Jonathan’s Take

In this article, I will highlight what I thought were some of the most important takeaways from QuickBooks #GetConnectedCAN in Toronto. This article is quite specific to the bookkeeping and accounting community, so it isn’t for everyone. But if you continue reading, I hope that you enjoy it and find value in what I have to say!

QuickBooks

Payroll

Andrew Smith, International Director of Product for QuickBooks, acknowledged the problems with QuickBooks Payroll. Though the product has always been a great starting point, it fails to meet the needs of some businesses as they grow. Andrew not only acknowledged these issues, he apologized for them and committed to dedicating resources to improve it. That’s integrity!

Enhanced Reporting

QuickBooks enhanced reporting is slowly being released into the product and the “Classic” view is being retired. 

The enhanced reporting provides:

• More customization possibilities
• More data fields in reports
• Will require custom reports built in the classic mode to be rebuilt

At first, I was skeptical about this change. I thought it was for the sake of change. However, once I started learning about the enhanced reporting possibilities, I became very excited about the value this is going to provide to small businesses that keep data current and review it to gain insight into their business and to support decision-making.

Trends

HR

A shortage of accountants for small practices continues. This is going to become a very real problem for small businesses. Your ability to communicate effectively and create a relationship with an accountant will help you get security in this realm. 

Failure to do so may leave you scrambling or accepting sub-par service. If you don’t already have a great relationship with your accountant, it’s time to start looking.    

Increasingly, people are being attracted to companies and service providers based on shared values. This is not only the best way to attract the best-fit team members, it’s the best way to keep them. 

Your compensation needs to be fair, but how you treat your team will be vital to continued engagement.

Technology

RPA

More businesses are using Robotic Process Automation for tasks that involve desktop-based software. Tools to build RPAs are improving to the point where one can often self-teach.  YouTube can be a valuable resource.

I look forward to digging deeper into this in the summer months.

API

Automated Process Integrations are still the go-to for interacting with websites. Zapier, Make and other tools are available, as well as a lot of resources online and on YouTube. We’re going to be investing more in this realm over the next few months.

AI

Small businesses will need to rely on partner implementations of AI (Think QBO and Dext).  They simply can’t afford to do it independently. They can prepare by creating Data Lakes while awaiting the right tool to use.

Keys to creating your Data Lake include:

• Ensuring that the vital data that you want the AI to access is in one place (Google, One Drive, internal server or database, etc.)
• Ensuring that the data in your data lake is clean and not polluted with dead, old, or incorrect data. The inclusion of bad data will increase the likelihood of AI Hallucinations.
• This means that you’ll need to purge your data and use clear and consistent naming conventions and formats whenever possible.

Big businesses will be investing in custom solutions, and investing millions to ensure their AI solutions have clean data sets to work with.

Pricing

Pricing is always a topic that comes up at bookkeeping and accounting conferences. Mainly because so many people underestimate the costs of running their businesses. One of the top drivers of value for your business is profit, and pricing drives profit. If you haven’t raised prices in years, you need to analyze if you should.

If you have a solid business model but are always squeezed for cash, you almost certainly need to raise your prices.

Pricing is particularly important for bookkeeping and accounting firms – and for businesses who are looking for help. The commitments firms make to their employees and vendors need to be fulfilled and the accounting cycle can often result in fluctuations in cash flow for these firms.

KATA often gets new clients from business owners who engaged with the cheapest service provider they could find and had their books, business, and finances screwed up by incompetence. In short, they got what they paid for. 

Buyer beware. Make sure to vet your service provider and interview them to ensure you’ll get what you need. CPB Canada has a great questionnaire publicly available on their website to help businesses do just that.

In Short

Technology needs to be on the mind of every small business. Though it may not be something that your business focuses on, it will impact you. If you don’t have the skill set, you need to consider investing in someone who does.

Life and business are getting more expensive. It’s probably a good idea to review your pricing and forecasting to make sure you still have a viable business on an ongoing basis.

If you need help with these things, let us know!  We’re here to help!