Hi Allen,
We will be setting something up so you can see that kind of information although it probably wont be until the new year as until then all our focus is on adding multi-userabilities

Hi Sam,

We are aware that that feature (along with many others) is available in the web application but not within the iPhone application.

It is something that will be addressed in the near-term future (no time line I can commit to though) as part of a very big upgrade to the iPhone app.

I think one mans “serious flaw” is anothers “lack of a feature”.

With way over 10,000 customers now it’s not possible to keep everyone happy all of the time.

All I can do is ask you to bear with us and I’ll hope we get this changed before you give up on us.

Coupled with the inventory system found in KashFlow, which manages the stock levels according to those which were sold and entered in the sales invoices, the final figures produced are not only always current and updated, more importantly, they are meaningful to allow accurate decisions to be made in advance and with ease.

As good as it may sound, however, there lies a very serious flaw – one that had existed since the beginning of time when we started using KashFlow.

I had originally highlighted this concern to the support team for the first time during 29-3-2011 and had brought it up again some time around 26-12-2011 (9 months later). Today (close to another 6 months later), as of 11-6-2012, it would be the third time mentioning of it.

I really hope that guys like you who had created something as wonderful as KashFlow, would have a solution to this problem, which is indeed long due!!

I’m talking about the discrepancy and inconsistency that exists between the iPhone Apps interface and the Web interface with a PC. In particular, this item or field known as “Sales Type” that is capable of creating of a customized list of products under within it. When the products under this listing is sold and a sales invoice is created, the selection of whichever products that are sold, are done so by way of a drop-down list with the Web interface.

However, such a feature is not mirrored when using the iPhone App. Due to that, the sales guys are required to key in the names of the products that are sold, spelling out literally those items in the “Description” field. (This feature, however is displayed and proven to be workable when it is applied using the “Project” field : where a drop-down list is available for selection of items, on both the interfaces of the iPhone and on the Web).

On the back end, an inevitable double-job has to be carried out using the Web Interface, to select and match those products which are sold (based on the Descriptions entered with the iPhone App), using the drop-down list which is only available on the Web platform. This needs to be done because only then, that particular product being sold would be deducted accordingly from the existing stock levels in the inventory database.
The real nightmare is that such a time-consuming task of doing the “double-job” has to be done on a daily basis! And try imagine doing that for 15 months!

At this point, we are faced with the dilemma of continuing doing something which is ineffective and to a great extent, silly, or to start looking for something which would better put our time to good use. As we are in the phase of expanding, we need to add 2 more accounts, making a total of 5 which need to be managed. We have to be realistic in knowing how long more such a form of torture will continue as with the added accounts, it simply also means more double-jobs will be expected.

We wonder of we are the only ones using this feature and that no one else has ever brought this to your attention. Such a serious flaw had been around for more than a year and yet the solution does not seem to be anywhere near. Why is that?

As much as we like what KashFlow can do, the part giving us reasons to dislike it carries just as much weight now, especially when we are expecting to be handling more accounts very soon.

So guys, what do you say?

Many thanks

Karen

Blog comments isn’t the best place to leave suggestions – email them in to support@kashflow.com. I’m not aware that KashFlow states “Q4” or “Q(anything)” anywhere, so do provide as much info as you can on your email

Really interesting blog thanks – great to hear your development principles. I’ve just moved from Quick Books to KashFlow and I’m really liking the system so far.

Just one change would make a big difference for me – in Quick Books you can run Proft and Loss by different time periods as a drop down – e.g. ‘Last Financial Year’, ‘This Financial Year’, ‘Last Quarter’ etc.

I’m constantly wanting to check my P&L for the current year and I find having to set the little calender dates quite annoying. It would be a great improvement to click on Profit and Loss and be able to select different time periods at the touch of a button.

Thanks
Mary

We are a gardening company and have to give the boys jobsheets so this function would be ideal.

Rachel, re upcoming developments, it may be worth reading this post if you haven’t already: http://www.kashflow.com/blog/buy-what-we-have-today-not-what-we-might-have-tomorrow/

Paul, isn’t that exactly what this report does? http://www.kashflow.com/change-log/added-pending-delivery-to-stock-overview-report/

And more, as it shows you any you are awaiting delivery of.

We send all our customers a despatch email and that flags the order has been emailed and therefore despatched.
The only problem apart from 1 bug that never seems to be fixed, I have been asking for a development of a report that will tell me which stock is getting low, I can see this within the item, but it would be a great time to saver to print a report and then order from suppliers.

I agree with Matt would be good to see what is on the development list just to give customers the reassurance their development request is being looked at.

It would also be interesting from a customer perspective to see just how many people are asking for the same thing I have asked for a goods despatched coloumn on the sales tab as have no way of tracking what orders have been despatched through the system. Would love to know if someone else out there needs this too?

The paypal bug is ticket Ticket #20908 and this has been a long standing bug as KashFlow imports the wrong name sometimes from paypal, which can cause serious and costly issues for us. I do not have a ticket for the report I want, as no one ever takes the time to give me one or tell me. Yet I see the programmers have had time to change the log in screen and some colours etc, Who asked for those? A simple report is all I have asked for, to tell me which items are running out of stock, and need to be re-ordered, something that will save us a lot of time. I asked for this in March 2010 and several times since, but the bug in paypal has been put back for customer developments also.

Bugs ARE prioritised over new features. What’s the bug?

The point of the blog post above was to explain exactly why you might NOT see the report you want in the system, even if it is a year since you requested it and it’s the only thing you’ve ever asked for.

If you can let me have the relevant support ticket number I might be able to see if it’s something we’re doing soon

Changes are documented on our change log page at http://www.kashflow.com/changelog.asp

There were two changes today, but the last larger set of changes was at the end of January. We’re expecting the next big update to be within a week or two.

I like updated software, it’s a far cry from the old days of rigid software.

— product roadmap (listening to what your customers want and put them into a prioritized feature list)
— looking at customer support issue log to understand customer pain points
— usability aspects & importance of features from the customer perspective

To answer Pauls’ question on role of developers — we do gunslinger events where we make the developers play the role of end users…that really helps them to take up the real product ownership. Once they realize what they are building, that changes their thought process, approach to development. They start asking questions on what our end users would ask :).

I have also seen products having metrics implemented which tells the feature usage across the product. I think, this is one of the important stuff which helps the product managers to focus on their enhancements.

Or, use the KashFlow forum poll feature for more control your end.

These things also help avoid idea duplication, as none of us have any clue if our own ideas are new or already submitted/planned.

How have you found your change of role from developer to Product Owner? Probably like us it’s not a big deal for a small organisation, but it must be difficult sometimes not to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in?

As Matt says, there is mileage in exposing your roadmap to customers using something like UserVoice or Get Satisfaction. It’s a great way to let them know they’re being listened to and keeps the fresh ideas coming!

Have you thought about exposing any of the “internal” information as to what is in the queue, etc to users (e.g via UserVoice or similar)? This is a point which is still very much open for (heated) debate in our camp!