App-erview with Hector Garcia of RightTool
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Hector Garcia, CPA, about RightTool, a QBO navigation app he developed with Mark Corum and Patrick Cummings.
I will be doing a series of ‘apper-views” with appreneuers* in our industry.
I have been app-vetting for a while now and have posted the demos of some of these on my Youtube. In addition to a demo, I have apps complete a very comprehensive vetting form**, so I know enough about them to decide if they are an app I will use in my business and/or if they are viable enough to recommend to others.
But I haven’t done written app-erviews that I post to my blog - until now. This will be a regular thing for me, so come back to my blog (or subscribe to my eNews) to find what makes the appreneurs in our world unique.
I am a paid RightTool subscriber, but I have only been lite-using it.
Since it came out, I have been overwhelmed with more pressing needs than deep diving into RightTool.
The little I am using RT for has improved my QBO experience immensely!
I have coined it the “QBO un-ugh-er”'.
So many things in QBO that make me sigh “ugh” have been fixed by using RightTool!
Here’s my elevator pitch on RT.
“RightTool creates the QuickBooks Desktop efficiency we crave in the QuickBooks Online we love.”
I wanted to know what compelled Hector to get into the app game, as I’m sure others are curious, so here is our interview.
Of note, Hector had just had vocal cord surgery so we couldn’t do a live recording. I did convert it to a voice file - it’s a bit odd with the AI voices - so if you prefer to listen rather than read, you can check it out here.
Kellie:
Hey Hector, I really, really need to know how you became an app developer, an appreneur.
I am a keen Hector-follower, bookkeeper and app advocate. I’ve often thought about apps I could build, but frankly, I just don't have the guts to do it.
Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your journey?
Hector:
Hi Kellie, for sure, it would be my pleasure.
Kellie:
I want everyone to love cloud accounting as much as I do, and I think RightTool may be an app that aids in my mission. Could you describe what your app is, what it does, and how it will improve the QBO experience?
As I say, how is RT going to un-ugh some QBO ughs?
Hector:
Un-ugh 🤣
Sure. The app is called RightTool or, to be more precise, “RightTool for QuickBooks Online”.
Essentially, it is a companion to QuickBooks Online that enhances your navigation experience with things like a searchable database of direct links to all the functions and reports available in QuickBooks Online, a custom favorites bar (to replace your browser bookmarks/favorite functions), extended keyboard shortcuts, and more. It’s all organized in a right-sided navigation bar. It's also an alternative to the default left navigation bar for those who prefer to use the right side to navigate QuickBooks.
It is actually a Google Chrome extension that needs to be installed into your web browser. It is designed for Google Chrome but works in any chromium-based browser, such as Microsoft Edge or Firefox.
Kellie:
Coolio. Although I’m not committing to ditching my Chrome folders and bookmarks quite yet :-}
Who is your intended audience for this app?
Hector:
That is a great question.
We are still discovering who is going to find this app valuable. From a macro perspective, we would love EVERY QuickBooks Online user in the world to have RightTool installed into their browser. There is actually a FREE edition of the app that is Ad-supported and a PRO version of the app that contains all the bells and whistles that “power users” wish QuickBooks had natively; the PRO version is the paid edition and does not have any ads.
Kellie:
I love when I ask a great question 🤣
What are the differences between the FREE and PRO editions besides ads?
Hector:
Without turning this into an infomercial about RightTool, I can name a few PRO-only features:
Copy from Excel in Journal Entries: is a really interesting feature that allows you to “copy” any spreadsheet formatted like a journal entry in Excel or Google Sheets and essentially do a copy/paste style transfer of the information into a Journal Entry.
This is a crowd favorite.
Batch Delete & Unreconcile in Register: allows you to either delete transactions in batch or mark several transactions as uncleared by removing the “R” status from the register.
Additional Bank Text in Bank Feeds: shows both the Bank Description (QBO’s AI-based payee renaming) and the original Bank Text at the same time, which provides enhanced context when categorizing transactions.
There are actually about 20 PRO features; I just wanted to name the most popular ones.
Both the PRO and FREE editions contain, for the most part, navigation enhancements to give users the ability to easily open new tabs for all their different functions/reports while they are working in QBO and a right-sided “open tabs” manager similar to the Open Window list in QuickBooks Desktop. What we wanted to solve first is the nostalgia of multi-tasking capabilities with QuickBooks Desktop that many power users feel they missed from Desktop. We also focus heavily on keyboard shortcuts; we want power users to have many different ways to access QBO without feeling they need to do so many clicks. We are essentially minimizing the number of clicks in every opportunity we see fit.
We believe that the FREE edition alone will completely remove 80% to 90% of the anxiety some long-term QB Desktop users get when they migrate to QBO, and everything feels “moved around”. Also, QBO’s current left navigation bar has a long way to go to become universally accepted by accounting professionals; we aim to relieve some of that anxiety as well until Intuit notices that a navigation bar can make/break the experience for a user; and moved towards a more customizable and power-user focused approach to its design.
We don’t want to replace QBO’s left nav bar, but inadvertently, it is a temporary patch for those who are not really falling in love with its current design.
Kellie:
Wow - that is quite a list. There are a ton of QBO un-ugh-ers in RightTool.
An interesting note about the bank text is that in Canada, we have powerful bank text coming across natively in QBO, so your RT feature on this is unnecessary in The Great White North. But I know in the US that people love it. However, the account 4 digits that RT reveals is magic for me.
I have an article out on what I love about RightTool. Stay tuned, cause my top 6 features do not match the 3 you mentioned.
I think that goes to show how powerful an app it is!
It seems like accounting professionals are the target market for PRO, correct? Will accountants use the FREE edition?
Hector:
We think that Accounting professionals will probably see the most value in PRO; after all, the app is designed by an accountant (myself) and with direct input from hundreds of colleagues in my network. But, we want the FREE edition to be for the end-users, and we are starting to think of creative ways for the PRO users (accountants) to interact with the FREE users (their clients).
For example, there is a FREE feature we released recently called “Restrict Transfers” where we envision the PRO users restricting their clients to avoid doing the things that accountants dislike, such as transfers. But we see the FREE edition as a starting point into the world of RightTool. Both the ad-supported FREE edition and the paid PRO edition are fundamental to our strategy.
Kellie:
We could do a whole chat about QBO transfer issues, no?
When did the app start?
Hector:
We started officially developing RightTool in early September 2022, and launched a public beta on 9/29/22. The public beta was essentially the PRO version but with ads. And it was 100% FREE.
We grew from zero to almost 2,000 users during October and November and took in a LOT of feedback. A lot of that feedback was incorporated into the app in those two months; my partner Mark was adding new features almost daily.
We stopped releasing big new features up to 12/06/2022, so we could get feedback at QuickBooks Connect in Las Vegas from current beta testers. Mark and I sat with about 50 users who gave us all sorts of interesting feedback that we have added to our plans for 2023.
The rest of December, up to our official launch on 01/16/2023, was dedicated to building our backend subscription system so users can easily subscribe to the PRO edition and/or unsubscribe and downgrade to the FREE version.
Kellie:
It was so great to see you and Mark at QBConnect! And all our friendies, right?! There was no fun had in Las Vegas at all…
What’s the price for RightTool PRO?
Hector:
QBConnect was great! So good to see everyone again.
The target price on the launch date (01/16/2023) is $50/month for the main user and $15/month for additional firm users (when there is more than one user inside a firm)
Kellie:
Wow, $50/month will seem a bit spendy for some.
Is that per company/client? Do you have many active subscribers now?
Hector:
The beauty of RightTool is that it is not an API-based app, so we do not have the traditional connection costs that force most app developers to charge PER company file (or “per client,” as many accountants would say) so RightTool PRO is just a per USER cost, a user can have hundreds or thousands QBO company files in their login, it doesn’t affect the subscription cost.
So, as of this interview, 12/27/2022, we have about 2,300 downloads in the Google Chrome web store. We launched in early December with a deeply discounted coupon code we offered to the beta testers and got about 320 paid users; we believe we officially have proof of concept once someone sees the value of paying for the app. We plan to continue to offer coupons to make the app much less than $50/month through the year but taper it off to the point that we are charging $50/month to all main PRO users in 2024. It’s now our responsibility to create enough value so that users feel $50/month is a steal 🙂
Kellie:
Okie dokie, interesting.
For the record, I am a paid user, even though I think I could be using the free version. I believe mightily in paying for apps I love; I want them to grow and prosper right alongside me.
How many users do you think you will have by the end of 2023?
Hector:
Thank you. We appreciate people being along this journey - and paying to subscribe obviously.
This is all speculative, of course, but We have set a goal of 100,000 total downloads, which is only 2% of all QBO users. And we suspect that 10% of those, about 10,000, could become paying PRO users.
Remember that we have a discounted rate for additional firm users, so when small and medium-sized firms with 10+ users start signing up, those numbers will increase rapidly.
Intuit announced that there are over 500,000 QuickBooks ProAdvisors, so those are the power users we are targeting for PRO accounts, so the same 2% amounts to the target of 10,000 PRO users.
Kellie:
If you don’t mind me asking, cause I’m about to… how much does it cost to build an app like this? How much does it cost to maintain it, etc.?
Hector:
Great question; I don’t mind, and I don’t know yet.
We have been bootstrapping the whole time. Mark and I have done most of the work (long sleepless nights for the last couple of months), and Patrick (also a co-founder) has done work as well. But we suspect that If I had hired coders and employees to gather feedback, design the app, etc., I would have probably invested about $500,000 so far.
We think during 2023, we will have an operating budget of about $30-40k per month as we hire some key team members, start doing some advertising to increase awareness of the app, etc.
At a $30/month avg per user (adding both PRO user subscriptions and Ad revenue), we are going to need about 1,200 monthly subscribers to break even. So we are likely to inject some capital to keep it afloat while we ramp up the monthly users.
It’s hard to tell when the app will turn a profit. Most developers take 3-5 years to possibly see positive cash flow, we think we can do this in much less.
Kellie:
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it a hundred times more - developing apps is not for the faint of heart - or wallet! My admiration and gratitude to appreneurs are boundless.
So who owns RightTool now? Are there any investors?
Hector:
I appreciate your gratitude, and no, it’s not for the faint of either.
RightTool is an asset developed by Accounting Pro Tools LLC, a Florida company we set up to develop custom apps for the accounting industry. RightTool is the first app developed by us and should be an example to follow as other folks see it and ask us to build similar but customized solutions for their needs. APT LLC is owned by Patrick Cummings, Mark Corum, Andrea (my wife), and me. So essentially, 50% of the ownership is Accounting Professionals, and the other 50% is developers. We have no outside investors.
Kellie:
Sidebar, since you mentioned Andrea, I loved watching you 2 dance at QBC. You can both seriously cut some rug!
Are you Interested in outside Investors?
Hector:
Yeah, she was a trooper for accompanying me to QBC under the medical circumstances I was in. For some context, I had recently gotten vocal cord surgery which precluded me from speaking through the entire time the conference was happening; my vow of silence literally ended at the same time as the conference. She knew I did not want to miss it, so she came to make sure she could speak to people on my behalf. Andrea is a brilliant bookkeeper and tax preparer, but she does not like conferences, crowds, socializing, etc..… but she does like dancing, so being able to party at QBC was the silver lining for her… that and meeting Ron Baker; she really enjoyed talking to my Hero :)
Needless to say that the real hero was my mother-in-law, who stayed with our 4 kids so we could do the conference!
Anyway, in the investor-related question… sure, anything that can help us accelerate the efforts to add value to our customers we welcome. But we do not want investors for the sake of investors.
I do have a fantasy that we can one day offer our PRO users the ability to own some equity in the app and simultaneously involve them in the beta testing, development, and promotion of the app; we are consulting with legal teams on that matter, and it has proven to be more complex than expected.
Kellie:
I could get down with your fantasy!
Everyone in the accounting industry - and I mean everyone - knows you, Hector. I met Mark about a year ago when I did a go-to-market consult for MonkBe. So I know and admire him, but most people in our sphere would not have heard of him. Or Patrick.
Talk to me about them. Who are they? How did you connect with them?
Hector:
Mark and Patrick founded a company called MonkBe LLC; I don’t know when exactly, but I do know they developed an app called MonkBe, which is a chrome extension that did 4-5 things that RightTool does today - mainly aiming to FIX some sort of broken things inside the QuickBooks Online logic workflow such as escaping from the dreaded Audit Loop, locking line item descriptions and pricing in an invoice when changing the item to avoid it getting cleared up, and other things…
And even though it only had a couple of hundred downloads, it had raving fans. So I started playing with MonkBe. I thought the approach to “fixing” QBO via a chrome extension was brilliant!
I contacted Mark via LinkedIn and showed him my “Chrome Bookmarks Kit” which I had sold a lot of in the last 3 years, and asked Mark if he could make that into an app and how much it would cost me. Within 3 days, he built an MVP “just for fun” and sent it to me. I loved that very first version and just asked him if he sees a future where my Bookmarks kit app and MonkBe could be essentially the same app, plus a whole lot of other ideas I had in the back of my head. We chatted for hours and noticed that a lot of the vision he had for MonkBe was along the lines of my idea…
Then we connected with Patrick as well and negotiated terms to merge the two ideas and develop RightTool. The original name of the idea was “Hector’s Power Tools” then we agreed to “Accounting Power Tools” and finally created the company name and the brand name (app) as two separate things.
Mark, Patrick, and I make a great product development team, and Andrea helps me with all the admin stuff; so we are a very complete team. But I suspect we will start staffing up soon.
Kellie:
For this who don’t know, “MVP” is “minimum viable product”. And I agree, the extension idea was (is) brilliant.
The app market is super crowded and competitive. What do you think will make RightTool different from your competition? Do you even have any competition?
Other than the Chrome bookmarks that both you and I sell, of course…
Hector:
Well, first, I think that many app developers will take inspiration (aka copy) from our ideas and start to build similar things, or at least use the Chrome extension as the primary platform to deliver their app; so soon, we might not be so different.
But, for now, there is nothing like RightTool; we have a unique monopoly in the market and have been laser-focused on increasing the efficiency and productivity of power users.
Also, the fact that we do not use an API (99.999% of apps do) we have a different set of constraints to work with. App developers have to unlearn a lot before they can get to where we are.
Also, I hate to say it, but there is only one of me (Hector Garcia); my understanding of QuickBooks user experience is very unique as I have a really long and deep relationship with power users of all things QuickBooks.
Also, Mark Corum is not just a brilliant developer/coder; he understands what other users and I ask for in ways that I do not think many developers do. We can go from suggestion/idea to MVP super quickly which allows us to get instant feedback and know if it's worth pursuing.
Kellie:
I agree; Mark is brilliant, a compelling fella, and 100% gets us.
And don’t hate to say it, own it, my friend - you are Hector Garcia! Your brand value is immeasurable on this.
Do you see Intuit having a positive or negative role in the development processes of RightTool? What if they start adding features from RightTool into QBO?
Hector:
Thank you - on my brand value 😊
As long as there is a QBO and there are QBO power users trying to get work done quicker, there will be a place for us.
It would be fantastic for the QBO users if Intuit would just copy us 100% and completely kill RightTool’s relevancy, but It will not happen as RightTool is really a living and breathing thing. If QBO adds native functions that RT has, we will just remove them and work on more stuff.
We see an infinite abundance of opportunities here. I think we have created a category; this is not just an app, and when you are a category, there is no end in sight. It’s an infinite game :) We plan to run right by QBO’s side (no pun intended), like peas and carrots.
RightTool and QBO belong together in whichever capacity they will serve in the future. If Intuit wants to acquire the tech so we can help them make QBO for Accountants best in class, we would consider that as well.
Kellie:
I have heard you talk about an abundance mindset before; I love that you live it; I do too, so freeing. And playing the infinite game will change one’s life.
Back on track, one final question - what's next for you guys? For RightTool?
Hector:
Yeah, once RightTool is very stable and maintained by a team of talented developers and customer service people, we will start moving to API-based solutions to fix more transactions in batch; while continuing to look for opportunities to do that inside RightTool without the need for API.
We also would love to get our first project developing a custom solution for someone in our industry. Some people have asked about a While Labeled version of RightTool; that seems like an interesting premise to explore.
A Xero power user asked me if we would consider building a version of RightTool for Xero; I am not sure about that. Mark and I are super-duper QBO fans; not sure we want to go that route, but it’s in the realm of possibilities.
Something else we want to explore is accessibility in general. We want to make sure that our app is accessible to folks with all sorts of disabilities. We are exploring what those things an app needs to have to help the visually impaired, for example, are. Also looking at the possibility of incorporating special hardware like StreamDeck and Pedals into the RightTool workflow; we are experimenting deeply with these things to try to make QBO more accessible. More to come on that soon.
Kellie:
“Super-duper” - fun term. I am a super-duper QBO fan as well - I think that memo has gone out!
I love the accessibility angle.
And ohhhhh… StreamDeck!
Any last words or comments?
Hector:
Thank you for the app-erview; it was fun.
And thank you for recommending RightTool to your friends and colleagues in the various channels.
Feels great knowing that the app is actually good enough that people proactively recommend it to others. Even the FREE edition, we recommend all QBO users test it. It will change your point of view about QBO.
Kellie:
I agree; it is a game-changer. It un-ughs so many QBO ughs! I am barely using it yet, and I love it.
You are welcome. It was my pleasure!
So, there you have it: an interesting conversation with the always-interesting Hector.
Simply yours, Kellie :-}
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