Given this, app integration is paramount for QBO to automate workflows between apps. Apps.com is central to adoption and growth so that customers using the cloud version can customize how they use QBO in the same way they could customize the desktop version.
Which brings us to the 2015 Scaling New Heights Conference in New Orleans. One of the largest events of its kind, SNH brings together accountants, QuickBooks consultants, ProAdvisors and other service providers to showcase the newest technologies that keeps finances running within businesses. Here are three integration takeaways from the conference:
1) Integration is a Priority for ProAdvisors: From speaking with many advisors at the conference, ProAdvisors are rapidly growing their QBO integration toolkit for how best to advise clients. QBO did much to ease the burden of using QuickBooks but end users still need customization. To do that, ProAdvisors are flocking to easy-to-use-and-implement integration solutions that connect QBO to other apps within the business.
2) Integration Needs to Be Powerful: Given the customization of how businesses use QBO, integrations needs to be powerful but it can’t be unusable. For example, keeping track of custom fields that represent orders, invoices, and payments needs to be able to transform data into another app’s data structure with ease. This has not traditionally been simple or straightforward. Security of financial information is also paramount.
3) But Integration Must Be Simple: At the end of the day, apps work for people, not the other way around. An integration solution can be the most powerful tool but if it cannot be easily used, implemented, or updated, it’s no good to the small business owner that needs to run their business without errors. ProAdvisors described many stories of their clients and their human stories. These folks can’t spend time learning to become a programmer or sink a good chunk of their monthly revenue in app integration (which is sometimes more than the apps themselves!)
