Stacy Stuff
The wait… it was BRUTAL.
But the payoff was so worth it.
Our story started in January. Well, really, it started about 9 years ago, when I converted my QuickBooks desktop file to QuickBooks Online, but this particular chapter begins in January 2013.
I had the infinite pleasure of being invited to Intuit’s Catalyst event, held at their Mountain View, California offices this past January - what my RadioFreeQB.com co-host (and bff) Dawn Brolin and I refer to as “The Mother Ship.” While I was there, I also had some time to spend with the development team that was working on the NEW QuickBooks Online.
It wasn’t yet half baked, but I was blown away. A complete departure from the interface I’d been using for the better part of a decade, and I instantly fell in love all over again. I always say that I love QuickBooks Desktop – it’s like my first boyfriend, and will always have a special place in my heart. But we grew apart and then I found sexy QBO… Which, over the years, let’s be honest, hadn’t really kept in shape. I still LOVED it, but the spark just wasn’t there anymore. What they showed me in Mt View? It was like my new QBO had been hitting the gym pretty hard and eating right. Faster, leaner, and dang! LOOKING GOOD.
Because I’m a member of Intuit’s Trainer and Writer Network, I’m under NDA and was able to get access to the testing environment, so I began playing with it; and immediately begged to have my own companies converted. "No, no Stacy – be patient!" And patient I was, and it absolutely paid off.
This past August, Intuit formally released the “new” QuickBooks Online, and I finally got one of my own companies converted and I cannot begin to describe how happy that makes me. The new QBO, in my opinion, is easier to navigate, and it’s interface is more in line with what QuickBooks desktop looks like – making it a smoother transition for small businesses converting to it, and less of a shock to the system for the accounting professionals that support them.
The thing that makes me the most happy is not a feature or new functionality; it’s the little + at the top of every page that spins when you click to create a new transaction. It doesn’t make me more productive, or help me do my job better. It just makes me smile.
Stacy
Stacy Kildal, the “QBO Queen” is owner/operator of Kildal Services LLC, a full service bookkeeping company that specializes in QuickBooks. Because of her involvement in making enhancements to QuickBooks Online, as well as in promoting and teaching the product, Stacy has almost become synonymous with everything QBO. Stacy is a co-host of “Radio Free QuickBooks”. As a member of the Intuit Trainer/Writer Network, she has presented many live seminars and webinars. In 2013, Stacy was named to CPA Practice Advisor's 2013 Accounting's 40 Under 40, and in 2012 as one of the Most Powerful Women in Accounting by the same publication. Stacy is currently on tour teaching at Intuit's 'Find Your Freedom in the cloud....', and yet even so, she has found time share with us 'Stacy Stuff'.