Advancing Your Practice - Part 2

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It seems like every time I start a mini-series things just get in the way, and that's true with this one. Instead of a week going by since Part 1, it's been nearly 2 weeks, and I am sorry for the fact that there has just been so many other features that had to get 'cranked out' in between. As you recall (if you read Part 1), I was writing this mini-series to summarize the content from our July QB Talks webinar in part because I know that a lot of people were on vacation, and also because I considered the content very important. So, with that being said, let me get back to the topic at hand which is 'Advancing Your Practice.'

While Part 1 looked at helping you advance your practice by exploring the option of migrating to bigger clients, or the so called 'mid-market,' using the new QBO-Advanced version of QuickBooks Online. This feature will take a different approach in helping you advance your practice by exploring one potential 'niche practice.'  The specific niche of which I am speaking is 'Inventory.'

Insightful Accountant wants to always be your resource for helping you do more with your practice, expand your expertise, and enhance your ‘trusted advisor’ status with your clients; no matter what ‘vertical’ you choose for your specialization. But we do think the timing is right for more ProAdvisors to become ‘trusted inventory advisors’ because our economy is not only going again, but booming in both the manufacturing and inventory sectors where growth is at some the highest levels since the industrial revolution.

Manufacturing jobs are not only returning to the once down-sized and closed factories, but new production plants are under construction, and manufacturers are seeking more highly qualified people than ever before. 

The entire dynamic of manufacturing is more of a blend of blue-collar and white-collar positions, let’s just say ‘gray collar,’ as manufacturing personnel must not work within the confines of a highly automated and mechanized environment but also be willing to get your hands dirty when needed. Leading the way are a lot of smart machines and automation that puts every task into the proper perspective from a production, efficiency and financial standpoint. These are systems that measure job completion, time on task and cost down to the smallest component. In fact, a recent Sage survey showed more than half of American manufacturers are investing in tech to stay ahead of socio-politcal shifts.

And wherever there is manufacturing there is inventory. Inventory is the very ‘life blood’ of manufacturing because it pulses around from the receiving dock to the warehouse to different staging areas or production locations within the plant and ultimately sees its way out the door in the form of the finished goods the manufacturers' produce.

Of course, inventory is also the life blood of retail, wholesale and much of construction, not just manufacturing. This means that a trusted inventory advisor needs to know the specifics of inventory for all these business sectors. Because of both the economic up-turn, and the sophistication of inventory-centric business dynamics, now is the perfect time for you to consider inventory as great specialization as a ProAdvisor.

So you might be asking yourself, is inventory the vertical for your practice, or is it the right specialty for you? While it helps to have some direct experience with inventory, and/or manufacturing, you can develop that over time, especially if you are willing to work with either another 'trusted inventory advisor' who can mentor you, or with a software company who will train you at more than just how to sell their software and connect it to QuickBooks (Desktop or Online).

But one of the biggest areas you need to master is the terminology, or  the 'lingo.' You have got to have a grasp of the terms that are appropriate to both inventory and manufacturing if you are going to support both areas, or inventory and retail, or inventory and wholesale. While you can choose to sub-specialize in very unique areas, I personally think you limit yourself if you choose to do that.

For example, let's say that you want to work in inventory and you decide retail is great for you so you also will support Point-of-Sale. That's a perfect marriage because whether you are using a desktop Point of Sale system like QuickBooks Point-of-Sale that integrates with QuickBooks Desktop, or a web-based Point of Sale system like Lightspeed (Retail) that can integrate with QuickBooks Online. You can essentially use either one of these Point of Sale systems to support the vast majority of retailers regardless of their retail business, and with a few add-on features you may be able to expand to support a growing retail operation taking on eCommerce in one or more web-channels.

But, let's say your first retailer is a jewelry store and you spend so much time learning every 'facet' of their business you decide retail jewelry is the sub-specialty for you and you want to find the perfect POS for jewelry stores and do nothing else. You have probably just dug a big mote around your practice and will sooner or later feel so isolated from the retail market that you will drown in that mote. There simply are not enough jewelry stores needing your specialization to keep you going, because they can not afford to bring you in from all over the country. Take it from me... specialize, just don't get 'too specialized in your niche.'

Now you might think that specializing in Inventory and Manufacturing really means supporting QuickBooks Desktop, and probably QuickBooks Enterprise, and even more specifically QuickBooks Enterprise with Advanced Inventory. I am here to tell you that even if you use QuickBooks (Desktop) Enterprise, with all the bells and whistles of ‘Advanced Inventory,’ it’s limited in it’s capabilities; that's why we have always had add-on products for inventory and manufacturing designed specifically to work with QuickBooks Desktop. I'm talking about products (in no particular order) like All Orders by NumberCruncher, Acctivate by Alterity, Fishbowl, MiSys Manufacturing, Industrios, AdvancePro and ManuDyn Cloud-9.

But today, an ever growing number of QuickBooks users are going to the cloud and making use of QuickBooks Online, and even with the fairly recent release of QBO-Advanced, the inventory features of all the QBO product line are pretty much limited to ‘products and services’ and not much more; there just is very limited true inventory capability, and essentially no manufacturing functionality. So early on in the development of QuickBooks Online, one specific App that was developed brought not only comprehensive inventory functionality to QBO users, but it also offered them light-manufacturing. That App was SOS Inventory by Saddle Oak Software.

The illustration above depicts the variety of features and functions that can be performed when SOS is properly integrated with QuickBooks Online. It provides the capability of managing the entire lifecycle of an inventory-based or light-manufacturing business. If you want more details about SOS Inventory then I suggest that you read my Software Second Look: SOS Inventory feature from July 12 (2019).

But, SOS isn't the only Inventory related App that works with QuickBooks Online and the reality is that 'one size (App) doesn't fit all.' While you can specialize in inventory and manufacturing and have your preferred App for each (individually) or both (combined), you many times find that you are better off knowing several different Apps well because some of them have slightly different functionality that will better fit your client and their particular needs. No it just so happens that just a week after my SOS review (cited above) I turned around and wrote another inventory feature titled, Software Second Look: LOCATE Inventory. Now not only does LOCATE work with QuickBooks Online, but it also happens to integrate with QuickBooks Desktop which makes it somewhat unique.

The 'number of posting transactions' and 'posting methodology' might be the determining factors in your selection of one of these two products over the other. Posting volume might be such that you want all the details of every inventory transaction in QuickBooks Online... in that case look toward SOS for the client. On the other hand, the transaction volume might be so high that there is no way you want all that data pumped into QBO, you only want summarized accounting posted from your inventory App, so LOCATE is likely the best fit for the client.

This one little example explains why you can't rely on just one App as your 'niche solution' even if you are only specializing in inventory. Neither solution is always right, and neither is wrong... but as if that isn't enough of an example, I have one more piece of the puzzle.

Another Inventory App that works with QBO which I have previously reviewed is Boxstorm by Fishbowl, although they have made additional enhancements to the product since my review article. In fact, one big change was the launch of a 'forever free' version which I wrote about in June of 2018. As a ProAdvisor you have to put yourself in the position of your client and consider if the 'free' version will provide the feature set that meets their needs, if so then I believe you are obligated to discuss that option with your client. That's why you at least need to be fully aware of this option as a potential App in you inventory toolbox.

As you can see, when it comes to finding a solution that works, it's always "which solution is in the best interest of the client." That's what makes you a 'trusted inventory advisor' when you work in the client's best interest. Give your client the options, they will thank you for that and respect you all the more for it.

Now is a great time for you to begin advancing your practice by finding your niche, and it's an even better time to consider 'inventory' as a perfect niche whether you support QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop (or both) in your ProAdvisor Practice. Just get out there, learn the lingo, find some software specific to your accounting solution(s), learn it (really learn it, not just how to connect it), and find yourself a mentor, too. I think you will find that you will have not only found an exciting and rewarding way to expand your practice, but to grow your interest as well. Who knows, before long you might be so inventory minded that you find yourself writing inventory articles for Insightful Accountant, I sure hope so, I'm getting tired!