May 2010 -- CSS now has a 3-user multi-user license to Quickbooks Pro 2010. The idea is to test how much more useful Quickbooks (QB) can be beyond DCAD -- targets of opportunity are DS MDS and PC Service.
(May - June 2010) What should Quickbooks set up for CSS involve?
- Server setup that allows remote access to one or more company files, using one or more of our several login IDs (we have three "licenses", whether that constrains N-of-usernames or N-of-simultaneous server connections or what, I am not sure.) DONE
- Company File setup that makes sense for us.
- PC Service and DCAD are separate companies; DeptServices is either with DCAD or just like DCAD.
- DCAD's company type is Consulting. PC Service is maintenance and repair, whatever QB calls it.
- Company chart of accounts has ones named for corresponding SAP g/ls -- Cost of Goods Sold, Revenue, etc. w/ their numbers.
- Items are created that we can later bill for. Items are set to bill against the SAP-emulating Accounts in QB.
- Invoices are built from Items. Can be emailed to the client.
- Common Client List built from MIT DLC Level 3 Organizational Hierarchy
- Custom fields in the client data structure for cost object and g/l account --> to drive JVupload file export
(Apr 2010) Brainstorming Features to Test about Quickbooks
- can we make QB sufficiently multiuser in our technical environment to allow for these three teams to log in to either individual or a single shared company file?
- should we use individual company files?
- how do we make a common customer list among the several companies?
- What structure would we want to use for customer lists -- can we extract useful data from the Warehouse to prime the pump for the 200 or so DLCs we think there are?
- What is the relationship between a contact and a company in the company file?
- How can we use custom fields to record Cost Object and GL Account for these contacts?
- What is involved in creating a catalog of things to invoice for?
- What is involved in invoicing a client for something they've bought?
- How does emailing the invoice really work?
- How does generating a report to power a JV Upload file really work?
- Is a shared document space useful or necessary? -- where would Rashard put his PDF SLAs? Where would Jeff put copies of his contracts?
- Is the customer manager environment (basic CRM) useful or necessary? Does it imply a common company file, or merely a common customer list shareable across the companies?