Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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March 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 15 THE PROADVISOR SPOTLIGHT In addition to boasting the same look and feel as other Intuit products and services, the enhanced version of QBOA now also features whole- sale billing, unlimited users and a n e w n o t e s a n d t a s k s f u n c t i o n . QBOA, which launched in October 2012, is one of the company's most popular products worldw ide w ith more t ha n 12 4, 0 0 0 accou nt a nt s signed up for the service. One key enhancement to this new version is the capability for users to set up wholesale pricing and billing for new Quick Books Online clients, currently only available in QBOA. W holesale pricing and billing allows for c l ient s to be put on one bi l l managed only by the accountant and suppor ts the accounting practice mov i ng to a v a lue bi l l i ng model mor e e f f ic ie nt l y. W i t h t he ne w w h o l e s a l e p r i c i n g c a p a b i l i t y, accountants can now purchase new Quick Books Online subscriptions at a 30 percent discount and get a unifed bill for all the subscriptions. A nother enhancement includes s e a m l e s s i n t e g r a t i o n w i t h Ta x On l i ne. Prev iously, users had to access the original QBO fle in order to lau nch Ta x On l i ne i n a not her w i nd o w. W i t h t he n e w QB OA , accountants can work seam lessly from the same program, accessing QBO f i le s a nd Ta x O n l i ne f i le s d i r e c t l y f r o m t he QB OA ho me screen. "Users will notice this version has a much closer i nteg rat ion to Ta x Online. Currently, no one else has a rich cloud-based accounting and tax solution. We've been able to bring both together in a way no one else can," said Samir K hosla, director of p r o d u c t m a n a g e m e n t , I n t u i t Accou nta nt a nd A dv isor Group. "Te market for rich accounting and ta x solutions is there and we w i l l c ont i nu e t o s e e a ne e d a s more accountants look to take their frms to the cloud." T he new version a lso feat u res improved support for multiple users. Previously, everyone used the same login and password, leaving no audit t ra i l . It wa s ha rd to rest r ic t user a c c e s s a nd d e t e r m i n e w ho w a s responsible for which tasks, changes and errors. Now, users can create information for employees and add new ones. I n add it ion, users ca n desig nate employees a s u sers or owners – giving them authority to add other employees. " W e h a v e r e c e i v e d a l o t o f requests to add multiple user capa- bilities. It has been the number one requested feature and now our cus- tomers are able to create multiple logins for an unlimited number of users and assign roles to each user. Tis new feature makes it even easier for staf to collaborate," said K hosla. Te notes and tasks feature will make it easier for users to collaborate seamlessly with each other. In the program, users can add quick notes to clients or assign task s to other users. A ny user can create a task or note and assign it to someone else. Intuit rolled out the new version of QBOA i n ph a ses . D u r i ng t he initial phase, select users tested the solution in beta before it was eventu- ally made available to everyone. " We received lots of c ustomer i nput a nd resea rched desig n a nd technolog y trends to create a new u ser i nter f ace a nd pat ter n . A s a result, we learned a lot this last year about how we can continue to take our products to the next level," said K hosla. Taija Jenkins is an associate editor for CPA Practice Advisor. SPONSORED CONTENT L ast year, Intuit created true harmony among its products and services, rolling out one look and feel that would make it easier for users to work with diferent products. Te fnancial management solution provider has now ex tended that harmony to its QuickBook s Online Accountant solution. In Februar y, Intuit debuted its enhanced QuickBooks Online for Accountants. Intuit Unveils the New QuickBooks Online Accountant By Taija Jenkins, Associate Editor CPA 0314 1-21.indb 15 3/24/14 9:37 AM