How can we improve WHMCS?

Chris, QODBC can be used to simply create an active data link between your product and QuickBooks using simple SQL commands via an ODBC link built on top of the QuickBooks SDK, so no data corruption is possible. Check it out at qodbc.com - thanks!

Since this product (WHMCS) was not made for hotdog vendors, lets not compare the needs/wants/workings of unrelated businesses. Seamless, live, and local integration between WHMCS and Quickbooks is a huge want for a very large number of customers. It is also a NEED for them (and myself) to conduct their business accounting efficiently.

To say that it is not a need (necessity) to run the business, is true, because then neither is the WHMCS solution. Everything could be done on paper. The reason why computers and these information systems are created and continually improved is to increase efficiency and ultimately market competitiveness.

Adding this type of integration would undoubtedly make this product more attractive to potential (myself) new and current/renewing customers, making both seller and buyer of this product more competitive and profitable.

Better accounting features built into WHMCS would simply suffice, in my opinion. Or be the most necessary function at the very least. My business income has grown so much that I am now taxed (play on words) with complex administrative functions in organizing my bookkeeping and record keeping to try and keep ahead of things for tax time. All of my income is booked/invoiced thru WHMCS. All of my expenses are related to the business I run via WHMCS. So for me it would be really nice to be able to input my expenses into WHMCS and have it maintain a balance sheet for me. That would be the more simple solution rather than an integration into some other software. At least, for me imho.

It has become increasingly apparent that there is a general misunderstanding of what is a "need" and what is a "want" when it comes to handling financials.

In an ideal world, ALL data would be handled in one software package... Only one software program... Not WHMCS and accounting software... one piece of software.

In a slightly less ideal world, data would be easily exported from one software program (WHMCS) to the accounting software so that ALL data would be present in the accounting software.

The fact is that both of the above scenarios are "wants"; neither one is a "need". Whether you are a business owner or an accountant, you do not "need" ALL the data in the accounting software. Let me explain...

First... It is important that ALL data be retained and be readily available but it does not need to be in the same place (same program)

Although it is nice to have, it is not a "need" to have the client list in the accounting software. It is ok to only keep that info in WHMCS. There are obvious pros to having it in the accounting software as well as WHMCS but there are also cons... If you export from WHMCS to your accounting software and never the other way around, what happens when someone makes a change in the accounting software... now you have sync issues. There are pros and cons both ways... decide what is best for you but just don't fall into the trap of thinking you "need" all your client info in the accounting software.

It is also nice to have every single transaction shown in the accounting software; however, it is not a "need". As long as you retain the WHMCS data as supporting documentation, it is perfectly fine to have either your accountant or yourself make periodic batch journal entries in the accounting software corresponding to the data in WHMCS. If you are having an accountant manage your books for you, they are able to work with batch totals that you provide them from WHMCS. They do not "need" to see the detail of each transaction. Save yourself $$$ in accounting costs. Just know that YOU will be on the hook to defend and produce the WHMCS data. In this case, the accountant only has to defend and produce the accounting records produced from the reports you provided. Again... you do need to keep the WHMCS data so that if your official accounting records get audited, you have the supporting documentation to provide. Once again there are pros and cons both ways... decide what is best for you but just don't fall into the trap of thinking you "need" every single transaction in the accounting software.

It also worth noting that the concepts mentioned above are the same in small, medium, large and enterprise organizations. No matter the size... the "need" never changes.

Take the example of the street hotdog vendor that was mentioned earlier in this thread. That vendor has an obligation to record each transaction but only daily totals go in the accounting software.... with no client info. When was the last time the hotdog vendor asked you for your name?

Another example... WalMart... Every transaction is recorded but only batch totals go into the books that get audited. They have supporting cash register reports and databases but only batch totals go in the books that actually get audited. Also... no client info.

Is it best to have all the data in the accounting software or is it best to just make batch entries in the accounting software? I will refrain from giving my opinion on that... I only state that we should not confuse "needs" and "wants".

I'll stop my rant now because I "need" to use the bathroom!

They just have to say "we only support quickbook". This comment should apply to every other feature suggestions. It's always up to you to buy sage or something compatible. If whmcs support quickbook, then we will purchase quickbook instead of sage and migrate our data to this software if we are using something else. Also, if you hire an accountant, then it's up to you to ask what is the software they know, and require someone who know how to use the one that is compatible with your solutions.

Also : our accountant want us to use such software, and to separate our customer accounts in it. I don't know how big is your enterprise, and how much revenue you get from it, but if you deal with an accountant, they will need this. When you will hire a accountant, you will see they won't work with whmcs, but with quickbook, sage, etc...

It's a real pain to work with whmcs on the financial side. I know we can export cvs, but it definitely not the same. you will get lot's of errors in your accounting software if you do this.

...there are other solutions like consolibyte, but we don't want our data on their servers ... ...imagine what can happen with your customer data if they get hacked. Praticaly every websites like this end up by being hacked / leak data someday.

We need this. Ubersmith and Hostbill are offering such options. Why they deliver such feature if it's not necessary?

As your company grow, you need this.

I use quickbooks for everything in my business as I have three separate business and it is very time consuming to do double entry all the time. WHMCS is the only part of my business that does not automatically sync to quickbooks. Being I am a very small business I don't have to funds to pay for something like consolobytes. A native WHMCS sync method would be the best.

Glenn -

I agree that integration with other software can lead to a 'slippery slope' situation; however, I strongly believe integration with accounting software packages is something necessary for WHMCS to be a viable option for the small/mid markets. QuickBooks may very well be the best place to start as it has the most traction here on requests.whmcs.com.

With regard to your second point - the more insight a company can glean from their data, the more efficiently they will run. Accounting software packages allow for additional reporting and insight which can be invaluable when trying to efficiently run a business. Ceratinly one can write custom reports for WHMCS; however, most reports a small/mid market busisnes would need come 'out of the box' with accounting software packages such as QuickBooks.

-Randall

I disagree with this feature for a few reasons...

• Once you support QuickBooks you'll be begged to support other accounting programs such as SimplyAccounting which I personally find much better than QuickBooks but let's not argue that in this forum... not the place... Just saying that everyone has a different program they use... Which ones do you support and which ones do you not?
• Do you really need to integrate? No! A street hotdog vendor still legally needs to keep books but not every transaction needs to go in the books. If the vendor keeps his hotdog sales slips, he only needs to add one batch entry into the accounting software. The same can be done with hosting... Use the WHMCS reports to add batch entries into the accounting software. If you are duplicating every entry into the accounting software, you are wasting your time... Do you think the hotdog vendor goes home and enters every transaction in his accounting software? If you do, give your head a shake and re-think about it!

I agree with you Carl. I just don't feel comfortable with their site saying its passing data through their server. (No offense Keith) I purchased quick books and a dedicated PC because I dont even want intuit online to have my data. I would feel more comfortable if something was integrated into WHMCS to allow download or something that is installed onto the desktop to pull into quickbooks from whmcs

I think the consolibyte website is looking a bit old : there are lot's of errors a bit everywhere... ...so probably the code is not maintained a lot now + also have lots of errors a bit everywhere...

i would not use such feature as long as it cannot be maintained by whmcs : it's our client data after all.. ...only that :)We might be welling to pay 25$ more (and maybe more) at whmcs to get this :) such tool can save lot's of time and time is money :)

Adam - We have a QuickBooks integration that's normally $25/month... but we regularly run specials and promotions. Feel free to contact us and we'll see what we can do to get you something you can afford.
consolibyte.com/quickbooks-integration/whmcs-quickbooks/

I have the desktop form of Quickbooks and most of my book keeping each month is copying and pasting WHMCS details. I did find a service that will do it for me for $30 a month but I'm only a small outfit and this is a big cost. Outputting in Quickbooks format would be the best as i import banking info, etc through that and its very easy.

we use consolibyteconsolibyte.com which has worked really well for us

Correct,

Not just a manual export and import - but more rather the active link using the quickbooks web connector.

I need Quickbooks integration as I have many aspects to my business, not just hosting.