A-00 Start Here: An overview of the system and applications

Your home watch business has many moving parts -- usually these can be broken into 3 pieces: the Field (what you do out at a property), the Back Office (operational tasks you do in your office), and Accounting tasks.

We follow these same parts when developing a proper solution to automate you home watch business: the Field (Reporting and Route), the Back Office (Home Watch IT's Business Management System) and Accounting (Quickbooks or Xero).

Note that separate software is used for each task! That's by design. Basically, we use what in the software industry is called a "Best of Breed Approach" (we wrote an earlier blog about that), which means that you always use the best tool (in this case software) for the task at hand. For example, although you can open a can with a screwdriver, it is much easier and simpler to use a can opener, and you'll get better results.

The same is true with software: we use a specialized reporting system for reporting, a dedicated accounting system for accounting and financial tasks, and our business management system for home watch specific back office tasks and to tie everything together. The best "tool" for each task.

Using Microsoft Office as an example.

Microsoft Office uses the same idea of having the best tool for the task you need to perform. You wouldn't try to do a spreadsheet in Microsoft Word, nor would you do a document in Excel. You use the best tool for the job, but yet everything is tied together in one "application" that talks to each other. This is also how large companies manage their systems -- they might have inventory management, human resources, accounting, treasury management, workforce scheduling, truck/fleet management, finance, and even a web-based storefront all talking to each other. Naturally, you can't source the best of each of those applications from a single place so they tie together systems to have a fully functional, best-quality solution to run their business.

Trying to do all of these tasks in a single program would cause any or all of the following complications: (1) the software would be difficult to use as too much is built in, (2) the software isn't as flexible as something written for a specific task, (3) the software's features are limited as you just don't have as much flexibility and capability when trying to fit everything into a single program or application.

It may sound more complex by having multiple apps, but the reality is it is simpler and more flexible. Look at it this way: why would you want to duplicate an accounting system as capable as QuickBooks in a home watch app? It makes no sense to try to duplicate something that flexible and powerful when you can purchase it off the shelf already.

When we set up your system, we'll usually start with iAuditor/Reporting first -- it's simple and you can start using it right away.

We'll get QuickBooks or Xero running as that's a prerequisite to setting up your Business Management System, and finally we'll tie everything together. It can be a big job, but if you look at the overall system it's not that difficult -- just remember that we have 3 components that work together to do everything you need to do in your home watch business.

We know that the combination of software is the most power and most flexible solution available. Everything is documented with help videos and guides. We'll give you setup checklists and we're there to coach you every step of the way!