FAQ

Is NetBooks for Us?                                           

• Is NetBooks a good fit for our business?
  If your business holds inventory and has 2 or more people, NetBooks was designed for you.
  
• Will NetBooks help us manage production?
  Absolutely. In fact, NetBooks will help you adopt “best practice” methods with any of the production types used most often by small businesses (fixed recipe, time of production and batch process).
  
• We hold inventory but don’t manufacture anything in-house.
  Does NetBooks support this?
  Yes. There will simply be some features of NetBooks that you won’t use.
  
• We run a service business. Is NetBooks a good fit for us?
  Could be. Even though NetBooks is optimized for product companies, it works well for a wide range of service businesses. If your business doesn’t require progress billing or integrated time tracking, you may find that NetBooks is a good fit for you. Look at our self-running demos, or sign up for a live online demo, to find out more.
  
• We do a lot of business outside North America.
  Is NetBooks a good fit for us?
  Not right now. NetBooks does not handle currency other than US dollars.
  
• My business is outside the US. Will NetBooks work for me?
  No, sorry. NetBooks is currently designed for the US market and only supports the US dollar.
  
• I am a sole proprietor. Is NetBooks a good fit for me?
  It depends on how complex your business is. NetBooks was designed as a multi-user system, and it provides the most benefit for operations with more than one person. However, if you work with contractors or brokers, have a need for “anytime, anywhere” access, or plan to grow and want to start out with the right system, NetBooks is a great choice.
  

NetBooks Functionality

• We use QuickBooks^®. How is NetBooks different?
  QuickBooks is for bookkeeping, which is just a small part of running a business. NetBooks puts you in control of your sales, customers, vendors, production, inventory, shipping, and yes, bookkeeping.
  
• Does NetBooks work with QuickBooks?
  No. The bookkeeping part of NetBooks replaces QuickBooks. This is because desktop bookkeeping software was developed almost 20 years ago, and had to live within the limitations of the time: only a few computers, limited networking, and no Internet.
  
  We developed NetBooks with 3 goals:
  
  
  
  • Address the complete business management problem. This requires multi-user access, and the ability to easily and quickly integrate with other service providers.
  • Provide the best systems and support available. This means providing 1-click customer support; comprehensive data security; high performance, high reliability systems; and continuous data backup.
  • Make it affordable for even the smallest companies. This means completely relieving our customers of the IT support burden for NetBooks. A single IT person can cost more than $50,000 per year — more than you’d pay to use NetBooks for 20 years.

  Meeting these goals required a completely new system, using the latest advances in software, communications and computing — and taking full advantage of the power of the Internet.

• We use QuickBooks, but we also use a lot of other software. 
  How can NetBooks help?
  NetBooks is a single, integrated system that replaces many disconnected “islands” of information you currently use to run your business. If you’re using spreadsheets to track inventory and production, a product like Outlook or ACT! to manage your customers, and QuickBooks for billing and reporting, you’ll find that NetBooks replaces them all while providing a much better way to get your people working together.
  
• We have outside sales people and brokers. Can they use NetBooks?
  Yes, and they'll love it. Because NetBooks is delivered over the Internet, you can grant “anytime, anywhere” access to people outside your company. You can also restrict access to only the parts of the product they need to use. Because you can add users for less than $1 a day, it makes sense to do so.
  
• With all these people using NetBooks in my business, how can I control who sees what?
  NetBooks lets you decide who can access NetBooks, and which features they can use. We help you set this up when you switch to NetBooks, and only a user with administrative privileges can change it.
  
• I sell online. How does NetBooks integrate with my webstore?
  Today, NetBooks allows you to automatically import transactions from a webstore on a periodic basis. Doing this requires that your shopping cart software export an XML file with order data. NetBooks can provide the specification for the XML file format. However, because there are literally thousands of different shopping cart applications in common use, we can’t provide instructions for creating an automatic export from your particular shopping cart.
  
  Soon, NetBooks will provide an enhanced webstore implementation that supports a richer integration with selected shopping cart systems. Transitioning from your current shopping cart application to the NetBooks-supported webstore could range from very easy to difficult, depending on which cart you’re currently using. In general, it will be well worth the effort if online sales are an important part of your business.
  
• I have a retail store. How does NetBooks support that?
  Today, you can enter summary transactions from your POS system into NetBooks. NetBooks will address POS integration in the very near future.
  

Pricing and Availability

• What does NetBooks cost?
  NetBooks is just $200 per month for up to 5 users.

  Additional users are just $20 per month, or less than $1 per day. This makes it affordable to give everyone inside your company access. It’s also affordable to let people outside your company, like brokers, use NetBooks. To make this secure, you can limit what they can see and do in NetBooks.

  Your bookkeeper and accountant are free. If you work with part-time accounting resources, like a bookkeeper and CPA, have them contact NetBooks and register as independent accounting professionals. You won’t pay for them to use NetBooks.

  You can pay monthly via automatic debit or credit card. There is no long-term commitment, and you may cancel at any time.

  If you have business data you'd like to import, we'll help you do this for a flat fee of $500.

  Whether or not you have data to import, we'll assign you a concierge to help configure NetBooks for your business, and ensure you get started off right.

• What do training, support and updates cost?
  Nothing. All training, support, and product updates are included at no additional cost.
  
• Is NetBooks available for outright purchase?
  No, NetBooks is provided as an ongoing service which includes:
  • Ready access to a dedicated support team that not only knows NetBooks inside and out, but also understands the realities you face in your business.
  • Continuous development of the NetBooks software, with new capabilities added frequently in response to customer needs.
  • A world class computing environment for running NetBooks and storing your business data. This includes high performance, high reliability servers; bank grade security; and continuous data backup.

  This approach gives you big company IT resources without any IT support costs. A single IT person can cost over 20 times as much as NetBooks.

• How do I know the price won’t go up?
  You will never pay more for NetBooks than the price at which you sign up. If the subscription price for NetBooks goes up, your price won’t change. If the subscription price for NetBooks goes down, you’ll automatically get the lower price.
  

Switching to NetBooks

• What is required to switch to NetBooks?
  Depending on the state of your data, transitioning to NetBooks could take a few days to a few weeks. We assign every new customer a concierge to make sure it all goes smoothly.

  Because we import your key business data, there is no reason to wait until the end of a reporting period, month or week to make the switch.
  
  Look here for more information.

• How long does it take to switch to NetBooks?
  A typical customer will start using NetBooks a few days to a few weeks after signing on. This provides time to identify all of your key business data and get your people trained in NetBooks so that they’re productive from day one.

  It also ensures that we can provide stellar service to every new customer. We won’t add a new customer until we can ensure that they have a great experience during the transition process and every day thereafter.

• Can I import my QuickBooks or Peachtree data?
  Yes. When setting up your NetBooks account, we will migrate all or most of your key business data from other applications into NetBooks. In cases where another applications data doesn't map directly to NetBooks, we can provide tools and recommendations to help you make the switch effectively.
  
• How does my company get NetBooks?
  Click here to be connected to a Business Support Specialist.

  Call us at 86-NETBOOKS (866-382-6657)

  Send us an email.

• NetBooks looks like it might be a good fit for my clients. Who should I contact?
  Great, we'd love to talk to you. Please start by sending us an email.
  
• Do I need to wait for a month or quarter or year-end to switch?
  No. Because we import your key business data, there is no reason to wait until the end of a quarter, month or even week to make the switch. We have designed a process that will have your whole company productive in NetBooks on the first day you start using it.
  
• Do you offer a free trial of NetBooks so I can evaluate it?
  Yes. Please contact a NetBooks rep at 86-NETBOOKS x2 to set up your free trial account.
  

Service & Support

• How is NetBooks supported?
  NetBooks support is just a click a way. In fact, it’s built right into every NetBooks screen. When you click on the support link, you are immediately connected to a business support specialist who knows who you are, the company you’re with, and where you are in the product. With your permission, our support rep can see exactly what you're seeing in NetBooks. This means most questions are resolved during the first interaction. If we can’t solve it right away, we’ll call you, saving you phone charges and hold times.
  
• What are your support hours?
  NetBooks support hours are 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, Pacific time. To see how this looks in your time zone, click here.
  
• Can I get support on the weekend?
  Support inquiries sent outside of support hours, including over the weekend, are handled in the order received on the next business day.
  
• How often do you update NetBooks?
  One of the advantages of NetBooks is that you always have the most current version. You don't need to do anything to upgrade; it just happens.
  

  We add features on a regular schedule, with minor releases as often as once a month, major releases every quarter, and bug fixes, when necessary, as fast as a few hours.

  As a customer, you have an active voice in helping us prioritize new features. If there's a feature you think should be part of NetBooks, just let us know.

• Can we get our data out of NetBooks?
  Absolutely. At any time, you can download your data in the industry-standard CSV (‘comma-separated values’) format.
  
• What happens if you go out of business?
  First of all, that’s extremely unlikely. We have planned for the long-term since our inception because we take our responsibility to our customers very seriously. The company is very well funded, and backed by top venture capital firms and successful individuals who are committed to building a successful company with a single-minded focus on serving the needs of the small business community.
  However, in the unlikely event that we were to close our doors, we have made arrangements for our servers to continue to operate indefinitely, and your data would be available for you to download.
  

Requirements

• How fast an Internet connection will we need to use NetBooks?
  NetBooks is designed to run very quickly and support multiple users over any broadband Internet connection such as DSL or cable.
  
• Will NetBooks work on standard modem dial-up?
  Yes, but you won’t like it. It will be slow on dialup, so think of this as a backup only. A mobile broadband card, available from any major cell phone service provider, is a better option.
  
• Will NetBooks work on a satellite internet connection?
  No, NetBooks does not work well with satellite internet connections.
  
• Which browsers does NetBooks work with?
  NetBooks supports Firefox and Internet Explorer on the PC, and Firefox on the Mac. We find that NetBooks performs best in Firefox, so we recommend this browser. It is free and available at http://www.getfirefox.com.
  

• Can we use NetBooks on a Mac?
  Yes, you can use NetBooks on a Mac with the Firefox browser. Firefox is free and available at http://www.getfirefox.com
  
  
• Can we use NetBooks offline?
  No, an Internet connection is required to use NetBooks.
  

Hosting

• How do I know our data is secure?
  Security has been built into NetBooks since the very beginning. Our founder (the man behind the original QuickBooks) was CEO of nCircle, one of the leading network security companies whose customers included Visa, Morgan Stanley, and numerous government agencies. Several other key people from nCircle are part of NetBooks, and work continuously to ensure that NetBooks remains secure and your data remains safe.
  

  In addition, our servers are located at Equinix, in a bank-grade facility that provides full redundancy and automatic failover of all major systems, including power and network. Equinix is the largest global network-neutral data center and Internet exchange services company in the world. Their customers include GE, Google, IBM, PayPal, Sony and Yahoo!.

  As a result, your data is far safer in NetBooks than it would be if it were on your personal computer. Or your bookkeeper’s.

• Is there a limit to how much information I can store in NetBooks?
  No. There is no practical limit to the number of companies, people, and items that you can add to NetBooks. There is no separate data storage or hosting charge.
  
• How do I control access to sensitive parts of NetBooks, like check writing or customer data?
  NetBooks gives you a high degree of control over who can access the system, and which features they can use. We help you set this up when you switch to NetBooks, and only a user with administrative privileges can change it.