Success Story
Marketing Consultant Likes the Convenience and Security of QuickBooks Online
David Earl Spencer runs Expert Marketing, Inc. — a marketing consulting firm that keeps him hopping.
Just one year after starting his business, he is helping clients like Allstate, Visa, and the Red Cross with their marketing strategies. David is on the road one-third of the time, bouncing between home, office, client sites, and hotels.
David calls his new firm "small but effective" with himself as CEO and marketing director, his wife Meredith is president, and one other employee.
To stay that effective, David needs to be as efficient as possible, including how he manages the business' finances. David was familiar with the desktop version of QuickBooks, so he started there when he was first setting up his company. But he needed to access his books while on the road. "Then I found QuickBooks Online, and I thought it sounded pretty good. But I wasn't sure if I wanted my information out in cyberspace."
Despite these hesitations, he went for it, and he is glad he did. Today David and his wife handle all the accounting in-house, and they love the convenience and flexibility of the system.
"I can manage every aspect of my business through QuickBooks Online. And it takes just a few minutes", says David. "The great thing about the online system is that wherever we are-with a client, on vacation, or whatever-we can do the accounting and invoicing on the spot. I can run a report on anybody's computer. I'm very happy with it."
More Protected than any Laptop
At first, David didn't like the idea of sensitive data like client's marketing plans or Expert Marketing, Inc.'s financial data being stored anywhere but his own laptop. Then he recalled some horror stories he had heard. For example, he knows one senior VP of a bank whose laptop was lifted out of her convertible at a gas station; her hard drive contained the social security and account numbers of many bank customers.
And David has had bad luck with laptops himself. "We had several laptops malfunction or get stolen at the airport, and without current backups, retrieving data can be a pain. Even after I finish a project, my clients often ask me, 'David, can you pull this data? Can we re-run that campaign?' Just one wrong move where I can't access their data and my reputation could be ruined."
So he reconsidered. "You can never be too careful. I started thinking it might be a good idea if my data were somewhere else instead of on my laptop!" he says.
After researching QuickBooks Online, David realized Intuit provides multiple layers of protection to make sure his data is safe. QuickBooks Online provides daily backups, uninterruptible power supplies, and trained technicians working around the clock to monitor the safety of David's data. And for peace of mind, he can still download a copy of his QuickBooks Online data to his hard drive.
On-the-Spot Invoicing
One day David was discussing strategy with the CEO of a credit union when the benefit of anytime, anywhere access became crystal clear. "With my laptop and my wireless card, I pulled up all their customer information", he says. "As we were talking through some strategy, I took notes, made changes, and I literally had estimates when we were done.
"We completed an agreement, and I was able to convert that into an invoice, hit Send, and email it to my client on the spot. So before I walked out of the building, they had the invoice for their next campaign."
That was the day David realized what QuickBooks Online could do for his business. "When you're small, you have to be fast", he says. And QuickBooks Online is helping him provide quick, responsive service for all his clients.
No More Payroll Stress
With just three employees, the firm used to do payroll manually. Once he saw QuickBooks Online Payroll, David liked it immediately. "Setting it up is easy, and it's very integrated, so all the employee data is already there. I don't have to enter the information twice. And it helps keep track of all the payroll taxes, payments, and other withholdings."
Processing paychecks is also easy for David. "It's just four clicks or so. It takes me two minutes to do a cycle of payroll, and that includes checking everything over. I can even process the payroll from my hotel room at midnight, when I'm on the road."
And he is always on time. QuickBooks Online Payroll reminds David when to process payroll so he is never late with paychecks or state board payments.
"With QuickBooks Online Payroll, I don't have to focus on payroll, I can focus on my business instead", David says.
With manual payroll, he used to feel he had to rush home to do the payroll in time. Now, he does not have to plan business trips around the payroll schedule. David can take advantage of his business trips and stay over the weekend to explore a new city, or continue on to his next destination, without the worry of payroll on his mind.
