howards video about linking PM software to quickbooks

ramzi · Post by **ramzi** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:22 pm

jordan,

im not sure if you have seen this video by howard?

here is a link http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php ... 5991587575

not sure if it will work,

but he discuses some idea of linking PM software to accounting software...is this something you could/would /want to do?

give me your thoughts

if someone else knows how to link better to the video let me know, its a good video to watch

ramzi

Hersheydmd · Post by **Hersheydmd** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:34 pm

Great video!
I've been using QuickBooks for over 10 years. Used to use it for both accounts payable and receivable. Now that I am using OpenDental, QB is just for accounts payable, including payroll. If the two could be linked somehow that would be awesome. There is a PMS called The Complete Exam, that does link with Quickbooks, but I don't know how well.

enamelrod · Post by **enamelrod** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:38 am

jordan is not a fan of QB, WORD and a few other programs goood luck with that... I was using it when i had the pm called TCE(the complete exam) there are some old post on this. How nice would it be if qb was integrated so payroll would be great, cc processing and statements would work well and taxes and some other things i forgot about

ramzi · Post by **ramzi** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 8:18 am

ok so what would it take to make this happen

if we all want it...how do we /I do it?

thats the whole point of it being open source right?

jordan how much would something like that cost?

irfan · Post by **irfan** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 3:31 pm

no real interest from me unless it was executed very well. I use QB for bookkeeping expenses and thats it... and thats mainly because my CPA prefers it so she can log in herself and check things. I personally have an excel spreadsheet that tracks expense categories, income and production. I use Intuit for payroll. It would be nice to have it all in one package to easily pull reports, but if its not going to be pretty robust then its a waste of time for me.

Im sure quickbooks could cover everything i do in my spreadsheet but QB online is aggravating to use imho. I think most online bookkeeping/finance websites are too slow to use efficiently, and not smart enough to get the autocategories correct.

Post by **jordansparks** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:29 pm

I'm not a fan of QB, but I am very much a fan of Word, Excel, etc. In fact, just today, I was contemplating a deep integration with Outlook as a way to allow complex email capabilities.

As for how to get the QB integration done, it's very simple. Vote for it.

ramzi · Post by **ramzi** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:35 pm

jordan,

how much would this cost to have be pay for it and have it done?

how deep can the integration be?

as some have said, if its a weak integration it would be a waste of time

what accounting software DO you like. and what accounting/finance software would you be more inclined to integrate with?

a deep integration to send out more emails would not be a priority for me personally...but integration into my finances/bank/accounting/payroll would be, thats my thoughts only.

did you see the video? what are your thoughts? do you agree that PM software and finances could be better integrated? would that be of value to you?
thanks
ramzi

enamelrod · Post by **enamelrod** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 8:26 pm

why waste time with outlook when gmail 1. free 2. droid friendly 3. ties into Google voice. 4. allows for use with google docs

and lets put it up for request

humm i guess qb could do a dashboard, payroll,cc processing, equipment deprec, and then oh yea bank reconciliation. taxes.... sound beneficial

Hersheydmd · Post by **Hersheydmd** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:09 pm

With all due respect to Jordan, I am a huge fan of QB. I used it to run my practice for many years before starting with OD. I was even able to print invoices that mimicked ADA insurance forms.
I did and still use QB for cc processing, payroll, e-mail statements (which pts can pay online), online bill pay, bank statement reconciliation, paying and filing payroll taxes. It's an excellent, very user friendly, business management software.
Even though it is a duplication of efforts, we still enter all our patient receipts into QB.
Lab bills and other expenses (eg. implant hardware) are attached to the patient, so we can see the income vs expenses by patient and by case. Very valuable information, to see what your overhead is and if that $20K restorative case really made you any money.

I would take all my Request Feature votes and put it on this one request, if it has a chance of happening.

Howard was 100% correct in his video. We dentists don't have enough financial information readliy avaiable to evaluate and tweak our businesses.

Regarding deep integration with Outlook. I am all for that as well. Outlook is an excellent e-mail editor and manager. I use it WITH GMAIL. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Irfan: I agree with you regarding QB online. Tried it. Didn't like it. Too clumsy, at least for now. But the standard QBPro is awesome.

ramzi · Post by **ramzi** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 2:50 am

Hershey i like your way of thought...i may call you to see how exactly your using QB, sounds like you do alot with it...

Jordan, i not only will give it my votes, I would pay money for it? $1000 if the integration does what I want it to do . but I dont know how much that would cost. it may be $10,000 to do it?

if i had an estimate of money and how well it would be done, that would help

ramzi

Post by **jordansparks** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 6:51 am

We wouldn't do it all in one shot. The process would be iterative. The first iteration would be the simplest possible functionality, probably the passing of deposits over to QB. If the bridge was turned on, then after creating a deposit in OD, a popup would ask if you want to send it to QB.

If you are wanting to pledge money for that, just remember that the point of a pledge is to bump a request higher in the list, not necessarily to cover all the costs of development. For example, the above functionality would cost us in the range of 2-3k to implement. But we certainly don't expect anyone to pay that amount unless they insist that we drop everything else we are doing and build it this very moment.

enamelrod · Post by **enamelrod** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:21 am

so what is the request number so all of us can throw ur votes and money to the cause

enamelrod · Post by **enamelrod** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:31 am

GMAIL is integrated with sms, google voice and all mobile devices....and outlook requires exchange server if you want to synchronize contacts, calendar, and email. Gmail does it for you! ive done the outlook route. it adds up fast. having to have outlook on all your computers. and if you have asterisk box you can send all your faxes to google mail and will keep a copy of your faxes in the google documents. it makes importing insurance faxed documents into OD easier.

Post by **jordansparks** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 2:39 pm

I finally had a chance to watch the video. I agree with him 100% on everything he says. Also, the reason that the other software companies give for not having that feature is right on the money. Notice that even after this long passionate discussion that request #1788 still has zero votes on it. As Howard says, dentists don't know that they need this.

Hersheydmd · Post by **Hersheydmd** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 7:01 pm

In my earlier post I forgot to mention one of the most missed features of QB: PROGRESS INVOICING.
i.e. The ability to create a tx plan and then invoice a percentage of the estimate at different stages of tx. This allows the accounts receivable to accurately measure the tx performed to date.
Example:
Pt presents on Nov 1 with a FPD that needs to be replaced due to recurrent decay. She mentions that she is leaving right after Thanksgiving to winter in Florida (this actually happened yesterday).
How I would handle it in QB:
Tx Plan Estimate created for 4 units C&B = $6,000.
a) Remove old FPD, clean up decay, fabricate provisionals. Clean up perio. Cement provisional with glass ionomer cement so pt can go to Florida without worrying about FPD coming loose. $2,000 "progress invoice" created on prep first visit (33.3% of estimate)
b) Pt returns from Florida (God willing), continue prepping. Take impressions. $2,000 due at impression visit. Another 33.3% "progress invoice" created from the original estimate.
c) Try in. Deliver case. $2,000 due at delivery. Balance of Estimate invoiced.
At any time during treatment, my production and accounts receivable reports are accurate, and the patient's account balance reflects what they actually owe me at that point in time.

We've had this discussion before. It is a dilemma deciding when to invoice (i.e. Set Complete) in OD.
1) If you invoice the entire tx at the start, then for the next several months, your reports will show that you produced $6,000 in Nov, and have $4,000 outstanding accounts receivable. There is also the possibility that you may inadvertently send a statement for the "past due" $4000, when it isn't due at all.
2) If you invoice at the end of tx, then it looks like you received $2,000 in Nov for tx that wasn't performed yet and your income is artificially greater than your production for that month.
Either way, you won't be able to tell by looking at the account balance if the patient is ahead or behind on payments. You won't have an accurate handle on how your income relates to your production. Multiply this by many cases and your income/production report is meaningless.

This is exactly what Howard was talking about.

Hersheydmd · Post by **Hersheydmd** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 7:02 pm

Request 1788 now has 95 votes on it.

enamelrod · Post by **enamelrod** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 7:30 pm

well im onboard, so if everyone commits something we can move this to the top of the list...i think jordan should sit down with howard get him to help design the parameters for qb use. and maybe feed it into the dashboard as benchmarks

Post by **jordansparks** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:09 am

After further consideration, I think that feature request #235 aligns most closely with Howard's message. Request 235 is "Daily and monthly production goals". I mean, the most important thing is to have immediate feedback, and that means knowing each day whether you are hitting your production goal. Now maybe it's easy for everyone to remember a single number and to do the math in their head when looking at the daily production numbers. But what if you want to tweak the goal? What if you also want goals for the hygienists? What if the goal should be based on the number of hours the provider is working, so it's less when you take a Friday afternoon off? It's all about feedback.

ramzi · Post by **ramzi** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:03 pm

Ok I'm in. I will put all my votes on 235

I'm not one that's wanta the daily goals...I actually don't have them in my office....so that part doesn't do anything for me

But I do want to know how much money I'm making/losing with my procedures...also doing my deposits directly into qb...anything to eliminate replication of data...now I have to pay a bookkeeper to input stuff....if I could eliminate that and do payroll in OD. And it automatically updates to qb and does my payroll so I don't have to pay psyched that saves me big $$$$$

Anyway my votes r in...I'll put my money in also

joshuab · Post by **joshuab** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:51 pm

Great video!

We've used QB forever and would love integration as well - added vote in OD.

Outlook is gone. Integrate with Google (Apps). Dr. Sparks - I used Outlook for 10 years. Hard to change. Thereafter, I no way I could ever go back.

enamelrod · Post by **enamelrod** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:59 pm

SO Im reading 235 and it has nothing to do with qb integration? I thought the question was about QB integration.

ramzi · Post by **ramzi** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:27 pm

Sorry I couldn't change my votes...I'm not in the office...I'll do it Sunday

What r people going to donate for this??

I'm happy to put my $$ where my mouth is.....r we thinking. 1k each??

Ok just trying to get a. Gauge of cost

Also Jordan can I get an idea of what the transition be with the integration ???

Ramzi

Post by **jordansparks** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:28 pm

Right. 235 has nothing to do with QB integration, but I feel that it is the closest to what Howard's entire video was about. A day sheet would be another request that close. QB integration at the level he's talking about is many iterations away. 1788 would be a start, but passing your deposits into QB would not give you any feedback. It would only be later iterations and improvements to the QB integration that would look more like what Howard was talking about.

Hersheydmd · Post by **Hersheydmd** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:25 pm

jordansparks wrote:Right. 235 has nothing to do with QB integration, but I feel that it is the closest to what Howard's entire video was about. A day sheet would be another request that close. QB integration at the level he's talking about is many iterations away. 1788 would be a start, but passing your deposits into QB would not give you any feedback. It would only be later iterations and improvements to the QB integration that would look more like what Howard was talking about.

Have to start somewhere. Start with deposits and go from there.
I'm leaving my votes on QB integration Request #1788.
Ramzi, thanks for starting this thread. I'm very excited about the future prospects.
Jordan. If you could really get a smooth integration with QB (unlike TCE), you'll be light years ahead of everyone else.
I mean OpenDental is already the best program and the best company, but having integration with the leading business financial software would be something no one else offers.

ramzi · Post by **ramzi** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:40 am

my 100 votes and $500 are in for 1744

irfan · Post by **irfan** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:22 am

i hope you meant 1788. im already confused with which one is which

Hersheydmd · Post by **Hersheydmd** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:00 pm

irfan wrote:i hope you meant 1788. im already confused with which one is which

I think he meant 1788. There is no 1744.

Smilesbypayet · Post by **Smilesbypayet** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:32 pm

Jordan, given our conversations and the recent DT threads on the topic, I'm going to throw my votes behind the #1788 also. Will have to talk to my wife about committing any money, but quite possibly.

I still think that creating an absolutely seamless bridge with YAPI and Lighthouse 360 would be the best thing possible......unless you actually merged the programs.

Smilesbypayet · Post by **Smilesbypayet** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:01 am

Hersheydmd wrote:
jordansparks wrote:Right. 235 has nothing to do with QB integration, but I feel that it is the closest to what Howard's entire video was about. A day sheet would be another request that close. QB integration at the level he's talking about is many iterations away. 1788 would be a start, but passing your deposits into QB would not give you any feedback. It would only be later iterations and improvements to the QB integration that would look more like what Howard was talking about.
Have to start somewhere. Start with deposits and go from there.
I'm leaving my votes on QB integration Request #1788.
Ramzi, thanks for starting this thread. I'm very excited about the future prospects.
Jordan. If you could really get a smooth integration with QB (unlike TCE), you'll be light years ahead of everyone else.
I mean OpenDental is already the best program and the best company, but having integration with the leading business financial software would be something no one else offers.

Total agreement here. Not sure if the current project would allow bridging with the online version of QB? My accountant had us switch over to that because it's just so much easier - don't have to pay for annual upgrades, he has instant access, etc.

For example......if there were also a way to bridge the production directly into QB as a form of "invoicing," even though it's not entirely accurate......then we could essentially look at our production/collections/overhead percentages all in 1 report (I think

)

Post by **jordansparks** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:55 am

A better way for you to look at your production/income/overhead is for us to pull amounts from certain QB accounts into OD reports. This is planned as part of the first phase.

Hersheydmd · Post by **Hersheydmd** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 6:25 pm

jordansparks wrote:A better way for you to look at your production/income/overhead is for us to pull amounts from certain QB accounts into OD reports. This is planned as part of the first phase.

I like that idea. That would be neat.

Smilesbypayet · Post by **Smilesbypayet** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:58 pm

So Jordan.......and ideas on when this first phase will be ready to go to beta-testing? I'll definitely be on board for that.......on one condition: it'll have to integrate with Quickbooks Online, since that's what our accountant has us using. Not sure if that will be a later phase?

Post by **jordansparks** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:51 pm

I'll pass this question on to the developers.

Smilesbypayet · Post by **Smilesbypayet** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:21 pm

Hey Jordan........how's progress on this coming along?

Post by **jordansparks** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:47 pm

It's in progress. We've been slowed down by a very busy end of the year. Things are settling down now, and it shouldn't be much longer.

Justin Shafer · Post by **Justin Shafer** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:23 pm

I have seen Howard explain this in real life... he is passionate about it.

Roy A Bloom · Post by **Roy A Bloom** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:54 am

So what is the current timeframe on MS office and Quickbooks pro integration?

Post by **jordansparks** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:28 am

That's a question that we just can't possibly answer with any accuracy. It remains at the top of our priority list because I promised that it would, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a timeframe.

Smilesbypayet · Post by **Smilesbypayet** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:58 pm

jordansparks wrote:That's a question that we just can't possibly answer with any accuracy. It remains at the top of our priority list because I promised that it would, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a timeframe.

OK - understood, I was just wondering. I am definitely looking forward to it!

Post by **jordansparks** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:34 pm

More progress was made on Friday.

mike esposito · Post by **mike esposito** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:50 am

Excellent thread, I would definitely be interested in this, but would it work for Quicken as well as Quickbooks? I never made the switch to QB as the Quicken program seemed to do everything we needed. Also, I use Quick Payroll online and don't know if this would have to change if I used Quickbook.

Thanks,

Mike

EDIT/PS: I just posted on that facebook video link...in it I asked Howard how he determined the cost of a "filling" After all, if you want the true profit you have to know what a filling cost you. I've been doing this for 30 years (man, I hate to admit to that), and I still have no idea what my specific costs are PER restoration. I have a ballpark idea, but nothing I could swear to scientifically (accounting wise that is). So when Howard says the computer will tell you the profit per appointment, there is a lot more to it than just the fee minus a lab bill if there is one. You have to consider the actual expense of each and every procedure. No accounting program can do that without you inputting the costs you incur, PER filling.

mike esposito · Post by **mike esposito** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:08 am

Howard answered my question:

Mostly Mike it is labor; 20% in rural and up to 27% in urban areas. Lab costs are 8 - 10%. Supplies 4-6%. Isn't it funny how the companies that sell you their software can't even generate a check to be paid with.

Very interesting...

Mike

Post by **jordansparks** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 1:07 pm

So I think he's saying if we just had a place in OD to put in those percentages, then we could display profit on each procedure. Sounds doable, but there would still be a lot of work involved.

mike esposito · Post by **mike esposito** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:04 pm

jordansparks wrote:So I think he's saying if we just had a place in OD to put in those percentages, then we could display profit on each procedure. Sounds doable, but there would still be a lot of work involved.

Yes, but when I look at that I see a lot of exceptions...I mean, if you are a participant with an insurance company your lab fees are going to be a higher percentage than if the patient is full pay. So do you just average everything in, or do you input every lab fee percentage with every insurance company you participate with?

Definitely something to consider, but I have no idea how much work this is for you and your team.

Pruce Dental · Post by **Pruce Dental** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:49 pm

I remember seeing a different video from several years ago with Howard talking about the same subject. It might have been one of his free online practice management videos on DT? But anyways he talked about knowing the true cost of each procedure down to every material used in an average procedure..I think even down to counting the average number of cotton rolls used to know the true costs and then merging that info with the costs of each material within the PMS.