QuickBooks Online is the bridge for Miami Accountants today’s featured between their world and their clients.

In the accounting profession, there are Miami Accountants and there are “I-Count-Its” (say it out loud to get it). There are those who are working diligently to be advisors and consultants to their clients and there are others who excel at balancing and counting what historically happened. Both are very much needed and both can be very successful in their careers. But no matter which end (or middle) of the spectrum you fall, your clients need you to embrace some bits of the world they live in. It’s simpler than ever to build bridges between worlds and the time is NOW to make it happen before your peers do it for you.

Miami Accountants world is cloud-based (cloud = internet). Our clients are embracing technology faster than we are. They are looking for every way they can have faster access to information by using mobile devices and integrated applications. They are depending on more reliability in their data with less effort to put it together.

We must raise the bar of our profession to at least visit their world from time to time. They are searching for our stamp of approval of their methods. They don’t want to leave us behind. But how can we be part of their world if we don’t even know the language they’re speaking? The way we live has proven successful and we work really hard to keep it that way. No one can deny how hard we work! But what if a few new tactics could make living in our world a little easier, help us visit and understand our clients’ world, and merge our efforts to save time for everyone?

QuickBooks Online Accountant is today’s featured “bridge between worlds.” Give this FREE online application a try! It provides Miami Accountants tools to manage all of your online clients from one login screen (no more keeping track of everyone else’s passwords). You can do as much (data entry, reconciliations, etc.) or as little (pulling reports) as you need in each client’s file – oh – and it’s anytime, anywhere access so you can fit it flexibly into your world! I spend a lot of time helping my clients find a solution that works for them. And it is more and more often QuickBooks Online. It is quite different from the QuickBooks programs we are used to, but it is easy to learn and our clients feel more at home in it.

Our World

Gustavo A Viera, Accountant are Miami Accountants, and where I call home. The world we live in is similar to most small/midsize Accountant firms. Our firm provides Audit, Tax, and Advisory services to our clients and has done so for 40 years now. As part of our advisory services, we have a team of QuickBooks ProAdvisors who have spent the past 15 years becoming the experts locally and recognized nationally. I have been in this world for 7 of those years and find it fascinating, challenging, and very rewarding.

Just over 4 years ago, I was introduced to my first QuickBooks Online client. We had a lot of cleanup and catch-up to do with them as we assisted them in their accounting needs. I picked it up easily and thanks to this loyal client, we have watched it grow into a wonderful product that I can offer to anyone I talk to. My favorite features as an accountant are:

• Anytime, anywhere access – I was able to continue helping this client despite having two children over the years and being out of the office for a time
• Overall intuitive user interface – it just makes sense (as does QuickBooks Desktop), but things work as they logically should instead of learning the backdoor workaround to help clients
• Online banking download – the interface to code downloaded transactions has recently been updated and it is really slick. I think it’s far superior to QuickBooks Desktop versions.
• No file maintenance – Intuit is maintaining and backing up the file. The file is always secure and there is never data corruption.
• Think of your world. What do you love about it? Where do you find disconnects in the way you live versus the ways your clients live? How much is it costing you to be unaware of the tools your clients want you to be using?

Their World

Here are five aspects of their world that make QuickBooks Online Accountant a very logical and effective bridge to bring more benefits to your client service. Maybe you can even get a few eyebrow raises from your clients who are surprised and think it’s awesome that you’re in their world! And your accounting practice will grow because the benefit is not only on the client’s side.

#1: Anytime, anywhere access

Miami Accountants and our clients are accessing information at their fingertips anytime, anywhere. They want to work when they’re sitting in the doctor’s office or waiting for a plane flight. In their world, the benefits of the cloud greatly outweigh the costs for purchasing devices and subscriptions to access their information.

If we want to be a place where they are excited to spend their money, we need to offer benefits that cater to their world. They can find QuickBooks Online with or without us (we prefer with us, right?). But when we tell them they can give us free access to their file, they are excited to get us involved. They have immediate access to the work we’ve done for them, which prompts them to be excited to pay us. Then they ask us to provide more services, which grows our practice.

#2: Continuous improvements

Our clients are using applications on their devices that are constantly improving, through competition and/or in-product enhancements. They purchase a product and expect to receive the benefits of future developments as part of the cost.

Intuit is continuously investing a lot of resources to make QuickBooks Online better, providing enhancements as often as possible. When you help your clients work on QuickBooks Online, you are providing the environment that they find the most value in. And that makes them feel that you are more valuable.

Also, QuickBooks Online Accountant – the interface you are using to access their data – is also constantly being improved. More information is being added; a better interface and user experience was recently developed; and when a new accounting tool (discussed later) is available, it’s there for our benefit at no additional cost.

#3: Technical Support on demand

Clients mess things up; their dogs eat their homework; and someone may be blamed for something they didn’t do. While they’re screaming HELP inside, they often just ask their phone the frustrating question and get an answer right away.

With QuickBooks Online Accountant, you can be their technical support on demand. They will value your services when you can respond right away without the hassle of transferring files back and forth. Or, Intuit has a great QuickBooks online technical support that is chat-based, email-based, or phone-based according to the client’s preference. You can use it too. It’s relaxing to know that you have resources you can turn to if the client needs are beyond your current expertise.

#4: Accounting fix-its

Their world is evolving to let them do the work instead of paying the professionals to do it for them. Embrace it. Train them on the things they can do for themselves. And then set in motion a monthly or quarterly review to check their work. They will value your services more.

There are additional accounting tools available in QuickBooks Online Accountant that will help you complete clean-up tasks and provide powerful support to your clients. Intuit’s website lists the tools currently available.

#5: Integrated Applications

Many people are outsourcing accounting services work – not necessarily to people, but more often to software. They are using specific-need software for the different aspects of their business and then expecting the accounting to be taken care of for them. QuickBooks Desktop has paved the way for this expectation and QuickBooks Online is no exception. Many successful developers have tailored their software so that QuickBooks Online is updated in real-time with information readily available anytime, anywhere.

Being more involved in their world by using QuickBooks Online Accountant is just one way we can be more successful as Miami Accountants. Our clients will involve us as citizens of their world (i.e. members of their team) when we display efforts and expertise of the world they live in.