Monday, October 6, 2014

A Planning Tool to Help Start-Ups, Before They Start

Credit

In June, the company launched the
 Startup Financial Planner, a financial planning tool that integrates Intuit’s small-business data and is designed to help entrepreneurs calculate the cost of starting and running a business. Intuit is well known for QuickBooks, its small-business accounting software, which has 1.4 million users. Those users have helped Intuit amass an enormous amount of financial data about the costs of starting and running a business.
The planner was developed for Intuit by DigitalRelevance, a content marketing firm in Indianapolis. Users access the tool from the QuickBooks website and follow the prompts to describe the kind of business they want to build or currently have, including the location and legal structure of the business. The program then takes entrepreneurs through a series of questions about their business and a wide variety of potential expenses. They can either use the auto fill answers from Intuit or overwrite the space and fill in their own answers.
Jenny Brown, a content strategist at DigitalRelevance, said the goal was to provide a very solid estimate of the total costs to start and run a business. “The tool basically thinks of all the costs an aspiring entrepreneur may not have anticipated,” she said.
The user enters all the requested information and receives a downloadable financial analysis, including first-year expenses, a projected break-even analysis (including in what month the start-up can expect to break even), business trend comparisons and licensing and permit needs. While entering information, entrepreneurs can learn more about the topics being covered by clicking on related articles and infographics — reviewing, for instance, the pros and cons of various corporate structures.
The business trend comparison data, Ms. Brown said, can be especially useful to a start-up: “After you have your financial estimates, it will show you by category how your estimates compare to actual businesses that meet the same criteria as yours, like your location, legal structure, number of employees, etc.” Users can see, for example, how the amount of money they have allocated toward advertising, payroll, rent or travel compares to what the average business of their size and in their category has spent.
The Startup Financial Planner is free and users are anonymous to Intuit, said John Schulenburg, who heads search engine optimization and content marketing for Intuit’s small-business group. Users don’t have to provide an email and can get an identification number that will allow them to stop, save their work and return at another time to finish.
More than 3,000 people have used the tool thus far and Mr. Schulenburg said Intuit planned to create more tools that can be used at various points throughout the life cycle of a small business. Intuit isn’t looking to make money on them, he said, its part of a desire to rebrand QuickBooks as more than just accounting software. “We want to connect with customers and prospects around everything that relates to their small-business life cycle,” Mr. Schulenburg said.
Using the Startup Financial Planner does take some time. Depending on how knowledgeable users are and how much information they have to input, completing the questions can take a few hours. That may sound exhausting or intimidating, but it may save entrepreneurs considerable anguish in the long run. “It’s better for them to feel some pain at that point, when they are trying to get their heads around the planning and the process,” Ms. Brown said, rather than after they have already taken the plunge.
Posted on 2:51 PM | Categories:

Why Xero Wants You To Ditch QuickBooks And Fall In Love With Managing Your Money

John Lawson for ColderIce.com writes & features a video review by Raymon Ray:  Money management is one of the most important responsibilities small business owners must take care of.

Without the proper management of our money we won’t know what products are profitable, which customers owe us money and how much we owe the IRS – amongst other things.

The tool you use to manage your money is important. Pick the wrong tool and you’ll find a decrease in productivity and you won’t be able to manage your cash flow as well as you should. Pick the right tool and you’ll find that you can work better with your accountant, create intelligent reports to give you insight about your cash flow, manage your money from your mobile phone.

(Welcome to sponsored reviews by SmallBizTechnology and Small Business Trends)
Xero was created from the ground up for a mobile and cloud based world, it has no legacy as software installed on a computer. Today’s generation of existing business owners and future ones want solutions to power that business that are fast, light weight (yet feature rich), completely accessible on a mobile device and that are easy to use.

Here’s a discussion with Xero USA President Jamie Sutherland about the value of Xero, cloud computing fears and security nightmares. Watch it below or here.
Your Accountant and You
For growing businesses, your accountant and book keeper are important partners. Xero has a powerful set of features, enabling you and your accountant to work better together. For example, right from Xero, you can get help from your accountant. This is a simple feature that can make a big difference in getting you the right help you need, at the right time.
Visualize Your Money Flow
It can be hard to always understand the nuances of your money flow. Xero works hard to provide a simple dashboard to to give a you quick snap shot of what’s most important in regard to your money.  How much money is coming in, how much money is going out and what money is in your accounts.
Xero Dashboard
Bank Reconciliation Is No Longer A Pain
Do you enjoy reconciling your bank accounts? I sure don’t. Xero has invested a lot of time to understand the best way for you to reconcile your bank account.  With one click you can easily reconcile your bank’s records and Xero’s records to ensure your accounts are always up to date. Xero makes it so easy to manage your bank reconciliation that some business owners manage their banking on their phone.
Bank Reconciliation

Powerful integration and growth
While Xero by itself is powerful awesome, what’s even more impressive is that it integrates with a growing list of over  350 other business apps like Square, ZenPayroll and Constant Contact, allowing for a seamless and customized business solution.

Furthermore, Xero does not limit the number of users that can use it. So as your company grows, Xero grows with you.

Is Xero Built To Last
It’s important to know if the company powering your business will be around for the long term. With over 300,000 paying customers, $200 Million in the bank and investments from the like of PayPal found Peter Thiel, Xero is a strong company. It’s not a very young company, still in a “garage”, but it’s a mature company with the breadth and scale of services to serve your small business.

Want to enjoy your accounting with a better solution? Check out Xero
Posted on 2:40 PM | Categories:

Intuit quietly emerges as one of tech's most active M&A players

Cromwell Schubarth for the Silicon Valley Business Journal writes: Finance and tax software supplier Intuit Inc. isn't the first Silicon Valley company to come to mind as a major tech acquirer — but a new report suggests it should be.
The Mountain View company has been on a buying spree over the past two years, scooping up more companies in that time than it did in the previous five years combined.
Database research firm CB Insights ranks CEO Brad Smith's business as tech's fourth most-active buyer so far this year, tied withApple Inc. and trailing only Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Twitter Inc. in the frequent-buyers club.
It bought six companies in last year and has purchased eight so far in 2014, with the $360 million acquisition of Palo Alto-based Check in May as the biggest in that two-year stretch.
The most recent deal came in August when Intuit bought U.K.-based PaySuite to beef up the international presence of its QuickBooks Online small-business accounting service.
The company has been shifting away from its desktop software cash streams toward the cloud, hoping to bring in more predictable revenue flow. But this has come at a cost to its profit margins, which prompted at least one analyst to downgrade its stock to underweight.
Investors appear to approve of what Intuit is doing, pushing its stock up by more than 50 percent since it bottomed out in June 2013. Intuit's market capitalization in that time jumped from about $17 billion to more than $24 billion.
Smith has concentrated on buying up companies in Intuit's core business areas, doing four deals in accounting and finance and three in billing and expense management. All three of the billing deals happened in the past year, involving India-based Invitco, Southern California-based Lettuce and Massachusetts-based Prestwick Services.
Most of his purchases have been in California, where he has done 10 deals since 2008 and eight in the past two years.
Intuit's business development and strategy chief Andrew Westergren said earlier this year that the company is simply trying to seize opportunities to expand its impact on small business owners when they pop up.
"When we reach out to companies, we have typically already thought through deals, learned a lot about the business, and know the management team well. We may even have been partnering with them first for 6 months or so," he told Pando Daily. "When we make a proposal, there’s typically not multiple other companies bidding, which allows us to acquire at attractive valuations while still making for a positive outcome for all involved."
Whether Intuit will find more such opportunities isn't clear, but from the track record over the past two years it appears Smith is shopping and Intuit's stock price gives him the spending money he needs to strike when he sees something he likes.
Click here to subscribe to TechFlash Silicon Valley, the free daily email newsletter about the region's founders and funders.
Posted on 6:44 AM | Categories:

5 of the best mobile online billing software apps for business owners on the go / Looking for the right app for your business? We've got you covered.

Shelley Elmblad for Consumer Affairs writes: You don't leave your office without your smartphone or tablet with you. Take advantage of the power of your mobile device to increase your productivity and get paid faster by creating and sending invoices while you're on the job site, after a client meeting or you have some down time while traveling. Use one of these five top mobile billing apps to track time and expenses, too.

All of these apps have strong, bank level security for your data and they synch with low cost online billing and invoicing software in the cloud so you never lose your valuable information. Each of these online billing mobile apps is ranked highly by users, with Zoho Invoice and Freshbooks being rated highest. Download the apps from iTunes App Store or Google Play.

Freshbooks Mobile App

Freshbooks Mobile Apps
The Freshbooks mobile app has a crisp blue and white interface with a home screen with convenient one tap access to invoices, clients, time tracking and expenses. The tablet app looks especially impressive due to the additional screen real estate. If you find yourself in an area with no cell coverage or wifi, you can still use the Freshbooks app offline and data will sync with the online app as soon as your connection resumes.
Send estimates and invoices to clients directly from your mobile device, and if you have the client in your contact list, their information will be pulled into the estimate or invoice. After you send an invoice, you'll be able to check the status to determine if the client has viewed it.
Freshbooks Invoices
Track your hours for each project using the Freshbooks timer, which runs in the background on your phone or tablet. Billable time can be compared against budgets for each project, and time entries can be filtered so you can see what your colleagues have done. Team time sheets give you another view of what work has been done on a project.
Freshbooks Track Time
Documenting expenses is as easy as snapping a photo of a receipt, and expense receipts can be attached to invoices to pass the cost on to the client.
Freshbooks Capture Expenses
Freshbooks for Android phones and tablets requires Android 2.3.3 or higher. The Freshbooks for iPhone or iPad requires iOS 7 or later. The mobile app is free. See my Freshbooks review for online app pricing and other information.

Xero Mobile App 

Xero Mobile Apps
Xero for Android and iOS has a clean, uncluttered look that uses soft yet clear color throughout the app with red accents for calling attention to important details, like an overdue invoice. Xero has multiple currency support, something to consider if you have international clients.
Xero Dashboard
Use Xero to create and send invoices from your iPhone, iPad or Android phone or tablet, enter expenses and document them by snapping a photo of receipts with your devices's camera. The contact records feature the ability to keep notes on each customer and supplier and Xero will find customers and suppliers on a map, which is helpful when you're traveling to their offices.
Xero Invoices
Along with invoicing features, the Xero app can also connect to bank accounts, credit card accounts and PayPal. Transactions are automatically downloaded for each account every night and you can reconcile the accounts on your phone while keeping up to date on account balances.
Xero Expenses
Xero for iPhone or iPad requires iOS 6 or later. Requirements for Xero for Android are listed as depends on device. This mobile app is free, and an online Xero account is required. See my review for pricing and other details.

Zoho Invoice App

Zoho Mobile Apps
Open Zoho Invoice on your iOS or Android mobile device, and you'll see a dashboard with graphical reports that show current and overdue invoices, sales and expenses and other information. Estimates and invoices can be created easily using templates, then emailed, saved as a PDF or printed using Google Cloud Print. You can track the status of invoices and estimates and follow up with customers by sending them reminders from the app.
Zoho Dashboards
When expenses are entered, they can be can be categorized (travel, supplies, etc.), and you can snap a photo of receipts to attach to expenses. Zoho Invoice also has modules for time entries and a timer so you can accurately bill for your hourly rate work.
Zoho Expenses and Timers
Zoho Invoice supports multiple currencies and languages and can accept credit card payments.
Zoho Invoices
Zoho Invoice for iPhone or iPad requires iOS 7 or later. Zoho Invoice for Android phones and tablets requires Android 2.2 or later, and there's also a version for Windows Phones. The app is free, but you'll need an account with Zoho Invoice online billing software. See my review for more information.

Harvest Mobile App

Harvest Mobile Apps
The Harvest mobile app has strong features for time tracking, expense logging and project tracking all presented on a very simple light gray and orange interface. While you can use the app for accumulating billing information like time spent on projects, you'll need to use the browser on your phone or tablet to set up and send invoices as well as to set up new customers or projects and view reports.
Harvest Timesheets
Harvest tracks time spent on projects and on tasks while most other apps of this type only track project time. Tap a timer on and off to track your time accurately, or enter time in the Harvest app time sheets. Time entries work whether your mobile device has a connection or not. Enter mileage and expenses to be billed back to clients, and back up expenses with a photo of receipts.
Harvest Time Entry
You can view notes that others on your team have entered for projects. If you're set up as an administrator on the account, you can view the timers of other teammates to see what they are working on real time.
Harvest Team Status
The Harvest mobile app is free and requires a subscription to Harvest's online billing software. Read my review for pricing and more information. Harvest for iPhone and iPad requires iOS 7 or later, and the Harvest Android app requires Android 4.0 or higher.

Quickbooks Mobile App

Quickbooks Mobile Apps
QuickBooks Online for Android and iOS is a sophisticated yet very straight forward and easy to use billing app.
Create an estimate with the QuickBooks Online app, then convert it to an invoice with a couple of taps when the job is done. The invoices screen separates open, overdue and paid invoices which are represented as tiles showing the customer name, invoice number and date and the total. Tap on a tile to view the invoice details. Invoices can be emailed from the app, and you'll get an alert on your phone or tablet if a customer doesn't pay by the due date. Recent enhancements to the app allow for adding custom information to invoices, locations, service dates and transaction numbers. The app also creates receipts.
Quickbooks Invoices
Enter and categorize expenses, and snap a photo of a receipt to document an expense. The expenses module shows a breakdown of expenses at a glance with a pie chart and more detailed information below the chart.
Quickbooks Expenses
In addition to billing and expenses, the Quicken Online app has a decent module for tracking customers. You can keep notes on customers with images, which is especially helpful if you work in a design business. Each customer record lists estimates, invoices, payments, notes and balance due. You can also call, email or find the customer location on a map with one tap in this module.
Quickbooks Customer Notes
With all that the QuickBooks Online app has to offer, it's missing one thing every other app on this list offers: a timer for project work.
QuickBooks Online for Android mobile devices requires Android 4.0 or higher. The iPhone and iPad app requires iOS 7 or later. The app is free, but requires a Quicken Online subscription, which currently offers a free trial. Read my QuickBooks Online Simple Start review for pricing and details.
Posted on 6:39 AM | Categories: