too, can turn on features being tested in the lab; see Chapter 3 for details. And, in Chapter 3, I’ll show you the new navigation centers being tested for QBO – another feature currently available via QuickBooks Labs.
At the top of the screen, you see tools that help QBO users create transactions, search for existing transactions, and view recent transactions.
Figure 1-2 shows what an accountant sees immediately upon logging in to QBOA. The Navigation bar changes to support an accountant’s needs; you can read more about the QBOA interface in Chapter 11.
FIGURE 1-2: The first view an accountant sees when he opens QBOA.
When an accountant opens a client’s company from within QBOA (see Figure 1-3), the interface resembles what a client sees, with some minor differences. Compare Figure 1-1 with Figure 1-3. First, you know you’re using QBOA because the top of the Navigation pane shows QuickBooks Accountant. Second, the tools used to search for a transaction, go to a report, and view recent transactions are combined into one Search box near the right side of the screen. And third, the Accountant Tools menu (the briefcase icon) displays tools not found in QBO that help accountants manage client companies.
FIGURE 1-3: An open company in QBOA.
Even though an open company looks a bit different depending on whether it is opened using QBO or QBOA, the basic functionality doesn’t really change, other than accountants having more options than end users have.
To browse or not to browse …
In addition to working in a browser, you also can work in mobile apps. Figure 1-4 shows QBO in the Windows mobile app, and Figure 1-5 shows QBOA just after opening it in the Windows mobile app (but before opening any client company).
FIGURE 1-4: QBO while working in the Windows mobile app.
FIGURE 1-5: QBOA while working in the Windows app.
If you compare Figure 1-4 to Figure 1-1 and Figure 1-5 to Figure 1-2, you’ll notice that, once again, QBOA users have the same additional options in the Windows app that they have in a browser. The menus at the top of the screen in the mobile app are the biggest visual difference between QBO and QBOA in the mobile apps and QBO and QBOA in a browser. If you’ve been a QuickBooks desktop product user, you know that you can use the menus to navigate. Under the hood, the Windows app offers some options that you won’t find readily available in a browser, such as the ability to work in multiple windows.
So take your choice: Work in a browser, work in a mobile app, or work in both, depending on your needs at the moment! You’re not limited; you don’t have to choose between an app and a browser. Work in one or the other, as suits your needs at the moment.
Understanding the Cloud
Just to make sure we’re on the same page here, I’m defining the cloud as software and data housed securely in remote data centers (not on your office premises) and accessed securely using the Internet. Working in the cloud can increase your efficiency by offering you the opportunity to work anywhere, communicate easily with others, and collaborate in real time.
In the traditional model of software use, you buy software and install it on your computer. Or you might buy the software and install it on a vendor’s server. QBO and QBOA fall into the category of Software as a Service (SaaS). You typically don’t buy SaaS software; instead, you rent it (that is, you purchase a subscription).
Because SaaS software is typically web-based software, you typically access SaaS software over the Internet using a browser. A browser is software installed on your local computer or mobile device that you use to, well, browse the Internet, looking up cool stuff like what the stock market is doing today, what kind of weather can you expect on Friday when your vacation starts, how to get to your boss’s house for the party he’s having, and – oh, yes – to work with web-based software such as QBO and QBOA. In the case of QBO and QBOA, you can work with these web-based SaaS products using either a browser or an app you download to your computer.
Using web-based software can be attractive for a number of reasons. For example, using web-based software, you have access to that software’s information anywhere, anytime, from any device – stationary or mobile.
In addition, web-based software like QBO and QBOA promotes collaboration and can help you save time. Using QBO and QBOA, accountants, bookkeepers, and clients can communicate about issues that arise, as described in Chapter 14.
Then there’s the issue of keeping software up to date. Desktop software such as QuickBooks is updated typically once each year. Unlike their desktop cousin, QBO and QBOA are updated every two to four weeks.
