Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/94658
2013 2012 EXECUTIVE PREDICTIONS YEAR IN REVIEW & 2012 in Review: The Year of the App I see the continued success of BQE as a reflection of our listening to our customers and proactively developing the technologies they need to be more successful in their businesses. I am exceptionally proud of a few key advancements we made in 2012. 1] 2] SHAFAT QAZI CEO and Founder, BQE Software For nearly two decades, Shafat Qazi, the CEO and Founder of BQE Software, has worked with professionals in service-based businesses such as accountants, attorneys, architects and engineers to develop solutions to help them achieve greater efficiency in the management of time, expenses, billing and projects. Shafat has a passion for technology and possesses an innovative and forward thinking mindset that is reflected in the time and billing solutions developed by BQE. Examples of this include the implementation of workflow automation and the use of Fuzzy logic (i.e., Artificial Intelligence) to create software that actually learns as it's used. Not content to just solve the current needs of BQE's customers, Shafat is always looking to create solutions for future demands that may arise from the latest technological innovations and changes in the industry BQE serves. t www.bqe.com Te Year of the App. BQE customers are increasingly moving toward online technologies that help them stay connected with their business data. As a result, there was a huge surge in downloads of the mobile apps we've developed for Apple and Android mobile devices and tablets, and BQE anticipated this business need and made development in this area one of our roadmap strategies. In the first three quarters of 2012, there were more than 24,000 combined downloads. It's paying off for BQE's customers, too, by allowing them to track time and expenses, and atach documents like receipts to expenses. It was great to see our goals being met, and proving beneficial to business users. New Business Intelligence Tools. We always focus our development on features and functions that our users tell us they need. For the latest version of BillQuick, we started with the core elements of time and expense tracking and invoicing, where other programs leave off and added an array of powerful business intelligence tools that help users get more meaningful insight into their business. Te dashboards, smart reports and smart screens give customers the insight they need to identify potential opportunities to increase revenue in their business. Te most popular dashboard is found in the Project Center, providing performance analysis of specific projects, and even allowing businesses to find potential problem areas before they materialize. 3] 4] BQE's Continued Growth. If the success of a company is dependent on meeting the needs of its customers, then I'm proud to state that we are doing quite well at both. Despite the slow economy, BQE continued to grow at a 30 percent rate in 2012. With improving economic data coming in, I'm confident in continued success in the year to come. Awards and Recognition. In 2012, BQE was honored with several distinguished awards, including a Stevie Award for Business Application of the Year, an Innovation Award from CPA Practice Advisor and a Sleeter Group Awesome Application Award, in addition to receiving a perfect Five-Star rating in CPA Practice Advisor's review of time and billing systems. Of note, the Sleeter Awards included public voting this year, and BQE received more than 40,000 votes, which shows the great appreciation our customers and professional accountants have for our products. BQE has received more than 100 awards over the company's history, but receiving these four prestigious honors in the same year is unprecedented, and we are very grateful. LOOKING FORWARD TO 2013 & BEYOND 1] Microsoſt's Windows RT will miss the mark. Windows RT, the new mobile platform version of Windows 8 for tablet devices, will fail to atract customers because it has been slow in its debut and lacks an ecosystem of business apps and developers. BQE will consider adding support for it, but thus far, Microsoſt hasn't been doing the necessary work to get it to be adopted. As a result, it is at a major disadvantage compared to the iOS and Android platforms. 2] Tere will be a huge surge in mobile platform development for tablets. Developers for iOS and Android are busy creating native tablet apps that make fuller use of the larger interface than phone apps can. Businesses want more than just a few data points to connect with, and the native tablet apps will provide the richness and robust nature of a desktop program, with much greater detail and full program accessibility. As more business customers adopt ABOUT BQE SOFTWARE BillQuick® by BQE Soſtware is the leading time & billing, and project management soſtware for small to mid-sized firms. With over 300,000 customers, it's the trusted solution that CPAs, accountants and other professional services firms depend on every day. BillQuick streamlines your time & billing processes, increases profitability, and helps you make beter business decisions with real-time data. It integrates with QuickBooks, Peachtree, MYOB and Outlook. Add-on products for BillQuick include: r 8FC CBTFE BOZUJNF BOZXIFSF BDDFTT WJB #JMM2VJDL 0OMJOF 18 December 2012 t www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com cloud service or self-hosted Web Suite. r 'SFF OBUJWF J1IPOF BOE "OESPJE "QQT UIBU BMMPX 8FC 4VJUF and BillQuick Online customers to enter time and expenses seamlessly from their phone. r #JMM2VJDL )3 UP FđDJFOUMZ USBDL TUBĎ T TJDL BOE WBDBUJPO UJNF r #JMM2VJDL 0VUMPPL "EE *O UP SFDPSE BMM BQQPJOUNFOUT UBTLT and correspondences created in Outlook as time entries. r #JMM2VJDL "HFOU UP RVJDLMZ WJFX ZPVS DPNQBOZ T ėOBODJBM state and make accurate business forecasts. 3] tablets, the more they are requesting tablet apps that provide this enhanced functionality, and as the BYOD movement continues, more and more employees will be bringing their own tablets to work. Significant Improvement in the Economy. Many of BQE's customers are seeing a recovery beginning in the construc- tion industry. Tis sector and the markets around it have a powerful impact on many other industries, so I expect to see overall economic improvement. Tis will likely also lead to improving numbers for technology companies that support them, as the result of an increase in soſtware sales to support the needs of these new and expanding companies. Also, with banks and other financial institutions more stable, they are finally make lending more accessible, while interest rates are near record lows.