Coming Out of the Pandemic | CLEARIFY

Coming Out of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In a world of differing professional opinions, news, tabloid sensationalism and punditry, one fact has surfaced about COVID-19: it has affected our lives in so many ways.

In our community sphere we have lost loved ones who participate in our QQube Certified Solution Provider Program, and in other cases, some personal acquaintances.  My heart reaches out to those families, as well as anybody in our community who has faced life challenges as the result of this virus.

I have talked to many people around the country, and listened to their stories.  Some were sad, yet so many were resilient, that it gave me hope.  Hope that our American fighting spirit would overcome whatever challenges we face.  We have several hundred years of this - it is still in our genes; or so I would like to believe.

CLEARIFY during COVID-19

We have been blessed with incredible growth for the past 18 months, so much so, that I wondered if I were living in the real world.  For that, we are all grateful here.  It means jobs, stability, and a chance to feel normal in tumultuous times.

It also means that we have opportunities to provide better tools that will benefit more businesses as they ramp up, or even begin anew.

Our Constant Challenges

Much of what we do at CLEARIFY® follows two specific strategies: 

• "Get better at what we do best"
• "Don't be afraid to finish what you start"

We don't worry about what other companies do, or say - we focus on what our customers want, and we stick to that focus. There is always a tug to move forward into new technologies, but it has to be balanced with an assurance that we will not blindly follow the herd like wildebeests.

We also face challenges as a 3rd party application attaching to QuickBooks.

1. Intuit doesn't make it easy to access the data.  Bugs that will never be fixed, data holes, and no direct access to the database.
2. QuickBooks desktop issues. Large file sizes, and data corruption.
3. Barriers and ease of use. Although we eliminate 80% of the time it would take to create analytics as opposed to starting from scratch, it requires education and reading when it comes to using the app you want, or using pivot tables, power query, or even Power BI DAX formulas.

What We Accomplished

We focused on two areas: product bug fixes and enhancements, and improving the customer experience 

1. Product Releases. From August through February we released 5 product upgrades including over 60 bug fixes, improvements in the installation process, and enhancements to our out-of-the box power bi examples.
2. Simplify and update the language in our how-to-guides.  One of the problems with not having a direct access to the QuickBooks desktop database, is that it requires specific steps to implementation - not all of which are very intuitive, and most are impossible to automate.
3. Clean up the website. Sounds simple, but was incredibly difficult with over 475 pages of information. It is important to use the same message in places where it is repeated.
4. New shopping cart.  New technology, better experience, ability to grow.
5. Instructional videos.  We have been absent on completing those for a long time.  We now cover everything from implementation to using QQube with certain applications like Power BI. QQube Demos and Webinars | CLEARIFY

What is Next

We are working on two areas:

• Online QuickBooks
• Desktop QuickBooks

ONLINE QUICKBOOKS

When we forayed into the Online QuickBooks, it was incredibly disappointing, because of the lack of some necessary features that would allow the online product to be as proficient as the desktop offering.  In some cases they gave us information in one object, and corresponding information in another object - and no way to tie them together.

Fortunately our CEO has had a two decades + long relationship with Intuit to engage them on future needs.

It is also important to realize that thousands of Intuit employees have had it very difficult in San Jose, CA during this pandemic - working from home, taking care of children.  I am sure many of you can relate - especially when you are used to working in close proximity every day - including weekends.

We will release what we CAN do in this first iteration, but it will be limited to finance - both details and summaries.  Specific emphasis will be Power BI out of the Box.

DESKTOP QUICKBOOKS

Every couple of years, there is chatter that the Enterprise Desktop people will make major improvements in data extraction, or at least update the Intuit SDK to reflect the few things they have added in the last few years.  It never happens.

In fact Intuit has only made one tiny change to the SDK in the last 5+ years - and that was to accommodate the new 1099 form, for a particular 3rd party application.

So our challenge is to provide continued improvement in our desktop product to ensure that a subscription renewal is something more than better help desk.

In our upcoming Versions (We are skipping 8 and 9 - all the way to 10) we have several things that will make customers happy they renewed their subscription:

1. Only pull in what years you need from your QuickBooks file.
2. Faster method of pulling in data from large files.
3. Control over "current period" and "today's date".
4. Incredible new Power BI and Power Pivot metrics that will far surpass anything you have seen to date - in any application.
5. EBITDA.
6. More Balance Sheet Analytics.
7. Improved support for dealing with synching multiple QuickBooks company files.

We have road maps in place to keep us busy - and customers happy - for years to come.

We hope that everyone remains healthy and safe.