QB Power Hour Podcast

Catch of the Day: Fishbowl - QuickBooks' Inventory Boost [6.9.26]

• Dan DeLong

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Join us for “Catch of the Day: Fishbowl -  QuickBooks' Inventory Boost” and discover how to reel in better inventory management. We’ll show you how Fishbowl fills the gaps in QuickBooks, making tracking, ordering, and reporting a breeze. Learn practical tips to streamline your workflow, reduce errors, and keep your business swimming smoothly—all without getting tangled in the details.

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

Connect with Sharrin's Clone and Conquer Hub: https://snip.ly/SharrinQBPH
Get QuickAnswer with Dan's School of Bookkeeping Community: https://snip.ly/QuickAnswers

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

Register for upcoming webinars at https://www.qbpowerhour.com/ 

Welcome and Topic Setup

Dan DeLong

Welcome to another QB Power Hour. Uh, today we're gonna be talking about Fishbowl's QuickBooks, being an inventory boost, uh, to QuickBooks. It's the catch of the day. Uh, we'll be joined by, uh, some folks from, uh, Fishbowl to talk, talk about, um, their options. So, uh, first thing I wanna know is the people that were in the waiting room, we tried to put a- Okay the, the, the video that s- uh, talks about the, um- housekeeping and, um, you know, those types of things about the QA and the chat and those types of things. Did that play? That's, that's what I wanna know first before we get started because I wanna make sure that... Oh, of course it- No. Bruce says no. God. Now, Bruce, did you get here two minutes prior to the start- Yeah, Bruce of it?

Sharrin Fuller

How long you been hanging out in the, in the waiting room, dude?

Dan DeLong

Right now. 'Cause if it just- No 'cause if it just got

Sharrin Fuller

here at- Colleen says no. Dad says no.

Dan DeLong

Oh, he was there 25 minutes ago. Oh my God. What

Sharrin Fuller

is going on? That's dedication. I wasn't even here 25 minutes before.

Dan DeLong

Yeah. That, yeah, that is great that, uh-

Sharrin Fuller

Oh, Austin says yes.

Dan DeLong

Okay.

Sharrin Fuller

Now, now, um- So I don't know, Austin, you might have been in the wrong room, bud, 'cause it sounds like nobody else heard him.

Dan DeLong

Wonder, wonder. Okay. So we're still gonna try to figure

Sharrin Fuller

that out. We'll, we'll

Dan DeLong

figure

Housekeeping and Q&A

Dan DeLong

this out. We'll figure it out. So, um, since the video didn't play, uh, if you have specific questions about the sp- the topics that we're talking about, please put them in the Q&A, especially if they're Fishbowl related, uh, 'cause we do have some extra folks from, uh, Fishbowl to help, here to help- Mm answer those questions. And it certainly is helpful, um, when you have specific questions about what we're talking about, uh, to be able to follow up by putting that in the Q&A. If you have regular comments, color commentary going along with- whatever, uh, Sharrin happens to be talking about, uh, um, please put those in the chat. Right. Um, and we're gonna put the links there for the handouts for today, uh, so you should be able to download those and keep copious- Mm notes. So, um, again, uh-

Sharrin Fuller

Copious, I like it.

Sponsors and Communities

Dan DeLong

Recognizing our spotlight sponsors, which is what keeps the QB Power Hour free to attend. Fishbowl is one of them, so we wanna thank them for, uh, coming along for this, uh- Mm journey. If you wanna check out any of these, there's a link in the handouts, or you can, um, scan the QR codes there as well. Um, and of course, if you wanna work with Sharrin or myself without us interrupting each other, uh, over a, over a 60-minute webinar... Uh, you're about to say something, Sharrin, I know.

Sharrin Fuller

Nope. I was not gonna interrupt you, sir.

Dan DeLong

You can check out our, uh, respective, uh, communities. I run School of Bookkeeping, and, uh, Sharrin runs the Clone and Conquer. Uh, so we're all about- cloning yourself or using technology to, uh, scale your, yourself and your practice.

Meet Fishbowl Evangelist

Dan DeLong

And I'm more about the efficiencies inside of QuickBooks so that you can gain more time that way So Kendrick, uh, is joining us from, uh, Fishbowl. Uh, you have a long and storied, uh, history, uh, with, with Fishbowl. Mm-hmm. Kendrick, you wanna introduce yourself and, and let us, uh, let the folks know who you are?

Sharrin Fuller

Yeah. Thanks, Dan. And tell us what a chief evangelist is, because- Are you gonna pre- are you gonna preach some Fishbowl to us today, Ken?

Dan DeLong

Dan did

Kendrick Hair

ask me if I needed to be ordained to that spot, and, uh, turn- turns out you do. Um, but, but-

Sharrin Fuller

Online, 20

Kendrick Hair

minutes. That's it. You can have it. Well, actually, I got it done in about 16 minutes, Sharrin. Oh. So it was pretty painless. Um, you know, cost $10 and 18 cents, but I got through it. It was great.

Sharrin Fuller

I like him. I've

Kendrick Hair

been with Fishbowl for a couple of, like, 20 years now, and if you would've told me two decades ago that inventory management and manufacturing was so compelling, I don't know that I would've believed it. Um, but it's been really fun to just see how different businesses use Fishbowl and the, the complexities that they have. Uh, uh, maybe I'm a little off-script here, Dan, but, uh, I just got thinking about some of the businesses that we work with that are, are maybe, uh, really unique. Uh, we've got a reptile farm down in Florida. So if you've been into a pet store in the, the last 20 years, there's a high probability that if you saw a, a snake or a lizard or a frog, it came from Reptile Industries. Uh, we've, we've got, um, some defense, uh, organizations, government stuff, uh, you know, prisons and school systems- Wow and things like that. We've got heart valve manufacturers. Prisons? Wait

Dan DeLong

a minute. Do they,

Kendrick Hair

do they keep track of the inmates that way? Prisons. We inventory the prisoners. They're outside the United States, so no judgment passed on how laws work, but, uh

Sharrin Fuller

Fishbowl's getting crazy. They're like, "We put a barcode on everybody in prison, and we inventory

Kendrick Hair

the hell out of them." We can inventory just about everything, so.

Sharrin Fuller

People. Children.

Kendrick Hair

Yeah. Cool. How- however it goes. Yeah. If you've got stuff and a need to track it, we're there. Uh- All right we're really focused on the manufacturing side of it, so I, I think that's where a lot of our customers are at. Uh, they, they build in some way. Uh, and whether it's simple or, or complex, we've got solutions that fit it all. But, uh, some good things there around just managing and making sure it all flows back into QuickBooks. So we'll, uh, we'll talk a lot more about that today.

Dan DeLong

Yeah. Love it. Certainly appreciate you, uh, joining us here from, from that side of the- Mm-hmm of the house. Uh, for those of us, uh, for those of you, uh, hopefully us, uh, have

Webinar Series Updates

Dan DeLong

been here before. But for those of you who may be joining us for the first time, uh, we do have some updates on the QB Power Hour webinar series. Uh, we are working at, at co- categorizing our... My TV just went, flitzed on the scri- uh, little glitch there. Um, we are looking to, uh, ca- categorize a lot of our- Mm topics into quarterly events. Uh, this one is Take it to the limit, right? Mm. Where, where you can enhance your QuickBooks experience with the inventory management because as, uh, Sharrin astutely pointed out on my LinkedIn post, uh, when I said QuickBooks- Oh. does, tracks inventory until it doesn't. She was like, "No."

Sharrin Fuller

No, don't lie. It does not. Anyhow.

Dan DeLong

Okay. It does fit a need, uh, but it doesn't fit all needs, and that's why we hit that ceiling sometimes, and we need- Mm something like Fishbowl.

Sharrin Fuller

So, our- At this point, Dan, I feel like now I'm just trying to, um, make Intuit bad. So I think I'm beyond the, like, let's be real, and now I'm like, "Nope, done."

Agenda and First Poll

Dan DeLong

So our agenda today, uh, we're gonna talk a little bit about, uh, something hopefully that, uh, sh- doesn't disturb, uh, Sharrin and, and send her into a tizzy again. Uh, but- No, I'm

Sharrin Fuller

okay

Dan DeLong

we'll be talking about a, a locking parent accounts, uh, which is something that is relatively new, uh, for, uh, QuickBooks Online. Uh, and then we'll, we'll dive into the bowl. We'll tap the glass, so to speak, uh, for Fishbowl. What is... We'll talk about what Fishbowl is, some of the inventory management workflows, and, um, inventory management in the, in the cloud and, and talk about some of those, um, core definitions of- Right of, uh, inventory management and what Fishbowl can do. So let's, uh, launch- Mm our first poll question, uh, which is which version of QuickBooks do you support your clients with primarily? Um, which would be QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or both, and if you do others as well.

Lock Parent Accounts

Dan DeLong

But, uh, let's talk about, uh, Intuit, um, Intuit news and updates of locking accounts and locking, uh, parent accounts. Do you, do, does, is that something, Sharrin, that really bugs you when- I love it.

Sharrin Fuller

I love it. I'm actually so excited about that. So I went into, I actually went in and did some bookkeeping this past week, and when I added things in, as I added them, it's like, "Would you like to lock the parent account?" I'm like, "Yes, I would. Yes, I would." It asked me every time I coded something that went to what, like, a parent, it asked me, and I, I... I'm sorry, that's awesome. I wish that was there forever ago. Mm-hmm. Nothing drives me more nuts than when there's, like, money sitting in the parent account, 'cause I'm really OCD. Some people actually use the parent account and the subs. Weird. Don't do that. Um, no, I love it. This is a good feature. This is, they did this one right.

Dan DeLong

Yeah, so, um, the, the, the challenge of course is that when you start with a, with an account on your chart of accounts and then you add subs to it, sometimes there's some historical, uh, transactions that are gonna get posted to that parent account, and then you've got the sub account, and it just looks, um... Well, what the... I mean, a- as far as, like, reporting-wise, when you're, when you're seeing the, the hierarchy of the parent and the, and the sub accounts, things that are posted directly to the parent account show as a dollar amount in there, and then it's, it, it doesn't necessarily itemize those things out so you can really make comparisons, right? Is that, is that really the, the problem that, that, that occurs when you, when you have that hierarchy, Sharrin?

Sharrin Fuller

Yeah, and it just looks ugly. I just don't like it. I'm a, um I'm OCD, right? And y- yeah. I mean, you drop it down. Why do you... What's the point of having a parent if you're gonna throw things in it? Yeah, no, it's been, um... I was also answering a question right when you asked that. No. That's all right. It, definitely. Y- yes.

Dan DeLong

Yeah, so when you have, like an example here of, like, website expenses- Yep uh, and then under, under that Domains, Website Hosting, and WordPress plugins are, are sub-accounts. Uh, a lot of times people will just put things to Website Expenses and then- Yeah on the profit and loss or whatever report that is, you'll see this- Mm hodgepodge or mixture of- Yeah of, uh, in- into the parent. So what you're able to do now- And then what's

Sharrin Fuller

AI gonna do, Dan? How will AI know to properly tell you how to advise your clients?

Dan DeLong

Exactly, and you've got a, a mix, mix it, mixed signals there. Um, so when you edit an account you can lock it. Uh- Lock it there is a little pad- padlock. Yeah. Um, listed there, and then what that will do is it will gray out, um-

Sharrin Fuller

Mm.

Dan DeLong

Mm that account from drop-down, so mistakenly things won't get put into that, those parent accounts. Uh, bank rules that, uh, post to that account will stop running. Wow, that's, that's, uh, that's pretty, um, end-to-end, you know, thinking, where, where the bank rules will, will stop act- stop running- Mm-hmm that are posted to that account.

Sharrin Fuller

Mm-hmm.

Dan DeLong

Um, bank feeds will stop predicting that account, so it won't be suggesting to put things into that account when you have it locked. Um, but third parties, if you do have them mapped to that parent account, they will still post, uh, 'cause you don't want to be interruptive to an integration that you might, might be having.

Sharrin Fuller

It will? It will still- So it, it'll lock, um, if you're doing things in Intuit, but if something else comes in, I would assume it would, like, error out and make you go fix it, kind of like when a Zap doesn't work right. But it doesn't, it, let's, it pulls it through?

Dan DeLong

Yeah, yeah. It'll still post- Huh to that parent account. So if you see, see things that are posting- Mm to it, then, you know, that is, that could be a potential, um, surprise. You know, things to, things to look

Sharrin Fuller

at. Also, it prompted me, Dan. I didn't even have to... It prompted me. It, it- Yeah I didn't have to go in and manually lock anything. It's like, "Hey, would you like to, yes or no?" And I thought- Yeah that was really... I mean, everybody loves pop-ups, but in this situation- I don't. Yeah. So it

Dan DeLong

was okay. It was actually a helpful pop-up.

Sharrin Fuller

Yeah. You know,

Dan DeLong

cause a lot of times- It was like, "Hey." we get into pop-up fatigue. Hey, Intuit. Right? Yes, I know that message. I didn't even read it. Um, and you can lock multiple accounts from the Chart of Accounts. Yeah. So if you go to Chart of Accounts- Yeah and you just select a bunch, you can lock them right there. There's a link, uh, to the article about locking accounts, uh, in the slides there. All

Fishbowl and Intuit History

Dan DeLong

right. So let's talk about, uh, our, our main topic today is about- The catch of the day of the day The pay to tap the

Sharrin Fuller

glass. That's cute

Dan DeLong

So, so Kendrick and I were talking a little bit right before we, we launched here, and, and a thought occurred to me, um, earlier today that Fishbowl and the accounting community kind of have a similar, uh, track record when it comes to working with Intuit and QuickBooks, right? Because when I was there, uh, and I was there at the launch of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, right? So this was back in 2002. Um, there, there was no flavors of, of, uh, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. It was just QuickBooks Enterprise. And then for the advanced inventory management functions, Intuit had partnered with Fishbowl, and that was for people that needed more inventory management components or, or workflows. Adding on Fishbowl to, to that was the, was the recommendation, right? So Fishbowl has been a longtime partner with QuickBooks, but over the course of the years since then, you've seen a lot of the same functionality that's in Fishbowl show up in QuickBooks, right? So- Mm-hmm they have a, they have a similar, um- Thought pro-, uh, not, not thought process, but, uh, uh, track record of, "Hey, wait a minute. We're doing that." What are you doing putting it into your product, uh, over the course of the years? But still, Fishbowl finds a way to partner with the same company that is encroaching on the things that they that they are doing as their core function. So Kendrick, you want to talk a little bit about how- Mm-hmm um, how Fishbowl has been able to rise above the Intuit shenanigans for, for lack of a better word?

Kendrick Hair

It's, it's been a, an interesting, uh, 25 years. I, um, Dan, as you're talking about that, so I joined Fishbowl in 2007. My wife actually worked here ahead of me, um, so I was familiar with the, um, you know, what was happening with Intuit. And thinking back in those days, like '03, um, there was actually a period where a bunch of our engineers went and worked for Intuit and, and that kind of started them down that path. Um, I don't know how much I'm supposed to share here, but- whatever the statute of limitations is, I'm sure it was, it's expired on that piece. Uh, you know, to your point, though, uh, there's, there's so much overlap and, and the, this delicate balance in, in the Intuit ecosystem and, and when we're, uh, competing and, uh, complementing one another in some instances. And so, you have to, to see, uh, you know, the journey, especially over the last few years, um, that the, the accounting community has gone through. Uh, we can certainly relate in, in maybe a- an adjacent way, uh, to what's happening there. And to your point, you know, what, what does it look like and how do we, how do we stay there? We, we initially back in '03, uh, had those features and Intuit was recommending Fishbowl. Uh, and then, you know, they kind of, uh- Worked into that position of having some, uh, assembly capabilities and things like that, uh, an-another time, you know, in, I think, twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, as they pushed more enterprise capabilities and, and more assembly capabilities. And, uh, you know, repeatedly, uh, there, there have been those scenarios. And, and the same thing's happening, you know, right now today with Intuit Enterprise Suite. Um, a-and so, uh, uh, not just with, with what Fishbowl's experience with Intuit Enterprise Suite, but what the accounting community is facing with, uh, advisory services and, and all the other things going on. And what we've learned over the years is, um, you know, first and foremost, uh, we want to be complementary to what's happening. It is a moving target, um, for better or for worse, though, as, as long as we can stay ahead of what Intuit's doing and create innovation and value and, and have those good services. You know, we, we have a lot of customers that, um, are, are still needing both what, uh, Intuit provides alongside what Fishbowl does. And I think the same's true in the accounting community, is that as you can find ways to differentiate and, and add value and take care of your clients, uh, you know, there's always something you can do better than, than what, um, they're offering, even if it's just the, the level of service and, and willingness that you have, um, to jump in. And Dan and Sharrin both have great examples of, of tool sets and, and different ways that, uh, help you be more efficient and impactful for your clients. I, I think that at the end of the day is really what makes the difference, uh, in, in so many engagements with clients.

Dan DeLong

Yeah, yeah, definitely, um, similar track records, uh, in, in ancillary, you know, industries, i-i-as, as we are all kind of trying to navigate, you know, a lot of these changes over the, over the, the, the next few years,

QuickBooks vs Operations View

Dan DeLong

right? So, um, QuickBooks is, is really, uh, as you say here in this, on this slide, QuickBooks tells you what happened financially, but Fishbowl really tells you what's happening operationally. And we had kinda talked about this in the past, and we were, we were mentioning it as well. Like, if the analogy of, of driving a car, right? QuickBooks is really good at the rear view mirror. Like, where have I been? How much, how many ta- how much taxes have I... do I need to pay? Payroll taxes, sales tax, what have I done, right? And those reports, um, are, are designed to, to, to reflect that so that you can look out the windshield and drive forward, right? Um, but where Fishbowl, and especially in inventory management, you really wanna be looking out the, the windshield so that you're driving forward because you could have... You know, you certainly don't wanna end in a ditch, uh, or, or things like that. So, um, talk about, you know, the core functionality of, of, of Fishbowl of, of where you're gonna be looking in that, in that windshield.

When Inventory Breaks Down

Kendrick Hair

Yeah, and I, I love that, Dan, analogy, uh, because so many clients end up in the ditch. Uh, nobody wakes up in the morning and says, "I need inventory and manufacturing software." That's not a, a compelling thing- I

Sharrin Fuller

did today.

Kendrick Hair

You, you may have on the accounting side on behalf of your clients, but a lot of business owners, they just skip right over that bit. A- and a lot of times I think it's because when they get started, everything's fine, right? You know, they can handle it either in their head or on a quick spreadsheet or, uh, you know, sometimes even in QuickBooks. Um, but th- they reach a breaking point, and the, the good businesses recognize it before they end up in the ditch. Uh, and most businesses, even if, if they're typically good, it's not their first focus because a lot of them are, are the growing SMBs, or they've, they've just brought on, you know, a new product line, or some, some catalyst event has occurred, and now all of a sudden they're underwater, and they don't know what to do. Um, you know, it usually manifests in a way of they have a, a really pissed-off customer that they're about to lose, or they just had a stockout that's gonna impact them for 12 weeks, or, um, you know, s- pick some variation of that, things didn't go good, and now they're trying to get it back on the track. And so we talk to a lot of businesses who most of them don't come right out and say that in call number one, um, but eventually it comes out, uh, you know, sometimes in implementation where, "Hey, here's actually the problem we have to solve for because if we don't, it's, it's gonna continue to wreck our business."

What Fishbowl Does

Kendrick Hair

Uh, and I get asked all the time, "Well, what does Fishbowl actually do?" You know, I, I can't count the number of times that an accountant's walked up at a, a conference or that I've engaged with a, a prospect and they're like, "I've heard of Fishbowl, but what is it?" Uh, first off, it's a weird name, and the backstory, I won't go too far down that road, but our lead developer back in the early days hated the name, and I think that's why it stuck. Um, but- the impetus behind it, though, is that, um, you should be able to see what's going on in the business from every angle. Now, as, as, Dan, you mentioned, we were kind of born out of, uh, necessity working with QuickBooks. Um, so the, the vision and, and viewpoint has always been to inform the accountant, the bookkeeper, the CPA, the advisory firm, as well as the CEO and operators of what's going on in the business. A- and so from that viewpoint, Fishbowl makes a little more sense, um, because you should be able to see everything your clients are doing. Um, you know, back to the question, though, of what does Fishbowl actually do? In a simple sentence, we help people track stuff. Um, and, and that, um, may- maybe is overly simplistic, but the reality is, uh, whether it's a product-based business that's selling on Shopify, you know, they've got stuff on the shelf and it needs to get out the door, or maybe it's not even on their shelf, it's in the hands of a, a 3PL or, or co-packer. Uh, if they need to be able to track what that stuff is, we really help m- manage. Uh, you know, it can also be service-based businesses. So, uh, you know, they may not be product-oriented, but we work with a lot of companies that they, they go out and do service work on, um, HVAC syst- systems or, uh, water filtration or, um, uh, you know, all, all across the board. Um, if th- if there's stuff in a van that you need to know where that's going or who's using it, uh, Fishbowl can be a good tool there to, to help track all that stuff.

Dan DeLong

And as we, uh, you know, kinda talk about, you know, does QuickBooks track inventory, um, when we categorize, you know, where your stuff is and what do you need, QuickBooks Online is, is fair, uh, for I buy that stuff and I sell that same stuff. But some of these things that are up on the, on this slide about, like, multi-location tracking, bill of materials, work orders, lot, you know, the traceability, manufacturing, and t- taking that raw material and turning it into different stuff to sell, and tho- those types of things is really where you need to look at, you know, some other, some other tool to, to, to manage, uh, the, all that stuff, right?

Kendrick Hair

Yeah. Whe- whether it's in QuickBooks or even, you know, a spreadsheet or a notepad, uh, there's certainly a time where a, a less complex solution is meaningful and, and, you know, fits what the client does. You know, if, if we've got somebody who just sells three widgets and they have that down pat, they, they probably don't need Fishbowl. It's gonna be overkill for them, unless you start talking about some of the com- the components that go into that.

Compliance and Traceability

Kendrick Hair

So we've got a client that they literally have three SKUs. Uh, however, each of those three SKUs, uh, are, are made up of hundreds of components that go into them, uh, and they have serialization tracking on everything that they do. So they, as it turns out, build flight control systems for jets. Um, and, um, if you don't have any clients in the space, um, believe it or not, the FAA is really particular, uh, about everything. Um, so for them, even though they have three SKUs, they've gotta record every component that comes in, every serial number that goes on, how everything gets put together, and then they need to, they have to maintain the traceability of these things for, like, 25 years. Oof. So if they sold something in 2006, they're still liable to the FAA even if that, that customer sold the, the jet off to somebody else. It could have changed hands 10 times. If their serial number goes into it, they have to trace it Um, so that's a, that's a burden to carry, uh, and a great example of where, you know, some advanced inventory management come in. Now, that's probably one of the most extreme examples I've heard. Um, but the, the reality is even if they're just, uh, you know, a food manufacturer, uh, lot codes and expiry dates are something that the FDA maintains. And so, uh, you know, we really come in and add that next level of clarity. So y- you know, you've got a client that's selling food and beverage, well, now you've gotta deal with, uh, 21 CRF Part 11 for the FDA, and if you're not an expert in that, it's overwhelming. And, uh, we love the folks at QuickBooks, but a lot of them aren't geared, uh, towards speaking to that as well. And so that's really where Fishbowl comes in to help with that next level of detail, whether it's the FDA, the FAA, uh, y- you know, DOT. We deal with a lot of chemicals companies and material data safety sheets, and, you know, pick an acronym, and there's usually a- an aspirin that needs to go with it. Um, and, uh, that's really where we start to see clients that, that struggle, uh, when they're just using QuickBooks or that spreadsheet system or, or some other tools out there that don't allow for that.

Dan DeLong

Yeah.

Learning Resources Mentioned

Dan DeLong

Um, now we have some, uh, resources, um, nothing as undetailed as what Kendrick talked about over at School of Bookkeeping, where it's more of like you're... the, the shallow end of the pool for inventory management um, as far as getting familiar with some of the, the terminology. Uh, we have a blog on, uh, tracking inventory inside of, uh, QBO. Uh, we have some advanced inventory features that are in Desktop, uh, that you can, uh, r- review, uh, those, those types of things, as well as, uh, we did an advanced inventory workshop series, uh, that you can, uh, have that, see that c- uh, comparison between, uh, something inside of Desktop and, uh, a c- cloud-based inventory solution. And we do have an inventory fundamentals, uh, co- course that you can, uh, review at your, at your own pace, right?

Fishbowl Product Tiers

Dan DeLong

So one of my biggest, uh, concerns or confusions, because I am easily confused, is, um, the, the different tiers or different flavors of, of Fishbowl. Uh, so can you talk a little bit about what- You know, you're, you're venturing into a cloud-based, uh, full solution, and then you have a kind of like a hosted online solution as well. So talk a little bit about the different solutions that you have, uh, in, in the Fishbowl m- uh, platform.

Kendrick Hair

Yeah, it's a, it's a great question, Dan, and, and candidly, we, we need to do a better job at, uh, helping everybody understand kind of where, where we fit and sit. So, so maybe walking backwards into that question, um, we're, we're similar to the Intuit ecosystem in that we provide both desktop and cloud. Uh, you know, we've been around since '01, and, and at that point, cloud didn't exist, so we, we certainly started out with an on-prem solution. Uh, to your point Uh, we, we then, uh, offered a, a hosting capability so we can take, uh, Quick- Fishbowl and QuickBooks and put them in a cloud environment, and you can access them through, uh, a web portal. Uh, and, and then we do have a cloud solution. So comparable to, to QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online i- is kinda where we sit from a product operating standpoint. So we're similar in that way. Where, where we are dissimilar to a degree is how and where we deploy, uh, Advanced, which is our desktop solution, and Inventory, which is our, our cloud product. Um, w- you know, QuickBooks obviously is, is leaning heavily, uh, almost exclusively into, uh, the cloud product. You know, enterprise still has a place, but it's, it's, uh, dwindling by the day. Uh, and, uh, we, we are, are not to the point of pushing everybody to have to get to the cloud just yet, and there are a few reasons for that. Uh, one is that, uh, we have a, a segment of our customer base who are, are still hesitant to go to the cloud, uh, in the manufacturing space and then, um, in defense and, and, um, government and some of those places where they, they still prefer or need on-prem. Um, but, uh, generally speaking, uh, we, we are leading with our cloud products ahead of, of our desktop, and then using that desktop a- as kind of the, the backup plan when you need something particular. So a little more context around that. Um, Fishbowl Inventory, our cloud product, it provides real-time multi-location tracking, the, you know, serial and lock control, expiry date tra- traceability we talked about. You know, order management. It's all browser-based, easy to use. And so, you know, for SaaS companies, they want anywhere access, they want fast updates, they want a low IT lift. Um, you know, we're, we're gonna be perfectly aligned to QBO. There, there's another element here too, which is we try to match whatever the accounting system of record is. So if a business comes in and they're still on desktop, um, we'll, we'll be able to connect in and, and utilize that. Now in, in a moment we can talk more about, uh, the bridging capabilities that allow customers to start with desktop and then move over. But that's, that's one of the elements that determines whether we go cloud or, or on-prem, is what they're currently using for their accounting package. Doesn't mean they're locked into it, um, and I'll come back to that in a minute. But, um, if they're using QBO, then our, our cloud is certainly, um, something we wanna go to. The exception to that, uh, would be for some really complex bill of materials work. You know, if they, they need to have, um, some deep on-prem tools or if they're in highly complex or highly regulated environments, then on-prem still may be a fit Um, more and more though, uh, our cloud product is, is really the kind of the go

Cloud Without Replatforming

Kendrick Hair

forward plan. The good news is it's shared DNA across both systems. So it's the same inventory and manufacturing engine, same QuickBooks integration, the same trusted Fishbowl backbone. Um, there's not a, a forced re-platforming. Customers can move to cloud on their timeline if they start on advanced or, you know, run forward with that, uh, if that's where they end up to out the gate

Dan DeLong

Yeah, which now we have the confusion of QuickBooks Online Advanced is a cloud pro- based product, and Fishbowl Advanced is a desktop product,

Kendrick Hair

so. There is a little bit of that. We just like to keep people on their toes.

Dan DeLong

Yeah, and, and doing a great job of it.

QuickBooks Fishbowl Workflow Map

Dan DeLong

Now this, uh, this one is a really nice, um, slide or depiction of where you do workflows and what. Um- Yeah it's, it's a lot to do because there is typically a lot to do, you know, a lot of specific workflows to do inside of, uh, you know, to, to thoroughly, you know, track your inventory and manage your inventory. But, um, talk about the, the integration between QuickBooks and, and Fishbowl and- And

Sharrin Fuller

this is so pretty. I love this flowchart.

Kendrick Hair

I mean, full disclosure, Sharrin, this is actually Intuit. Um, we, we, we-

Sharrin Fuller

Oh, damn it.

Kendrick Hair

And they, they built-

Sharrin Fuller

They're allowed one compliment from me per month- Take back your compliment and I already gave it today. We're over. We're over. We're

Kendrick Hair

over the compliment. And I just, I just burned it, didn't I?

Sharrin Fuller

It, it's... Well, they did good.

Kendrick Hair

Yeah, they, they did do good be- because I, I, I think we rely on this a lot w- because it paints a good picture, right? It helps people understand, how do things fit together when you stand Fishbowl up? Uh, that's one of the, the biggest uncertainties that a lot of businesses and a lot of accountants have is, when I introduce this thing, how's it gonna mess up my chart of accounts? And the, the short version is it shouldn't. Um, w- w- no, no system, Fishbowl included, should ever make things worse, and the reality is a lot of them do. Um, so we, we like to rely on this because, uh, you know, first off, Intuit built it, uh, and, and we kind of, uh, collaborated back to, what is the true hand-in-glove approach for Fishbowl and QuickBooks to be together? Now, this was built specifically for the IES product, uh, but the reality is QBO works the same way. Um, there are just a, a few nuances i- in feature limitations, like, uh, IES has dimension capability, and we've integrated to that and can send those things over. When we think through, though, the, the big pieces from an operational standpoint, it's sales, it's purchasing, it's inventory and manufacturing, and that's what's represented here, is what do I do in Fishbowl, and then what am I moving over, and how the... how and where does QuickBooks or IES pick up the baton?

Orders Purchasing Landed Cost

Kendrick Hair

Um, everything on the operational front, uh, raising orders from marketplaces. So if you're selling or have clients that are on Amazon or eBay or Shopify or BigCommerce or Etsy or Woo! or, you know, that list is- Hundreds of connections long. W- wherever those orders are coming from, they all end up in Fishbowl as a sales order that needs to be picked and packed and shipped out the door. And then depending on whether it was paid on a marketplace or phoned in and needs a, a follow-up invoice, um, what we send to, to QuickBooks or to IES is going to follow suit and allow for the invoicing payment receipt and recording the deposit over on that side. The same is true in the purchasing flow. Uh, and, and like Dan analogy, uh, the windshield piece is, is really the most important element for a lot of businesses because demand planning and knowing what to buy and how that's going to impact cash flow if I bring in another container of goods for the, the business and, uh, you know, tariffs and fuel surcharges and all those other things that so many people are just flying blind to, all become part of the equation so that you can really understand what your landed costs are. You can really know what your COG should be and what your margins look like, uh, for that client who maybe has struggled to understand how to just enter a bill on time. Um, Fishbowl helps automate and facilitate what do I need to buy, when do I need to buy it, and then what, what are the downstream impacts of that? So from the bill, making payment, uh, and, you know, visibility on, on the GL is ultimately what we're getting to.

Sales Channels And CRM

Dan DeLong

Yeah, and this, and this just seems like, uh, almost like the tip of the iceberg because as you were talking through, uh, some of the, these, these workflows, I'm thinking, like, uh, how far does Fishbowl go into the sales process, right? Because, uh, if they've got sales a team of salespeople, for example, m- that aren't concerned about the, the day-to-day movement of inventory management other than, "Can I sell it?" Uh, you know, how, how well does that, uh, work in Fishbo- Fishbowl, and when is there, like, a, a ceiling of what Fishbowl can do in that where they have to... Or they, do they, do, do you integrate with, uh, CRMs and, and other- tools like that so that the people affecting the inventory movement, but don't need to know all the minutiae of the inventory movement, can feed into that and just continue to use their, their technology.

Kendrick Hair

Yeah. Gr- great question. So, uh, we, we certainly have integrations with a variety of tools, uh, you know, CRM solutions and, and the like, um, that, that can help in that, if that's what the business is doing. So if they're running sales ops through Salesforce or HubSpot or Zoho or whatever, certainly we can connect in. Uh, we also handle a, a lot of that, um, through the various tools that, that we offer in Fishbowl. Um, you know, it's funny, as you talk about, the only thing a sales guy cares about is can they sell it. Um, I went to visit a customer the other week, and, uh, he said, "The best sales rep is the one that has it in stock." And truer words have never been spoken. The reality is most sales reps don't care about whether it's in stock or not. They just wanna know- can I sell it? But- Yeah behind that, they've gotta be able to fulfill or, or they're not going to be able to satisfy the customer. And so Fishbowl becomes a really empowering solution for them because they can, with confidence, say, "Yeah, I can sell you this many," or that, that ability to promise these will be in stock on the 13th of July. I can place the order now and secure those and have them delivered by X date. And that available to promise i- is something that's really empowering for a salesperson. Now, a- as far as sales channels go, we see so many different ways, and I... There was a marked change in, in 2020 with COVID because so many manufacturers were only doing things a certain way. And then, uh, you know, post, uh, 2020, uh, we're seeing folks that they've got a website, they're selling through distributor networks. They, they have an affiliates program. They, uh, you know, offer dealers that, you know, pick a flavor if there's a way to get the product out there and, and tools to do it along the way. Um, you know, a lot, a lot of that needs to be brought in, and so we've got an open API that connects into all sorts of things. We've got, you know, canned integrations for, uh, e-commerce sites. We- we've got a sales portal that will allow, uh, customers to, to give their customers a login and enter orders that way. We can email orders in. Uh, you know, lots of flavors of how orders come through. And the reality is most businesses wanna be able to s- accept all of those methods, um, but it all has to be simple so that they can get things out the door, and, and have a common way of saying, "This order just came in, so now we need to update the inventory." If I, if I've got a dealer network and there's 50 folks out there that are all trying to place an order, and I've only got one widget left on the shelf, the moment it sells, the 49 who didn't get it need to be aware, or now you're dealing with, with, uh, you know, customer expectations and, um, you know, short ships and, and all the things that are not good for inventories-based businesses.

Dan DeLong

Excellent.

Poll Accountants And Inventory

Dan DeLong

All right, so let's launch our second poll question of how deep do you support clients with inventory? Uh, 'cause when I worked at Intuit, uh, the, this, uh, this aspect of the workflow management for, for clients, uh- It was, it was a disclaimer when I would, you know, hear, hear these call. Well, I don't, I don't really do inventory, right? Like, uh, they, they seem to run screaming from from, uh, from clients who are managing inventory because it just- Dan adds more complications Did you write

Sharrin Fuller

these questions? Did you write- I did write these answers? I,

Dan DeLong

I did.

Sharrin Fuller

Okay. Good job. Good job.

Dan DeLong

Thank you. Thank

Kendrick Hair

you. You know, it's funny though, there are a lot that we talk to that they, they run screaming from clients managing inventory, and I'm always curious about that, whe- whether it's the businesses themselves or they haven't found a good tool- or, uh, what it may be. I, I happened to, to marry into a family of accountants. Uh, my father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law are all CPAs. Uh, my wife is not. Um, she's a small business owner and, and, and, uh, say the creative mind in the family. Um, but they, they all, uh, really don't enjoy inventory and manufacturing, and I've never been able to figure out exactly why.

Sharrin Fuller

Yeah, like who wants to sit around the Thanksgiving table and talk about this? It's terrible. In fact, I'm wondering, I can't decide if your, like, if your holidays are the most boring holidays ever or they're wild.

Dan DeLong

Oh, they're wild.

Sharrin Fuller

Inventory- It's crazy inventory is crazy. It's just, um... I don't know. We're-

Dan DeLong

I, I think, I think it's- We're- there's no standard, right? Like, the, it's from, from business to business you can have two different needs or workflows or, um... You know, it's, it's not... Be- because you, you'd mentioned, Kendrick, like, you know, maybe they start small and then they get to a point where it's unscalable, and then they find something else that might work, and maybe it's this hodgepodge- Mm-hmm of, of workflows, and by the time you're introduced to them, it's trying to peel back those layers of the, of the onion to get to the core of what it is- Wow that they're actually needing to do. And you compare that to the next person, they've got a completely different set of workflows that, that, that have worked for them, but maybe they don't work for them today.

GAAP First Implementation Mindset

Kendrick Hair

Yeah. Once... It's interesting you bring that up. Accounting has rules and standards and logic, and where we try to intersect is that while so many businesses have unique workflows and, uh, crazy processes a- and maybe gaps, ultimately if, if, if you start with what are the standards and the rules that we need to hit, you can work into how do I need to do that from an operational standpoint. And I think that's where so many solutions miss, is they, they provide a, a tool that maybe is really flexible- But doesn't think through being GAAP compliant and allowing for business to capture what really needs to happen in the landed cost process. And so we, we spend a lot of energy, uh, here at Fishbowl during our implementation phase kind of marrying those up and making sure that the outcome always, in the rear view mirror, lands in the GL like it needs to, and then the operations mirror that, uh, forward so that we can be successful, you know, each day and with evolution. And it's a moving target, right? The road changes and, you know, people who weren't manufacturing, now all of a sudden they bring it in-house, or they add new products that are different or, or whatever it may be. Uh, it, it helps them though when they have kind of that framework that they can rely on, on what good looks like.

Dan DeLong

Yeah, and looking at the, um, the results of this, uh, second poll question, the majority, uh, 55% of you, uh, said, "My client handles the day-to-day. We handle the finances." Um, which when they're working in the day-to-day and maybe in a tool or, or process that is integrated with the finances, that, that integration can certainly bleed into a lot of scope creep, I think, in that you get a little bit more intimate with their, with their processes of the day-to-day so that your processes of handling the finances piece of that ends up being a s- a smoother, a smoother process. And we're gonna talk about how Fishbowl, in a, in a few, few fl- few slides here, of how Fishbowl can help you manage that relationship or that component between those, between those two.

Cloud Bridge Desktop To QBO

Dan DeLong

Um, but let's talk about, um, inventory management in the cloud, right? So, um, one of the things that I, I, I appreciate about Fishbowl, because you have a desktop product and you have a, an online, online product and you're agnostic, uh, to where, where that is as far as the QuickBooks piece of that, uh, you have a, a, an interesting way or, or an interesting option for people who are moving to, to the, to the cloud, um, for, for their QuickBooks, right? So talk a little bit about the different options, uh, that, that, uh, Fishbowl has as far as inventory management With moving to the cloud or just using the cloud services?

Kendrick Hair

Yeah. This has been kind of a fun journey, uh, and something that we're, we're co-developing with Intuit to a degree. Um, it, it, it really started out of necessity, uh, with- It will be a conversation, uh, that, that turned into several and has now turned into hundreds, where, um, businesses have been kind of digging their heels in with, uh, Desktop. They, they don't want to leave Enterprise. And, uh, you know, if you have any Enterprise clients, you may be familiar with this. And some of the accountants we work with, they're happy to dig their heels in alongside their clients for various reasons. Uh, and no judgment passed. Dan, like you said, we're agnostic. Um, but in other cases, uh, it, Desktop has become the bane of, of an accountant's existence, and they just are trying to get folks to get off of Enterprise and move over to QBO, uh, for, you know, various reasons. Um, convenience and cost and, uh, visibility and, and, you know, AI tools that are coming online and, and all the things. Um, yeah. And wherever you may fall in, in that, uh, scope and spectrum of, of Desktop to QBO, uh, one of the, the really empowering things that we've been able to unlock for, uh, Desktop users and for accountants that support is a, a bridging function. And what I mean by that is, um, for cust- customers who are using Desktop, a lot of times they don't feel confident to go to QBO because of a, a missing feature or function. And, and that could be, you know, obviously the core things that we run into, like inventory management and multi-location and traceability and, uh, you know, all pick, pack, ship processes, assemblies and manufacturing. You know, all, all those standard things. Um, but it's also reporting and it's permissions and it's visibility and, you know, there's some other components there that, that may, uh, work into that. We actually have a handful of folks that aren't even inventory-based, they're doing service work, um, but using Fishbowl because it enabled their clients to get off of Desktop. Uh, and the cool part about it is, uh, because Fishbowl can connect in to QBO or QBD, we, we created a, this bridging function that effectively looks like I start by standing up Fishbowl. I pull all the information in from Desktop- And then I, at, at my leisure, I can point it from Desktop to QBO, and that's about a 20-minute process to just change gears from Desktop to QBO. So for those who are wanting to get off, it's, uh, an enabling function because it pulls out what Desktop was doing and, and supplements that with Fishbowl filling those gaps for QBO. Uh, and, you know, really it, it becomes a good progression path for those that want to go not just to QBO, but also to IES, uh, where applicable for, uh, you know, multi-entity consolidation and any other features they may be looking at. And, uh, it, it's not as scary as it used to be. Th- mind you, there's still a fair bit of work anytime you're moving from Desktop to QBO, um, but we help build that bridge in a way that makes it really simple, and then y- you can make it a two-step process as well. So maybe we f- we stand Fishbowl up in October, November timeframe, and then by the time January rolls around, they're comfortable to get off of Desktop and move over to QBO for the beginning of year cutoff. We saw a lot of that this last year.

Phased Migration And Support

Dan DeLong

I'm gonna, uh, preface, uh, and, and, um- Disclaim- put a, throw a disclaimer. This next slide is really hard to read. But it shows, it shows, uh, and illustrates the, the phased approach that you were just talking about of how you go about assessing what they do, off- offload a lot of those workflows into Fishbowl, and then- The black box you know, with the final destination being in, in a cloud environment, right? So it's not seamless, right? It- that's a trigger word for me. Uh, when somebody says, you know, "Hey, this is a..." It's that instant process. You know, you mentioned, you know, "Oh, it only takes 20 minutes." No, it's not 20... It's not 20 minutes from start to, to finish. It's 20 minutes for that step maybe. Um, and- Yeah,

Kendrick Hair

that one piece is 20 minutes. But there, there's preparation that goes into that, for sure.

Dan DeLong

Yeah. So, so down at the bottom you have your, uh, three to four weeks total, is just to kind of give a frame, uh, a framework of how long it would actually take to transition to, to the, to the cloud. But I like the, the, the, the, the stairstepping approach where you, you offload some of those core functionalities from QuickBooks Desktop into, into Fishbowl, and then they get familiar using, using that process, and then you can work on the migration to, to QuickBooks Online, and then, and then at some point you'll be able to just flip it over, right?

Kendrick Hair

Yeah. And, you know, apologies for the wall of words here. Um, but, but I think there's a, there's a s- a subheader that goes into all of this as well, uh, which is that, you know, Fishbowl will meet you where you're at. So there, like, like the slide shows, there's a lot going on and, uh, w- we've found that, that, you know, different engagements, even with the, the same firm, may not always look the same. Uh, and so one of the things that we've learned to do over, over the years is, um, to be dynamic in this phased approach and to collaborate with you and your client, uh, on where and how we can lift. I- in some cases, that looks like we jump in and do all of the implementation, so that three to four-week period, we're the point, uh, person a- and we keep you informed. In other cases, you may want to be, uh, in that driver's seat, and we're supporting you as the inventory and manufacturing experts on your team, uh, or any variation of that. Um, and that, that's, I think, what is fun. What, one of the things that, that sets us apart, though, is that all of our implementation can happen in-house. We're, we're not trying to chase that out to another third party or, um, to tell you that you've gotta go learn a bunch of things before you- your client can be successful with inventory and manufacturing. Uh, again, we're, we're there to meet you where you wanna be and to engage. And even if one time you've got a client you wanna work really closely with and the next time you want us to just handle it, we're, we're happy to go that road.

Dan DeLong

So those, those people that, that answered the poll question where you run screaming from, from inventory, this is something that you can completely, um, offload, you know, to, to the Fishbowl team, and they, they handle the soup to nuts part of getting, getting that, that implemented, uh, for you so that you can just do what you do best and manage the finances part of that. Um, or those people that, where the, the client handles the day-to-day, you know, you, you can choose your own adventure, I guess, is the, the way that you interact or, or work with, with Fishbowl. It's not just one size fits all, right?

Kendrick Hair

Yep. Love that choose your own adventure.

Customer Wins Case Studies

Dan DeLong

All right, so let's talk about some of the, the, the customers', uh, or use cases of, of Fishbowl

Kendrick Hair

Yeah. We- we've got a couple of case studies I wanted to share real quick, um, because I think they, they tell the, the story well, uh, in, in context. Um, the first one, uh, is a group called Sabin Carbon. They've been with, uh, Intuit for a number of years, um, and they struggled a lot. Um, they're located in Southern California, which is kind of the, the mecca for, um, y- you know, fast cars with carbon fiber all over them, and they've done really well as a business. Um, but their back office was struggling a lot, um, to the point that they had, uh, back orders on almost everything that went out the door. Um, they... A, a lot of things that, you know, they'd have one of the components but not the others, um, or that they had to wait and, uh, keep their customers waiting for, for components coming in. Um, so we had a chance to, to go visit them and, and, uh, get them set up and running, uh, with, uh, Fishbowl, Intuit Enterprise Suite, and then Avalara. The other big problem that they had was, um, you know, they're, they're dealing with auto shops and mechanics and, uh, shipping direct, and they could never get sales tax right. Uh, it was just always a struggle for them. Um, they're, they're big enough and they've been around long enough that Nexus is a problem for them in lots of states. And so just be- between the back orders and the tax mess, it was overwhelming. And Faye, the, the founder, uh, you know, she's incredible, but she wasn't sleeping at night because she was dealing with taxes and back orders. Uh, when, when they stood Fishbowl up, within, literally within weeks they had a 73% reduction in back orders. And sh- you know, since that time, they've been able to grow into multiple warehouses. Um, they, they literally are finishing up their, their taxes at the click of a button with Avalara's automation tools, and, um, she's excited about what she does again. Uh, she was really excited. You know, uh, you know, a lot of founders get thrilled about their business, and then it overwhelms them. They grow, and the growth becomes painful and, uh, you know, Faye's back to the point that she can smile about what she's created instead of worrying about taxes and inventory. So pretty cool story to see how it all came together. We've got, uh, a case study on our website that I think we'll drop a link to, and you can see more about that.

Dan DeLong

Yeah.

Beer Tech Turnaround Story

Dan DeLong

Beer. Let's talk about beer.

Kendrick Hair

Beer. Let's talk about beer. This is a fun topic. If you've never seen Bottoms Up Beer, go Google it or Bing it or whatever your flavor is, AI it. Um, this company i- is really changing the game. Um, they've developed a system that allows for, uh, beer to be filled from the bottom up. So the next time you're sitting at the bar and you look over at the, at the bartender, watch how much product goes down the drain literally. And, uh, the accountant part of you probably cringes- from here on out when you see how much waste there is, uh, in filling the beer. The head flows over, and it's a mess. Uh, and this team have developed the coolest way to, to go about- filling beer. So for 2,000 years we've all had beer poured the same way, uh, and, and now it's different. Um, and, and that's really fun. Uh, and, uh, you know, while it is a bit of a novelty, it's also really about-

Sharrin Fuller

Oh, i- is this the beer company- the beer company it's where you can go, um, when you get a drink, you actually, they put the cup in and it goes up from the top?

Kendrick Hair

Yep, that's,

Sharrin Fuller

that's- It's like- basically novel it's like magic.

Kendrick Hair

It is like magic. Yeah.

Sharrin Fuller

I'm, like, watching, like, some David Copperfield stuff when that happens. I'm like, "How are... Is it the cup? How are you doing this?" Yeah.

Kendrick Hair

I'm telling you. So it turns out there's a magnet in the bottom of the cup or whatever the vessel is- Mm-hmm pitcher, cups, whatever. They set it on. The- Mm-hmm the valve opens up and it fills it to a predetermined level. Um, we, we actually went to one of the bars, uh, down the street from where Bottoms Up's located there in, in Indianapolis. And, uh, the gal that was, was working bartender, she said she can fill 12 pints of beer in the time it used to take her to do one. Uh, and that's, that's amazing, you know, from a labor standpoint. I want

Sharrin Fuller

to see a video. I don't know that I believe that- There's- but I want to see that. I'm, I, I can be convinced that she's not lying through her teeth.

Kendrick Hair

But-

Sharrin Fuller

But I want to see that video

Audio Only - All Participants

there's,

Kendrick Hair

there's a video on the website. You'll get a, a- All right small clip of that. Um- All right but it's incredible. So they, you know, they, they got a lot of growth pretty quickly, and they went right to NetSuite. Oh, yeah. And nothing against NetSuite, but they were spending 12K a month just on the subscription, plus consultants to hold it all together. And- Yeah it w- it was a mess. And then COVID hit and all the beer- bars closed down, and they're, they're dying. Um, and they found Fishbowl and QBO and, and, you know, they had the same problem as Saban with Avalara as well. Um, and, uh, they, they've been able to really turn the business around. Uh, you know, they're selling more than they ever have. Their team size is, uh, you know, half of what it used to be, and their revenue is quadruple where it was at. Um, their spend is not what it used to be. And, you know- Right for them, it's fun because, um, they have this philosophy as a company to be 1% better every day. And so they're always trying to find the next thing. You know, we, we've worked with them for a number of years now, and every quarter there's a new initiative for them to, to focus in on. And, and Fishbowl just keeps giving them new things to do and new ways to be more efficient, from auto purchasing to better reporting, uh, you know, AI tools that we've introduced. Um, uh, you know, uh, so many things, um, that are, are helping their business really expand and grow out. Their goal is to take over the industry i- in its entirety. Um, so, you know, and then we've already seen a huge jump forward. But if you haven't seen this yet, go check out a Taco Bell Cantina or a... I think the Aria might have one, Sharrin- Oh. if you, uh, wander down that way. Um, there's

Sharrin Fuller

a- I am, I am at... Well, actually I'm at Park MGM right now, but I will be at the Aria today.

Kendrick Hair

There we go. So go check out Bottoms Up Beer.

Dan DeLong

That's, um, those, those are pretty amazing, uh,

Avalara Sales Tax Automation

Dan DeLong

case studies. And, and some of the, the commonalities, and I think with that second poll question of why, you know, a lot of people run screaming from inventory is inventory means sales tax. Mm-hmm. And, uh, you know, i- if, if you don't like sales tax Without hard goods and products to sell, it gets exponentially more complicated when you're dealing with the types of, you know, it's not just one size fits all. I mean, we had Avalara on the Power Hour talking about the various sales tax, uh, rules, uh, that, that exist, uh, across the country. It's not just is it taxable and what's the sales tax rate, it's what is it, when is it you're selling it, who you're selling it to, all of those things. So do you integrate directly with, with Avalara, or is it something that sits on top of QuickBooks, or is it b- is it both?

Kendrick Hair

Gr- great question. It's, it is both, but a lot of times we're doing the integration directly. And the thing I love about it is Avalara does all the heavy lifting for that sales tax. So when they go in, uh, you know, to figure and calculate a rate, uh, you need to know where is it shipping from, where is it shipping to, what are the items, what are the codes. Well, Fishbowl has all that detail. That's, that's the easy stuff for us. Uh, where, where we really appreciate our partnership with Avalara is they give us the what, why, and how based on where it's shipping from, where it's shipping to, and what it, what it all is. And it's really simple. For, you know, Bottoms Up and, and for Sabin both, they were, they were drowning in just the mess of sales tax compliance. Uh, and, you know, there's not a lot to show in Fishbowl or in Avalara. Uh, when we integrate, it just works, and that's the beauty of it, i- is the simplicity, that you connect your Avalara account into Fishbowl and now all of a sudden you've got the right tax rate for the right order. Um- Yeah, it's- it's super great

Dan DeLong

it, I, I mean, I, I imagine, you know, the, the heavy lifting is, is upfront, you know, is the, the implementation. And once you've gotten those, uh, i- implemented, then it's more of a cruise control. Going back to the car analogy, uh, things are on, on cruise control until there is a change that, that needs to be addressed in, in either of those two things.

Kendrick Hair

Yeah. A- and we won't say seamless, Dan, but it is-

Dan DeLong

Right. Thank you

Kendrick Hair

definitely

Dan DeLong

cruise control. That's right. Yeah, it's, it's, it's lane assist- instead of that. Um, we do have a- You

Sharrin Fuller

know, my car has lane assist, and it tries to throw me into the- damn median all the time. I'm like, "Mercedes, stop trying to kill me." But it, it does, all the time. We had to turn it off, so I don't trust it. That's for a, a topic for another day.

Dan DeLong

Another- We'll go in depth next time well, then we, when we talk about people versus robots, uh,

Sharrin Fuller

we'll- Ah, there we go. That's coming up.

Dan DeLong

Yeah. Coming up.

Wrap Up Poll And Next Episode

Dan DeLong

You want to launch the, uh, last poll question- I would love to while we're, while we're wrapping up here? So if you do want to learn more, there's, uh, uh, email addresses and, and websites to go to here. Um, we have our, our last poll question. We can put you in touch with the folks over at, uh, S- uh, Fishbowl to learn more about that. Uh, and next time, uh, after, um, we get back from Scaling New Heights and wherever- Sharrin will be next. We'll be, we'll be talking about people versus robots. Um- That is

Sharrin Fuller

right. I'm

Dan DeLong

excited. Yeah, and, um, and, and, and it's, it, I think I, and, and- As I just

Sharrin Fuller

talked about my car trying to kill me

Dan DeLong

Yeah. Um, but it's, uh, ultimately it's people working with robots and vice versa, right? So how do we, uh, how do we navigate, uh, this next week, uh, or next time on- How do

Sharrin Fuller

we not end up in the median?

Dan DeLong

Exactly. Well, Kendrick, I think-

Sharrin Fuller

And guys, for once I actually get a, I'm gonna drive this one. For once- Yeah Dan gets to take a back seat while I make a deck and everything, so that'll

Dan DeLong

be fun.

Sharrin Fuller

That'll be

Dan DeLong

exciting.

Sharrin Fuller

Right?

Dan DeLong

Uh, Kendrick, thanks again for joining us, uh, today. Uh, any closing thoughts, uh, as we, as we close out the Power Hour today?

Kendrick Hair

I just want to say thanks for the opportunity to be with you. For those who are scared of inventory, let's have a chat, and, uh, would, would love to collaborate and partner with y'all. All

Dan DeLong

right. Well, we will see you next time on the QB Power Hour, and hope everybody has a great day.