Famous Accountants and Bookkeepers : Bob Cratchit

This blog is the first of an occasional series of blog posts in which we celebrate famous bookkeepers and accountants of history and film.

Given the season, the first famous bookkeeper we’d like to celebrate seems like an obvious choice: Bob Cratchit.

Ebenezer Scrooge paid him a measly sum of “but 15 bob” a week (that is, 15 shillings a week), which, according to Wikipedia, would have been the equivalent of $109 USD in 2005. With that wage, Mr. Cratchit supported a bazillion kids, all of whom seem to rise above their squalor and were as nice as any family you might see on a made-for-TV movie. At least, that’s the way it seemed in the beloved 1951 version of the story, starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge. (In our minds, there simply isn’t any other version that compares).

Now, of course we’re happy that Mr. Cratchit was so positive in spite of his challenging work conditions. (Honestly, he was almost annoyingly positive – I’m a positive person but even I have my limits). And, of course we’re happy the Ebenezer had his infamous change of heart and brought food to the cheery-but-impoverished family for a heartwarming end of the film.

Although we’re happy for the Cratchit family and for Scrooge, the entire incident could have been avoided: It’s for bookkeepers like Cratchit and business owners like Scrooge that we made IAC-EZ.

Bob Cratchit and his contemporary peers would find IAC-EZ to be simple and fast to use, and he’d be done his work so quickly, he wouldn’t have to beg Scrooge for Christmas Day off.

And, with the sincerest of apologies to the Cratchit family (especially Tiny Tim), at only $19.95/month, Scrooge might even consider saving $416.05 of the $436 that he would pay Bob Cratchit every month and just do the work himself.

Happy Holidays,

Becca

You Think THEY Like Calculators?

I’m not sure if you caught the John Malkovich “Calculator” skit on Saturday Night Live a couple Saturdays ago? I thought it was pretty funny – these guys love calculators about as much as we do here at IAC-EZ!

(Sorry to my international friends, this video only works in the US. I’d describe it to you but heck, I’m an accountant, not a professional story-teller, so you’ll just have to take my word that it’s funny… at least for us number people)

The good news is, when you use IAC-EZ, you’ll free up your calculator to do pretty much anything else. If you like calculating, try the “amazing” calculations they do in the skit. If you don’t like calculating, but don’t want to throw out your calculator, you can always use it to prop up a table with uneven legs!

-Heather Villa

We are Smashing Bugs with a Hammer

Ever used a hammer to kill a mosquito? I have. (Clarification, I don’t normally chase insects with a hammer, but I happened to have a hammer and there happened to be a mosquito there). It’s a serious solution for the problem.

And we’re doing something similar at IAC-EZ.

Rather than wait for years to create a perfect bookkeeping program and then release it, we’ve found that it’s easier and far better for you if we release a near-to-perfect program and have our customers field test it.

That’s because if we did it ourselves, we’d see a list of things that need to be fixed and we’d never fix it in time for the release; it’s the reality of software development. (By the way, Microsoft and other big players do that, too).

Instead, by having our users use IAC-EZ, they encounter the issues and, as they encounter them, they become priorities for us. The more people who encounter them, the more they become a priority. It’s a simple law of traffic: If I was a mayor and I governed a city which had two roads that crossed the river – but I could only afford to build one bridge now – I wouldn’t wait until I could afford two bridges before building. Instead, I would watch the traffic patterns and I’d build a bridge over the busiest road first. It works the same way with software… and it works the same way with IAC-EZ.

Every day, we’re releasing daily bug fixes or new features and every day we’re making IAC-EZ a better and better program.

In fact, if you check out our forums, you’ll see a list of bugs that are being addressed. So, if you encounter anything, check out that forum and see if we’re on it already. If not, report it!

Also, we are constantly adding articles to our knowledge base.

We’re serious about fixing bugs with big hammers because we’re serious about making bookkeeping “EZ”.

Have Fun,

Becca, The Face of the Front Desk

IAC-EZ: Rock & Roll Superstars

If you’re shopping around for an easy, automated online bookkeeping service, you’re probably comparing us with some of our competitors. Let me make it easy for you:

Everyone else is a little bit country – we are a little bit rock and roll!

While our competitors are busy line-dancing like clones in cowboy hats, we’ve broken out the leather pants and flashy guitars and are riffing it out in our own unique way.

When I say that we’re going to make bookkeeping “EZ”, I’m not just talking about reducing your workload. I’m talking a total transformation of how bookkeeping is done. Here’s an example: Wouldn’t it be awesome if you were on one of the social networking sites and sent a message to IAC-EZ and that message contained an expense that was automatically added to your accounts? Think of the possibilities just from that idea: bookkeeping becomes a simple, integrated pleasure rather than a separate set-time-aside pain. And that’s just one idea – there’s so much more that I want to keep secret!

I can tell you: the “other guys” aren’t doing this stuff.

My dad has a better term: he calls my competitors “good ol’ ballroom dancing”… great for some and the old fogies love it; but he says we are more like dirty dancing – attracting the young, wild and web 2.0 crowd.

Let us know what coolness you want to see,

Becca, The Face at the Front Desk