This business moves very quickly, and if you don’t move fast, you get left behind. American Express OPEN and QuickBooks Online save me 30-40 hours a month, so I can focus on turning a profit.”
Mike Morley, Book Solutions
The Problem
With three children at home under the age of five, and a full-time job, Mike Morley wanted to start a home-based business buying and selling college textbooks. He had great sales skills, but he didn’t have the capital, and he didn’t have an accounting background. Careful management of the budget would be key, which meant he’d need to constantly update his financials. He was using money that he and his wife had saved, but it wasn’t enough. And he didn’t want to take out a loan because he wanted to start out small. He kept his day job to keep the money flowing in while he figured out how to grow his business.
The Solution: American Express OPEN and the Connect to QuickBooks* App
“I tried using Excel for my accounting in the beginning, but it was brutal. I quickly switched to QuickBooks Online.”
When Mike started Book Solutions, he began tracking his company transactions manually on an Excel spreadsheet and using his personal credit cards to cover his business expenses. Mike’s personal credit cards wouldn’t give him the spending capacity that he needed to meet the book orders he was getting.
He quickly realized that with hundreds of monthly book transactions, he not only needed a more robust accounting environment, he also needed smarter credit. That’s when he discovered QuickBooks Online and Business Cards from American Express OPEN. He applied for a card.
“We never took a loan out to fund Book Solutions. We did everything with our own money and paid the card off every month. I had good credit and demonstrated that my business was growing. As I made the payments, American Express OPEN increased my charge capacity, which gave me room to grow my business.”
With American Express OPEN he can also tell when he’s received a refund or if there are any fraudulent charges, right away.
“American Express OPEN is the best choice for small business.”
Then Mike learned about the Connect to QuickBooks app that, once enrolled, automatically sends Mike’s business card transactions to his QuickBooks account every day. He can now review all of his American Express Business Card transactions on the QuickBooks Banking page. Details like flight dates and vendor identification are fully visible, and his Business Card transactions are automatically tagged with his QuickBooks categories. Connect to QuickBooks saves Mike between 30-40 hours per month on data entry and paper shuffling because the transaction data from his American Express Business Card feeds directly into QuickBooks Online. All the data is in one place so that Mike can view profit and loss statements regularly using the QuickBooks Online mobile app. Now he can manage his business from anywhere – on the road or by the pool.
“I have the QuickBooks Online app on all of my devices. Life gets in the way and sometimes you need to see all of your financials no matter where you are.”
With the help of American Express OPEN, Connect to QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online, Mike and his wife have both quit their day jobs to run this business full time. This past year they have achieved nearly a million in sales.
“QuickBooks Online is economical. I’m saving $400 – $500 a month in administrative costs and the program is always improving. That’s why I love the online version. The profit and loss balance sheet is where I live.”
* Connect to QuickBooks works with QuickBooks Online and is available for use with Business Cards from American Express OPEN. Any QuickBooks Online screen shots © Intuit Inc. All rights reserved. Intuit, the Intuit logo, QuickBooks, and the QB logo are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc.
