This is part 3 of 3 in a series by Woody Adams. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. 

“QuickBooks Desktop looks old”… Let me end this series with a story that happened to me recently. I set aside 30 minutes to help a sales agent on our team overcome the Open Windows objection, as she sells the current 5 for $25 deal to accountant firms. You know, where you can get 5 QuickBooks Online Plus subs in your QuickBooks Online under wholesale billing for $5 each? Killer deal…Let’s call her “Camille”. Camille recently joined Intuit right out of college, a young millennial, a bright and shining example of the type of person you are wanting to hire or take on as a client.

She wanted to know more about what an accountant means when they complain about QuickBooks Online and how QuickBooks Desktop is so much easier to work in from a workflow standpoint, because of the Open Window list. I showed her in my QBA 2017, opened up a few reports, the register, a check etc, and the Open Windows list. Immediately she realized a benefit of this ole desktop approach. It was quite eye opening to her and she admitted easily that it did look easier in terms of UI, workflow, toggling quickly between windows. I showed her some browser tips in QuickBooks Online, and we both agreed it is not the same thing. Even the multiple tabs felt chunky and took time to get setup etc…Camille could understand the argument. It is not a winnable debate from the QuickBooks Online workaround viewpoint. Then I told her it didn’t matter and was not a battle worth winning…Her gut reaction to my take confirmed the Why…

QuickBooks desktop looks old.

“Camille, what does QuickBooks Desktop look like to you?”

“Old”.

“Exactly. Anything else?”

“I do like the visual open windows and how easy it is to flip back and forth but I wouldn’t ever install such an old application. I mean, QuickBooks desktop looks old…”

I then tell Camille a story of a firm transferring files back and forth with their clients, never having the most current data, or even the correct data, hosting fees, all to support the ability to use the Open Windows feature.

“Oh, well, yeah, I am never using QuickBooks Desktop, I mean it is just really old.”

Quickbooks desktop looks… old

Now I am paraphrasing “Camille’s” thoughts as we sat together at my desk that day, looking at QuickBooks Desktop, then doing the similar work in QuickBooks Online, and even launching the QuickBooks Online Windows app, which she admitted would bridge the gap for someone really struggling with moving to QuickBooks Online. It was some of the better 30 minutes I have spent in my 12 years at Intuit. Why?

“Camille” to me represents consumer progress, the younger generation that will soon take over the market, whether that market be firm employees or firm clients. You cannot take QuickBooks Desktop to them as a viable option, particularly if the client is going to be in the books. You are going to want to be in there with them, collaborating with them in real time, and they are not going to want to send you any file or version of their file. They will want you to login beside them. They will want you to teach them how to automate data entry, how to quickly get to critical data and have you advise them on it. Daily, in the moment. If you are willing to sacrifice all that progress for Open Windows, who are you really solving for? And the said in school I could never end anything with a rhetorical question. Ha!

This is a guest post, authored by friend and QBOShow.com co-host, Woody Adams.