January 2004
Overview: Scalable Property Management
With the small-and medium-sized business (SMB) market going strong, many entrepreneurial, industry-specific software companies are offering scalable solutions for smaller companies. Such is the case for American Computer Software (ACS), which is delivering its powerful property management solutions to the lower end of the SMB market, offering big system features at an affordable price.
The privately held company, located in Madison, WI, has more than 30 years experience in property management software development. Its solutions now track more than a million units of property, including apartments, commercial, condominium, multifamily, subsidized/TRACS and Tax Credit housing.
The Solution: Intuit Developer Network Provides Integration for SMB Market
ACS president and CEO Tim Schaefer joined the Intuit Developer Network at launch in 2001, making its ACS MANAGEMENT Plus™ the first property management software to exchange key data with QuickBooks® accounting software. Because of its customer-driven functionality and renowned ease-of-use, QuickBooks is used by many SMB property management professionals.
ACS MANAGEMENT Plus integration with QuickBooks enables accounts receivable information to be transferred directly to the accounting package, eliminating many hours of duplicate data entry. The solution automatically launches QuickBooks and logs into specified companies when transferring accounts receivable data, matches account descriptions with the QuickBooks chart of accounts, and works with user-definable QuickBooks-style classes and accounts.
The Business Benefits: Tight Integration & Competitive Advantage
For more than ten years, ACS advisors have trained customers to use QuickBooks for their property management. With the integration with QuickBooks, the number of leads and prospects has grown exponentially.
ACS gets sales leads from the QuickBooks Solution Guide, a direct mail catalog of products from Intuit Developer Network members distributed to QuickBooks users, designed to increase sale of integrated applications. ACS also participates in the QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace (marketplace.intuit.com), a website where Intuit's nearly three million small business customers can search for vertical and task-specific solutions that integrate with QuickBooks software products.
"We really value tapping into the Intuit Developer Network channels for new customers," said Heather Gullickson, executive vice president of sales. "We have received a great number of leads that have come from the alliance." She believes joining the Intuit Developer Network has helped keep ACS's competitive edge. ACS's partnership with Intuit has allowed it to compete with an affordable product in the SMB market-a market ACS's competition has had to abandon.
The Customer Benefits: Increases Productivity As Business Grows
"The credentials of ACS's management and their history of contributions to the industry are outstanding," said Mike Childers, executive director of Farmdale Adult Citizens Towers in Louisville, Kentucky. "Through the years, American Computer Software has kept me up-to-date on their research and development activities, and added improvements and new features to my software. So, I know they're going to be there for me tomorrow." ACS now plans to offer additional integration with payroll, accounts payable and cash management.
"We provide partners with highly scalable software and tools for small- and medium-sized businesses that will continue to meet their needs as they evolve," said Gullickson.
Media & Public Relations
Matthew Zintel
Zintel Public Relations
Direct: 310-574-8888
matthew@zintelpr.com
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