The Desktop Accountant
February 2002 The Sleeter Group
Creating a
Remote Access Session
Viewing and
Controlling your Client’s QuickBooks Application
QuickBooks Remote Access gives you the flexibility to work on a client's QuickBooks company file from almost any remote location.
Using Remote Access, you can view, remotely control, and annotate you client’s QuickBooks file to train, analyze and solve problems.
You might want to use Remote Access to show a client how to use a feature, or to troubleshoot a problem directly on his or her computer.
QuickBooks Remote Access service provides the following features.
Chat—Allows you and your client to send and receive messages during the Remote Access session.
Application sharing—Allows you to view, remotely control, and annotate a client’s QuickBooks application.
Some considerations about the Remote Access feature:
q The consultant must have the Accountant Edition to remotely access clients on all editions of QuickBooks 2002. The Premiere (non Accountant) edition can only initiate remote access sessions with other Premier editions. The Basic and Pro editions cannot initiate remote access sessions.
q The consultant must pay an additional fee to use the remote access service after a free 12-month subscription – from the date you install QuickBooks 2002. After the free period, WebEx will bill you a nominal fee (yet to be determined) per month.
q Both you and the client must have an active Internet connection.
q Slow dial-up connections will make it difficult for the consultant to do extensive work, but for quick troubleshooting or training sessions, the performance on dial-up connections is quite adequate.
q This is not a solution for creating an ASP server of QuickBooks files. Only one person can control the computer on which QuickBooks is running. Either the remote consultant, or the person in front of the computer.
Setting up for Remote Access
Consultant Setup
Before you can use the remote support feature, you must launch QuickBooks Premier (or Accountants Edition), connect to the WebEx website and create a user account for yourself.
To set up your account:
1. Launch QuickBooks and select Business Services Navigator from the Company menu (see Figure 1).
2. Click on the Access QB Remotely link on the screen shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 QuickBooks Business Services Navigator
3. On the screen shown in Figure 2 , scroll down and click on Sign Up Now.
Figure 2 QuickBooks Remote Access Information screen
4. Enter your email address and user information and then click Sign Up Now (Figure 3).
Figure 3 QuickBooks Remote Access Sign Up screen
5. After WebEx processes your account information, you’ll see a confirmation screen as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4 Setup complete screen
6. Click OK and you’ll see the Setup is complete page shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5 QuickBooks Remote Access Support screen (no session started)
You’re now ready to begin supporting clients remotely. To begin a remote support session, see the next section.
Consultant Instructions
Creating a Remote Access Session
To create a remote access support session with your client, follow the steps below. There are two separate sets of instructions: one for the consultant and one for the client.
1. Launch QuickBooks Premier Accountants Edition and open a company file (it doesn’t matter which company you open).
2. From the Accountants drop down menu select “Remote Access.”
3. Click “Start a Session.”
4. If this is your first Remote Access session, your browser prompts you to allow it to download a small plug-in from WebEx. Click Yes.
Figure 6 Security warning about downloading the WebEx client software
5. Once you begin the session, WebEx provides you with a URL and a unique Support Number (see Figure 7). To invite your client to join the support session, enter their name and email address and click Invite. Then, instruct the client to click the link as instructed in the email. The client's web browser will automatically launch and show the "Join Support Session" screen with the client's name and Support Number already filled in. Instruct the client to click the Join button. If your client does not see the Join button on their screen, see Client Instructions below.
Figure
7
OnCall Support
Session screen - Client not logged on
6. Once your client has entered the session, the grayed-out fields on your computer become active (see Figure 8). At this point you can view or control your client’s QuickBooks application or chat with your client.
Figure
8
OnCall Support
Session screen - Client logged on
Chatting with your Client
The Chat feature works like an Instant Messenger, allowing you and your client to send and receive messages during a Remote Access session. This feature is particularly helpful if you or the client has a single phone line and is unable to use the phone during the remote access session.
How to use the Chat feature:
1. Click Start Chat on the screen shown in Figure 8 . This will open the WebEx chat window shown in Figure 9.
Figure
9
WebEx Chat
window
2. When you enter chat text and click Send, WebEx automatically opens the same WebEx Chat screen on your client’s computer and shows the text you entered. The chat feature uses the session user names to identify each chat participant’s portion of the text.
Figure 10 Chat screen with messages between consultant and client
3. Click X in the upper right corner of the screen to close the window when you’re finished with the chat session.
Viewing and Controlling your Client’s QuickBooks Application
The view feature allows you to see your client’s application and to watch your client as he or she uses the program. Application Sharing allows you to control your client’s computer remotely while your client observes you using the program.
How to view or control your client’s QuickBooks application:
1. Click Request Application View or Request Application Control on the screen shown in Figure 8 .
2. Wait for your client to give permission for you to control their system. You’ll see the screen shown in Figure 11. At the same time, your client sees a screen that says “Do you want to allow the support representative to share control of your application?” (See Figure 19 .) Instruct your client to click OK on this screen. Then click OK on your screen shown in Figure 11.
Figure 11 Waiting for permission to control client computer
3. Click QuickBooks Pro in the WebEx Remote Support Console (Figure 12) and click Share.
Figure
12
WebEx Remote
Support console
4. You’ll now see your client’s QuickBooks application inside of an Application Control window as shown in Figure 13.
5. To control your client’s computer, click your mouse. (If you are in Application Viewing, this option is not available to you.) When you have control, you can do everything the client can do within the QuickBooks application. However, you cannot go outside of QuickBooks to view or control any other applications.
Figure 13 View of remote QuickBooks window inside of the Application Control window
6. The Sharing menu at the top of the Application Control screen (Figure 14) controls annotating and allows you to stop sharing with the client.
Figure 14 Application Control window - The drop-down menu shown
Client Instructions
After you (the accountant) successfully establish a support session, instruct your client to follow these steps:
1. Open their email client and get their email.
2. Click on the link as instructed in the email. If the client has not registered with WebEx, click Setup for New Users on the screen shown in Figure 15. .
Figure 15 WebEx Log In screen
3. This brings up the WebEx OnCall site as shown in Figure 17 .
4. Click Join a session.
Figure 16 WebEx OnCall support site
5. Enter your first name only, or leave the name field blank. The Consultant will provide you with a support number. Enter the support number in the Support Number field. Then click Join.
Figure
17
Join Support Session screen - Enter first
name only and support number provided by your consultant
6. You are now ready for your accountant to view or control your QuickBooks application.
Figure
18
OnCall Support Session - Not currently sharing with
consultant
7. When your consultant wants to control your computer, you’ll see the message shown in Figure 19. Click OK.
Figure 19 Request for application sharing
8. Then select the QuickBooks Pro application and click Share.
Figure 20 Application Control window
9. When your consultant is controlling your QuickBooks application, whenever you move your mouse you’ll see a message saying your consultant has control. To take control back, click your mouse.
Figure
21
Consultant controlling client computer
10. To suspend sharing with your consultant, select Stop Sharing from the Sharing menu at the top right of your screen.
Figure 22 Sharing menu on remotely controlled computer
Troubleshooting and Support
QuickBooks Versions
If you see the screen in Figure 23 or if your client sees the screen in Figure 24, there are two possible causes. First, the obvious one is that your client may not have QuickBooks version 2002 (Basic, Pro or Premier) installed. The second possibility is some problem with the QuickBooks installation. The fastest way to resolve this problem is to have your client reinstall their QuickBooks application from CD.
Figure 23 Consultants view of QuickBooks 2002 not available
Figure 24 Client's view of QuickBooks 2002 not available
Multiple Users
If you have a 5-user license for QuickBooks, you can have 5 copies of QuickBooks Premier sharing a single data file. Obviously, the data file must be on a network drive for this to work.
There has been a lot of confusion from users who think they can setup QuickBooks Premier on a single computer and use the other four licenses to provide other people with remote access to that computer. Of course, like all windows applications, only one person at a time can control the QuickBooks application on the host computer at any given time.
If your goal is to provide five users with remote access to the same data file, you will need to install five separate licenses of QuickBooks Premier onto 5 separate computers. The computers must be connected using a Local Area Network (e.g. Windows NT or Novell). Each of the five users can then remotely access their assigned computer (e.g. the computer in their office). While the user has remote access of the office computer, no one else in the office can use that computer.
WebEx Accounts
Each copy of QuickBooks can have its own Remote Access Account. However, you can only setup two computers per account. So if you have 5 computers, you will need to set up 3 additional accounts. When you register as a WebEx user, WebEx links the user’s email address (log-in name) and password to the computer you are using to register. If you set up a computer with your email address and password, no one else can access QuickBooks on that computer unless they have your account information. So if there is one computer that several different people need to remotely control, you must provide everyone with the specific login name and password for the account associated with that computer.
Account Expired Message
If you receive a message from WebEx stating that your account is expired, there are two possible causes. The most likely is also the most obvious – your account is expired. Since you receive a free 12-month subscription (from the day you install QuickBooks 2002) you should not receive this message until that free trial period is ended. If you do, it could be that you are using the QuickBooks sample file. Intuit has programmed a 2003 date into that file and this could confuse WebEx. Also, if you upgrade a QuickBooks data file from an older version of QuickBooks, WebEx may think that you have been operating QuickBooks 2002 for longer than 12 months, creating the false Account Expiration Message.
If you run into any of these problems, send an email to WebEx’s technical support department at intuitsupport@webex.com.
Conclusion
This new feature of QuickBooks 2002 is probably one of the most important additions to QuickBooks. Accountants and clients need to trade data, and this makes that process much easier. We applaud Intuit for finding an integrated solution that provides real value to both accountants and their clients.
Expert Assistance Available through Our Web Site!
Does the following scenario sound familiar to you?
Oh, my gosh! One of my clients just phoned me with a QuickBooks® file problem that I have never seen. How can he possibly expect me to get this resolved and back to him with my busy tax season schedule? I know how to use QuickBooks® and have seen many strange issues with the files but this is new to me. Does anyone know where I could get help?
As you know, the answer to this dilemma is www.sleeter.com. On this website there are several possible technical support options to help you to support your clients. In this month’s column, I would like to introduce you to these options – to help you better serve your clients with difficult QuickBooks issues. Which technical support option you use depends on the uniqueness of the problem and how quickly you need access to the technical information.
Any registered visitor to our site can post questions and seek advice in our public forum. Just click on this link www.sleeter.com/forums and select whether you want to publish a question or comment about QuickBooks® or some other accounting software subject. If you are not registered or if you have disabled cookies on your Internet browser, you may need to log in before posting your question. Then, your question will be available for all of our registered users to see and respond.
First, you can search for an answer to your issue in our Knowledgebase, www.sleeter.com/kbase. To do this, click this link and select the general subject area from the drop-down menu. If you want to further restrict your search, enter additional keywords to your search. Note: Restricting the search with too many keywords may generate no results in your search.
Additionally, the common issues that have caused difficulty for our members have been consolidated into our Consultants Reference Guide. This reference guide of over 500 pages serves as a desk-side answer to many of the problems clients experience in errors with their files or procedures in QuickBooks®. You can order your copy from our web site: http://sleeter.store.yahoo.com/quicconrefgu.html.
Improvements to Certified Consultants Program for 2002.
The Sleeter
Group Certified Consultants Network (CCN) is a nationwide network of accountants
and consultants whom we support with technical and marketing assistance, products
(and product updates), training, services, and business referrals. We provide
credibility for you and your firm through testing, use of The Sleeter Group
logo, and a prominent presence on our website that receives thousands of hits
per month. We also have a suite of web-based services we offer exclusively
to members of our network. With the launch of our new website, the program
benefits have grown to include on-line management of client folders, an interactive
forum for members, and a searchable knowledgebase of information.
Additionally,
for the 2002 season, The Sleeter Group is offering over 50 seminars in 32
cities nationwide. Seminar prices this year are the same as last year and
our network members get discounts for the NASBA-certified seminars of up to
50%.
|
Program
Benefits |
Standard |
Value** |
Premier |
Value** |
|
On-line Folder Management |
Yes |
$240 |
Yes |
$240 |
|
Testing/Certification |
Yes |
Note 1 |
Yes |
Note 1 |
|
Web Profile |
Yes |
$100 |
Yes |
$100 |
|
Members-only Forum |
Yes |
Note 1 |