When we were an MSP, we came across QuickBooks over and over again. As one of the most popular accounting programs available on the market, it makes perfect sense that we did.
When we would sit down with our customers with QuickBooks, usually during our quarterly reviews, the same basic question would always come up. Our customers that had QuickBooks Desktop wanted to have the cloud advantages with their QuickBooks, however, they didn’t want to go to QuickBooks Online, usually because it didn’t have the same feature set. Some of our customers even tried to go to QuickBooks Online to give it a try, only to quickly move back to the on-premise version, which was a nightmare in itself.
So we looked for a solution for our customers and found that our cloud was the answer. Cloud hosting the desktop version of QuickBooks was, and still is, very possible and allowed our customers to have several distinct benefits.
Let’s dive into The Advantages of Cloud-Hosted QuickBooks for your Clients :
Allows The Desktop Version Of QuickBooks To Have The Flexibility Of The Cloud.
When we took our customers QuickBooks Desktop version and moved it to the cloud, it gave our customers the best of all worlds. It allowed our customers to access their financial data from virtually anywhere with an internet connection. Their data was always safe and sound with automatic, off-site backups and disaster recovery. They no longer had to worry about natural disasters, fires, floods and other situations that could cause downtime with their on-premise solution. Power outages were a thing of the past. This was especially a plus with our customers that were in areas like California where rolling blackouts were common.
No Retraining!
When confronted with our customers that wanted cloud benefits, we had to look at QuickBooks Online as a possible option. It was our customer and we wanted to give them what they needed. But one of the drawbacks, even if our customers were OK with the features, was that it was different. There were significant differences in the user interface, procedures and features compared to QuickBooks Desktop. Moving to QuickBooks Online would require staff retraining, which was not an easy task. By moving their QuickBooks Desktop version to our cloud, we could ensure that the software remained unchanged, eliminating the need for retraining. In most cases, the transition was so seamless that our customers didn’t even notice a difference.
You Can Upgrade QuickBooks When You Want
When using QuickBooks Online, one significant drawback is you can’t control when your QuickBooks version gets upgraded. We’ve all experienced this with other software vendors, like Microsoft. This can be a nerve-wracking experience. What’s going to get changed? Can you make any customizations? Is it actually going to work, or are you simply swapping one set of issues for another? By moving their desktop version of QuickBooks into our cloud, it allowed our customers to control when they were going to upgrade their version of QuickBooks and what version they were going to upgrade to. This allowed our customers to keep the decision making of when it made sense to upgrade to make it more manageable and easier for their staff.
QuickBooks Online Doesn’t Provide The Same Features As Desktop
As mentioned earlier, QuickBooks Online is very different from the desktop version of the software. Very different. In some cases, the differences went beyond being merely different; certain features didn’t even exist. For our customers that were using QuickBooks Online, we found that they didn’t even know about these “missing” features. They thought that QuickBooks Online was their only option and didn’t realize what they were missing out on. When we told our customers they could have the cloud benefits with all the features of QuickBooks desktop, our customers were ecstatic because it allowed them to leverage the best of both worlds – cloud advantages and a feature rich accounting system.
Access The Desktop Version Of QuickBooks From Any Location On Any Device!
We made sure to stress to our customers the convenience of having the desktop version of QuickBooks hosted in our cloud. Did they need to look up an invoice in the field? No problem! Was their bookkeeper stuck at home? No problem, they can access QuickBooks right from their home desktop! Is the owner on vacation and wants to check on sales remotely from the poolside at his resort? No problem! This is one of the top advantages of Cloud-Hosted QuickBooks for your clients. Setting up the desktop version of QuickBooks in the cloud for our customers allowed them to work the way they needed to and when they wanted to.
Work With a Trusted Vendor
When your customer is using any software, you’ll inevitably have to work with the vendor. As an MSP, this is part of the job. However, there’s a notable distinction between working with a software vendor on your own terms and having to conform to the vendor’s conditions. Working on your terms means having control and flexibility to help your customers with their needs, when they need it. On the other hand, being constrained by the vendor’s terms can limit your ability to provide the services you want to provide to your customers. When we were an MSP, having the ability to work with a vendor on our terms was a big consideration. Yes, sometimes we didn’t have a choice, but if we did, we made sure it was in our customer’s best interest.
In Conclusion
It is easy to see all of the Advantages of Cloud-Hosted QuickBooks offers your clients. By being more flexible in setting up the desktop version of QuickBooks, we allowed our customers to enjoy these benefits and many more. Our Partners have as well. When you have your next quarterly review, especially when your customers are interested in the benefits of cloud, make sure to communicate these advantages.
QuickBooks doesn’t have to be confined to a on-premise server or limited to QuickBooks Online. There’s an alternative that allows businesses to harness the best of both worlds, making it simpler for your customer to work, collaborate and be safe. This helped us to strengthen our customer relationships by delivering precisely what they wanted and created trust and a more meaningful connection.
With more that 37 years of experience helping MSPs deliver flawless cloud services, Cloud Services For MSPs is here to help MSPs and their clients thrive. Our friendly experts support you in all your cloud services and IT needs. Plus, we only work with MSPs like you, meaning we’ll never compete for your clients. When you join forces with us, you can sit back and relax as your clients enjoy the best cloud services on the market today.