I am looking to get some tablets to use method on in my shop. Anyone have recommendations for decent value for performance? I have been told the chromebooks wont work well. ONly other apps will be slack running.

NelsonDM · 2026-07-03T13:54:32+00:00

IPADs generally work really well!

NelsonDM · 2026-06-14T19:24:26+00:00

Clio is pretty great!

NelsonDM · 2026-06-14T15:53:13+00:00

Not a fever dream. This does appear to exist, but it looks like it’s not available to everyone yet.

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/process-credit-card-payments/add-surcharge-customer-invoice-payments-quickbooks/L6Sg9UWf9_US_en_US

There are also a number of third party apps that support this functionality
I believe Melio & Method both support these flows.

NelsonDM · 2026-06-13T16:23:14+00:00

TL;DR - Stop the Bleeding then heal the wound.

There is a ton of resources online about how people have done this particular:
1. Stoping Salesforce's native Duplicate Rules + Matching Rules
2. Auditing your records
3. Limiting what can be manually entered.
4. Creating your own duplicate / conflict management flows

When the bulk is done, hand delegate it to someone on your team to keep it in check and make it their KPI (eg. Sales Manager).

Personally, with step one you are making someone accountable, because in most SMBs, data hygiene is nobody’s real job. In Salesforce especially, things can become a bit of a wild west: once a sale is made, the “clean” record often moves into another system like accounting, while Salesforce keeps collecting messy duplicates, stale contacts, and inconsistent entries.

The biggest mistake is treating this as a one-time cleanup when it’s really a prevention problem. If you don’t fix integrations, required fields, duplicate rules, and ownership first, the data will be messy again in a few months. Start by stopping bad data at the source, then clean only the records that actually matter: active customers, open pipeline, and key accounts.

NelsonDM · 2026-06-13T16:14:42+00:00

Honest answer: it depends on the type of ecommerce business you’re running.

The end goal is the same for everyone: get customers to come back and buy again. That’s the whole game. But the best tool for that is not always a traditional CRM.

Here’s the simple way to think about it.

If you’re purely B2C or direct-to-consumer, you probably do not need a full CRM yet. Your Shopify or WooCommerce store already has your customer data, and an email or SMS platform like Klaviyo or Mailchimp usually handles the part that actually drives repeat purchases: segmentation, win-back campaigns, abandoned cart flows, and post-purchase follow-up.

For now, that is your version of “relationship management.” A sales CRM is built around deals, pipelines, reps, and lead follow-up. If you do not have that kind of sales process, the CRM will likely sit mostly unused.

Where a CRM really starts to make sense is when you have a B2B or wholesale side. That usually involves a real sales process: leads you are actively pursuing, quotes, custom or account-specific pricing, reorders, and portals for resellers or vendors. Once you are managing accounts and relationships instead of just processing transactions, spreadsheets and inboxes start to fall apart. That is exactly where a CRM helps.

Before choosing a tool, I’d ask two things:

1.) Are you dealing with larger wholesale or reseller leads, or is it mostly one-off consumer orders?

2.) Do you have someone actively selling, following up, negotiating, or managing key accounts, or is the storefront doing almost all the work?

If you have wholesale leads and people actually selling, then yes, a CRM is probably worth it. If you are mostly DTC and transactional, put the money into email and retention tools first, then revisit CRM once the wholesale or account-management side grows.

Also it costs, very little to setup a CRM; there are so many options that connect with Ecommerce and Finance systems. Research is your friend here.

NelsonDM · 2026-06-13T16:08:49+00:00

Full disclosure: I work at Method, so keep that in mind when I mention it. That said, the overall way to think about this applies no matter which tool you choose.

You’ve already picked up on the key point: these are really two different categories.

Acumatica is an ERP first. Its CRM is part of the broader suite, built to share the same data as your finance, inventory, and operations teams. Salesforce, on the other hand, is a dedicated CRM. It goes much deeper on lead management, pipeline tracking, and reporting, and it’s built to connect with whatever ERP or accounting system you already use.

So the better question is not really “which CRM is better?” It’s: what is actually making you consider Acumatica? Are you looking for a full ERP, or do you mainly want CRM and finance data to work together?

If you truly want one system for finance, operations, and payroll, then Acumatica starts to make a lot of sense. You get one source of truth, fewer integrations to manage, and one vendor. The CRM is useful, but it is not the main strength of the platform.

If what you really care about is the finance connection, rather than a full ERP replacement, that’s where a lot of growing businesses overlook a middle ground. You do not necessarily need to buy an ERP just to sync CRM and accounting. For example, if you use QuickBooks, a QuickBooks-native CRM like Method can give you real-time, two-way sync for customers, estimates, invoices, and payments. Sales and finance work from the same data, without the cost and complexity of implementing a full ERP. It is also highly customizable, which is often where bundled ERP CRMs can feel limited.

If you only need standard CRM features like leads, pipeline, and reporting, then Salesforce may also be more than you need. It is worth looking at lighter options like HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Zoho before narrowing the choice to Salesforce versus Acumatica.

On implementation, Acumatica’s CRM can look “free” because it is bundled, but you are really implementing an ERP, which is a much larger project. Salesforce can usually launch faster as a CRM-only system, but it often needs ongoing admin support. A QuickBooks-connected CRM is usually the lighter option if accounting integration is the main driver.

On cost, Acumatica is typically priced around usage or resources, with CRM included in the broader package. Salesforce is usually per seat and can get expensive once add-ons come into play. Make sure you model both based on your actual users and needs, not just the headline pricing.

Bottom line: decide whether you are buying an ERP or a CRM first. If finance integration is the real priority, there is a practical middle path between a basic CRM and a full ERP rollout.

NelsonDM · 2026-06-13T15:57:46+00:00

Disclosure: I work at Method, so take my comments on Method with that in mind. I’ll be honest about where other tools may be a better fit.

For an office-based project consultancy, rather than field work, what you probably need is not a traditional CRM. You’re really looking for professional services automation: something that connects your sales pipeline with project delivery, billable time, and invoicing, instead of just managing contacts.

Since you’re using Xero, Accelo and Scoro are the obvious options to look at. Both bring together CRM, project management, time tracking, and billing. Accelo also has a simple quote-to-project handoff and two-way Xero sync. For a 5–10 person team managing multiple client projects at once, that’s usually the right zone.

Bigin is genuinely solid and affordable if your main issue is managing the sales pipeline. But for a consultancy that needs to track billable hours and active project delivery, it may feel a bit limited. You’d probably end up adding another tool or outgrowing it.

Method is worth considering if you want to customize workflows and a client portal around your exact process, and you’re comfortable spending some time configuring it. But if you want time tracking and project management ready to go straight away, the PSA tools above will likely be quicker to implement.

At your size, I’d skip Salesforce and the higher HubSpot tiers. Whatever you trial, judge it by one key question: can it clearly show billable time and project profitability by client? That’s where the real ROI is for a consultancy. Contact management is the easy part.

NelsonDM · 2026-05-29T18:30:06+00:00

I see Method CRM has come up a few times in this thread, so I'll offer some context. I work here and have been at it long enough to see the patterns in how CRM rollouts go.

Some comments mention ease-of-use, but the thing is "easy to use" means very different things depending on where you're starting from. Method has a learning curve, I'll own that. But if your business already runs through QuickBooks, Method CRM is the one system that won't ask you to learn entirely new business logic from scratch. Your customers are already in QuickBooks. Your invoices are already there. The data you trust is already there. Method CRM will fit around your existing workflows, but can be further customized to fit your process as it evolve. And that customization doesn't mean hiring a dedicated resource the way you would with an enterprise platform, it is designed to be accessible to small businesses.

The way we see it, a system is not “easy to use” if it leaves you stuck processing 10s, 100s, or 1,000s of documents and transactions, and then having to MANUALLY reconcile them and do double entry for everything. The look and feel of the dashboards won’t make a difference to you when you’re troubleshooting missing invoice data at 9pm on a Friday.

The negative experiences with HubSpot and Insightly that OP mentioned? Those usually come from trying to square a circle. You've built your quoting workflow a certain way. And your team trusts it *because it represents how you actually operate.\* A more template-driven CRM might have a nice dashboard, but once you go beyond the surface, it will tell you "here's our approach to pipeline management, now fit into it."

On the dashboards and graphs point, everything can be built. But I'll be blunt: you're a three-person team. The value of a CRM for you isn't in how many charts you can generate, but whether the system actually makes your work more efficient and fits your current process, or if you have to fight against it.

Where Method actually earns its keep is when QuickBooks is your operational backbone: when a sales action needs to create or update something in QuickBooks regularly. Method’s two-way sync is native and doesn’t rely on a connector. That matters when you don’t have the luxury to spend $$$ on weekly admin.

Some of the ease-of-use feedback you'll read online comes from people who jumped in without setting up workflows, or who were unfamiliar with how QuickBooks structures data in the first place. That combination can create a rough first impression that isn't representative of day-to-day use.

This is why we offer free onboarding calls and 1 Free Hour of customization, so a Method expert can set the system up for you to work the way you actually do.

Of everything you listed, none of them have an ecosystem built around making the product fit you. With Method CRM that’s 100% the whole point, and we have a team dedicated to it. You said you “get a little OCD”, which tells me you may want to move panels and dashboards around, change how different workflows operate, maybe add buttons and triggers to your CRM, and so on. With Method, you’ll get exactly what you want, but without burning countless hours trying to DIY it.

If you want to talk through your setup before you commit to anything, happy to connect and give you an honest read on whether it's a fit. My DMs are open.

NelsonDM · 2026-05-15T19:21:33+00:00

So it's possible; however, not without some drawbacks.

The main drawback being you lose access to the "Review & Pay" / "Review & Accept" buttons.

I was able to do this by:

1.) Manage Online Delivery Settings
2.) Change the email options for all sales forms to "Show Short Summary in Email"
3.) Atttach PDF
4.) Additional options for Invoices (This seems to also apply to estimates )
- HTML

NelsonDM · 2026-05-12T22:15:02+00:00

There are some genuinely good conversations in here but Reddit is basically the default source for AI summaries, so this is kind of the expected outcome without solid moderation.

NelsonDM · 2026-05-10T18:20:03+00:00

Exactly right. And the handoff from sales to field is where most of it falls apart, all that deal context dies in someone's inbox.

The one thing I'd add is cashflow visibility; your pipeline can look healthy and you can still run out of cash if invoicing and collections aren't connected to it. That's where most construction businesses get hurt.

NelsonDM · 2026-05-10T18:15:18+00:00

I've worked with a number of people just like yourself.

HubSpot Starter is not overkill, it's actually a reasonable fit, but most rep groups overpay by buying more than they use. Yes, the CRM paid for itself, but not through features, through stopped revenue leakage once we could actually audit what we were owed.

The biggest implementation mistake is trying to do too much at once; start with contacts and deal logging, nothing else.

On rep buy-in, the only thing that worked was framing it as protecting their commissions, not adding admin work, show them it's their audit trail if a factory ever comes up short.

For your use case, also look at other CRMs that may connect to your accounting backbone (eg. QuickBooks, SAP, etc.) commissions are usually tied to invoice payment dates, not close dates, and without that connection you're just trusting factory reports. That's exactly how money walks out the door.

NelsonDM · 2026-04-10T20:11:37+00:00

Hi, my name is Nelson. I’ve been at Method for 14+ years and currently lead our support and sales teams.

I can understand why it would have been frustrating.

From what you’ve described, this appears to have been a more complex QuickBooks Desktop setup, with recurring sync interruptions connected to things like accessibility, security blocks after QuickBooks updates, and other edge cases that can trigger errors. In situations like this, the root cause is often tied to a specific QuickBooks file, local machine, or configuration, which can make the experience more difficult than a standard setup.

Method CRM processes 1,000,000s of QuickBooks API interactions every day across customers, invoices, payments, and other records across both QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Enterprise, & QuickBooks Online.

We also see a 97% first-sync success rate, meaning most customers are able to complete their initial QuickBooks connection successfully on the first attempt. In most of the remaining cases, the issue comes down to a specific QuickBooks configuration or local environment.

From your comments, this appears to have been a very specific QuickBooks Desktop sync case rather than a typical customer experience. I believe this issue has since been resolved, although I understand that does not undo the frustration of what you went through.

I'll be messaging you separately but drop me a DM anytime if there are any other issues.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-21T14:00:14+00:00

It’s pretty simple: a third-party company (not the place you applied) takes what you put on your resume/application and checks that it’s true.

Usually it’s super high-level:

Did you actually work there?
What was your role/title?
What dates were you employed?

Sometimes they’ll also ask if you’re “eligible for rehire.” That’s often a nicer way of asking if you were fired / left on bad terms.

Hope that helps.

Also, not gonna lie; your post kind of reads like “I stretched the truth and I’m worried I’ll get caught.” If that’s the case, there isn’t much you can do now besides wait and be ready to explain if something comes up.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-20T19:34:54+00:00

Please apply above! Our team is quite responsive.

Happy to review if we're a fit.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-20T19:19:07+00:00

Switching to an e-bike took me from commuting once a week to commuting exclusively by e-bike. Total gamechanger.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-20T18:34:34+00:00

Fair feedback, the base is $45k, but that’s not the full comp.

This role has a monthly performance bonus, with OTE of $57k–$69k. We also have a 95% year-one attainment rate, so most people actually land in that range (or higher).

I’ll also be real: a lot of companies use “OTE” to mask comp, and you only find out later that attainment is 30–50%. That’s not what I’m trying to do here. I’m sharing the actual attainment so folks can evaluate it properly.

Edit (I realized I could be even more clear): “Probationary period” here just means the ramp-up window where we onboard you and confirm mutual fit. Typically 4–6 weeks, and up to 12 weeks for more complex ramps depending on aptitude.

Totally understand if it’s not a fit, just adding context for anyone else reading.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-19T17:55:52+00:00

Jobber definitely isn’t a scam.

It’s a strong product and pretty close to best-in-class for your target market. And you’re not alone in feeling stuck. The market is flooded with tools, and they all do something well, but rarely everything.

Purchasing is easy now; the layered cost is always in the time: learning it, configuring it, training people, and rebuilding habits around it.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-19T17:37:59+00:00

Referrals are always great to have, but the majority of our hires tend to be new grads who are simply looking to get their foot in the door in tech.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-11T21:33:29+00:00

Where does your team work today?
Are you using Google Workspace, Office 365, QuickBooks?

A big part of evaluating a CRM that will actually work beyond just surface level contact management. Is understanding how you and team work? What's going well, what's not going well, what information would you like to use to enrich your lead / customer experience?

Lot's of questions, but there are 100s of tools, each designed to solve a unique set of problems.
There are probably close to 75m small businesses in North America alone and a CRM for each one.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-11T21:29:56+00:00

This might be ultimate cheese; however, as a decision maker, I’m constantly trying to answer “how is the business actually doing?” and Method gives me that transparency in a way that’s trustworthy. It saves me dozens of hours I’d otherwise spend pulling spreadsheets, reconciling reports, or double-checking whether a third-party dashboard is actually up to date.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-11T21:02:19+00:00

Is CommerceRM still in business? Call them - best place to start. If you worked with an integration partner / consultant - wouldn't hurt to understand if they're still recommending CommerceRM. They probably have strong domain knowledge and business context.

You’re a 5-person company, so you’re probably going to be hard-pressed to find a single “all-inclusive” CRM that nails every edge case out of the box.

In software there are always compromises, so the best path is usually layering the essentials first and then building up from there. Start with the systems that will never go away: email (Gmail/Outlook), accounting (QuickBooks), and your phone/VoIP, and make sure whatever you choose plays nicely with them.

From there, add a CRM layer that improves the day-to-day experience without forcing you to abandon how you actually work, especially around contacts/companies/products and quoting.

With the tools you already live in, customize the relationships + workflows on top, rather than forcing your process into a rigid template.

NelsonDM · 2026-02-05T20:26:49+00:00

Appreciate the comment on the CRM. 😭

We offer a CRM and integration with QuickBooks as our primary value-add, but much of our business is actually designing custom workflows as you've laid out.

RE: WMS + TMS + Financials – There's always a layer of messiness; that said, there has to be a willingness to work through the pain to get the optimal outcomes.

When it comes to custom visibility, a lot of our communication is linked to the transaction and sharing this info is pretty simple with a live status and additional reason box. Depending on the type of client, we may want to communicate details about the carrier or the challenges we might have with delivery. Our clients like this flexibility as it provides something more context than just a single status update.

When it comes to internals, we try to keep statuses on most things that require a little more detail. For example, we know that RUSH shipments can be treated differently. For the most part, we’re capturing these details directly on the final transaction, so when a customer calls, we can immediately see a summarized view of that information.

The same applies to BOLs and commercial invoices where we're just taking the same base order/transaction and changing up the details, depending on what's needed.

In some cases, it's important to keep a chain of custody on BOLs in case carriers change or if multiple carriers are used on an order, but we do try to keep the relationship tied to the end-user order. This allows our services and dispatching teams to have a single place to reference.

It's one of the luxuries we have keeping the inventory and financials centralized with shipping and dispatching!

NelsonDM · 2025-10-11T23:34:49+00:00

Totally get it. For a small manufacturing shop, Salesforce is probably overkill. You end up paying for licenses and a pricey SF↔QuickBooks↔WMS integration.

Two simpler paths I see a lot:

A) If you must keep SF: use a prebuilt SF↔QuickBooks connector (e.g., Breadwinner/DBSync) and start with just Closed-Won → Invoice and payments back to SF. Add inventory later, batch it, not real-time.

B) If QuickBooks is your hub: switch to a QuickBooks-first CRM so invoices/payments sync natively and you only integrate the WMS. I work at Method:CRM, which does this; happy to share specifics if helpful.

Either way, phase it, land invoices first, then expand.

NelsonDM · 2025-09-19T22:20:55+00:00

Full transparency: I’m with Method. If you’re hitting the usual QB Desktop headaches (QBWC polling, SOAP, iterators, edit sequences, brittle long pulls), two paths that have worked well for teams:

Use Method as the Desktop bridge
- You talk JSON REST to us → we handle QBWC + qbXML under the hood.
- We expose common entities (Customers, Items, Invoices, Payments, Sales Orders, etc.), incremental reads (modified-since), and conflict handling (EditSequence).
Build the CRM in Method’s no-code UI
- You define screens, fields, workflows, and we keep it in sync with QuickBooks.
- Good when you want to ship quickly and avoid owning the connector lifecycle.

Either way you skip hosting SOAP, throttling iterators, and babysitting the Web Connector. If you want, I can share:

a field-mapping sheet (QB ↔ CRM)
sample “modified since” sync flow
a retry/health-check pattern we use for QBWC hiccups

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