06.04.24 Liberation from Data Entry

Dan and Michelle will delve into the challenges posed by traditional accounting practices heavily reliant on manual data entry. We will explore the impact of this drudgery on productivity, job satisfaction, and client relationships. The session aims to set the stage for understanding the necessity of change and the potential benefits that come with embracing digital transformation.

QB Power Hour is a free, biweekly webinar series for accountants, ProAdvisors, CPAs, bookkeepers and QuickBooks consultants presented by Michelle Long, CPA and Dan DeLong who are very passionate about the industry, QuickBooks and apps that integrate with QuickBooks.

Watch or listen to all of the QB Power Hours at https://www.qbpowerhour.com/blog

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Transcript

Dan DeLong: 0:30

Welcome to another qb power hour today is going to be taught We're going to be talking about liberating from data entry or liberation from from data entry the kind of the intro to the automations And uh, obviously we're not going to be able to cram all of The data, uh, data entry and the liberation of such in one hour. So this is really just kind of like an overview, uh, topic or, um, for what we're going to be talking about today. Michelle, as if you need no introduction, introduce yourself.

Michelle Long: 1:07

Well, Hey, Dan, well, as we were just saying, you know, my internet is. It was a it went down basically before we just got started. So I am on my hot spot today So to keep things and work it a little better. I am going to go without the video today But I am michelle long cpa mba and owner of lawn for success I'm, very glad to be supporting dan on this one today because I think it's awesome And it's a great topic and something that we've been helping accounting professionals With years and it's amazing how many people still need help with this Um Um, just because it's hard to do. So Dan, I'm very glad you're doing that. And with that, I'm just going to turn my video off, but I will be here.

Dan DeLong: 1:48

All right. Yes, my name is Dan DeLong, owner of Danwith and School of Bookkeeping Now. So this is one of the catalysts for, uh, for this session today is, is that, that change. I worked at Intuit for nearly 18 years, uh, co hosting today. Also over at, uh, School Bookkeeping, we do a weekly Workshop Wednesday, uh, and just about ready to start the ninth edition, uh, of the Tech Editing Duties of the QBO for Dummies, uh, series. Uh, so that should be headed to my, uh, to my desk shortly. And, uh, Looking forward to seeing you all, if, uh, if, if some in it, uh, scaling new heights coming up in a, in a couple of weeks. Uh, so a couple, uh, details about the QB Power Hour, uh, it's every other Tuesday. Uh, 12 noon Eastern, uh, upcoming webinars, uh, we are working with, uh, Makers Hub to become a CPE sponsor, uh, so soon it will be, uh, eligible for CPE credits, uh, once, once a month, so we're, we're, we're likely going to have that be the, the first of the first webinar of the month, because I'm sure some, at some point there's going to be three, uh, three webinars in a, in a month, at least twice a year. But you can always check the website out for, for upcoming webinars as well as other, other webinars as well. Those being put on by Ignition, our friends over at Ignition are doing a very great webinar series. I think they're actually having one today, like, right after the power hour. So if you don't have enough webinar time, you can certainly get your webinar filled today. Um, and if you need the, um, the podcast, the recordings, um, the downloads of the handouts, They're available at qppowerhour. com slash resources. Um, if you are watching on our social channel, I did put a QR code available for the audience. For the handouts as well there, if you're seeing it on the Facebook group or or anything like that. Uh, so anything that we're going to be talking about today, please put those, uh, questions in the Q& A if you're, if you're attending a live webinar, uh, as well. Uh, if you are watching on social media, uh, just put those in the, in the chat and we'll get to them as, uh, hopefully as soon as we, we can. If you have just general comments, uh, please put those in, in the chat, in the comment section of the various channels that you happen to be watching at today. And new for this year, we are simulcasting, right? We're simulcasting on YouTube and various social media platforms as well. If you are watching on the Facebook group, the QB Power User Facebook group with ourselves and Hector, because it is a private group, Uh, you do need to offer or allow, uh, the gods at, um, at Facebook to be able to see your name. Uh, so there's a QR code for, for that, for the application that we're using here today. And, um, we do have a store, uh, so if you want to, uh, Get, um, get, get your hands on some swag. Um, there is a shirt on there that says accountants aren't, aren't into it. A little pun there. As well as, uh, some, uh, some recharging or power related, um, things. Swag there as well as a phone charger and coffee mugs, uh, so you can check that out there as well. So today we're going to be talking about, um, liberation from, from data entry is really, it's really an overview. Um, and, and the, the main source here is that we're, we're, we're hoping to, um, introduce, if you, if you're not already, uh, how automation and other accounting tools can scale from the drudgery. Uh, to strategic services and Michelle, I'm going to, I know you've been kind of going in and out there, but I do have a topical question for you. Um, when did you see, um, when, um, you know, when this trend of things, because you've, you've been kind of one of those, those pioneers in the, in the accounting industry where, you know, the, the, the move to the cloud and the, the, you know, the, the, where technology was kind of taking some of the place of, of. Of some of those things that that accountants were doing on a on a daily basis Um, when did you see that coming,

Michelle Long: 6:23

you know, it was interesting I was just talking to somebody about this the other night. Let's see if I can get my video going I remember back in like 2014 We were doing freedom in the cloud webinars and I remember going across canada back then You know, because QBO was expanding, was expanding across Canada. So that means we've been doing them in the U. S. for a little while. So we were teaching accountants and bookkeepers for Intuit about working remotely with your clients and moving to the cloud. You know, 10 years ago and, you know, along with that was getting away from the data entry. Yeah, I know a long time and I'll never forget. Somebody actually asked me, why would I want to stop doing the manual data entry? I get paid by the hour and I was like, Oh my gosh, you're missing it. Because when you, with the technology and the automation, when you can do all this so much faster and more efficiently, you can be so much more productive because there's only so many hours in the day that you can go for, you know, an invoice. So that's the whole wrong mindset about it and everything. And the technology just making us so much more efficient in the way it's changed over 10 years. I mean, now it's pulling in your base statement. It's pulling in the beginning balance or the ending balance statement dates, even. I mean, it's come a long way.

Dan DeLong: 7:51

It certainly has. And the fact that it was now 10 years ago, it seems like it was forever ago that, you know, you, you've been, you've been, um, singing this tune. Uh, but I mean, but it's, it's now at a, at a point where it's almost like work drive. With, you know, with A. I. And in the way that technology is so rapidly changing, uh, it does seem like it's a tidal wave now. Um, and I remember a conversation I had with David Leary. I worked with him. Add into it. We coincidentally left into it on the same day. He by choice and, and me, by not choice. And we met up afterwards to kind of like, well, let's just commiserate together for coffee or what have you. And um, and he was saying, um, you know, where the, he, he was an evangelist for the app system, uh, the app ecosystem at the time. And, and he was, he was telling me, if you want to embrace technology. Find a few 20 somethings as clients, you know, they are gonna they're gonna drag you, you know into Into this because of all the ways that they adopt right? So, um, you know very similar to what you had said there So talk a little bit about what what we're going to be talking about today It's really who is this for and we'll kind of set the stage on Um, you know the type of accounting professional that that will be best suited Uh for for what this is, uh how this is headed um In the impact on productivity and job satisfaction, you know, some of the things when you say the word drudgery, data entry, manual processes that doesn't fill people with warm, fuzzy feelings when it comes to, hey, this is going to be You know, my professional career for the rest of the foreseeable future. When you, when you're talking about, this is what you're in for. Um, and then we'll talk about a course that we're launching at school bookkeeping, uh, and kind of give an idea of what that looks like and those, those kinds of expectations. So talk about who this is, this is for, like what type of practitioner would benefit from liberating, uh, Liberation from data entry. Uh, the most right. Maybe this is you, right? So there's a big, um, trend that's happening today with with the shortage of, uh, of talent in the accounting space, um, which means that if you have less of a talent pool to to choose from, well, there's Things are going to find themselves. You'll be needed. You'll need to do more in your practice, but you don't have the time or the capacity to do it, right? It's it's a little frustrating, right? And then you're frustrated with the workload itself and realizing that the services that you're provided are just not there. Really fulfilling. And maybe you have some, uh, value added service offerings that you want to add, but you really just don't have the time to, to incorporate them because you're buried in the have to do's, uh, as far as in terms of in correlation to the want to do right to elevate your business. And I came up, um, you know, uh, One of the, one of the, one of my power, uh, superpowers is, uh, is being able to, uh, correlate something that may be a difficult concept to learn into an understandable and memorable. So, uh, when I was thinking about like, what, what would be a good analogy for this, I came up with the Greek mythology of Sisyphus and it's just fun to say, but, um, if you don't know, uh, Sisyphus in Greek mythology was a king who, um, was a little bit of a trickster. He had a lot of potential. I mean, being a king, you are, uh, a. You know, you do have great potential as, as a king, but he was a little bit of, um, kind of like Loki, uh, in, uh, in the Marvel and Greek or Viking mythology. Um, it was a little bit of a, um, um, mischievous, right. And, and he would do things, uh, just for his own thing. And it angered the gods. Um, more importantly, Zeus, uh, which, you know, you don't, if there's one god you don't want to take off, it's, it's. Right. So, um, his, um, the story goes, the mythology goes that once he passed into Hades, his eternity was spent pushing a large boulder, a steep hill, which Hades, the Greek god, Hades, he convinced the boulder to get away from Sisyphus right at the top of the hill and roll back down into the hill. So he spent his eternity just pushing up this huge boulder, um, not realizing his, his, his, uh, his potential, right? Because in, in terms of, you know, putting this back to an accounting comparison, that compliance boulder is just Okay, the end of the year. Okay, I've got my W 2s and my payroll tax forms and my tax prepared for my clients. Oh, next year it just rolled down to the bottom of the hill and I get to go down there and push it back up again. Um, it's really just holding you back because you're just chasing After your client, maybe you're running a hamster wheel of doing the categorization, um, just time spent sorting and categorizing the traditional data, um, and really just beholden to the compliance. And that's not, uh, really the, the, the greatest thing for, for productivity and job satisfaction, um, because you do have these challenges with the manual process. Um, I remember, um, a, a, uh, a leader that I had, uh, said something that we didn't like or like to hear, but it, it's, it rang through and it's, it's. If you do what you always do, you'll get what you always get, right? So if you don't embrace some of this, uh, some of these changes that are coming, it's just going to kind of stagnate, right? Um, and in some of the, those challenges is, is lost time. Uh, but the cost of that lost time. Risk, right? We're doing all these things manually, um, which opens up for, for audit and compliance problems. And then, of course, the, the, the talent that goes with that, um, I, I did, did, uh, did some research here on this and the impact on, on the job satisfaction and productivity. 30 to 40 percent of time can be reduced with finance automation and the behavioral changes, right? So when you, when you look at things in terms of, you know, I've got people in my, on my team, I've got, uh, processes, uh, that I, that I do, and I've got programs that I used to do that. Right. So it's either, you know, a human element, uh, a task or, uh, or a tool. Of all of those things, 30 to 40 percent of the time could be, could be saved there. And then, a really interesting factoid I found out was that employee disengagement costs 34 percent of whatever salary that you're, that you're paying, even yourself. Right? If you are disengaged and just rotely doing these, these mundane tasks. That, that's costing you 34 percent of the, of the pay of whoever you're, you're paying it. So let's, um, let's launch with our first poll. And since we, uh, uh, we're talking about disengaging, let's talk about joy. Because that's what we, that's what we like. What would bring you more joy? Uh, would it be less time chasing clients? Would it be just the fact that your work life balance is out of balance? And just need more personal time? Uh, or I want to focus on the meaningful services or, um, but I don't know how, um, or maybe I just want some additional revenue, uh, from the stuff that I am doing, Michelle,

Michelle Long: 16:34

and Dan, I think this is important here is because, you know, everybody always talks about, oh, you know, you need to automate, so you've got more time to add more, you know, high value services and everything. That may not be what people want. People may want more time to be with their family. They may want more personal time. They may want more time to travel. You know, it may not just be all about growing your business and expanding additional services and stuff. It may be more, you know, personal time and things. And so that is just as equally important as it and valid. You know as the other thing so, you know, I think that is important is to realize what are your goals for your business? um And any way you look at it though giving you more time to do what's important to you Whether it's business wise or personal minds or whatever. I think you know, that's just the win win Let

Dan DeLong: 17:31

me go ahead and share the results. It looks pretty Spread across the the board there

No One: 17:37

about

Dan DeLong: 17:37

39 of all of those things And it's almost like 30 to 40 percent just what we were saying there about the lost time there. Funny how that works out. And this is something that clients are asking for. I read this article, this blog article about an individual who went on a skiing trip and asked his colleagues Who are, who are all entrepreneurs and in the, in the business space, what they thought about their, their accountant. And like, this is, this is some of the things and some of the common themes and he, you know, put them on verbatim, you know, on the, on the blog article was charging me by reference to, by reference to how much time she spends. Doing stuff like, uh, you know, I would much prefer to pay for the job that he's doing really, you know, Clients really don't care if it takes four to say four or six hours I just want the job done and and that's that's a common theme that we hear from from client not being proactive And not giving advice Unless they asked for this person was using a a program called cash flow And they just didn't have the time to be able to tell them how to get get that value out of out of that application so um, and likely it's because They're spending their, their time on the drudgery side of things that just don't have bandwidth to be able to, to have those conversations and show them how to read these T leads. Uh, and then same thing, you know, same theme, working too close to deadlines. Uh, send all the information ahead of time, but they wait until the deadline in order to do that. Probably because there's some other compliance work like that. Reconciling of the bank accounts and those types of things that need to wait for a certain time period That need need to happen before those compliance things can actually be done because they're they've got a deadline So we're gonna talk a little bit about what it is that we're doing over at school bookkeeping About what this will will look like here. And so The, the modules themselves are going to be broken up and this is going to be a, um, I think the, the, the technical learning term is it's a hybrid cohort, uh, in which, you know, the participants and, and, and we are going to be going through this, uh, together, uh, so very much similar to what we do here on the, on the power hour that we'll have. Uh, a live session like this, but we'll also be covering some content, but also having a, you know, a feedback session as well for deeper dive questions, but it will be broken down into into 3 major areas. Discovery evaluation. And then transformation or practice transformation. So we're going to discover additional automation and services and align them, uh, with, with your, with your practice. And some of these things may not resonate with you, but you might have, um, you know, a, a use for them, uh, for, with your clients, you'll be able to evaluate them and implement them into your, into your practice, which will then make that clearing so that you can decide. Okay, well, I'm going to add some more additional services or I'm just going to use that time, buy back some of the time that's in, that's in my day, right? Because now automation is doing the heavy lifting for you. Uh, so let's talk a little bit about, uh, the discovering, um, and positioning automation as a tool, right? To leverage and create, um, opportunities for you. So first thing, and this will, this will kind of unpack this is that you need to map out. Your current workflows. So if you don't know what your current workflows are, you don't know which of those could be automated. Um, I mean, it makes sense, right? Of the things that you're, when you're looking at, well, I, I reconcile the bank accounts. I, I, I do, you know, this, that, or the other thing. But really just getting into the nitty gritty and determining what is causing, what is a manual process for all of those and what potentially could be an automation tool. To be able to fill that, fill that gap. Am I doing a lot of copying and pasting? If I'm doing that, maybe there's, maybe there's a tool that allows me to do that. Am I uploading? Or am I needing to upload a lot of transactions into, into QuickBooks or some other tool? Maybe there is a tool that will allow you to do that. So you'll identify what, what workflows can be automated and then identify potential new service offerings. Before we, um, we, we get in and go further, we'll have another poll. This one is in what ways do you find that technology helps you? And where did the polls go? I have like 14 different screens open. So there we go. We're going to launch that one. So what do you find? Um, because I'm going to share, uh, another, another, um, it was actually an Intuit accounting, uh, technology, uh, poll that, that was done, uh, last year, What benefits do you find new technology helps you? Is it increased revenue from efficiency, greater trust in the data because, you know, it's, it's kind of automated and, you know, you, you know, where that that data is coming from, or maybe it's, you know, increased revenue streams from the tools that you are using, um, or being able to add those, those more services, uh, improving those employee retention. Now we're talking about that. Disengagement component as well. Michelle, was there any, um Go ahead.

Michelle Long: 23:46

I was just gonna add, you know, one of the things, though, about new technology, um, you know, we're talking about how new technology can help us, but one of the things that's frustrating and or overwhelming for, I think, a lot of accountants and bookkeepers is there's so much new technology, and when I want to do something, there's so many of them out there, How do I know which one's right for me and for my practice and how do I choose from them? And it can become overwhelming What technology do I need which is best for me and for my firm and how do I you know? Dig through the myriad of options out there, you know, it can be overwhelming

Dan DeLong: 24:26

Yeah Yeah, I mean, uh, you know anybody who's going to uh scaling your heights, uh in a couple weeks when you go to the vendor floor It's it's this Wall of technology and innovation that you'll, that everything has a, a, a shine, a bright, shiny object. Um, and the, you know, if, if, uh, if all of the booth, uh, participants, uh, were to be believed, they all would solve your problems.

No One: 24:55

It's

Dan DeLong: 24:57

just really, it's really a matter of, well, what specific problems and going in to that, um, to that vendor hall, right. With. You know, if you've done your homework beforehand of like, okay, these are all of the workflows that I really have challenges with, this is what I'm looking to solve for that will be. That's super helpful when it comes to, okay, I need to, I need, I need an application that will do this and you can actually articulate the problem with. The service provider at that point and get and they will nine times out of ten when you when you have a clearly defined problem assigned or that you can define for them. They'll be straight up and say this will work great or it won't. And that's, that's part of the challenge.

Michelle Long: 25:55

I couldn't agree with you more Dan, that that's the key. You need to clearly identify your workflows and what your needs are prior to getting in there. And that goes back to the challenges. Okay, if I'm new trying to get away from doing manual processes and automating things. What are my workflows? What should my workflows be? And that's where, you know, sometimes people do need some help with it. That's why, you know, when I saw what you were doing with your course, I'm like, this is awesome, you know, because people do need help with, with doing that. So I think that's great that you're doing this.

Dan DeLong: 26:32

And let me go ahead and end the poll and I'll share the results. So, um, top one on the list there, you know, increased revenue from, from efficiencies over 50, 52%. Uh, so the being have, being able to buy back some of that wasted time is, uh, is definitely, uh, one of those, uh, one of the, one of the top, top feedbacks there. And, uh, you know, it's an Intuit account and technology survey, um, asked the same question. And, uh, Lo and behold, the top one that we're getting here today is the top one that a top benefit of new technology for for that survey. So consistent, consistent across the board there, but increased revenue from efficiency, greater trust was 38 percent increased revenue streams, 36 percent who doesn't like a little extra cash flow in the situation when you're using a tool that, uh, You know, works, uh, you know, improving, improving that employee retention, 33 percent there. So when we talk about discovering new challenges and you brought up a great point, there's so many to choose from. Here are some of the things that we're going to be talking about. Um, we're going to be talking about integrated technology and kind of the left side of this is, is the tools that we're going to be talking about as far as the Making that clearing and then we're going to be talking about new service offerings and introducing. Um, you know, different educators who have spent the course of their life creating content and, um, in, in, in, in courses to be able to create those services. So, like, if you wanted to get involved with cash flow advisory, right, but don't know where to begin. We're going to be able to make that, make that, uh, introduction for you with, with Cashflow Mike, right? He's, he's going to be part of this, uh, this cohort as well. We'll have that, uh, You know, when, when it comes time to talk about that, he'll come in and talk about an introduction of what it is that he's, uh, he's able to do. Um, and if you've ever read his books, you know, seven minutes to an advisory conversation. Uh, that is, it's, it's a phenomenal way to, to take the data that you're looking at and turn it into that, that high value conversation with, with your client. Maybe it's paid diagnostics or, or doing a, a, a discovery or technology consultation. Now that you know all these tools, maybe you just want to be, uh, you know, the type of individual that would, Talk to a potential client and say, Hey, we can, we can, uh, automate some of these, these tasks for you. You know, I've done it for my, my firm. Here's some of these tools that would actually work for you. Um, but we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll run the gamut of, you know, sales force integration or sales connectors, um, integrators from, from different platforms, online sales platforms, getting them into, into QuickBooks. I see that on the Facebook group constantly. How do I get. Um, and the, um, you know, so spend management, you know, the things that you can't necessarily do inside of QuickBooks holistically, and I have to go outside of QuickBooks in order to do that, who are the best in class of there, you know, cause we've got, uh, Melio, there's Corpay, there's build. com, there's Relay, File, uh, Makertub, all of those, um, you know, those, those run the gamut of, well, which is the best for me? And if you have a marketplace to basically choose from, uh, okay, well, you know, Melio would work for this client, but, um, really Makertub will be, will be better for, for this other client, right? You'll, you'll have, you'll, you'll know which one to, to recommend for, for which one, right? It's not the one size fits all, uh, type of thing, right? And then we'll work on to evaluating and implementing. So, evaluating those automation tools that would save time, money, and allow you, you know, to provide additional revenue opportunities as well. So, we'll talk about the tool selection, what it takes to incorporate that, and how it would be best to implement that. And now that you've got, you know, the foundation of here's all the things that we could potentially discover here, here's a, here's a path or workflow to do implement that. Now we've, and now we've got, uh, automation doing the heavy lifting, what do we do next, right? So how do we incorporate new value added services to that, right? Uh, so the process. In a nutshell is launching with your new clients, um, bringing on new clients, because, you know, that, that's, that's probably the hardest thing that, um, when it comes to change, when, uh, with, with, with, uh, with your clientele, what's the, what's the strategy? And, you know, you're always thinking of, okay, here's my book of clients in my head, how am I going to get them to transition to this application, right? Don't start with them. You know, you take a page out of Intuit's book, right? Because anytime that there's a new feature or functionality, they put it in brand new subscriptions first. And those subscriptions are going to be the, the beta testers or the, the Guinea pigs, so to speak. And we all love to be beta testers and Guinea pigs for, for everything that's, that's in QuickBooks, but that will be, you know, when you don't have the history Of the data and things like that inside of a QuickBooks company file, bogging down incorrect processes or, or, or something that might affect this new feature, do it with the new clients first. So you just really would want to roll that out with, with new clients. Transition, you know, then there's now a transition option with, with, uh, with existing clients, and then you would refine this process and repeat it, right. So that you can get some learning. And then bring that into your new newest clients. As well as being able to leverage and transition that to existing content. Let's talk a little bit about the specific topics that we're going to be discussing. And then, uh, and then we'll work on, uh, you know, going to, to some next steps. So, we're going to have, uh, weekly content sessions that are going to be, you know, 60 to 90 minutes in, in length. That we'll, we'll talk about the, the concept. Um, and this is going to be a group, uh, group activity, group, group session. And not just. You know, a lecture type of thing like, um, you know, like this, but, um, and then we'll also have a weekly Q and a feedback, right? So, uh, so two, at least two times a week, when we do have these sessions, we are going to have a, a, a content session where we talk about the concepts and then a Q and a, uh, a session to, to take a little deeper dive, there will be a community associated with the Uh, with this course, that will be just everybody being able to talk and work with each other within that, within that community. Uh, so here's the, the module listings as we have it today. Uh, so the liberation from data entry, that's kind of what we're talking about here today. We'll take a little bit more of a deeper dive, uh, into some of these concepts, how to embrace solutions for efficiency, significant time creation, uh, highlighting some of these. Solutions and services. So we'll go through each one, you know, um, bit by bit, um, and, and talk a little, you know, give, give an overview of, of, of each of them, um, and, uh, and, and leverage some more, some more resources that we already have, uh, on, on School of Bookkeeping, diversifying the revenue sources, uh, and those, and those options that are available from, from that. And then now we've got this clearing. That's this data, data insight, right? The evolution to advisory advisory is, is, is what I see today as, uh, as, as a new buzzword, right? So we're, we're not, it's, it's, it's, it's an umbrella word of advice, right? You know, like, what are you, what are you, you know, and then what are you doing with, with that advisory service? Right. And really what it boils down to is it's. It's a valuable added. It's more meaningful services that you're bringing to your client more so than the compliance boulder that I'm just bringing this up to the hill. Because as we've, as we've talked about Michelle over the past, you know, couple months, um, that compliance piece is fighting for her. Fighting for the cheapest, right? I mean, it was really boiled down to with the QB live, um, assisted discussion that we had, the generative AI with, uh, Intuit assist, um, you know, entering into the mix, all of these things are, are kind of clamoring and fighting for those, that, that compliance thing. And most of those clients who are happy with compliance work are not looking for the value added services. That you might be able to offer Because you're not having that, um, that, that kind of conversation with your client, uh, Michelle, you came off video. So, um, you got something to say,

Michelle Long: 36:52

you're going to get me in rant mode here. Well, the problem with all of this on the compliance piece, and if your firm is still doing, you know, a lot of the bookkeeping, especially a lot manually and everything, You're now competing with, you know, the QBOI, but not only that, but you're competing with venture capital, private equity money. Going into these huge firms like bench and pilot and others. I mean, cause there's other large firms that are doing this as well, but they are creating their own automated systems and everything, and they are going after the compliance work as well, because that's being automated AI is automating that with the bank rules and we're seeing the pulling in the bank statements and the ending statement balance. I mean, it's going to be reconciling itself pretty soon. So we definitely got to get away from that or if you're doing that, you have to be automated and super efficient. You cannot be doing it manually because the prices are going so low, you're not going to be profitable if you're not efficient. You have to be super efficient and that comes from the technology and everything. You know, so it's important to realize that it has changed. It's only getting even worse, you know, so if You just I mean, it's so important, you know Anyway, sorry. Yeah, I mean

Dan DeLong: 38:20

Eventually, right? I mean You know as and we're going to have um a discussion probably in um, july Uh where we'll we'll be talking about The changes that have been happening, you mentioned about the auto reconciliation function, and I see a lot of buzz about that in the, in the Facebook group, you know, it's the, the bank feeds is a great example. I mean, those transactions are automatically coming down the rules. You can start to automate, uh, how those things are actually. Coming in, right? Um, so in, in, in, in, in the grand scheme of things, if you don't want to, you don't necessarily have to touch those transactions, right? So they're just coming in, like, like the name implies, the bank is feeding those transactions into QuickBooks and, uh, through automations and through your expertise, you're categorizing them. You know, appropriately now the statement is, is being fetched. Um, that's, you know, that's, that's the state of, of where we are now. A lot of those statements are coming in automatically. And now what QuickBooks is doing is it's taking the end date and the ending balance and pre filling those for you so that in, in the grand scheme of things, if all the transactions are coming into the bank feed, bank already knows about that. The statement. Is really just, uh, a reconciliation of those transaction amounts on those dates. It's now just a matter of going through and clicking finish, right, to, and making sure that you don't have duplicates, right? So now you're just managing the data that, that is coming in automatically as opposed to entering said data, uh, from, from a more, more manual process. That's just one example. What's been, how the, how this, how technology is changing, changing this whole, um, experience,

Michelle Long: 40:31

you know, add something. Yeah, I am because the thing is, you know, we've been talking about this stuff, like you said, for a lot of years for over 10 years, we've been talking about automating and doing this and everything. And you see other people helping the larger firm to do this and implement it. Some people are like, oh, well, it's no big deal. I can do it. You see places like Woodard, you know, Joe Woodard, an arm of his Woodard, you know, I don't know, Woodard services, Woodard enterprise. I don't know what the official name is, but a part of Woodard It helps firms implement CAS, C A S. It helps larger firms. It helps smaller firms. I mean, they have programs for consulting with and training and I'm sure the larger firms especially are paying tens of thousands of dollars, you know, and those programs that they have cost a lot of money and things like that. So there is a need in the marketplace to help people to do this because. It's not as easy as it sounds because of the technology and how much is out there and everything. And so, you know, having something like this can help people go through it, bring it all together for you, as opposed to trying to find it and learn it all on your own and stuff. So, I mean, I think this is a great resource that you have here.

Dan DeLong: 41:53

So I think it's awesome. And it, and it, and it allows people like technology is the great equalizer of, you know, allows, you know, uh, people. Uh, small mom and pops to compete and do the same thing that, uh, that the large juggernauts, uh, do. Right? Like when you think of, you know, the Amazons and the Walmarts that are out there and they come into a town and oh my goodness, the hardware stores, the home depots are trying to run out all of the mom and pops. Hardware storage, there is still a space for that. Um, and there, and technology allows the small guys, little guys to do this, some of the same processes that the big guys do because they have this whole juggernaut of, uh, of resources behind them. This allows, this is, this is the tool to leverage. Um, and then, you know, our map, uh, roadmap here is, is, you know, one of the modules is going to be crafting your own personalized roadmap, right? So, which of those things makes the most sense to start to implement? Do you have to do them all? No, you don't have to do them all, uh, but you, you can certainly pick and choose which one makes the most sense, uh, to you. So, overall, it's going to be about 12 weeks, um, and, and 30 hours. So, you know, it's not just like oh, okay We're going to be able to to do this in a day or so So it is uh, it is something to to kind of buckle in and buckle up for right? So if uh, if you want to be a part of that premier cohort, there is a registration link Uh to be able to do that um, I will send that to you if you if you like to you can click on it if you've downloaded the the uh The slides, there's a, there's a link there, in there, as well as on our landing page as well, um, but we're, just by registering for, for interest, because what we're going to need to do is, is, uh, is figure out what day works best for, for that initial cohort, and who has the availability to, to do that. Uh, near the end of the year and hopefully we'll get it get it started before the end of the year and, um, but we'll give you an automation guide, um, really just 10 types of accounting automation tools, uh, that allow you to save time, right? And there'll be links for that, um, so you don't necessarily need to go through the, the course, uh, the, the course in order to do that. Um, Sandy asked a really good question. What's the course going to cost? Um, I don't know yet. Right. So we're, we're still fine tuning that as far as the, the value of, of what it is. Um, you know, on one, one end of the spectrum, I'm thinking, you know, pay what you feel like it is a value. And then on the other, there's. There's 12 weeks that we're going to be talking about, uh, that's going to take up, um, you know, our, our, our time and resources this first time. So, um, we don't know yet, um, what that, what that is. Um, we're still formulating, uh, as far as the cost is concerned. Um, But, uh, you can put in your, your, uh, interest for it, and if it makes sense to you, great, if it doesn't, that's fine too. Uh, so, uh, I'm gonna launch that last, uh, poll here. Would you, you know, would you like to participate in that initial cohort? And I lost the poll again. Where'd it go? Do you see it? Michelle? Like, can you launch,

Michelle Long: 45:33

uh, just one second. Lemme click more polls there. They're And poll number three.

Dan DeLong: 45:42

Yep. I launched it. There you go.

Michelle Long: 45:44

There we go.

Dan DeLong: 45:45

Thank you. Thank you. Yay. Um, anything that you saw, anything that you saw Michelle in the, in the chat or the, the QA as I was rambling on.

Michelle Long: 45:54

No, I did see somebody made a comment about, um, having to fix mistakes from AI and, you know, just like with anything, you know, garbage in, garbage out, you know, you have to set up and train things properly and stuff like that. So yes, AI can make mistakes. We've all heard some of the funny ones from it, but you know, but yes, AI can make mistakes and they can categorize things wrong too. And so yes, you do have to watch that and everything, um, you know, to monitor that. So that was a question there.

Dan DeLong: 46:27

Awesome. Yeah, I put the link for the slides in the in the chat. You can access that. It's got the handouts for today, as well as the links to be able to register for the cohort or just download the automation guide if you if you see fit there. So I'll follow up with the with the folks that are interested. Answer the poll question to make sure that they they have those links as well. I'll go ahead and close out. Go ahead

Michelle Long: 46:56

I'm, just curious. How many of you still have manual processes within your firm or have clients that are still doing things manually? Um, or how many of you know that you need to implement technology and improve your workflows in areas? I think that's probably like almost everybody. Oh, look at all these. Yeah

No One: 47:18

Seeing all the hands

Michelle Long: 47:20

I think most of us what happens is a lot of us are like, oh my gosh, this is so inefficient We need to change how we're doing this. Oh, this doesn't work while we you know We need to change this we need to change that but like you said dan we're so busy with that boulder That you're like, okay. We'll put that on our to do list. That's item number 193 after we get this boulder up. Oh, wait a minute The folder went down and now we're starting all over with the folder again, you know, so you're constantly fighting the compliance folder and not able to address some of those, even though you may recognize areas that need attention and improvement and change. It's hard to get it done.

Dan DeLong: 48:04

Yeah, I, uh, I see from the, from the, from the chat. It's, uh, she's, uh, Christina was talking about. I'm fighting the old schoolers. It's exhausting. I'm a little curious about that. To find out a little bit more more details about that is, is it the old school or client, uh, or is it the old school or. Practitioner, uh, that, that, or is it a mix of both? I'm wondering, um.

No One: 48:34

Right. Go

Dan DeLong: 48:37

ahead. No, I was just going to say, uh, Michelle also said downloading the Automation Guide registers for the cohort. Um, that's, that's true. It does register for the, for the, for the cohort as far as the interest is concerned, but that will send you, uh, a link. Uh, once you do that, the download, uh, the, the, the guide, it'll send, uh. We have some automation, uh, that, that allows that, uh, to automatically. allow you to get in and do that.

Michelle Long: 49:07

Yeah, and here was a great one. MoneyThumb is a lifesaver. And that's just one good example. A tool like MoneyThumb which allows you to convert those PDF statements into a file so that you can import things into QuickBooks. And that's why I would tell people there's no reason you should ever have to manually import bank transactions. You know, even if all you have is a PDF statement in your bank. There's a tool that allows you to import that stuff. There's no reason for manual data entry. Um, and that's where though, you know, everybody attending this webinar today and joining us on our Facebook group and stuff, you all are already way ahead of the group just because you join us and you learn about these tools, you know, like money thumb and things like that from this webinar and you know, courses like this and stuff like that. So. I think that's great. And, you know, Dan, with you taking your wealth of knowledge from going to scaling and connect all the time and the conferences and talking to the vendors and all that by you having that wealth of knowledge that you can help share with everybody. I think that's that's

Dan DeLong: 50:13

very helpful. Yeah, because I mean, you think of, you know, just something like inventory management, right? I mean, there's, uh, there's never a one size fits all when it comes to, you know, A client that needs to manage their, their invent, uh, their inventory, um, you know, because sometimes it could be handled inside a QuickBooks. Sometimes it needs an outside app to do that. Sometimes desktop QuickBooks might be, might be the solution for them. But then those other workflows that feed into, um, that whole thing in service to that, um, you know, client. You gotta, you gotta know the, you know, which workflows are connected to which workflows and what might be impacted by adding a technology or, or taking it away. Um, and I think that that ultimately boils down to where this industry is, is, is sitting right now, is that the, the biggest challenge, you know, even going back to, you know, QuickBooks DOS, right? The biggest challenge that, that we end up having in the. You know, getting data in, into meaningful reports, which is the whole goal of, of, of your, of your software has always been, and always kind of lied that the root cause is there's a disconnect. Between the data entry and the workflow. And, and what that boils down to is, you know, in, in, in the example of, you know, an invoice, I send an invoice out of my QuickBooks and, uh, you know, and then they mail me a check and then I deposit that into my bank account. And then the bank feed brings that in and I put that to income, right? So now I've disconnected the, the workflow and haven't followed it through to do it. You know, step one, step two, step three, you know, conclusion of where it will sit into the bank account and then I can go ahead and reconcile that I put it into my bank account and then categorized it to the revenue. God forbid, this was actually a credit card transaction from Square or something. And there's some fees associated with that. So now that match, that amount doesn't even match your invoice. Um, but that's, that's really where we're, we're, we're the, the breakdown tends to happen in, inside of QuickBooks is that there's a disconnect between the workflow and the workload to, you know, the data that that's in there. Would you. Would you agree? I mean, you've pretty much built an entire YouTube channel off of one big video. Positive funds,

Michelle Long: 53:03

I know, right? Yeah, no, those, those are great spot on comments. I just love them. Um, perfect. And I've seen some comments in here about their clients that are older, get like over 80 or just older ones that don't trust automation and things like that. So I have an embarrassing story to share with you. I'm of a certain age and I too can be afraid of things sometimes. This time it wasn't even technology. The light bulb was burnt out on the thing that over the rain, over the, your stove, you know, I got the microwave, so it's the light bulb under the microwave that goes over the stove. And, you know, I just put up with it for a long time because I assumed it was going to be kind of hard to, uh, Open the microwave and replace that light bulb. Right? So I just put it off, put it off, put it off. When I finally did it, I was embarrassed because of how easy it was. Right? So sometimes that's what we have to realize with our clients. If they don't realize this could be easy. It just seems hard and scary, and I do have a client that she used to pay me to drive over to her house to print her W 9 8s. She had them all prepared, all ready to go. She was just afraid to, like, hit submit and print. This was back when we weren't e filing too much yet, but she still wouldn't even print them without me being there with her, by her side. You know, and I was trying to teach her how to do remote access. And she wouldn't try that. So I went over there, we printed the W2, 1099, did all that. And then I sat there with her and I said, look, let's, can you open your email that I sent you? Oh yeah, here it is. Can you click that link? Oh yeah, there it is. Now watch this. And she was on her computer right there. And I was on my laptop right next to her at her desk or office, whatever, and she could see how I could do remote access with her computer and how easy it was. All she had to do was click that link and she was like, Really? That's all it was? You know, so sometimes it's just they're scared. You know when you say new technology, I want you to do this. I want you to upload that dan I want you to upload this for me. I'm like, oh shit. What's that mean? I don't know how to upload something I've never done that. I've never changed the light bulb in the microwave like that. It's going to be really hard I've never uploaded something i've never done. It's just scary So if you can step back for a minute, I know it takes a little more time If it's a client you want to keep. If they're technology resistant and it's a PETA client anyway, then maybe you don't even want to keep them. But if it's a good client that you want to keep, take the time to hold their hand and show them how it works. And walk them through the first time. It may be perfectly fine after that and you may have a converse Because that's probably all they need is somebody to hold their hand and see him through the first time and then that's tremendous

Dan DeLong: 56:10

My mother is uh is a technophobe um but she She insists on bringing new technology into her life, but then has the story of me and technology don't mix and So it's a it's a it's a constant uh Uh, when it comes, when it comes to that sort of thing, and he has this mindset with, with certain things that I'm just constantly saying the same thing over and over, like your, your, your apple phone and your windows PC are never going to be on the same speaking terms, unless you have all in the apple ecosystem, but then, you That is going to be a bigger challenge of you trying to figure out how to scroll up or down because everything's reversed, right?

Michelle Long: 57:00

Yeah, yeah. So just, yeah, just somebody else there said to just take the time and encouragement. It helps build relationships. Yeah. And that's true. If it's a client that's worth keeping. If not, don't. Maybe it's time to look at which clients you want to keep and move forward with and it's a good time to get rid of some of those clients that are PETA's.

Dan DeLong: 57:21

And I took, um, I, I did, uh, uh, Hector Garcia's reframe, which I would definitely recommend to, to anyone who's, who's kind of in this boat of, okay, how do I reimagine my, my firm, uh, in, in this, in this day and age. It's a great, um, some great learnings, uh, out of that. But he said something in one of his guiding principles of his alt accountants, uh, and reframe conference is you automate workflows, but you humanize relationships and by being able to automate these, these, these workflows, it gives you the capacity to, to be able to bring more humanization to those relationships with, with your clients. And that's what people, They, you know, as we saw with the, with the, with the client, uh, feedback, right, is they don't care how long it takes you to do something or that, or they don't value, you know, what, what they might see as wasted time, like, well, you're just, you're just taking time so that you can build me more. But if they hold a value to, to those meaningful parts of the, of the relationship, then, you know, a lot of times they just don't care. What it costs, right? Because that that that is invaluable to them. They can't put a price on Michelle. What do you think?

Michelle Long: 58:48

I think that's a great comment. And I think you're spot on. I was looking at the comments over there about them registering and benefiting. But I think you're right. Um, adding value for our clients and and being that valuable advisor and having that relationship. I mean, that's a great thing from Hector. I love it. The relationship is the most valuable.

Dan DeLong: 59:12

Exactly. And that's what, and that's what we value in life anyway, is, is those relationships. We don't care about the bank feed. Uh, we, we would rather,

Michelle Long: 59:23

we would rather, what does that mean?

Dan DeLong: 59:26

They, they cannot.

Michelle Long: 59:29

Right. All right.

Dan DeLong: 59:30

Well, we appreciate you joining us today on the, on the power hour. I really appreciate, uh, the technology working with us today. So that's. Michelle could join us the whole time. Uh, so I really appreciate that. Uh, next time we are actually going to be in Scaling New, at Scaling New Heights. So we're going to have, we're going to show a replay of us at Scaling New Heights because both of us have conflict on the live, what would be the live event uh, for, for Power Hour. So we're going to have a live replay uh, during that time period. So, uh, if you're not attending Scaling New Heights uh, you'll be Doing it through osmosis, uh, through the, through the power hour replay when we, when we play that next week. Um, and, uh, we'll have, uh, someone from Intuit, uh, to join us next time after that to talk about these, uh, the, this change in the modern reports, uh, after that, which I'm sure you'll want to, uh, tune in for that. Uh, we appreciate you joining us today and we'll see you next time on the QB Power Hour. Have a great day, everyone.