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Review of the 17 Hats app
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 Dagwood Bumstead lawnmower
July 26, 2015
I was born in 1963. I remember rotary telephones, rabbit ear antennae on televisions, carburetors, Dagwood Bumstead-style lawnmowers with disconnected, non-retracting, manual pull ropes (as well as manual lawnmowers with no motors at all, sickles, and scythes), and sundry other antiquated tools. After finishing my college degree in Business & Economics with an Accounting emphasis in 1993 (I married & spent some time in the military before college . . . ) I became interested in accounting software, spreadsheets, and databases. I remember when there was no QuickBooks, the DOS operating system, Quicken for DOS, floppy disks that really flopped, Dbase, Lotus 1-2-3, WordStar, no Internet, no smart phones or cell phones, expensive laser printers, and when fax machines seemed miraculous. |
5 1/4" floppy disk
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In 1989, I remember reading an article in an Accounting magazine entitled, "The Ten Commandments of Accounting Software Installation." The first commandment was, "Never computerize the accounting of a small business." I remember really bad accounting software and how, over the years, Intuit learned from their Quicken users that they wanted accounting software for small businesses and developed QuickBooks, which rose like cream to the top of the small business accounting software heap.
I remember learning in 2003 that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a thing, and becoming a CRM nut in 2008 when the real estate bubble burst, business' phones stopped ringing, and paying really good attention to customers became really important.
Occasionally clients would remark that it seemed redundant to have customer information in both their accounting software and their CRM software, and they would wish out loud that it were somehow integrated. From then on, I became aware of a thing called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and kept my eyes peeled for good ERP tools. Most of the time, having everything totally integrated seemed like an impossible dream, and the best integration we could hope for was the operating system itself or, in the case of cloud-hosted applications, Internet browser tabs.
Because of this interest, though, I've become aware of a new app that was rolled out on September 30, 2014 and is currently being developed and expanded: 17 Hats. I just took a quick look at it, and here are a few initial observations:
The guys at 17 Hats have done an amazing job of creating an impressive app. As a developer myself, I have to tip my "hat" to their accomplishments and wish them well.
However, as an impartial, objective researcher who bears a fiduciary duty to put my clients' interests first, I can not recommend it in its current form. Perhaps if they built future versions out to exceed QuickBooks' reporting functionality, to support growth, and to provide state of the art project management features like Gantt reporting, teamwork & delegation, and robust CRM functionality like we find in the best CRM apps, I could recommend it. But for now all I can say is, you get what you pay for, and a decision for 17 Hats is a decision to stay small.
In my considered, professional opinion, you'd be better off keeping your sales funnel in a good CRM of your choice, doing your accounting in QuickBooks or Xero, and doing your Project Management in a good PM app like SmartSheet, Project Manager, or HWD.
Bottom Line: you get what you pay for. Focus on quality.
If you're really interested in something affordable that comes close to an ERP for small businesses, have a look at Bitrix24, or Asana, but bear in mind they don't attempt accounting, and I'm under-whelmed by their Project Management & CRM functionality. Meanwhile, we can be grateful for the partial integration we enjoy via multi-tabbed Internet browsers and single operating systems.
Respectfully submitted,
Kris Freeberg, Economist
Making End$ Meet
I remember learning in 2003 that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a thing, and becoming a CRM nut in 2008 when the real estate bubble burst, business' phones stopped ringing, and paying really good attention to customers became really important.
Occasionally clients would remark that it seemed redundant to have customer information in both their accounting software and their CRM software, and they would wish out loud that it were somehow integrated. From then on, I became aware of a thing called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and kept my eyes peeled for good ERP tools. Most of the time, having everything totally integrated seemed like an impossible dream, and the best integration we could hope for was the operating system itself or, in the case of cloud-hosted applications, Internet browser tabs.
Because of this interest, though, I've become aware of a new app that was rolled out on September 30, 2014 and is currently being developed and expanded: 17 Hats. I just took a quick look at it, and here are a few initial observations:
- Features. It does sixteen things (I suppose the 17th hat is the one on your head): Dashboard, Contacts, Projects, Questionnaires, Quotes, Contracts, Invoices, Payment Processing, Bookkeeping, Calendar, To Do's, Time Tracking, Work Flow, Templates, Email Sync, and Lead Capture.
- Potential. It's not really an ERP; it's designed, for the moment, for "solopreneurs." However since it's cloud-hosted, it has the potential to grow into a multi-user ERP. The developers seem to be on a roll and excited about future potential.
- Accounting. I was really interested in its bookkeeping functionality; as such, it's competing with QuickBooks and any other accounting application out there designed for small and growing businesses. I was disappointed by its sparse selection of reports, and I remain convinced that accounting is all about good reports. If you can't get good reports, why bother to input all those transactions, even if the process is eased by downloading? I remain both convinced and convicted that anyone who aspires to provide bookkeeping functionality to the small business community must do a better job than Intuit has been doing. So far in my research, only Xero comes close.
- Banking Integration. I tried to sync with my bank (Key Bank). It choked.
- Project Management. As a Project Management nut, I was also keenly interested in its PM functionality and was disappointed to find that it doesn't do Gantt charts or assign tasks. (Since it's for solopreneurs, I suppose it stands to reason its projects are all for one person, but I was still disappointed.)
- Scale Potential = Zero. Amazingly, although it's a cloud-hosted app, it doesn't appear to be designed to scale - that is, to help a business grow beyond "solopreneurship." I really have trouble wrapping my brain around that decision, but there it is.
The guys at 17 Hats have done an amazing job of creating an impressive app. As a developer myself, I have to tip my "hat" to their accomplishments and wish them well.
However, as an impartial, objective researcher who bears a fiduciary duty to put my clients' interests first, I can not recommend it in its current form. Perhaps if they built future versions out to exceed QuickBooks' reporting functionality, to support growth, and to provide state of the art project management features like Gantt reporting, teamwork & delegation, and robust CRM functionality like we find in the best CRM apps, I could recommend it. But for now all I can say is, you get what you pay for, and a decision for 17 Hats is a decision to stay small.
In my considered, professional opinion, you'd be better off keeping your sales funnel in a good CRM of your choice, doing your accounting in QuickBooks or Xero, and doing your Project Management in a good PM app like SmartSheet, Project Manager, or HWD.
Bottom Line: you get what you pay for. Focus on quality.
If you're really interested in something affordable that comes close to an ERP for small businesses, have a look at Bitrix24, or Asana, but bear in mind they don't attempt accounting, and I'm under-whelmed by their Project Management & CRM functionality. Meanwhile, we can be grateful for the partial integration we enjoy via multi-tabbed Internet browsers and single operating systems.
Respectfully submitted,
Kris Freeberg, Economist
Making End$ Meet
