Technology Solutions & Practices Shared Interest Group

Hi everyone,

Happy Friday! 🌟

Software has been one of the top challenges I've noticed at several companies throughout my career, dating back to when I was a Jr. Accountant. With the introduction of so many new software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings, it feels overwhelming to make a decision when looking for a complete revamp of current software. Each software may serve a unique need, and getting these to work nicely together can be costly or create additional manual work.

Most small to mid-size organizations are not ready for an ERP like NetSuite or SAP but need something more robust than QuickBooks.

In my particular case, we have a pipeline that lives in SmartSheet and does not flow into our billing software, a PSA for resource management and project profitability, QB Desktop for financials, and SmartSheet for dashboard reporting. Since our PSA provider recently discontinued their connector with Quickbooks, we now have the added and unexpected burden of utilizing CSV imports and exports to move data between the two. We are looking to overhaul this with products that play nicely together and can cut out the manual work.

I'm interested in hearing how others manage these challenges. Have you found any affordable tools or strategies that help streamline your processes and improve data accuracy? Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Warm regards,

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Jennifer Pinder, MBA
Controller
Watchdog USA, LLC
Philadelphia, PA
United States
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@Jennifer Pinder    Thanks for bringing this up @Jennifer Pinder! 👏 I totally get where you're coming from - balancing multiple systems without proper integration is not just time-consuming but also prone to errors.

In my last advisory firm (about 300 employees), we faced similar challenges. We used QuickBooks Enterprise for financials, Zoho for pipeline management, and different “groups” within Microsoft 365 for specific tasks like billing, receivables, and client liaison. Having different teams in each group helped streamline communication, but it was still far from perfect without seamless integration.

For mid-scale ERP options, you might want to check out Intacct. It's a great "middle ground" ERP solution that’s more customizable and robust than QuickBooks but not as heavy as NetSuite or SAP. Intacct offers various modules (financials, project management, etc.) that you can build on based on your needs.

It might also be worth asking your PSA vendor if their API is customizable. Some providers allow you to build custom connections or provide support for integrating with tools like QuickBooks. Even if their connector is discontinued, sometimes these vendors have third-party integrations or workarounds that allow you to sync systems without reverting to CSV imports.

You could also explore other ERP competitors like Acumatica, Odoo, or Zoho One (which is an all-in-one business suite). These platforms have modules for financials, project management, and CRM, and they often offer API connections or third-party apps that could bridge your systems together more seamlessly.

Would love to hear what you end up trying - and if anyone else has experiences with Intacct or similar systems, feel free to chime in! 🚀

PS, but as you grow and as you become more complicated, some things still end up living outside, no matter what. When I was at Credit Suisse and Deloitte, they used huge platforms, deep pockets, but they still had Excel patches. Same for smaller recent companies, they may have had more patches to make things work, but they were at least straight-forward patches (like CSV) as opposed to patches for multinational companies where you may need input from teams across continents.

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Ilya Ilienko, dual MBA, CPA, CMA
Board Member / Director
East Coast - United States
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