August 2007
 A Message from Doug Sleeter  

It’s back to school time already! And with that comes "training camp " season for accountants and software consultants. Just like a sports team who goes into training camp for several months before each season, this is your time to get your team together and focus on the upcoming year.  It’s a time to bone-up on the technology trends and solutions your clients will demand in the coming year. Your success depends on staying ahead of the curve so clients see you as their expert, and someone who can handle their growing needs.

To test yourself on how "ahead of the curve" you already are, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Does my firm have the right hardware and software to adequately meet the needs of my clients?
  • Does my staff have the knowledge necessary to handle the evolving needs of clients?
  • What are the new technologies that will affect my practice in the coming year?
  • Can our firm help clients who ask us for help with:
    • CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems
    • Inventory control
    • Web shopping carts
    • Point-of-Sale
    • Time and Billing
    • Paperless workflows
  • Can our firm remotely access our clients’ QuickBooks, or other data files? Do we know the best technologies to use for remote access?
  • What is the QuickBooks SDK and what is possible with it? How do other software companies SDKs work.
  • What are the features of Peachtree and how do they compare with QuickBooks?
  • What is Office Accounting from Microsoft? Is it the right solution for my clients?
  • How will online accounting technologies help my firm deliver services to my client base?
  • Have we adequately planned and implemented security and protections of confidential client information?
You might not know all the answers, but if you’re not asking the questions, your firm will surely fall behind the curve. It’s a never ending process, so set a policy for your firm that embraces, encourages, and even requires continuous learning. The most successful professionals are constantly in learning mode.

To help you ask (and ANSWER) the questions above, we hope you’ll join us at our annual Accounting Software Consulting Conference, held on October 24-26 in Las Vegas. At this event, you’ll get a one-stop-shopping experience for what’s new in the accounting software technology world, in addition to a great networking opportunity with all of the top consulting professionals in the US, Canada, and the U.K.

We’re filling up fast, so sign up today. Early registration discounts end on August 23, and we’ve sold out early for the past 3 years in a row.

 Moving Accounting Software Online  

Ok, it’s finally starting to happen. And it’s happening FAST!

What’s happening fast? Online accounting. Along with online banking, ecommerce, online CRM, and just about every other application you can think of. People are finally starting to use this stuff, and it’s growing fast!

Back in 1999, I predicted that the future of accounting software would leave the desktop PCs we all use, and almost exclusively be on the Web. I said we would no longer purchase licenses for software delivered on CD, then install it on the PC and use it locally on a PC or the office LAN. I predicted it would happen within 3-5 years), so obviously I was wrong about the timing, but I don’t think I’m wrong about the concept. 

The reason I’m convinced this will happen is the economics on the supplier side. If you think about it, the typical software developer (one who sells desktop software on CD) has an incredibly inefficient delivery system. The development cycle is somewhere between several months and several years, followed by long testing cycles, and then when the software if finally ready for release, there is a delay of between 30 and 60 days for CDs to be manufactured and distributed to the reseller channels. But by then, the software is already getting old (competitively speaking), and there are several bugs or new features to be addressed. So the cycle starts over again. It’s often 3 months to a a year later before customers have access to bug fixes and new features. How inefficient! It’s pretty amazing we call that high tech if you think about it.

In addition to the efficiency problem, consider the costs of all this for the software developer. Not only is it expensive to manufacture and distribute software on CD, it’s also expensive in terms of the time lag between final software and revenue from customers. So this whole software on CD business is simply doomed. Already we’re seeing many software developers moving away from it towards online delivery, and it’s only a matter of time before software on CD is a thing of the past.

I’ll be writing more on this topic in the coming months about solutions in the marketplace that you really help you improve your efficiencies by moving your computing to the online world. Stay tuned.

 2007 Accounting Software Consulting Conference Update  



The Sleeter Group’s annual conference will be held October 23-26, 2007 at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The main conference is a three day event (10/24-26) plus three optional “Pre-Conference Sessions” on Tuesday 10/23/07.

The big news is that the Break Out Sessions Are Now Posted – Check out the 60+ break out session descriptions.

Early Bird Discount Ends Thursday, August 23rd!
The early bird discount deadline for registering is just around the corner. Early bird registrations receive a $100 discount off the regular conference price.

We have over 40 companies attending the conference to exhibit their products and services. Check out all of our Exhibitor companies here.

Click here to check out all the FREE stuff attendees receive.

We recently mailed our 2007 conference flyer to our previous seminar and conference attendees. if you have not received one, click here to view the flyer (PDF). If you do not receive mailings from us – sign up for our mailing list. Visit our Conference/Seminar page for full details and to register.

Members of The Sleeter Group Consultants Network receive a discount on conference registration for both the pre conference sessions and the main conference. For information on joining the network visit our Become a Consultant page.

 Product Release News  

The 2007 Learning QuickBooks Step-by-Step Teaching System is at the printer and will be ready to ship the week of August 27th. Place your pre order now and you will be one of the first to receive the product.

Thanks to our great team of QuickBooks experts, writers, and reviewers, we have another high-quality product that helps accountants and consultants teach seminars without having to reinvent the wheel. These books are combined with sample data files, end-of-chapter reviews and tests, and additional test banks that help you test the students’ retention of the material. The teacher resources include PowerPoint slides, instructor manuals, solution data files, seminar planning and marketing resources, and additional testing tools.

Our 2007 QuickBooks Complete College Textbook will also be available the week of August 27th. This textbook includes the combined content from the Fundamentals and Intermediate books in one complete book covering nearly every aspect of QuickBooks. In addition, there is a comprehensive "problem" at the end of the book that can be used as the final exam, or can be used to verify QuickBooks skills during the hiring process.

If you give seminars, teach classes, or are considering getting into the training area, consider attending our one day train-the-trainer seminar on using these materials to grow your practice. QuickBooks Train the Trainer Seminar, led by Amy Vetter, CPA.CITP, which will be held on October 23rd at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. Visit www.sleeter.com/seminars to register.

  An Update on Fishbowl Inventory  

John David King - Fishbowl InventoryHere’s the latest report from John David King of Fishbowl Inventory.

Everything at Fishbowl is on the move! The release Fishbowl 5.0 created a huge level of interest in the mid-size market. These larger companies are now able to utilize our robust inventory control software in tandem with QuickBooks—and save thousands. We are excited to offer the features that many of the mid-sized companies need from inventory control software. Having said that, please continue to let us know what features your clients are looking for so that we can work to make Fishbowl better and better.

In addition to the higher level of interest from potential Fishbowl users, we are also dealing with an extremely high volume of calls from our current customers. The new features offer great possibilities but also come with a learning curve; our support team is working tirelessly to ensure that everyone gets the help they need. I appreciate the patience the members of The Sleeter Group have shown while we work through this transition and want to let you know that we will be adding new members to our support team soon.

Our VAR program is also experiencing a swell of interest and the success of our reseller network is continuing to grow. We had seven resellers attend our VAR Training in July and it was a great session. For the first time, all attendees for the training were Sleeter Group Consultant Network members, and they were an amazing group of professionals that taught as much as they learned.

For those who have gone to www.fishbowlinventory.com and taken advantage of Fishbowl Essentials, those trainings are now available on streaming video so you can learn the software when it is convenient. There is also a list of extremely helpful training videos that cover QuickBooks integration, serialized tracking, unit of measure conversion and more. You can view these at: http://www.fishbowlinventory.com/training/training_videos.php

I am looking forward to attending my first Sleeter Group conference and will see all of you in Las Vegas!

... John David King, Fishbowl VAR Manager

 Tricks of the Trade  

Every day, members of The Sleeter Group’s Consultants Network tackle the day-to-day problems of their clients in the real world. The following is an example problem and solution that surfaced this month on our "Sleeter Group’s Consultants Network Yahoo Group".

Question: I have a client who wants to move from QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions to QuickBooks Pro but they are still using Assisted Payroll.  I thought I saw somewhere that a new data file can be done but some intervention on Intuit’s part is needed?

Answer: Bonnie Nagayama responded: The only success I have had in this situation is to start with the Assisted Payroll data recovery team to create the new Pro or Premier file (so all the payroll is downloaded first) and then do the file transfer work to move the other transactional data from QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions to QuickBooks Pro or QuickBooks Premier.

Update: It is just as Bonnie said. It took a little over an hour with Intuit to get this particular file running, but we finally got it working.

 The Sleeter Group's Consultants Network  

The Sleeter Group’s Consultants Network is the nation’s premier accounting software consultant’s network. With over 500 members located throughout the US and Canada, our members serve over 30,000 small businesses. We provide expert QuickBooks consulting, add-on integration services, business process workflow consulting, outsourced bookkeeping services, and financial statement preparation.
In addition to client consulting, many of our consultants provide consulting services to software developers who seek advice on the best practices for integrating their applications with QuickBooks and other accounting software products. To located one of our certified consultants visit our Find a Consultant page. To learn more about becoming a consultant visit our Become a Consultant page or call our office at 888-484-5484. Members of the network receive a substantial discount on products and our annual conference.

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