Happy Holidays from OE Companion

This has been a wonderful year for OE Companion. This time last year, we were still writing code needed to create a marketable product. Now we have not only a solid product but also a rapidly growing user base.

We are working on a major overhaul of OE Companion. Over the first half of next year, we will release many of our most-requested features. We're also redesigning the user interface to make it much more user-friendly. Whereas 2009 was simply about getting a product into the market, 2010 is about making an amazing product.

Thanks to everyone for making this a great year, and happy holidays to you and your family!

Recent Improvements to OE Companion

Those of you who regularly send us feedback know that we are extremely responsive to customer issues. We certainly don’t implement every suggestion that comes our way, but we do our best to incorporate your comments into the product. Here are a few nuggets we’ve added to OE Companion in recent weeks based on your feedback. Thanks again for sending it, and keep it coming.

• Added a discussion group (accessible via help menu)


• Improved display of sub-items and sub-customers


• Added estimated ship date to purchase orders


• Added ability to display purchase order numbers on packing slips


• Enabled an approval process for purchase orders


• Added ability to customize email messages sent with POs, sales orders, and packing slips


• Modified list screens so that they remember sort order


• Improved structure of help menus


• Modified purchase orders to include separate column for vendor part number


• Added setting to automatically CC all purchase orders to a specified address


• Added ability to specify that certain items should not synchronize with QuickBooks Online

PayPal Integration for QuickBooks Online

We just released a beta version of a really cool new feature. We’ve integrated PayPal with QuickBooks Online in what we call our “PayPal Automation” feature. Here’s how it works.

OE Companion now has the ability to receive PayPal Instant Payment Notifications (IPNs) on your behalf and process them according to your instructions. You simply enable the IPN feature in your PayPal account and instruct them to send the notifications to us. Then fill out a quick form in OE Companion to tell us how to process them.

That’s it! Your PayPal account is now linked with your QuickBooks Online account. For example, now when you receive a PayPal payment, OE Companion can automatically generate a sales receipt and post it to QuickBooks Online. Even better, if you track inventory in OE Companion, the software can automatically update your inventory counts as PayPal payments come through. Think about that. No more manual data entry or manually importing transactions. Set it up and forget it!

As with all our new features, we’ve introduced PayPal automation in a “beta” phase, which means we need you to try it and give us lots of feedback on how it works. We’ve tested it internally, and we know it works pretty well. Now we need your help to polish it and take it from good to great.

If you’d like to try out our PayPal integration with QuickBooks Online, go to the “Admin” menu in your account and enable it. Or if you don’t have an account, sign up for a free trial today.

Update on OE Companion

It's been a while since I've posted a general status update. Part of the reason is that we've been so busy with development work. Over the next few weeks we are going to be releasing some significant enhancements to OE Companion. And that's just the beginning. By the end of the year, you will be able to do things with QuickBooks Online that were just wishful thinking before. Be sure to subscribe to our blog feed, as I'll post more information when specific features become available.

Thanks again to everyone for your interest in OE Companion. Your input and suggestions help keep us motivated.

OE Companion listed on Intuit Solutions Marketplace

It has been an exciting few days for us. We received the official word that OE Companion has been approved by Intuit for listing on the Intuit Solutions Marketplace. Here is a link to our listing: http://marketplace.intuit.com/AppID-3205-Overview.aspx



As part of this process, the integration between QuickBooks Online and OE Companion was reviewed by an independent testing lab. I'm happy to report that no bugs were found, and our our application was approved on the first try.



Thanks again to all our beta testers and customers who have provided feedback. We could not have done it without you.

Rolling out new features

One of the great benefits of using SaaS (Software-As-A-Service) offerings like QuickBooks Online and OE Companion is that you automatically receive any updates to the software. As a user, you are always using the latest version.

Now that we are out of beta OE Companion will typically roll out at least one release per week. Sometimes the update will be minor and sometimes major, but basically we plan to push out new features as soon as they are available. For example, last week we added packing slips. This week we made a bunch of usability enhancements.

On occasion, we might label a new feature as "beta." That designation is usually reserved for complex features that require testing from a broad pool of users. We love to get feedback from customers in general, but we especially encourage you to send us feedback on beta features. That helps us to improve them quickly.

As always, please email me if there are any features that you would like to see in OE Companion. Who knows? You might see it show up in next week's release!

OE Companion No Longer in Beta

You might have noticed a subtle change to our website today. OE Companion is no longer in a "beta" trial. After a successful beta program, we're moving to an official release.

You won't notice any immediate changes to the service. Everything will still work exactly the same as it did before. The main difference is that each account will now begin with a 30-day free trial period. After that 30-day period ends, you will be required to pay a monthly fee to continue using OE Companion.

I would like to thank all of our beta participants. Your diligence and willingness to try something new have made OE Companion immensely better. I also encourage everyone to continue to send us feedback. We'll keep adding features and fixing bugs on a regular basis.

What if QuickBooks Online adds inventory and purchase orders?

I get that question a lot when talking about OE Companion. It’s a good question. Here are my thoughts.

First, I assume that the question is “when,” not “if.” I would be stunned if Intuit has no plans to add those features to QuickBooks Online at some point in the future. So I’m proceeding on the assumption that they will.

What does that do to OE Companion and what would happen to your inventory data in OE Companion?

First, your data. If QBOE introduces inventory and purchase order features, OE Companion will give you the ability to export your existing inventory data to QBOE (assuming of course that QBOE allows us to do it). OE Companion sends all the data you need for inventory accounting to QBOE already, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.

Now, what happens to OE Companion? Keep in mind that inventory and purchase orders are just the first thing that was implemented in OE Companion. There is much more to come, and frankly the other stuff is much cooler! The bottom line is that OE Companion is a supplement to QuickBooks Online. If QBOE adds an inventory feature two years down the road (or whenever), then I encourage you to use it and I will do everything I can to support it. OE Companion will focus on other things. I assure you that there is plenty of functionality that we can add-on to QuickBooks Online.

Charts and Graphs for QuickBooks Online Edition

You can now use OE Companion to create charts and graphs of your QBOE data. Previously the only way to see your QBOE data in a chart was to export your data to Excel and then manually create each chart. Now you can do it in two mouse clicks with OE Companion. Here is a screenshot of a pie chart using data from QuickBooks Online Edition.

Right now the following charts and graphs are supported. If there are any more you would like to see, please email support@oecompanion.com.

• Expenses by Category
• Income and Expense Summary by Month
• Accounts Receivable by Customer
• Accounts Receivable by Days Aging
• Sales by Month
• Sales by Item
• Accounts Payable by Days Aging
• Accounts Payable by Vendor
  

OE Companion is Online!

The beta version of OE Companion is now available. To create your free beta account, go to http://www.oecompanion.com/.

This release includes mainly the inventory and purchase order functionality of OE Companion. Other features will be added as soon as they are available.

The beta trial will last somewhere between six weeks and several months. As described in a previous post, a monthly fee will be required to continue to use the service after the trial ends. Active beta testers (those who send us feedback) will receive a 50% discount on the first three months of service after the beta trial ends.

Certainly I want to eliminate any bugs or errors in the software, but most importantly I want your feedback on how well OE Companion works in your business. Your input will drive the future direction of the product.

I can’t wait to hear your feedback.