ProAdvisor Market at a Crossroads – April #PEXCardChat Recap

#PEXCardChat with Intuitive Accountant:  The Pro Advisor Market at a Crossroads Every month PEX Card hosts a monthly conversation on Twitter called #PEXCardChat. It’s designed to help business owners run better companies. This month our guest was Intuitive Accountant, a leading independent news and information source on the latest Intuit software that helps Pro Advisors better serve their clients. On April 30, 2015,  we discussed the changes taking place in the Pro Advisor market. Below is a summary of our discussion.

PEX Card: What’s happening in the Pro Advisor space today?

Intuitive Accountant: Pro Advisors are getting ready for Scaling New Heights in June. It’s an educational conference just for QuickBooks Pro Advisors. They are currently helping thousands of clients with the sunset of QuickBooks 2012 and upgrading to the newest versions. Also, many businesses are implementing add-on products like time tracking, mobile sales and warehouse management. Lastly, they are in testing mode which includes advanced certification for QuickBooks Online.

PEX Card: What should Pro Advisors be looking for in a changing economy?

Intuitive Accountant: Businesses are expecting more services for the same dollars, and are looking to Pro Advisors to provide those services. Many Pro Advisors are moving their own practices to a fixed-fee or value-billing model as opposed to hourly rates. Others are coupling financial advisor services including data analysis using third party products like LivePlan or Finagraph.

PEX Card: What's the life cycle of desktop software?

Intuitive Accountant: Intuit’s desktop software sunsets every 3 1/2 years. The 2012 versions are being phased out now, and the 2015 version was just delivered. Many add-on or companion products don’t really sunset, but you can’t always count on them to work with newer versions. QuickBooks Online is continually changing because it is subscription based. Subscribers get the newest version upon release.

PEX Card: How is cloud technology fundamentally changing the Pro Advisor market?

Intuitive Accountant: Many Pro Advisors have actively adopted the online market, with younger users wanting cloud based solutions & mobility. However, many Pro Advisors remain focused on traditional QuickBooks users, especially large businesses that are too complex for QuickBooks Online.

PEX Card: What should Pro Advisors do today to prepare for migration to the cloud?

Intuitive Accountant: Pro Advisors should take advantage of the free subscription of QBO-Accountant for Pro Advisors. They should also train for certification in QuickBooks Online at the upcoming #SNH15. Lastly, they should become certified at both the basic and advanced QBO levels for the future that lies ahead

PEX Card: Where do you see the Pro Advisor market being in 5 years?

Intuitive Accountant: Our young clients have been weaned on the Internet; everything is cloud and mobile. They expect no less in their accounting. The global economy runs via the Internet & shared-cloud solutions can bridge the gap between customers and suppliers worldwide. In five years, integrated app solutions will make QBO a viable business infrastructure platform, not just accounting software.

PEX Card: When do you see QBO being as efficient and effective as QB desktop?

Intuitive Accountant: QBO will likely be the leading online business accounting solution, but I think Xero will still be nipping at their heels. QBO will be among the core choices of solutions to accomplish any/every task. QBO will bridge the gap between sellers and buyers, and when linked with Bit Coin, it will achieve a global purchasing/buying panacea.

PEX Card: Any final thoughts or questions from our audience today?

Intuitive Accountant: A lot of Pro Advisors are concerned about desktop QuickBooks. I think it has a long life ahead, but QBO is here to stay. QBO growth will outpace desktop over the rest of this decade, in part because of improved integrated functionality. But the cloud is not the end all either. Something new will come along, and then that will be the next “best thing.”

PEX Card: Thanks again to Intuitive Accountant for being our guest today. Follow them on Twitter for more advice. 

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