Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

QuickBooks Remote Access

I’ve finally had the chance to use the feature I had most eagerly anticipated in QuickBooks 2002, Remote Access, with a real client. For years, I had been hoping for such a feature, which would allow me to actually work with a client’s QB program from the comfort of my mountain-top office. In the old days, I would have to physically drive out to a client’s location to do the set-up work.

My verdict, after spending 75 minutes online & on the phone with the client in Texas? I was very impressed. It worked very well. The actual service is handled through WebEx in coordination with Intuit. The only drawback I encountered was the long lag-time between when I would click on something, it would go to the client’s computer & then back to me. It made scrolling & selecting a little tricky. I’m sure this is due to the very slow dial-up Internet service we have. I’m optimistic that the new two-way satellite service that is to be installed in our main house tomorrow (with 400KB download speed) will dramatically decrease the lag.

I will be providing more tips on the Remote Access and other features of QuickBooks 2002 over the next months. To dispel one misconception about the Remote Access, it doesn’t open up one’s computer to uncontrolled acccess from outsiders. The other party (client) has to be online and has to manually accept the request from the Accountant to work with the QuickBooks program. The QuickBooks program is the only program that can be accessed.

KMK