Do you wonder what the Top 100 ProAdvisors in the US prefer in the way of apps?
Based on actual results from our Domestic ProAdvisors, we know the apps that our ProAdvisors use, refer to their clients, are certified in, and are implemented most frequently during 2023.
I want to share a little information gleaned from this year’s results and offer you a FREE download of Ten (10) of our Top 100 ProAdvisors' favorite apps.
This is the visual display of how apps are reported by our ProAdvisors who participate in the Top 100 process. Completing the 'App engagement' section of the formal application not only earns you valuable scoring points, but provides critical information that help guide Insightful Accountant's future article (First Look, App Aware, Second Look and App Follow-up) content toward your practices.
By the way, this graphic reminds me of "traveling through the 'time tunnel' to other worlds." "So many worlds, such endless time, you should try it some where in time."
Now for just a few of the favorite apps.
Accounts Payable
Bill (aka: Bill.com) and Melio were the top two ranked A/P solutions by our ProAdvisors. There is a good reason for these two being on top of the list (within just fractions of points) of more than a dozen A/P Automation options. Bill has been around ‘forever’ and was once a fully integrated solution for QuickBooks Online.
BILL is a great solution for managing your accounts payable workflow and spend. They have great visibility tools built in to help you organize and stay on top of your payables. They make it easy to pay your invoices, even 'international ones.' Megan Sullivan, CPA
But then, two-or-three years ago, Melio became the fully integrated solution for QuickBooks. It's popularity expanded quickly, mostly because of its economy of use.
I like Melio because it is affordable. Melio provides good AP services while staying a very affordable and easy-to-use app that syncs with QBO. Jacqueline Edwards
Obviously, ProAdvisors have their preferences, for a variety of reasons... sounds like a good webinar topic to compare the A/P apps doesn't it?
That may be more true than ever now that Intuit recently implemented their own ‘AP payments solution.’ It will be interesting to see how these three apps play out in our 2025 ProAdvisor results, along with the other A/P apps we measure.
Payroll
For the first time since we began measuring this kind of data from our ProAdvisor applicants, a ‘payroll’ program has leapfrogged over Intuit’s QuickBooks Payroll offerings. For 2024, more ProAdvisors used, recommended, were certified in and implemented Gusto Payroll than any other payroll solution, including all versions offered by Intuit.
Accounts Receivable
When it comes to Accounts Receivable automation, CollBox was the number one app ranked by our 2024 Domestic ProAdvisors. CollBox describes itself as “the easiest way for businesses to get paid for their past-due invoices.” Apparently, our ProAdvisors think that too because it was not only ranked the highest in terms of ProAdvisor ‘use’ but also ranked the highest in terms of referrals to their clients when it comes to ‘getting paid.’
CollBox is an awesome resource! It practically pays for itself, so recommending them to our customers is a no-brainer. Using CollBox frees up your time and gets more money in the door. Inna Korenzvit
eCommerce
Shopify was the leading ‘eCommerce’ app ‘used,’ ‘referred’ and ‘implemented’ by our 2024 Domestic ProAdvisor applicants.
Shopify is supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs, and with the eCommerce connector in every (US) version of QBO you can automatically import all of your Shopify transactions. (1)
A2X was a close second. One ProAdvisor told us,
"We love to use A2X to sync Shopify to QuickBooks with summarized transactions to avoid cluttering up the client's books..." Veronica Wasek
When it comes to 'eCommerce EDI B2B' solutions our ProAdvisors recommend and support, SPSCommerce and TrueCommerce were essentially a tie (like just 1/100th of a point apart).
CRM Apps
One thing we've found interesting over the years, and even more so this year, is that "the Apps ProAdvisors use for their 'own practices' are not always the apps they recommend, install and maintain for their clients." As far as our major categories are concerned, that could be nowhere more true than with CRMs.
While HubSpot is the ‘CRM’ primarily used by our Domestic ProAdvisors, Method CRM is the number one ‘referred’ CRM and the most extensively implemented; therefore, MethodCRM was actually ranked the highest in this app category for 2024.
MethodCRM is a great solution for QuickBooks because it features the fastest and best sync engine around. It lets you track vital customer information that doesn't belong in QuickBooks and provides customer portals permitting self-service. Robin Hall
Time Keeping
You probably already knew it, but let me confirm that QuickBooks Time is the number one timekeeping app among the 2024 Top 100 ProAdvisor applicants. Despite ownership and name changes, it’s the one timekeeper that has remained ‘at the top’ of our list every year since we started measuring app performance.
QBTime works great for employees at multiple job sites; employees only see their own billing, product and service codes. Then, when you sync to QB, it lets you populate both the payroll and invoices.
I haven't even shared the 'top ten (10) preferred apps.' We have so much more 'app information' to share, so we will start giving you the link to download Insightful Accountant's '2024 Top 100's Favorite Apps.'
Disclosures
Be advised, some contributor statements have been edited, condensed or paraphrased for purposes of brevity within this article. Insightful Accountant believes they accurately reflect the intent of the of original submissions.
(1) - Adapted from E-commerce features in QBO by Liz Scott, Insightful Accountant, Oct. 3, 2022.
Feature content includes references to QuickBooks®, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Payroll and QuickBooks Time which are registered trademarks of Intuit® Inc., a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Mountain View, California.
We hereby acknowledge the use of various other trade names including, but not limited to Bill (aka: Bill.com), Melio, CollBox, Gusto Payroll, Shopify, A2X, SPSCommerce, TrueCommerce, HubSpot and Method CRM, all of which refer to registered, trademarked, or copyrighted products held by their respective owners; they are included in the content for informational and educational purposes only.
This is an editorial feature, not sponsored content. No vendor associated with this article has paid Insightful Accountant or the author any form of remuneration to be included in this feature. The article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes.
Note: Registered Trademark ® and other registration symbols (such as those used for copyrighted materials) have been eliminated from the articles within this publication for brevity due to the frequency or abundance with which they would otherwise appear or be repeated. Every attempt is made to credit such trademarks or copyrights within our respective article footnotes and disclosures.