Editorial Note: Insightful Accountant's editorial focus for March is Customer Management, which means we'll examine Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) apps that work with QuickBooks Desktop, QBO or both. Murph has chosen myriad apps based on his own ProAdvisor Client experiences, and some from what you wanted to learn more about within our recent reader survey.
In some cases, these CRMs may make use of, or require, a third-party connector/integrator app. Such connector app(s) may or may not be listed in one of the Intuit QuickBooks App Centers. All such requirements will be noted in our CRM product reviews.
Method was born to work with QuickBooks. QuickBooks was not really designed to manage customers' potential sales, but Method:CRM is. With Method, your entire team can manage their leads, track their potential sales, and maintain a complete view of every customers' details.
Then, you can convert Method leads to QuickBooks customers with a single click.
Method makes it just as easy to create estimates, sales orders and invoices that turn into their corresponding QuickBooks documents. In addition, because Method syncs information bi-directionally, you will save countless hours of data entry regarding contact information, transaction history and accounting details.
One of the best features of Method is the extent of customization it allows. While you can essentially do almost anything in Method you can do in QuickBooks, that does not mean your employees can do everything using Method.
Method's ability to be customized allows you to configure the CRM to provide the QuickBooks features you want each employee to have access to and restrict access where warranted.
For example, if you want Salesperson Sally to only have access to customers with one of 300 zip codes from the west coast, you could configure that in Method. You cannot do that in QuickBooks.
Likewise, if you want Buyer Bob to only have access to the 420 items related to the 30 vendors he has been assigned to work with, you can configure that in Method. Again, you cannot do that in QuickBooks.
Customization is at the heart of Method, yet Method:CRM works great right out of the box, so to speak.
Method also offers online portals that enable customers and vendors to edit their contact information, check their transaction history, and see the support requests they have made online 24/7. Your customers can even pay their open invoices, with their payments syncing instantly to QuickBooks.
Method supports the following QuickBooks Online regions: USA, Canada, UK, Australia, India, and Global (at present, QuickBooks Online France is not supported).
It also supports the following QuickBooks Desktop products United States Pro, Premier, and Enterprise versions since 2004; Canadian and United Kingdom Pro, Premier and Enterprise versions since 2008; and Australian Pro, Premier, and Enterprise versions since 2008.
In addition, Method has a real-time, two-way sync with QuickBooks. When a user adds or edits a QuickBooks-related record in Method—e.g., adding a customer; updating an invoice—the change automatically syncs to QuickBooks. The same is true when a user adds or edits a Method-supported record in QuickBooks.
Method:CRM is listed here in the QuickBooks Online App store and appears here in the QuickBooks Desktop App store.
For more information, head over to the Method website to check out its features, industries served and pricing. You can sign-up for a recorded Demo specific to your particular version of QuickBooks.
And, if what even more, you can check out its 30-day free trial with no credit card required.
Acknowledgments and Disclosures
Method — Graphics and content used within this feature were derived or adapted by the author in part from Method source materials, including the Method website, and the Method app landing page at the Intuit QuickBooks Online App Store and Intuit QuickBooks Desktop App Store. Method:CRM and Method, as used herein, are registered products of Method Integration, Inc., a privately held corporation based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Adapted source materials related to products published within this feature by Insightful Accountant are for educational and product promotional purposes only.
As used herein, QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online (QBO) and QuickBooks Desktop (QBD) refer to one or more registered trademarks of Intuit Inc., a publicly-traded corporation headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Any other trade names used herein refer to products which may be registered or trademarked, or otherwise held by, their respective owners. They are referenced for informational and educational purposes only.
This is an editorial feature, not sponsored content. None of the vendors within this article have paid Insightful Accountant or the author any form of remuneration to be included within this feature. The article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes.
The publication of this article, nor inclusion of this product within the related series, does not represent any endorsement by either the author or Insightful Accountant.