First Look Friday: Zahara

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I don't know how many times I have been asked by users of QuickBooks if there was a way for them to have some mechanism where they could have an internal workflow that would allow different users to be involved in the purchasing process. They want someone to obtain quotes and submit a purchase request, then someone different to approve purchases before they are actually committed, then someone to issue the purchase order(s), then someone to control and monitor the entire process. It sounds almost as complicated as 'big brother', but I guess some organizations need this type of sophistication.  The problem is that it really hasn't been available without a lot of sophisticated 'custom programming'.

But now, there is a cloud-based purchasing platform that can significantly enhance QuickBooks capabilities when it comes to creating workflows around the purchasing process. With Zahara users can create a purchase request, have it authorized by one or more designated 'Approvers' and then send the purchase request to the supplier as a Purchase Order all with the correct vendors, accounts, or product codes (items), classes and tax rates. Best of all, they can do so from any device and any platform because it's Cloud-based, and it can link to QuickBooks Online, or download to QuickBooks Desktop. 

With Zahara you can create a multi-step approval process featuring any number of conditions you need for complete control. Use group approvals with dynamic allocation and create departmental and project budgets for which each purchase is assigned and tracked. You can insure that only 'approved suppliers' with 'approved pricing' are selected for any purchase.

Budgeting is essential to proper financial control and we all know that it is a weak feature in all versions of QuickBooks, but not in Zahara. You can create departmental and project budgets and build them with the level of granularity that fits your needs right down to the General Ledger Codes or Cost (Item) Codes, you can even set 'absolute amounts' for specifics and determine the 'periods' that will work best for you from weekly to 'indefinite'.

With Zahara you will not only be able to track your budget performance based on every purchase, but you can specifically set budget approval requirements based on budget creep or budget breach. You can also empower your staff by granting them purchasing authorities within specific budget parameters. And all of this budgeting is then tied back to the purchasing platform that integrates with QuickBooks.

Zahara offers a 'SmartInvoice' solution that provides scanning and recognition of supplier invoices to quickly identify and match vendor bills against your outstanding purchase orders to help streamline the payment process. This system give you 'machine learning and artificial intelligence' that discerns more and more of your sophisticated buying over time to help ensure that your split purchases are properly recorded and posted into your accounting. Of course, you may need 'payments approval' prior to any final payment taking place and Zahara offers that step in the workflow as well. You can build in a workflow process for invoice approval along with import of your data into QuickBooks Online (or Xero, if you happen to be using it).

You will have built-in control over the documents you generate and track in Zahara, and also the number you crunch. Spend Analytics is the Zahara feature that helps you understand the costs of your purchasing. Every dollar you spend is tracked and compared and contrasted against the budgets you establish to give you dynamic data on not only your spending patterns as they relate to your expenditures themselves, but the expenses by cost types, ledger accounts, Cost (Item) Codes, Classes, and Suppliers (Vendors) so that you have accurate information to help you negotiate potential cost savings. You will easily identify average spend by User, top users by spend, and top suppliers by spend (as shown in the example graphic below).

Connecting to QuickBooks Online - Zahara is the perfect companion for QBO, it offers a full integration with QuickBooks Online that allows you to fully sync your suppliers, General Ledger-chart of accounts (Account Codes) and track stock and products (Item) codes (if you wish to 'post products to item details' between from QBO and Zahara. You can create purchase requisitions, establish custom approvals processes, send the PO to the supplier automatically and then record the corresponding invoice in Zahara and then post the Bill directly into QuickBooks. You can do more than this but the integration ties the two systems together perfectly.

To connect to QuickBooks Online:

  1. Within Zahara, click in Business > Settings > Integrations
  2. Choose QuickBooks Online from the list of available options.
  3. Click the QuickBooks logo to connect.
  4. Choose your QuickBooks Company and link it to your Zahara Business.
  5. You are now ready to sync or post Bills.

For more details be sure to check out the Zahara landing page at the Intuit QuickBooks App Center.

Exporting to QuickBooks Desktop - Zahara offers a simple integration with QuickBooks Desktop where you export an iiF file with Vendor Invoice information that is then imported into QuickBooks Desktop to populate as Vendor Bills. This Export is configured within the Zahara integration settings menu, more details regarding configuration of this file can be found here. You also must import all of your vendors and chart of accounts using a CSV templates Zahara provides in order for the exported information to match your desktop data.  Zahara also supports a utility called “Business Importer” which affords greater import details via an Excel spreadsheet, you can find out more about that option by referencing the Zahara help article here.

You can begin your own exploratory 'first look' of Zahara either by downloading their 5-step guide, taking a free online demo, or scheduling a free-trial all from the Zahara Company website. You can also begin your journey, if you are already using QuickBooks Online, from the Zahara landing page at the Intuit QuickBooks App Center.  Either way, if you have been looking for a purchasing workflow alternative for QuickBooks, you will want to make certain to check out what Zahara has to offer.