Intuit® QuickBooks® Enterprise Solutions Case Study

Case StudyIntuit ® QuickBooks® EnterpriseSolutionsSterling Research Group Improves Qualityof Financial Data With Intuit QuickBooksEnterprise SolutionsCustomer Profile• Full service marketresearch firm basedin St. Petersburg, FL.• 30-40 employees.• Switched from SageAccPac to EnterpriseSolutions in April2008.“We’re looking forwardto cost-savings not justfrom the initial purchasebut in years to come.Our upgrade costs willbe thousands lower, andwith top-notch supportfrom our Intuit SolutionProvider during setup,we’re ensuring smoothoperation for the yearsahead, too.”Suzie Wingate,Director of FinanceSterling Research Group,Inc.Business challengeA market research firm was spending precious time performing cumbersome,clerical tasks to manage finances on their Sage AccPac system. They wanteda streamlined system that would eliminate tedious work-arounds and providethe information they needed for accurate business metrics.Solution: Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions:Professional Services Edition• Integrated job costing module at no extra charge.• Drill-down capabilities on transactions for easy investigation and modification.• Ability to integrate QuickBooks Time Tracker to accurately track employeetime and download timesheets.• Paperless features such as direct deposit, electronic invoicing, and electronicback-ups.Benefits• Saved money with lower licensing, annual maintenance, and support fees.• Moved to a more paperless office, with electronic invoicing and payroll.• Obtained valuable support from authorized Intuit Solution Provider forproper setup and training.• Improved business operations with more efficient processes.A visionary companySterling Research Group, Inc. conducts market research for a diverse list of clientsincluding a number of large financial institutions.Their success is due in large part to their reputation as a visionary company:Sterling Research started using scanning technology back when almost everyoneelse was still relying on key data entry.To track and manage their financial data, the firm used to rely on AccPac. Butafter ten years the system had become cumbersome and complex to use.“Our AccPac system wasn’t very user-friendly,” says Suzie Wingate, Director ofFinance at Sterling Research Group, Inc. “We had complicated procedures formaking adjustments to data. And we never could get the customized reportingwe wanted.”“It took three weeks after month-end to produce our job-costing reports,” sheadds. “In this business, a lot can happen in three weeks.”© 2009 Intuit Inc. All rights reserved. Intuit, the Intuit logo, and QuickBooks are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States and other countries.This case study represents the individual experiences of this customer. Intuit does not guarantee that results will apply to all customers.

Case StudyIntuit ® QuickBooks® EnterpriseSolutionsLooking forward to substantial cost savingswith Enterprise SolutionsSterling Research selected Enterprise Solutions:Professional Services Edition to replace theAccPac system. They considered other moreexpensive options, particularly to accommodatetheir timesheet requirements. But once theydiscovered Enterprise Solutions worked seamlesslywith QuickBooks Time Tracker, the choice wasmade. “All the other packages we looked at thatincluded a timesheet application would have costa fortune,” Suzie says.Sterling Research was also conscious of thelifetime costs of their system. “We didn’t feel wewere getting value for our maintenance fees withAccPac,” she says. “With Enterprise Solutions,we’re looking forward to saving at least $14,000over the next ten years in maintenance and papercosts alone, after we’ve paid for our new system.”Sterling Research switched to Enterprise Solutionsin April 2008, and handled the data conversionthemselves. And they’re giving high ratings to thenew system. “We are so much more efficient withthe new system,” she says. “With less clerical workto take care of, we’re bringing more strategic valueto the business.”“For instance, we now issue weekly time reportsto show people right away how they’re lookingon job profitability,” she says. “That reporting isessential to us for estimating the right rates andnumber of hours for each business department.”Intuit Solution Provider helps businessmaximize their investmentThe market research firm relied extensively onthe services of authorized Intuit Solution ProviderDenise Magee to implement the new solution.Denise helped them not only with the initialpurchase but setup and training as well. “Denisehas been outstanding,” says Suzie. “She knowsEnterprise Solutions inside and out and is definitelyhelping us get the most out of our system.”Denise was especially helpful for setting up jobcosts. “One of the five most common mistakescompanies make when setting up EnterpriseSolutions is creating accounts in the Chart ofAccounts to manage job costing,” says Denise. “Ishowed Sterling Research how to set it up usingthe Items list to get the reporting they want.”Streamlining operationsSterling Research is now running a more paperlessoffice, with automated functions and electronicdocumentation that is easier to access andmanage. “We are going green!” says Suzie. “We’resending half of our invoices and two-thirds ofour paychecks electronically, and we’re no longerkeeping paper copies of our invoices. We nevercould do that on AccPac because it was toocomplicated.”With Sterling Research’sreputation for staying aheadof the technology curve, it’sno surprise to hear they’vegot a winning solution withEnterprise Solutions.“We truly enjoyedworking with SterlingResearch on thisimplementation. We’vebeen with them fromthe initial sales callright through setup,training, and support.It’s just so satisfyingto be able to supporta business in reachingtheir goals.”Denise Magee, IntuitSolution Provider andCertified QuickBooksProAdvisor ®President, QualityConsulting and BillingServices© 2009 Intuit Inc. All rights reserved. Intuit, the Intuit logo, and QuickBooks are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States and other countries.This case study represents the individual experiences of this customer. Intuit does not guarantee that results will apply to all customers.