QuickBooks Hands Off to ProjectionSmart

Dec 18, 2023 by Roger Scherping




Most small businesses today use QuickBooks because it’s inexpensive and designed for the non-accountant. Whatever software they choose, that software handles all of their monthly financial transactions, and at the end of the month it gives them a set of backwards-looking financial statements that tell them what happened in their business during the previous month. To be successful, all businesses need to thoroughly understand where they’ve been.

Backward-looking information really is invaluable. A famous economist highlighted the importance of understanding the past when he was asked, “How many months out should we be able to predict the economy?” and he responded, “Negative one month.”
                                                                                                                                          

Now the future

Looking backwards is essential, but do you also help your clients look forward? Do you help them anticipate crises? Make corrections before problems become out of hand? Quantitatively decide between different business scenarios? Give them the peace of mind comes from knowing where their business is headed?

As great as QuickBooks is, it doesn’t help you or your clients look forward. It’s just not designed for that. It’s strictly for looking backwards.

There are tremendous benefits to looking forward, but if QuickBooks doesn’t do it, then how do you as a trusted financial advisor help your clients look ahead?

As shown in the picture above, you as the trusted advisor need to take the handoff from QuickBooks and use ProjectionSmart’s quick and simple process to turn your client’s backwards-looking financial statements into a forward-looking prediction.

                                                           
Other alternatives?

There are other alternatives for looking forward.

There are some very sophisticated online financial modeling programs, but they are expensive and require a level of financial expertise that most small business owners don’t have.

There are also online Excel templates that you could download and use. They tend to be very extensive and complicated and require a solid knowledge of and comfort level with Excel. I have found that small business owners have a difficult time following along on complex, multi-tab financial spreadsheets.

Since you have a solid financial background and are good with Excel, you could also create your own financial modeling spreadsheet. It will probably take hours to either create one or modify a model from another client. And then you’d have to worry about formula errors and bad assumptions that drive erroneous results.



Why use ProjectionSmart

ProjectionSmart has the following advantages over those alternatives:
 

  • Tailored to the small business owner. We understand the level of financial sophistication of most small business owners, and we created ProjectionSmart to make it easy for them to understand.
  • Patterned after QuickBooks. Since most small business owners get their monthly statements from QuickBooks, we created our import forms and reports to match the QuickBooks formats.
  • Gives the answers you need. ProjectionSmart shows the future and gives you exactly what you need to guide quantitative financial decision making.
  • Easy to use. We’ve made ease of use a priority. We’ve removed the complexity and made our process clear and intuitive.
  • Easy to understand. Our process makes it easy for your client to understand the process of creating a prediction. ProjectionSmart is also a great teaching tool because your clients will better understand their numbers when you go through their prediction with them.
  • Simple to update every month. We make it almost effortless to update your prediction every month so that your client always has a 12-month view of their future.
  • Ditch your spreadsheet! You will have no spreadsheet to create, modify or maintain because we’ve created the model and put it into an easy-to-use online tool.


Monthly prediction service

So add a monthly prediction prepared with ProjectionSmart to the services you provide your clients every month. ProjectionSmart is very simple to use, and it requires only a few minutes per month to achieve many benefits for both them and you.

Maybe you are able to bill for an additional hour each month to create their prediction, or maybe you bill them an additional fee for their prediction. It’s up to you.
                                                
When you do a monthly prediction with your clients, they will be more successful and more comfortable with their numbers. They will be anticipate and avoid problems, leverage resources more effectively, make more quantitative business decisions, and feel much better about their business’s future – all because of you!

On your side, you will increase your monthly revenue, have happier and longer-term clients, help your clients be more successful, and differentiate your practice.
                                         
After all, who doesn’t want happier and more successful clients and more revenue? Let us help.

Here’s a video to show you how easy ProjectionSmart is to use.                                                                               
                                                                                                                       
Try out the new ProjectionSmart here.

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