May 2010 -- CSS now has a 3-user multi-user license to Quickbooks Pro 2010.  The idea is to test how much more useful Quickbooks (QB) can be beyond DCAD -- targets of opportunity are DS MDS and PC Service.

(May - June 2010) What should Quickbooks set up for CSS involve?

1. Server setup that allows remote access to one or more company files, using one or more of our several login IDs (we have three "licenses", whether that constrains N-of-usernames or N-of-simultaneous server connections or what, I am not sure.)  DONE
2. Company File setup that makes sense for us.
   1. PC Service and DCAD are separate companies; DeptServices is either with DCAD or just like DCAD.
   2. DCAD's company type is Consulting.  PC Service is maintenance and repair, whatever QB calls it.
   3. Company chart of accounts has ones named for corresponding SAP g/ls -- Cost of Goods Sold, Revenue, etc. w/ their numbers. 
   4. Items are created that we can later bill for.  Items are set to bill against the SAP-emulating Accounts in QB.
   5. Invoices are built from Items.  Can be emailed to the client. 
3. Common Client List built from MIT DLC Level 3 Organizational Hierarchy
4. Custom fields in the client data structure for cost object and g/l account --> to drive JVupload file export
5.  
6.  

(Apr 2010) Brainstorming Features to Test about Quickbooks

• can we make QB sufficiently multiuser in our technical environment to allow for these three teams to log in to either individual or a single shared company file?
• should we use individual company files?
• how do we make a common customer list among the several companies?
• What structure would we want to use for customer lists -- can we extract useful data from the Warehouse to prime the pump for the 200 or so DLCs we think there are?
• What is the relationship between a contact and a company in the company file?
• How can we use custom fields to record Cost Object and GL Account for these contacts?
• What is involved in creating a catalog of things to invoice for?
• What is involved in invoicing a client for something they've bought?
• How does emailing the invoice really work?
• How does generating a report to power a JV Upload file really work?
• Is a shared document space useful or necessary?  -- where would Rashard put his PDF SLAs?  Where would Jeff put copies of his contracts?
• Is the customer manager environment (basic CRM) useful or necessary?  Does it imply a common company file, or merely a common customer list shareable across the companies?
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