A new launch from Intuit, and nine other developments in technology this past month and how they'll impact your clients and your firm.
1. QBO Advanced aims to empower accountants
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: And yet, my clients still complain that QuickBooks Online still doesn't provide the full capabilities offered by the company's on-premise applications and are underwhelmed by its lack of inventory and order management features. I'm a fan of Intuit but the company needs to bring this online offering up to the level of some of its more advanced competitors if it really wants to be taken seriously as a platform for companies that have grown beyond the very small.
2. Small biz underestimates impact of cyber attacks
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: That's why your employees need to be upgrading their operating systems.
3. A new reason to switch to Google Workspace
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: This is definitely an intriguing new offer, considering the vast amount of file space your business probably needs. But it's pretty much bringing Google into line with what its biggest competitor Office 365 offers.
4. Square adds niche commerce tools
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: "Square for Retail on Square Terminal has helped me streamline and condense everything so I can use all the features I need on one device," the owner of an Alabama gift shop told Pymnts. "I can use Square Terminal as an extra checkout to ensure I'm offering my customers a great experience anywhere, whether I'm selling at my brick-and-mortar store or at local markets on-the-go."
5. Sift updates Microsoft Teams app
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: This is a valuable and affordable tool for enhancing your Teams meetings and one of many good apps for Teams and other Microsoft products to be found on AppSource that will help increase your people's productivity.
6. 'Thermal attack' can read your password from the heat your fingertips leave behind
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: The researchers built this application to illustrate how the fall in the price of thermal-imaging technology and the rise in AI and machine-learning algorithms open up new avenues to thermal attacks. So what to do? "Longer passphrases take longer to type, which also makes it more difficult to get an accurate reading on a thermal camera, particularly if the user is a touch typist," one of the researchers told ZDNet. The researcher also suggested that biometric verification also adds protection.
7. Jotform Sign launches in the e-signature space
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: There are many players in the document signing space, but I like what Jotform's offering for a few reasons. For starters, it's more affordable, given the features it provides compared to its competitors. I like Jotform's ease of use. I like how simple it is to set up custom forms with automation and integration to existing applications. There's a reason why so many of my clients already use Jotform to capture data from their websites: It's a very user-friendly platform that makes sense for many small businesses.
8. 19 advanced Google search operators you need to know
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: This is one of those articles that will come in handy when you need to do a targeted search on Google and you're not getting the results you require. Bookmark it and share it with your employees. I did.
9. Weave adds to its online scheduling tool
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: If you have clients in the dental, medical, optometry or veterinary service industries, they'll be interested in this very powerful platform for not only scheduling but also forms, phone integration, payments, insurance verification and many of the other functions that can be automated in their practice. Weave has been a popular product among many businesses in these fields.
10. Buildots named Construction Software of the Year
Why this is important for your firm and your clients: Some of the cool features include a 360-degree camera mounted on hardhats to collect data that helps teams make critical decisions, a consolidated dashboard of critical information as well as scheduling and automation tools. It's a nice platform that deserves consideration if you have clients in the construction business.