Financial Software and POS Systems Suck, and it's YOUR Fault

SGaynor

Well-known member
Dec 6, 2006
7,148
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52
Bristol, TN
We're a pay at the pump society, people want it yesterday and the company I work for meets those demands and create extremely happy customers every single day. I'm just lucky enough to represent such a product.
How could I have fogotten!

I just get giddy with excitement waiting for the latest version of Word or Excel to come out. Or Outlook. 😍 Why not have that everyday!

Or the fun I have spending a month relearning where all the commands/menus went when they do a wholesale revision every 5-6 years. Why not relive that experience monthly!

That is so awesome! I'm so glad I get to pay a $100 year forever for that! (versus paying $400 once every 8-10 years)
 
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brian4d

Well-known member
Dec 3, 2007
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67
High Point, NC
How could I have fogotten!

I just get giddy with excitement waiting for the latest version of Word or Excel to come out. Or Outlook. 😍 Why not have that everyday!

Or the fun I have spending a month relearning where all the commands/menus went when they do a wholesale revision every 5-6 years. Why not relive that experience monthly!

That is so awesome! I'm so glad I get to pay a $100 year forever for that! (versus paying $400 once every 8-10 years)
How could I have fogotten!

I just get giddy with excitement waiting for the latest version of Word or Excel to come out. Or Outlook. 😍 Why not have that everyday!

Or the fun I have spending a month relearning where all the commands/menus went when they do a wholesale revision every 5-6 years. Why not relive that experience monthly!

That is so awesome! I'm so glad I get to pay a $100 year forever for that! (versus paying $400 once every 8-10 years)


Now, take your simple understanding of this principal and move it over to E-Clinical. Let's say your medical records included a field for Flu-shot and pneumonia shot in one medial practice (Novant) but didn't sync to (Duke) Medical system. The doctors and NP and CNS's could communicate valuable information to each other in real-time given an update in field revisions floating that information through API's. Now, with SaaS they can and it's all updated on the fly. The doctors at Duke wouldn't even need to ask if you wanted a flu shot because they know you already had one last month at Novant.

Now, take just this one simple example and take any industry whether is medical, logistics, airlines whatever, and imagine the possibilities of software that keeps pace with the environment it surrounds.

Learn something new everyday don't ya? What Ken and I are talking about goes a bit beyond Microsoft Word or Excel needing an update every few years.
 
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SGaynor

Well-known member
Dec 6, 2006
7,148
162
52
Bristol, TN
Now, take your simple understanding of this principal and move it over to E-Clinical. Let's say your medical records included a field for Flu-shot and pneumonia shot in one medial practice (Novant) but didn't sync to (Duke) Medical system. The doctors and NP and CNS's could communicate valuable information to each other in real-time given an update in field revisions floating that information through API's. Now, with SaaS they can and it's all updated on the fly. The doctors at Duke wouldn't even need to ask if you wanted a flu shot because they know you already had one last month at Novant.

Now, take just this one simple example and take any industry whether is medical, logistics, airlines whatever, and imagine the possibilities of software that keeps pace with the environment it surrounds.

Learn something new everyday don't ya? What Ken and I are talking about goes a bit beyond Microsoft Word or Excel needing an update every few years.
SaaS has nothing to do with interoperability between software platforms.

How about create your systems to be interoperable vs proprietary in the first place?

Still no reason to be updating software daily, unless your software is garbage and needs to be fixed constantly - If you have to update your software daily to include a box about the flu shot, well....
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
This is the dumbest, most out of clue statement by far from you Scott. Your broad brush doesn't even hack it in this industry, stick with science man. Business demands on their commercial SaaS can change daily and securing a platform that can adapt on the fly is not only invaluable, but a requirement. We're a pay at the pump society, people want it yesterday and the company I work for meets those demands and create extremely happy customers every single day. I'm just lucky enough to represent such a product.

That's no different than the first time Microsoft installed a traffic cam. Enterprise users pay the subscription for that level of support, and everyone else enjoys the software "base model". Nothing has changed, and yet everything has changed. Now you're paying more and you have less control.

This is the opposite of business-friendly.

Whatever you provide may make sense in your corner of the industry, but that business model has no place invading the general market. People have made foolish decisions.


Cheers,

Kennith
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
And some guy, somewhere is saying the same thing about your 1993 386. We were do'in just fine before those 'puters!

The only false progress was losing control of the data. The premise of cloud (grid) computing is actually quite brilliant, we just didn't think about big brother first. It could have been accomplished without big tech running the show. Don't ask me how but where there's a will there's a way.

That 386, and indeed the 1981 5150 I do most of my writing on only do what I tell them. From a business perspective, it's just a glorified calculator and a type-writer with full editing capacity. I have control of everything, the software works properly and forever, and the platforms were ideally designed for the purpose.

A little later on, after the MMPC standard hit the scene, and after the Web was introduced, they became just as capable as anything today, in that regard.

They just needed a bit more juice to get things rolling. Here's something most people don't know about how the IRS has been operating:


Cheers,

Kennith
 

brian4d

Well-known member
Dec 3, 2007
6,499
67
High Point, NC
SaaS has nothing to do with interoperability between software platforms.

How about create your systems to be interoperable vs proprietary in the first place?

Still no reason to be updating software daily, unless your software is garbage and needs to be fixed constantly - If you have to update your software daily to include a box about the flu shot, well....


People change, methods change and practices change on a daily basis, especially in the medical arena. You're ignorant on the subject, we'll leave it at that. When you want to have a real conversation about this topic and you're opening to listening to professionals of 20 years in the industry let me know. I work for a company that pioneered SaaS before it was even called SaaS.
 

brian4d

Well-known member
Dec 3, 2007
6,499
67
High Point, NC
Whatever you provide may make sense in your corner of the industry, but that business model has no place invading the general market. People have made foolish decisions.


Cheers,

Kennith

I concur with this. Word Processors and everyday simple business tools should remain standalone. However, when you're building a system that tracks millions of packages, patient records or inventory on the fly SaaS that's devoted to your specific business model wins hands down no questions ask. Is it leading to Bezos getting richer? yes. Is it allowing someone else to jump into the market, keep cost down while competing? Yes as well. I don't know where it's all going to end up but I do know the software we write and roll new code weekly is only helping the end user be more productive and putting necessary tools in their hands that help them compete.

Before you go down the road of "how do you know they need it?", I'll say this. Every single addition, code roll and update we perform were generated directly from our customer base. In other words, they ask for it. How often could you go to Microsoft and ask Outlook 2003 not crash every 45 minutes, or ask for an addition at no immediate cost?

That's right, sign here.
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
I concur with this. Word Processors and everyday simple business tools should remain standalone. However, when you're building a system that tracks millions of packages, patient records or inventory on the fly SaaS that's devoted to your specific business model wins hands down no questions ask. Is it leading to Bezos getting richer? yes. Is it allowing someone else to jump into the market, keep cost down while competing? Yes as well. I don't know where it's all going to end up but I do know the software we write and roll new code weekly is only helping the end user be more productive and putting necessary tools in their hands that help them compete.

Before you go down the road of "how do you know they need it?", I'll say this. Every single addition, code roll and update we perform were generated directly from our customer base. In other words, they ask for it. How often could you go to Microsoft and ask Outlook 2003 not crash every 45 minutes, or ask for an addition at no immediate cost?

That's right, sign here.

I would expect such a developer to respond to immediate need within the enterprise space. That doesn't surprise me. Efficiency drives that industry.

Every tenth of a second that a user or system is not doing something new is money left on the table. At that point you don't have a mere update schedule, you're into next level shit; you're spending thirty man-hours in a week figuring out a way to drop an inch of cursor travel or reclaim five fucking cycles.

Even so... That is the one software space that hasn't changed, in the discussed regard. The market corner you describe has always been SaaS because it always needed to be SaaS. It cannot be held as an example of success beyond it's own. It's like the fucking wild west.

If the intent is to use that as a general example of SaaS utility, you may as well comp every house in town to the mayor's mansion. My point remains.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

brian4d

Well-known member
Dec 3, 2007
6,499
67
High Point, NC
Ken,

It sounds like your customer service experience was in the toilet and that doesn't help when you feel you have no other option for a POS system. I get your frustration but I think you're taking it out on the wrong thing here. Blame management if they won't take your money and get you the level of service you deserve. Our motto here is if you don't service your customers someone else will.

We develop and maintain a management system that offers syncing between standard platforms as well as account syncing with Quickbooks (quickbooks connector) and Quickbooks online. It's a breath of fresh air for our customers to get everything in one place. In a few cases customers have called me literally crying they were so happy.

Good thing about our situation right now is that these companies are a dime a dozen, take your pick and roll with who treats you right. Or, see me as your arch nemesis and stay mad about the situation, up to you.

What exactly do you need from your POS system? Do you use quickbooks now? Need them to sync?

Brian
 
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kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
Ken,

It sounds like your customer service experience was in the toilet and that doesn't help when you feel you have no other option for a POS system. I get your frustration but I think you're taking it out on the wrong thing here. Blame management if they won't take your money and get you the level of service you deserve. Our motto here is if you don't service your customers someone else will.

We develop and maintain a management system that offers syncing between standard platforms as well as account syncing with Quickbooks (quickbooks connector) and Quickbooks online. It's a breath of fresh air for our customers to get everything in one place. In a few cases customers have called me literally crying they were so happy.

Good thing about our situation right now is that these companies are a dime a dozen, take your pick and roll with who treats you right. Or, see me as your arch nemesis and stay mad about the situation, up to you.

What exactly do you need from your POS system? Do you use quickbooks now? Need them to sync?

Brian

I mean, sure. Syncing them could be useful, if it's a non-maintenance intensive task. I would expect something like Square should offer export functionality. I don't want to add complication to increase simplicity, though. Either it works right every time and it's useful or it's just a feature I don't need.

Got to wait for someone to get back to me in order to find out the details on some of this stuff, as the sales materials are not informative.

I haven't used Quickbooks in a few years, but that's because it never worked well for me. To me, it's been "so simple that it's complicated" for quite some time; like a wet suit that's just one size off. I haven't really been able to use it for anything else, as what I'm typically up to changes too often to fit in their little organized boxes. I just have to use normal spreadsheets. Quickbooks didn't really give me any benefit.

I get the point, though. It's a flexible enough for generic functionality in any industry. It's OBDII for finance.

Things may be different this time around, and I do want to give them a chance given they still offer one-shot software. I'd just need to hit up Lynda or something to brush up. I'm sure whatever passes for a new interface will be just as baffling as it always was; but then again, I have always found Adobe products frustrating to use, as well.

I'm still considering Square for the actual POS system, depending upon how integration works. It's a pretty clean all in one setup that seems to be as reliable as anything else. Square appears to now be pretty "once and done" for a behind the counter setup.

They still haven't got back to me, though. Get a phone number and a fat chick, Square. It's now Wednesday, and nothing...

Sure looks useful, though.

I've got to handle appointments, services, customer management, basic marketing, transactions; that sort of thing. People will come in either prompted or not, get something done, perhaps buy a product from a very limited selection, and leave. Might send people on the road, but it's the same drill. It's nothing fancy. Going with one of the intermediaries will allow very easy mobile deployment and hopefully remote access (the "cloud" benefit). It should also help produce a more idiot-proof system.

I normally despise remote access, but this is different. If I can log in and manage live data and transactions... That saves me a hell of a lot of driving around. No idea how they have that set up, though, which is why I want to speak directly with them. With the way the industry is today, I don't know if that's a reasonable expectation of the software or not. I'd probably gripe about it if I couldn't use the feature right now.

I'm not too keen on going with a traditional POS solution at this time, as I don't see a reliability increase there at all and I don't need to run fifty locations; just one. Ingenico has it locked up around here, actually, and their ghetto hardware causes a lot of long lines. If you see four of those things in a row, two almost certainly have problems...

One company that consistently keeps me happy is Paypal. I just haven't fully researched what they offer yet. I don't think it's as singular a solution, and Square explicitly mentions this industry in their marketing, which is fucking sweet. That never happens to me.

As a side note, this is a good example of how things should work. Quickbooks ought to be a purchase, and Square needs to be a subscription. I don't have a problem with that at all. It makes sense.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

brian4d

Well-known member
Dec 3, 2007
6,499
67
High Point, NC
I normally despise remote access, but this is different. If I can log in and manage live data and transactions... That saves me a hell of a lot of driving around. No idea how they have that set up, though, which is why I want to speak directly with them. With the way the industry is today, I don't know if that's a reasonable expectation of the software or not. I'd probably gripe about it if I couldn't use the feature right now.



One company that consistently keeps me happy is Paypal. I just haven't fully researched what they offer yet. I don't think it's as singular a solution, and Square explicitly mentions this industry in their marketing, which is fucking sweet. That never happens to me.


Cheers,

Kennith

Ken, look into Quickbooks online. Their SaaS platform lets you utilize the software anywhere you have internet access and a browser. Additionally you'd appreciate a nice CRM platform that operates the same way and allows you to import (or sync would be better, we pioneered that and I'm not sure any CRM's out there does that as of today). Apptivo comes to mind. This way you can do the following:

Track customer base and payments
Create marketing campaigns (mostly digital)
Integrate with quickbooks online AND paypal

and to much more to list.

https://www.apptivo.com/integrations/?q=Billing-Invoicing

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/online/

If you just want simple do this:

Square, Intuit QuickBooks GoPayment, Clover or shopkeep

in conjunction with Constant Contact.

I can't vouch for gopayment or clover, just saw they compete. Constant Contract is great though.
 

brian4d

Well-known member
Dec 3, 2007
6,499
67
High Point, NC
Funny story about square. Was shopping for part for our Whirlpool Washing Machine and ended at a shack in the middle of nowhere outside High Point. Went down a dirt road pulled up walked in and met the owner missing most his teeth. Wouldn't you know it, he had the exact part number I needed hanging on the wall behind him, $48.89 or something close. I reached for my wallet and thought, "shit, I don't have any cash on me!". I told him I'd need to run out and come back before he closed at noon with cash, he informed me he took cards and whipped out his cell phone with square. Was a total Win!
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
Funny story about square. Was shopping for part for our Whirlpool Washing Machine and ended at a shack in the middle of nowhere outside High Point. Went down a dirt road pulled up walked in and met the owner missing most his teeth. Wouldn't you know it, he had the exact part number I needed hanging on the wall behind him, $48.89 or something close. I reached for my wallet and thought, "shit, I don't have any cash on me!". I told him I'd need to run out and come back before he closed at noon with cash, he informed me he took cards and whipped out his cell phone with square. Was a total Win!

Square has almost eliminated every cash-only issue in this area. It was shocking how fast they grew in general, but damn did they spread like wildfire in rural environments. It all seemed cheap at first, but they upped their game as needed.

The way I figure it, if those people can make it work...

I'll check that other stuff, but I do want to give this a solid investigation first, just for simplicity. I can't just unilaterally do what I want, though. I need to limit myself to financial and legal entities that are nearby if I have any sense at all, and I've got to be sure whatever I use isn't going to cause either of us extra work.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,706
1,015
Northern Illinois
Square has almost eliminated every cash-only issue in this area. It was shocking how fast they grew in general, but damn did they spread like wildfire in rural environments. It all seemed cheap at first, but they upped their game as needed.

The way I figure it, if those people can make it work...

I'll check that other stuff, but I do want to give this a solid investigation first, just for simplicity. I can't just unilaterally do what I want, though. I need to limit myself to financial and legal entities that are nearby if I have any sense at all, and I've got to be sure whatever I use isn't going to cause either of us extra work.

Cheers,

Kennith
Isn't square an app? I say that cause I really really like my apps, Dick. You know, my boss fucking hates it when I call him Dick. Probably cause his name is Josh and you can't make any connection like you could if his name was Richard or something like that. I bet somebody has an app for that too, don't you think Dick?....I mean Kenny.
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
Isn't square an app? I say that cause I really really like my apps, Dick. You know, my boss fucking hates it when I call him Dick. Probably cause his name is Josh and you can't make any connection like you could if his name was Richard or something like that. I bet somebody has an app for that too, don't you think Dick?....I mean Kenny.

No. Square is a computer program and a financial service; not an app.

An "app" is a miniaturized Java computer program operating within another; to put it as simply as humanly possible. It's a slang term for "applet", which refers to the nature of a Java program's application. You use FAR fewer apps than you think; An AR-15 is not a god damned assault rifle, and Microsoft Excel is not an app.

Seems like something you should know already, doesn't it?

I genuinely don't understand your obsession with calling me whatever name you like, but it's not as if you have any amount of the just cause or physical power required to actually take mine from me, so go right ahead and invent what you like. What was that the dude said in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"? You can call me Susan if it makes you happy. 🤣

I suppose I could call you Stewie, but it just seems a hassle. I use "Zuckies" a lot in regard to Facebook because I don't feel like looking up how to spell his name every time I type it. I can never remember.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

pinkytoe69

Well-known member
Jan 14, 2012
1,689
181
minnesota
No. Square is a computer program and a financial service; not an app.

An "app" is a miniaturized Java computer program operating within another; to put it as simply as humanly possible. It's a slang term for "applet", which refers to the nature of a Java program's application.

In modern lingo, isn't app short for application?
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
In modern lingo, isn't app short for application?

"App" is a slang term for "applet", which is a modification of "application", used to differentiate what people would consider traditional computer program (software) applications (applying a computer program) from emerging concepts such as world wide web Java applets.

This is rather like the common misconception that "rust belt" refers to areas in which cars are likely to rust at a higher rate than average. That is entirely incorrect. It refers to industrial decline. The same goes for "magazine" and "clip", Land Rover and Toyota, and so on...

It's not just lingo. Like the previous examples, the words are needed to make clear distinctions, but now they're all used without attentiveness to their origin.

Cheers,

Kennith