Commission Manager, integrated with QuickBooks

Sales commission is extra pay that a salesperson receives for successfully making a sale. The more sales the salesperson completes, the more commissions he earns. All commissions involve paying a salesperson for making a sale, but how commission is calculated varies. Commission is calculated on one or many factors like percentage of sales, percentage of monthly target, revenue, gross margin, quarterly bonuses, salary, annual bonuses etc. Depending upon the size of the company and number of sales people, commission plans vary. Calculating commissions and their payout can become a hassle to companies on a monthly basis. Automated solutions for commission management vary from simple spreadsheet solutions to comprehensive solutions integrated with accounting packages.

Commission Manager, is an automatic commission calculation tool integrated with different accounting packages. Some of the salient features include:

• Multiple commission plans
• Customizable commission plans based on salesperson / products / categories / customers
• Commission calculation based on invoice or payment
• Recover commission based on ‘returned’ sale
• Track commissions with ease
• Integrated with Intuit QuickBooks

To know more about Commission Manager contact us at sales@ciglobalsolutions.com.

 

QuickBooks 2012 Features

QuickBooks 2012 is now available as download. The in-store version is scheduled to be available from October 6, 2012. Some of the interesting improvements/features that are available in this version:

• Calendar based transaction view: Click through calendar to check the entries for a particular date
• Excel synchronization: If you export accounting data to Microsoft’s spreadsheet application, then fancy it up with fonts, colors, and other effects, QuickBooks updates the spreadsheet with current data while maintaining the formatting.
• Contributed reports: Any user can upload reports that they have created and share it with others (after verification by Intuit. Similar to app-store)
• CRM: Basic features of CRM that help small businesses manage customers and prospective customers
• Existing company file as template: Automatically imports non sensitive company information to create new files
• Period copy: Creates a copy of QuickBooks company file for a specific date range
• Reconcile widget: Provides a fresh look at account balances, reconciled balances and last reconciled date
• Multiple company file access: Feature that enables working with two company files simultaneously
• QuickBooks file manager: Standalone application included with QuickBooks Accountant 2012
• Client data review in multi-user mode: Write-off invoices and reclassify transactions in batch instead of individually, see changes in account balances in one screen, while multiple users access same file
• Review list changes tool: Easily identify added, changed, deleted or merged list items from previous review period

Source: http://www.allbusiness.com/quickbooks-2012-accounting/16683955-1.html, intuit.com

 

Integrating software solutions with QuickBooks

Product integration has become a key factor in the success of a product. For example: On Apple iOS devices, built-in iTunes and App Store own the music and software franchises. On Android devices, Gmail and Google search are tightly integrated. Similarly integrating software with another software has been seen as an added value.

At CI, we have been involved in several integration projects. We have done several 3^rd party add-on integrations with QuickBooks. The two most important questions that we always consider in integration projects are:

• Define how the 3^rd party add-on accesses QuickBooks
• Define how much information needs to be shared between add-on and QuickBooks

One of the projects we were involved in was integrating a business portal with QuickBooks. We considered the following functionalities in addition to the main functionality of the business portal:

• Real time two-way synchronization between QuickBooks and the portal
• Features like user personalization, license management, user/data allowances
• Secured SSL integration with timed login / lockout
• Integration with payment gateways

Are you looking to integrate your solution to QuickBooks? Contact us with your requirements at sales@ciindia.com

 

Correcting cosmetic data errors in QuickBooks

If you have imported data into QuickBooks from multiple sources or files, then the chances are that though the data is not exactly the same. ‘ITEM’ may not be the same as ‘item’. It is better to correct such things at the initial stage itself to maintain uniformity. One way is to have a data entry operator manually perform the correction. But this could be tedious if the volume of data is high. A simple one time use application may solve the problem.

CI developed a windows based application which converts such data errors. The application also automates the process of converting such field values to suit the master values appropriately. The changes are made only in the master files and not in the transaction files. Manual overrides can be enabled/disabled depending on the client’s requirement. The application is seamless integrated with QuickBooks.

Contact us with your requirements at sales@ciindia.com

 

QuickBooks Invoice Excel Import / PDF Export

A large percentage of the work involved in maintaining an accounting system involves the addition and maintenance of data. The ability to import and export data from an application allows great flexibility and convenience. Importing invoices into QuickBooks from excel prevents double data entry work.

Creating invoices in QuickBooks from excel involves is achieved through web service. The web service is mapped to the shared directory where excel’s reside. The web service connects to QuickBooks using QuickBooks web connector. The excels are read and the invoices are created in QuickBooks.

For exporting the invoices as PDF the data is exported into a database for custom work. Web service is used to fetch invoice from QuickBooks using the last fetched date as the flag. Once the web service creates the PDF then the same is uploaded into the specified folder after proper authentication. The web service is scheduled to run automatically at specific time intervals.

Contact us with your QuickBooks custom import/export requirements at sales@ciindia.com

 

Import data into QuickBooks

Excel is one of the most common spreadsheets. Many companies use excel for storing sales orders. The challenge arises when the data needs to be entered or imported into QuickBooks. Data entry will be a challenge if there are variations in orders or if there is a large volume of data involved. Importing data from excel avoids the time and errors involved with data entry.

CI worked on a project involving importing sales orders from excel files. The input was the excel file consisting of sales order data. The excel template was defined initially. If the customer number was not available in QuickBooks then a new customer was created.  An invoice was created based on the imported sales order. The relevant group items were added into the invoice to ensure that the invoice did not print individual line items. This helped avoid multiple pages of invoice.

Contact us with your custom import/export into QuickBooks requests at sales@ciindia.com

 

Custom Workflows in QuickBooks

Workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. A workflow is a pattern of activity enabled by systematic organization of resources, defined roles and mass, energy and information flows into an organized work process. Many software systems exist to support workflows in particular domains. QuickBooks is not particularly known as workflow management system. But workflows can be built in QuickBooks.

At CI, we were involved in creating a workflow for filling advance request vouchers. A web application integrated with QuickBooks was created to handle the workflow. Application handled user management, creation of advance request vouchers and approve/reject functionalities. Depending upon whether the voucher is approved/rejected, the requester would get a confirmation mail. The information from the custom application was posted to QuickBooks. The payment information was posted as check in QuickBooks.

Contact us for creating custom workflows in QuickBooks at sales@ciindia.com

 

Custom check printing in QuickBooks

When working with a solution, companies customize it to suit their needs. Problems arise when companies outgrow the solution and have to migrate to a new solution. They do not want to let go of the all the practices that they were following earlier. Custom checks are items that companies use and want to continue to use them. There are high chances that the new system does not print on the custom checks properly. CI has worked on custom check printing projects. The solution is to either build a stand-alone application or factor in parameters within the product itself.

For example: Custom checks were being printed using dot matrix printers with stub on top and check in the bottom. With pre-printed QuickBooks stationary, the same could not be printed without customization. CI developed a standalone Windows application to print the checks in QuickBooks stationary. The application would be installed in the same system as QuickBooks. In a grid, all the checks with the ‘To be printed’ flag would be listed.  User would select the checks from the list and print the checks.

 

QuickBooks – Sales Order to Purchase Order utility

Sales order to purchase order is a utility created by CI. The utility processes the items in the sales order and creates a purchase order for the item. We recently added the feature of processing multiple items in a sales order as processing just one item in a sales order was very limiting.

Solution

The program creates one invoice per sales order and one or more purchase orders as per requirement. The challenge was to build the logic that would recognize that multiple line items on a sales order could be combined into the same invoice and purchase order if the order had variations only in terms of attributes such as size, color etc. So to enable the logic, the program identifies the unique inventory assembly by considering values in the item number field up to specified character only. The solution was designed to work with QuickBooks Enterprise 10.0.

To know more about the SO to PO utility contact us at sales@ciindia.com

 

Import QuickBooks invoices to csv format

One common question that we get is ‘Is there a way to convert an existing invoice to CSV format with all the data fields?’ The system creates invoices only in PDF format. CI worked on a solution for converting QuickBooks invoices to csv format.

Solution

CI created Windows based application to export QuickBooks invoices to csv format. The main fields that were considered for the conversion were invoice number, line number, style, quantity, shipto address and notes. The exported csv was uploaded into FTP. User can export the invoices based on the specified date range. The application would then fetch the qualified invoices and check the style with the customer database. If the invoice style was not available in the database, application would ask for the substitute style from the database. User had the option to save the substitute style for next time use.

Are you looking to import/export QuickBooks invoices to csv/excel format? Contact us with your requirements at sales@ciindia.com