5 Questions to Ask Before Selecting a QuickBooks Hosting Provider

QuickBooks is so adored by small and mid-sized business accountants and CPAs across the globe for its advanced functionalities. It always hits a thumping victory in the popularity contest among its rivals.

A part of QuickBooks users still sticks with the QuickBooks Desktop version for its robust feature sets. But QuickBooks can work super cool when you integrate it with cloud storage. By doing so, you can inherit your robust features of the QuickBooks Desktop version and the remote and multiple user access of QuickBooks online as well.

Choosing a QuickBooks Hosting Provider

You might be using any version of the QuickBooks desktop. You may need to enable accessibility from different places and by different users. But you may not be ready to shift from the traditional QuickBooks desktop version, as you are comfortable with its user interface and feature sets.

This is where QuickBooks hosting comes into play.

There are hundreds of cloud hosting providers available on the web stores. Once you make up your mind to migrate your QuickBooks Desktop to cloud hosting, hundreds of host providers hurl upon you over the web. So, don’t get carried away with the enticing advertisements. Take a moment, research well, and choose wisely.

5 Questions to Ask Before Selecting a QuickBooks Hosting Provider

Here are some questions that you should ask the hosting provider before you sign up with them.

1. Is your hosting service authorized by Intuit?

This should be your first criterion to consider while you are looking out for the best QuickBooks hosting providers. If you are working with QuickBooks, it is almost mandatory to find a host that works in 100% compliance with QuickBooks. This is the smooth way for seamless integration.

QuickBooks is the product of Intuit. Intuit runs a hosting program for QuickBooks with which it screens the hosts and picks the best hosting providers as per their standards and services. So, if a hosting passes the Intuit screening, it will not have issues with compliance.

So, try to choose from the service providers hosting QuickBooks with the authorization badge from Intuit for better integration.

2. How much experience do you have in QuickBooks hosting?

This is one of the important questions to put forth while choosing among the best QuickBooks hosting providers. As cited earlier, there are piles of QuickBooks hosting providers waiting in the line to get you signed up. But only a few dozen are truly devoted and satisfying the actual needs.

Consider before you link with companies that are nascent to hosting services. Not to discourage them, they might grow up massive in the long run, but an experienced hosting provider can better fulfil all your expectations in hosting.

Also, pause before you merge with companies that are new to hosting QuickBooks.  They might be giants in hosting services, but they will not be aware of the complications with QuickBooks. It may take time to resolve issues from their side.

Ask the QuickBooks hosting providers about their experience. Research on their reputation in the market via different platforms that cater to readers with their reviews. Cast your sight on QuickBooks hosting reviews by customers.

You shall extend your research further with reviews on reliable business sites. If you can find happy customers crowding in the feedback, there must be valid reasons why these people trust and use the QuickBooks hosting provider.  

3. How do you help us solve issues?

QuickBooks hosting may work seamless with the tutorials after installation. Most popular QuickBooks hosts have detailed video tutorials and how-to’s on their social media. But usually, you may get stuck at some point in time with some technical issues in later days. And these things are inevitable with any brand you go for.

So, you will have to get your issues cleared in the shortest span possible. This will be possible only with an efficient and timely customer support system.  Late response from the support system may jam your work for some time. That is why we will have to check on the availability and response of the customer support.

See to the working hours of their customer support. Most popular QuickBooks hosting providers have customer support round the clock, throughout the calendar to cater to the issues of their clients. Likewise, check whether your host is available on the platform you are convenient with. Top host services are available 24/7 on all platforms such as call, chat and mail.

And make sure that they do not charge more for customer support on different platforms. Some plans give you free support via chat, but not over the call. You may need to upgrade your plan for customer support on other platforms.

4. What steps do you take for data protection and backup?

Data protection and security are the keys to why we tend to opt for cloud hosting services. You may, hopefully not, face any software or system crashes. So, migrating your licensed software to a cloud hosting provider is the best way to retain your resources. Have a run through their privacy policies to entrust them with confidentiality and integrity.

It is also essential that you learn about their frequency of backup and recovery options available in case of any accidental loss. Also, have answers for the period up to which the data can be retrieved and learn if it is manual or automatic. Ask them the measures they take to retrieve your data in case of cyber threats and natural calamities.

The QuickBooks hosting providers amass your data in data centers. The data centers are classified into four categories based on their uptime and data redundancy. If you need your data under super security and safe even in calamities, you will have to place your records under tier 3 or tier 4 data centers.

5. What is the uptime ensured by the provider?

The availability of the server is the key to the performance of the hosting. This greatly falls upon the reliability and consistent performance of the hosting. This availability of the server is determined upon the uptime the hosting provider promises. Most of the successful and credible QuickBooks hosting providers pledge for uptime ranging from 90% to 99.999%. 

Make sure that the server’s active hours match your company’s. Ask them if they would inform you about their planned and unplanned downtime.

The prices of these hosting providers greatly rely upon this uptime.

Conclusion

Walkthrough the feature sets and do a QuickBooks hosting price comparison with respect to the features it comprises. Also, ensure that the host you are choosing works for your version of QuickBooks Desktop. Research and choose your best fit.

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