Accounting with Office 2.0
Friday, March 31st 2006 | Ismael Ghalimi
Salesforce.com has demonstrated that Software as a Service can work, both technically and economically. As a result, multiple alternatives are currently being developed, notably Zoho CRM and Sunrise, the upcoming CRM application by 37signals. It’s great news, for a cheaper alternative to Salesforce.com would be welcome. Nevertheless, there is one business function other than CRM that is in need of an Office 2.0 solution: accounting.
If I were to switch back from Mac OS to Microsoft Windows and from Firefox to Internet Explorer, the excellent QuickBooks Online Edition would be a great option. Problem is, I love my Mac as much as I dislike Microsoft’s web browser. An other option would be Intacct for Salesforce.com, but at $400 per month for two users, it’s not exactly cheap.
Conclusion, an accounting solution for Office 2.0 is much needed. It should be as easy to use as QuickBooks, it should work with any web browser on any operating system, and it should be priced in such a way that most small businesses can afford it, ideally less than $25 per user and per month. In the meantime, I made a new entry into the Office 2.0 bug tracker.
Entry filed under: Office 2.0, SaaS
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Hate to say it, but I think this is a tad myopic. Accounting should be seen as business infrastructure. That means it should be part of a package of applications that get wrapped as an over-the-wire service. The start of this, which includes many of the attributes of discrete pay-as-you-go applications, is Winweb.
I really like what this company is trying to do. Even though there is still a lot of work to be done, there’s a heck of a lot there for very little money. The accounting application is free. They are following a distribution model where they engage directly with the key influencers. Accountants in practice.
I was gonna mention Winweb but Dennis beat me to it. Of the “big name” vendors, I wonder why you use Salesforce, when for the same price NetSuite delivers what they have plus accounting and a better workflow…
Zoli,
Fair question. The answer is that I find the user interface much more intuitive and I use a couple of AppExchange applications. That being said, the need for accounting is making me seriously reconsider my early decision. I think I’ll give Winweb a try and see where that takes me.
[…] UPDATE: I see Ismael over at IT|Redux is getting in on the Winweb thing. (see comments) […]
I realize I’m digging around some old posts, but I’ve come to love this venue a lot, and I’m still catching up on what 2.0 is all about… I can’t help but to think that:
1. Definately Office 2.0 needs an accounting piece. As a small business owner and self-described geek, this would be a huge, cornerstone, fundamental asset to small business folks.
2. I’m not up to date (yet) with what Microsoft Office Live is. Although I did test it out, I still can’t figure out the value of the offering… No real utility, only some Microsoft Works level Web product offerings. But I hear good things about SMB Accouting. It looks like the under-achieveing cousin in the Microsoft family.
3. If Microsoft wanted the SMB market, they’d throw everything they had to migrate SMB Accounting to a Software as Service, hosted solution. With an affordable solution, even if it has to be a loss leader, they’d foster the market for the kind of hosted applications SMB users need, and have a chance at leveraging some of their brand strength from Office 1.0 to 2.0.
Scott,
I must agree with you. The availability of a good accounting package for Office 2.0 is a must-have, and Microsoft could play a key role there. In fact, I could not think of any company that is in a better position to take the lead in this emerging market. That is, until Intuit becomes really serious about the Web and starts supporting other Web browsers than just Internet Explorer for QuickBooks Online Edition.
While QuickBooks Online Edition has merits, it is absolutely a deal killer that it won’t let you download transactions from you bank like the offline edition. Unless your bookkeeper is in Omaha while you’re in Timbuktu, there’s no way right minded business owners are going back to the days of keying in all their transactions.
Scott,
I totally agree with you. Intuit does not get the Web… yet.
[…] All software will go the service way: Hit Alongside the emergence of credible Office 2.0 solutions, all categories of software saw the release of online alternatives, including drawing, music playing, and video editing. A year ago, guessing the next category of software to go online was challenging. Today, the game has changed, and the challenge is to identify the one that will be the last. At this point, only one application is missing from my Office 2.0 Setup: a good online accounting tool. […]
Well, I think Intuit has really turned the corner on QuickBooks Online Edition (QB OE). As I have taken a second look at the hosted accounting market, and recently engaged the trial version of QB OE, I found that they are slowly releasing online banking integration for this hosted version of QuickBooks. You won’t see it on their marketing site, and I understand that it’s not yet available to all customers, but they now offer users the ability to download banking transactions directly into QB OE. The ability to generate online outbound payments isn’t available yet, but since my Bank of America account does such a good job at it, I may never need this functionality.
While it doesn’t have all the features of the desktop version (features I don’t use anyway), I’ve found the experience to be vastly superior. That banking download happens daily and automatically. Even better, transactions are automatically categorized, and desktops can be custom configured.
All in all, I think Intuit is now on the right track to maintain their ubiquity in the SMB accounting space.
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