EasyBiz Technical Newsletter- October 2014 edition

By Ruaan de Swardt

With technology being what it is – challenges do present itself in the life of the average QuickBooks user.  In this edition we’ll be unpacking QuickBooks Cloud.

Confused about the difference between Cloud and Online? It’s quite simple. Your desktop version of QuickBooks is loaded onto a Cloud and retains all of its desktop functionality. Online versions of accounting software are accessed online and generally has limited functionality.

Without going into semantics, the phrase ‘QuickBooks Cloud Hosting’ is quite fitting as it depicts making QuickBooks desktop available on cloud, with cloud really being a virtual server.

For some FAQ’s around hosting QuickBooks on Cloud please click here

Hosting QuickBooks on Cloud – how it works

We’ve established that the format of QuickBooks that’s accessed on cloud or virtual server would be the desktop edition. But how will users access it? Answer: Terminal services or Windows Remote Desktop connection.

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Users can access QuickBooks on server by logging onto their configured Microsoft Windows Server using RDP plug-in (which is already installed on most Windows operating systems). Try it – type mstsc in the run field found in the Windows Start menu followed by enter. (mstsc = Microsoft Terminal Services Connection).

A small but vital component necessary for this to work would be to bridge QuickBooks licenses.

(Referring to April 2014 news letter on QuickBooks and Terminal Services)

For example, QuickBooks is ‘cloud ready’ (see Below) and set for 2 users to access it using a Windows remote desktop connection. This is possibly only if Terminal Tervices is purchased and setup on Microsoft server (as not all Windows servers come standard with terminal server user licenses).

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Now you need a Windows Server and QuickBooks licenses, which will be bridged – what next?

Costs, that’s what’s next. The primary obstacle most companies would face around the acquiring of a Windows server 2003, 2008, 2010 or 2012 is finances: A typical 5 user Windows Server where terminal services is setup and enabled can cost anything between 12k-21k (ZAR) – ouch! For this reasons cloud providers would offer services whereby they ‘lease’ a server at a set fee per month or year. EasyBiz has identified one such provider- Jacques Henrico from Peqqo Cloud Services.

Interested? To get a quote please complete the customer contact form available here.

Missed last month’s technical newsletter? Summary of what was covered:

QuickBooks is compatible with Terminal Server

QuickBooks is not a flat file

QuickBooks Toolkit

Windows compatibility

Third Party Integration

Microsoft Outlook compatibility

Quick Payroll Ver 1.2.43

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Please fill out the form below to receive the trail demo link

Personal Information
Where a party receives any personal information (“PI”) related to the other party, the party who receives the PI, will comply with and have adequate measures in place to ensure that its employees, agents, subsidiaries and representatives comply with the provisions and obligations contained in the Protection of Personal Information Act, No. 4 of 2013. Any PI pertaining to one party which is required by the other party, will only be used by that other party for the purposes of this contract and will not be further processed or disclosed without the written consent of the latter and the recipient of that PI will take all reasonable precautions to preserve the integrity and prevent any corruption or loss, damage or destruction of the PI. If and when the contract is terminated, each party will, save to the extent that it is required to do otherwise by any applicable law, erase or cause to be erased, all PI and all copies of any part of the PI relating to the other party”.