Chuck's Reporting Corner January 2008

I am excited to contribute this series to The Sleeter Group. In the coming months you can expect articles on custom reporting, data access, ODBC, integration or on whatever topic the group might like to learn more about.

Four years ago I sold off most of my business interests to focus on QuickBooks data access which started me off on a journey that included many late nights of trials and tribulations.

When Intuit introduced the Software Development Kit (SDK) in 2002, QuickBooks users could go beyond the “export, cut, and paste” technology because the SDK offered a better import mechanism than the quirky IIF files which many of us learned out of necessity.

The Story

In 2004 I embarked on one of my internet research journeys to look for an ODBC driver for QuickBooks – knowing very little about the SDK, and how the QuickBooks data was structured. From my days working with mainframes, databases, Peachtree, MAS90, Great Plains, I figured there had to be a better way to create custom reports for my clients.

I came upon a product called QODBC by FLEXquarters and after installing a beta version, I began to persistently insist about some type of working relationship with their team. Our companies soon saw the benefit a partnership, and we made an arrangement where my organization would be called FLEXquarters Solutions, and we would get all the leads for custom work and reporting.

Wow, instant business!

What ensued for the next four years was a roller coaster ride of testing, feedback, surprises, frustrations, visits with Intuit engineers, and sometimes flat out failure. We learned about every nuance and quirk that you can imagine – while struggling to serve thousands of customers, and finish jobs in an efficient manner. My team became the pioneers – and the guinea pigs. The gray hairs appeared rather quickly, I might add.

The Future

Given the current state of the Intuit Software Development Kit, the QODBC technology has matured to the point that there will probably not be many further changes – other than speed improvements. Anything the Software Development Kit makes available, the QODBC driver contains.

Does this mean that this is as good as it is going to get? Well, I have to take the Intuit corporate line, and say “no comment”. But let’s be clear – this is what we have; and it has enabled the Intuit community to create thousands of solutions that have helped companies aggregate better information, and in some cases keep customers in the QuickBooks product family.

Information for the Sleeter Group

From our class offerings, it has become clearer to me that picking up Crystal Reports – or any report writer - and investing the time it takes to be proficient, is not for everybody. I know how difficult it is for us – even after 4 years, and hundreds of report templates.

However, this does not mean that the less technically inclined pro-advisor can’t use ODBC, or learn about what it does.

In the coming year, I want to acquaint members with some of the tricks we have learned, expose some of the myths about data availability, and provide some step by step Excel examples that can be used without having to become a rocket scientist.

I have agreed to do this, because I have always felt that the Sleeter Group members were the cream of the crop in the Intuit community, and that the words of wisdom I may have – small as they are – may empower them with another skill set advantage.

Happy tax season!

Future Articles:

Expect to see the following address in future articles:

• Why there is not direct access to the new SQL database
• About “optimization”
• What information is not available through the ODBC driver
• Excel examples