SourceLink 4.1 Standard Edition by Personable Inc.

This affordable QuickBooks add-on is a great way for small businesses to get into document management
Bonnie J Nagayama CPA 
Overall Rating:
 
Overview:

This affordable QuickBooks add-on is a great way for small businesses to get into document management. In addition to linking a file of any type that has an associated program that can display it, this tool also has the ability to add "sticky notes" using the "MyNotes" and "Hot Notes" features to a QuickBooks record (many transactions and lists).

With up to 10 records, plus MyNotes and HotNotes, attached to a single QuickBooks record this tool works great for managing work flow, easy filing and retrieval of accounting related documents as well as any other files to make the work flow process more efficient.

For us, changing the configuration to automatically prompt us each time we save a document has made the implementation easy. It has really encouraged us to change our procedures as we are using QuickBooks to avoid the temptation to abandon the project.

Pros:

Ease of Use - Within the configuration there is check box to always prompt at "save." What this feature does is will display a pop up box as each transaction is saved which asks if you would like to add a link.

Multi-User Capability - The SourceLink supports Multi-User environment the same was a QuickBooks does.

Open Item List - The MyNote can be assigned as a HotNote. If it is listed as a HotNote, the user can pull it up from HotNote list, which is available from the SourceLink menu or QuickBooks submenu. It is a great communication tool between the SourceLink users, so they can leave any important messages or work reminders.

Find Feature - Open SourceLink from QuickBooks, or use the SourceLink Search feature to find the record and open the QuickBooks record. In the field that requires Full Name (for example, customer name in Invoice search), SourceLink also provide an extra tool to search the appropriate name with flexible criteria.

File Type - The SourceLink allows the user to link any type of files. The user can link MS Word document, Excel spreadsheet, and scanned invoice with customer sign, eFax document, and more. There are users who are linking their clients' photo to the QuickBooks Customer list

Flexibility - from the file pull down in QuickBooks it is possible to launch SourceLink from any of the 25 supported transaction types. The SourceLink choices include both linked files, MyNotes, and HotNotes.

Cost - At only $189 for a single user license, this product is a cost effective solution to "try out" going paperless.

Cons:

10 document limitation - Due to this limitation, extensive work paper management, weekly timecards, etc. is not practical with this solution.

Security - This product is designed for attaching documents to the QuickBooks record but does not place any controls on the document itself, which users can use the tool, etc. SourceLink maintains the security of Windows own file management system.

File retrieval protocol - The file can be save anywhere so other users may not have access to the saved file when accessing QuickBooks data from another computer.

Navigation - If you open record A in QuickBooks and view the SourceLink information, and then want to see the SourceLink information for record B that is open in QuickBooks, navigating between the two in SourceLink is cumbersome. First close SourceLink then click on the QuickBooks menu bar pull down to navigate to MyNotes or linked files to view the information associated with record B. When attaching files to a record, it is important to note this process; otherwise it is quite easy to attach files to the incorrect record.

Navigation Note - There are control arrows at the bottom of SourceLink will permit moving from one transaction that has MyNotes, HotNotes, or linked files. However, this does not help if record B does not have anything associated with it yet. (addressed in update below)

Update as of July 18, 2005:

Personable has just announced a new release of their SourceLink product and we are pleased to say that our suggestions were taken to heart:

In our opinion the most significant changes are:

1. The new version will let the user by pass the "File > SourceLink > Start . . ." procedure and synchronize the SourceLink with QuickBooks record with one mouse click. So the user can save time when linking many transactions.

2. The new version will offer more options from "Report Linked Files..." menu item. You will be able to know what transactions you have done in a date range without a type. And, the "x" of the SourceLink window will let you save the contents also.

3. In the new version, it will make the "all files" as the default instead of the image files.
 
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