As a small business owner, your priorities are to increase your sales and delight customers. How will you make sure that QuickBooks® stays up-to-date and you can make informed financial decisions?
Until recently, many small business owners did not have a way to automate data entry into QuickBooks. They had to hire someone to manually enter data into QuickBooks, which was expensive, time-consuming, and introduced human errors into their bookkeeping.
Back in 2009, Joseph Anderson, Founder of Sync with Connex , worked for a software company where an intern manually entered 100 orders into QuickBooks every day. Joseph wondered how the process of entering data into QuickBooks could be automated to save businesses time and money.
In 2010, Joseph started his own company and automated data transfer between QuickBooks and online stores. Recognizing the diverse needs of e-commerce business owners, Sync with Connex integrates QuickBooks Online and Desktop with more than 30 different e-commerce platforms, shipping solutions, and payment processors.
Besides automating data entry into QuickBooks, Connex also helps e-commerce stores manage online inventories, map sales taxes, and match deposits into bank accounts. One of the most exciting features of Connex is that it allows e-commerce businesses to sync multiple selling channels, such as Amazon and Shopify, with QuickBooks.
Sync with Connex has already freed thousands of e-commerce merchants from manual data entry, so that they could bring their passions to the marketplace.
Husband and wife team Ryan and Katherine Harvey founded Bare Bones Broth in 2014 to make organic bone broth available to the public. As a busy chef, Ryan Harvey sometimes had no time to cook for himself, and drank stock or bone broth from his restaurant to stay healthy. Although bone broth has numerous health benefits, it can take up to 24 hours of cooking and is not practical for most people. When Bare Bones Broth was born, its mission was to bring the nourishment from bone broth to the dinner table without the time cost of preparation.
The Harveys started Bare Bones Broth in their own kitchen, and they initially hired someone to manually enter data into QuickBooks Enterprise. This process was time-consuming and error-prone. There were times when Katherine and Ryan had to go for a week without their books. Without their financial information readily available, it was challenging to make business decisions about their inventory, marketing, and partnerships.
When they found Connex, “It was a no-brainer,” Katherine recalls. “Haven’t had to think about keeping QuickBooks up-to-date in two years. It is exactly what you want in a tool.”
Within a year after implementing Connex, their online sales grew by 30 percent. “Not sure if we would still be selling if we didn’t have this tool,” Katherine added.
Katherine’s advice to e-commerce business owners: “Automate as much as possible. When you automate, you can focus on the important things, which are to have enough product in stock and making sales.”
One of the unique features of Connex is that it allows e-commerce business owners to integrate multiple selling channels with one QuickBooks account.
Apparel company Duckworth uses Connex to integrate both their Shopify site and their Amazon storefront with QuickBooks Online.
Duckworth, based in the Northern Rockies of Montana, prides itself on creating single-origin, Merino wool apparel for both men and women. Their “Sheep-to-Shelf” process ensures trust, high quality, and comfort in their products. In addition, as the company is 100 percent US-based – a rarity in the apparel industry – it also supports the local economy.
Daniel Mouw, controller at Duckworth, appreciates that he can make high level financial decisions because he doesn’t need to manually enter data into QuickBooks. “Having Connex easily saves me 15-20 hours a week.”
Automation of data entry into QuickBooks has allowed Duckworth to focus on high-level business decisions, such as designing new product lines and digital marketing strategies to expand their business. “Having proper sales numbers is extremely necessary for running marketing campaigns and working with influencers.”
Daniel’s favorite part of Connex is its trustworthiness. “Connex is like an accountant that you hired. I like that I don’t need to look at it, and I can trust the data that it pulls in. When you can trust your financial information, you can pursue growth in your business.”
Daniel’s advice to business owners is to save time through automation. “Any opportunity to automate will pay off. There is no payoff in manual data entry. When you can automate, you can enjoy life. It allows you to work 15-20 hours less per week, and get the same amount of work done.”
Making it possible for companies like Bare Bones and Duckworth to thrive in the e-commerce space is one the goals of Sync with Connex. Without automation, businesses would fail to expand sustainably. Locally sourced organic bone broth and high-quality merino wool would be out of reach for many consumers.
According to Joseph, “No one should type several hundred orders into QuickBooks. We want to help you focus on what you do best: selling your products and services.”
Editor’s note: Sync with Connex is available for QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. For more information, access the app on the QuickBooks App Store.
