AI-Driven Innovations All the Talk at QuickBooks Connect 2019

Misherghi highlighted the following new AI-powered features in QuickBooks Online Accountant during her keynote:

Business Performance Dashboard: The new Business Performance tab in QuickBooks Online Accountant automatically takes a client’s data and pulls out what is needed — key figures, useful indicators, actionable items and more — and organizes it all into one simple, visually driven dashboard. The dashboard can be easily exported to share with a client and used to spark conversations and strategic recommendations based on the financial health of a business as well as how it’s performing compared to other similar businesses.

Optimization Center: The new Optimization Center, available via early access to accountants, gives bookkeepers an objective measure of how effectively they’ve set up each client through an efficiency score, plus concrete recommendations to improve efficiency moving forward. This works by scanning all QuickBooks transactions and identifying what percent are “highly efficient” — meaning the transactions are fully automated from recording to categorization and reconciliation. The efficiency score breaks down into three key areas: bank accounts, expense tracking, and income tracking, with each section offering specifics on what contributes to the score and what QuickBooks features can be leveraged to increase efficiency.

Bookkeeping Review: This new expert feature within QuickBooks, also available via early access to accountants, finds errors automatically so accounting professionals don’t have to go hunting for them. It brings all errors to one place for quick and easy resolution — giving accountants high-quality books in a fraction of the time. By automatically scanning QuickBooks to surface mistakes and streamline client collaboration, Bookkeeping Review helps keep client books complete and accurate.

QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping Update

By now, accounting professionals, bookkeepers and others in the profession may be familiar with one of Intuit’s newest offerings, QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, a platform of assisted professional services that connects small business and self-employed customers with on-demand accounting experts (all of whom are certified ProAdvisors) inside QuickBooks. Through a one-way video conferencing capability, small business owners can connect to a virtual bookkeeper to get the help they need and ensure their records are accurate and up-to-date, giving them the confidence and freedom that their books are done right so they can focus on other aspects of their businesses.

“QuickBooks Live is truly the first of its kind — an expert-driven, AI platform that enables small businesses to make smarter decisions and achieve better money outcomes so they can take their businesses to the next level,” said Alex Chriss, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Small Business Self-Employed Group at Intuit. “By introducing QuickBooks Live, we believe more businesses will be able to tap not only into the technology platform that is delivering smarter business outcomes, but accounting and bookkeeping experts they may not have access to today.”

QuickBooks Live was designed specifically for small businesses who are not currently connected with an accountant or bookkeeper and feel they only require a light level of ongoing assistance. Several informational breakout sessions were held during QuickBooks Connect to provide a more in-depth look at the offering.

Other announcements made at the show include:

●    Cash Flow Planner: QuickBooks will soon be introducing the Cash Flow Planner, a brand new offering that leverages the power of AI to enable small businesses to predict their daily cash flow over the next 90 days, empowering them to make the best decisions for their business. The planner proactively alerts business owners when a negative situation is on the horizon and provides recommendations around how to navigate the situation. QuickBooks leverages anonymized data across millions of customers with more than 26 billion touchpoints to generate predictive scenarios with accurate cash flow forecasts. In addition, the planner can be used for scenario planning to help users answer questions such as: “Is it safe to hire another employee now, given my forecasted cash flow in the coming few months?”

●     QuickBooks Online Advanced: Although QuickBooks Online Advanced was introduced in 2018, there are several new features coming soon, including the ability to automate transactions and workflows, and an integration with a leading cloud-based organization and customer relationship management tool. Additional features designed for high-growth businesses include advanced reporting, the ability to process more transactions, and increased in-product support, as well as the integration with 700 apps.

Brain Dates

In addition to the new innovations that were showcased, attendees had the opportunity to sign up for 1:1 sessions with accounting and business professionals for “Brain Dates” and judging by the hubbub of activity in the Brain Dates area, the program was widely popular. One attendee said, “The 30 minutes I just spent in my session more than paid for QuickBooks Connect and the time I’m spending away from the office. I’m walking away with something I can implement right away!”

For those who can’t wait for more, the dates are already set for QuickBooks Connect 2020. The conference will again take place in San Jose from Nov. 4-6, 2020, and you can register your interest in attending by visiting https://quickbooksconnect.com/.