's E-commerce, and other shopping cart and Web store systems.
EXPENSEWATCH.COM
ExpenseWatch Inc.
www.expensewatch.com
Pricing: $16 per user, varies based on client size.
A Web-based service that offers expense report, purchasing and AP invoice management modules. Can work as a stand-alone product or a fully integrated suite.
EXPENSIFY
Expensify Inc.
www.expensify.com
Pricing: Contact vendor.
Imports expenses and receipts from the majority of U.S. smart phones and U.S. credit cards. Allows users to submit everything through e-mail and get reimbursed entirely online. Includes free credit card import, mobile applications, QuickBooks export and integrated direct deposit. Has added support for 58 currencies from around the world.
FANMINDER
Fanminder
www.fanminder.com
Pricing: Starts at $25 per month.
An online marketing app designed for small business owners that allows them to send SMS (simple text message) messages to customers' (or "fans") mobile phones.
FISHBOWL INVENTORY
Fishbowl Inc.
www.fishbowlinventory.com
Pricing: Based on number of licenses and support plans; starts at $3,595.
An inventory and asset management system that allows users to track items based on industry, needs, locations, bar codes or serial numbers. One of the first programs to integrate with QuickBooks, it currently holds Gold Developer Status.
FUEL STATION
Intuit Inc.
http://marketplace.intuit.com
Pricing: Starts at $29 per month.
A program that sets up, tracks and manages sales leads, marketing programs and search campaigns, Fuel Station includes analytics tracking, search engine optimization and pay-per-click monitoring.
GIFTWORKS
Mission Research
www.missionresearch.com
Pricing: $499.
This donor-management software app makes small, nonprofit fundraising and donor outreach accessible, without a database administrator, and can create memorials and honoraria, automate notifications to the families, track matching donations in detail, assign donations to campaigns, and create funds for directed gifts.
HOSTED QUICKBOOKS
InsynQ
www.insynq.com
Pricing: Contact vendor.
One of the first Intuit-approved commercial hosting providers for QuickBooks, InsynQ develops and provides hosted accounting and financial applications for the small-business segment.
INTUIT FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT ES
Intuit Inc.
http://marketplace.intuit.com
Pricing: Contact vendor.
This scheduling and work management app allows contractors to control field service operations, from work order creation and dispatch, to getting paid. (Note: Only for use with QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.)
INTUIT ONLINE PAYROLL
Intuit Inc.
http://payroll.intuit.com
Pricing: Basic starts at $25 month, $1.50 for each additional employee, $12 per month for each additional state.
Formerly PayCycle, the on-demand service includes unlimited number of monthly payrolls, direct deposit, e-tax payments, quarterly year-end filings, and live phone, chat and e-mail support.
JOB COST REPORTER
Karl Irvin, CPA
http://q2q.us/
Pricing: $49.
One of more than 20 QuickBooks integrated software add-ons from Certified ProAdvisor Karl Irvin, Job Cost Reporter creates reports that include: unbilled cost, open purchase orders, unbilled time, unpaid time and quantities to help determine the total indicated revenue and cost for a job.
MERCHANT SERVICES
Intuit Inc.
http://payments.intuit.com/
Pricing: $19.95 per month.
This app allows users to accept credit cards via QuickBooks and process payments directly from the user's computer. Includes free access to Intuit Merchant Service Center to view transaction cycle and deposits, online statements and send e-mail receipts to customers.
METHOD INTEGRATION
Alocet Inc.
www.methodintegration.com
Pricing: Starter edition - starts at $25, $15 each additional user.
A Web-based platform for QuickBooks applications, Method Integration allows users to create their own industry-specific business applications, portals, fields or screens and sync them in real time to every QuickBooks list and transaction.e_SClBMISYS SBM SHOP FLOOR CONTROL V. 4.0
Manufacturing Information Systems Inc.
http://www.misysinc.com
Pricing: Contact vendor.
SBM Floor Shop Control 4.0 tracks production as it moves through the shop from one operation to another.
NETFIRA CONNECT COMMERCE
Netfira www.netfira.com Pricing: Seller pays $1.50 per transaction.
An online commerce solution, Netfira Connect allows buyers and sellers to link in real time via a secure Internet link. Key features include online price checking, inventory availability and ordering. It links to most SMB inventory management and accounting systems, including QuickBooks.
OFFICEDROP DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
Office Drop
www.officedrop.com
Pricing: Value package starts at $14.95 per month.
A document scanning and records scanning service that converts paper files into text-searchable PDFs. The service includes optical character recognition.
PDG COMMERCE
PDG Software Inc.
www.pdgsoft.com
Pricing: PDG Commerce Lite - starts at $599. QuickBooks POS set-up - $199.
This e-commerce shopping cart software allows merchants to display multiple category products in their storefronts. It includes real-time QuickBooks synchronization, and shipping costs from all major carriers.
QB OR NOT QB
QB or Not QB Inc.
www.qbornotqb.com/
Pricing: Contact vendor.
A national QuickBooks consultant with a staff of Certified QB ProAdvisors that serves the small to midsized business sector, QB or Not QB specializes in transitioning clients to QuickBooks, shrinking oversized QB data files and converting data to various formats.
QUICKBOOKS POINT OF SALE BASIC AND PRO
Intuit Inc.
http://quickbooks.intuit.com
Pricing: Basic - starts at $899.95; Pro - $1,299.95.
These applications help small and midsized retail businesses manage sales and inventory, track customers and more, and can also be bundled with peripherals like receipt printers and credit card readers.
QVINCI BUSINESS DASHBOARD SOLUTIONS
Qvinci Software
www.qvinci.com
Pricing: Basic version - free; otherwise, starts at $9.99 per month.
Qvinci gives QuickBooks users the kind of business intelligence capabilities that are often thought of as only available to the largest enterprises, digging deep into financial data to let users gain quick, valuable insights into their companies.
RESULTS CRM
Results Software
http://results-software.com
Pricing: Starts at $395 per user.
This solution lets you manage, analyze and maintain sales, service and product delivery, customer service and finance information, and bi-directionally interfaces with QuickBooks to keep information up to date.
SETSTER
Setster
www.setster.com
Pricing: Single user - starts at $9.95 a month.
One of a couple of solutions that's not specifically QuickBooks-related, but that our experts liked, Setster gives you a widget to put on your Web site to let clients set their own appointments with you.
SHAREFILE
ShareFile
www.sharefile.com
Pricing: Starts at $29.95 per month.
ShareFile lets you set up a secure, custom-branded area to exchange large or sensitive files with customers.
SMARTVAULT
SmartVault Corp.
www.smartvault.com
Pricing: Single user - starts at $19 a month.
While SmartVault is a stand-alone document management solution, it was built with especially strong integration with QuickBooks, including the ability to attach and view documents from over 30 QB transactions using the integrated toolbar.
TRANSACTION PRO IMPORTER
Baystate Consulting
www.baystateconsulting.com
Pricing: $199.95.
Enables the import of QuickBooks transactions or lists from Excel, text files (such as a CSV or tab-delimited files), Access, or any database that supports Open Database Connectivity.
VIEWMYPAYCHECK
Intuit Inc.
http://workplace.intuit.com/appcenter/
Pricing: Free for employers using QuickBooks Payroll.
One of the nightmares of processing payroll is providing paystubs and W-2s to employees who have lost theirs. This app from Intuit lets employees securely access their payroll data online as soon as they're paid.
VIRTUAL TIME+EXPENSE
Virtual Software Inc.
www.virtualsoftware.net
Pricing: $50 per month, plus $5 per user over 10.
This online time and expense management solution makes it easy to make sure all time gets accounted for (and billed), as well as simplifying expense reporting - and it integrates seamlessly with QB.
WAGE MANAGER SOLUTION
Sunburst Software Solutions Inc.
www.sunburstsoftwaresolutions.com
Pricing: $100.
This streamlines the tedious process of updating pay rates and employee records by allowing you to update multiple items at a time. Sunburst also offers the Crew/Overtime Entry Solution, which simplifies that tedious process, and the Construction Application for Payment Solution, which helps generate quick, accurate percentage-of-completion contract billings.
WORKTRACK SERVICE MANAGEMENT
Corrigo
www.worktrack.com
Pricing: Contact vendor.
This app helps contractors and service companies manage scheduling, work orders, dispatching and invoicing, eliminating stacks of paperwork and work bottlenecks.
XPANDEDREPORTS
XpandedReports Inc.
www.xpandedreports.com
Pricing: Starts at $19.95 per month per seat.
XpandedReports extends the reporting interface and features in QB to make them more flexible and powerful.
