Are your clients feeling left in the lurch by the impending retirement of TradeGecko? They are not alone. After only 2 years under the banner of QuickBooks Commerce (QBC), at a reported purchase price of $80m, TradeGecko is being retired from the QuickBooks portfolio, effective July 1, 2022.  

The indisputable facts in the matter for anyone outside of the US are: 

• If you are a TradeGecko/QBC customer, even if you want to stay you can’t. 

• This is irrespective of whether you integrate with Xero or with QuickBooks Online. Yes, even if you’re a QBO customer - you are done! 

So, given there’s no say in the matter, how do you, as a trusted Advisor, turn that frown upside down for your clients?  How is this an opportunity for you, and how do you help them see this forced transition as an opportunity for them? 

You don’t have to be expert in systems and processes – that’s the first key point. Bringing in or recommending a consultant is a smart strategy, especially given the definitive death of QBC by July 1, 2022. Even for a small business transitioning fundamental business systems and processes can take between 3 – 6 months from start to finish. So, time is absolutely of the essence – taking action next Easter will mean they are likely to miss the boat! 

What are the benefits to you, the Advisor?  

• You’re already trusted by them. They listen to you and chances are that whilst they understand the ins and outs of the bigger operational business picture, they need you for their bookkeeping and accounting for a reason! 

• They will love you because you enabled them to achieve a seamless software transition when they thought it was going to be an unwanted, onerous and stressful task to get done. There’s nothing wrong with your client feeling gratitude and appreciation! 

• They will be thrilled to watch their business improve & grow! Consequently, you will be able to generate more revenue providing advisory services and spending less time on mundane tasks. 

• By helping them plan their cashflow and forecast the growth from the investment in change, you’ll be an integral part of the process (which as we all know is excellent for client retention).  

• Introducing new systems creates a new area of work for you as an advisor. Helping them through the transition, is seriously good kudos. You can increase your advisory services (& rates).  You will find clients willing to pay for great solutions, as they will be making extensive savings elsewhere! 

Where to begin? I always start with an open discussion.  

1) What are your plans for the business in the foreseeable future?

2) Now you can dig into this a bit deeper.  The client will (hopefully) know that there is no app with an identical feature set to QBC.  Understanding their plans helps you to identify their needs, only then is it possible to pick the right app for the client (or perhaps a combination of apps), both now and for the years ahead.  Armed with these insights you’ll be well on the way to being able to recommend the best solution to replace QBC (which remember is not an option – less than 9 months from now that app will cease to exist).  

3) Now explore what else they would like: now you’re moving off QBC what would you change if you could? What works well and what doesn’t with your current processes? 

4) Again, there is so much to discuss here – what are the current bottlenecks in their business, what is being done manually, what are their major pain points?  Encourage them to take a moment to think objectively about their business. Get team members involved.  What works, what doesn’t?  No system is perfect but making a list of the pros and cons of what features you like, love and loathe is helpful.  Of course, include the ‘must haves’ and the ‘nice to haves’ on the list and create a wish list. (Although in my experience the wish list should not be a deal breaker!) 

5) As the trusted advisor, you can help offer solutions and recommendations to make the transition as smooth as possible.  We regularly partner with accountants and bookkeepers to ensure your client gets the best possible outcome.  So, what specifically can you do to best help your client? 

Most important, bring in an expert. Cloud Technology specialists such as Cloudsolve help guide businesses to the right solutions.  

We can help you / your client select the best apps to fit your client’s business needs.  We have extensive experience and depth of knowledge to analyse your client’s requirements and recommend the product(s) that will deliver for them.  

Running a cloud implementation project requires a detailed understanding of the selected apps and experience of project management, change management, user training, data migration, app integrations, and more. 

We can train your client’s team on how to use their new apps, and provide training to your team so you can continue to support them. You can’t beat peace of mind! 

DIY implementing is very frequently a false economy: it will take longer, often leads to less successful outcomes and introduces a significantly higher risk of failure.  An issue we deal with almost weekly is a client who has self-selected and self-implemented the wrong app!   

Right now there is a very real element of time pressure as QBC will be switched off on July 1, 2022, like it or not (any client in denial about this is in for a rude awakening)! 

What options are in the market? 

Before you go down the rabbit hole there are several software solutions available in the market for businesses currently using QBC.  There are off the shelf retail products like Unleashed, Dear Systems, Cin 7 and others for businesses typically with revenue from $1m - $20m.  Sitting just above these is LOCATE Inventory which does an excellent job for businesses experiencing rapid growth from small to mid-market should be at a price way below that of an ERP solution. It is also built from an accounting first perspective, so you will love it as much as your client does, and best of all LOCATE runs as an add on for Xero. Compliment these with Big Commerce or Shopify, and clients have access to a solution that can not only replace QBC, but also turbo charge their business growth. 

Cloudsolve has extensive experience in the implementation of inventory systems and can help your clients through this transition effortlessly. The implications for you will be that you become even more valuable to your client, increase your earning potential, and open up new options for advisory services. 

What do you have to lose?  Act now before time runs out.  We are offering complimentary system discussions, so please book a time as soon as practical to get the ball rolling.