When you build an app, you need to start simple. That means stripping away anything nonessential to deliver only on core functionality. It’s necessary, but that doesn’t make us happy as Product people. So after many months of prioritizing data and only data, we’re thrilled to release Amalgam 3.0 – the first version that truly delivers on our vision for this platform.
Streamlined Onboarding Process
One of the major challenges of our prior versions was the steep learning curve. By prioritizing the effective transfer of data, we left a pretty bare-bones experience when it came to creating an account, connecting data sources, and installing the plugin for Excel or Google Sheets. This left our team, and our primary contacts at each firm, with a lot of explaining to do to fill in the gaps.
Our primary goal is to make data accessible, and part of this is making sure our system is as easy to use as possible. Now, when new users log in, they’ll be greeted by a product tour explaining how to create, share, and use their data sources before they do anything else.
Did you know you could share integrations with other users, either on your team or across teams? Lots of people didn’t!
It’s Prettier
This sort of goes without saying, but first drafts are rarely beautiful. We’ve now got consistent visuals that are easier to look at, and simpler to understand.
Better Connectivity
Some data sources are easy, others are hard. Amalgam is designed to handle the complexity and provide a consistent user experience so our users don’t need to have a Computer Science degree to access their information.
To better deliver on this promise, each integration process now has detailed instructions for each step in the setup process.
If you need information from anywhere outside of Amalgam, for example a code generated by the system you’re connecting, we’ll give you screenshots and a step-by-step walkthrough on where to find that info. We want it to be easy, even if the sources themselves can be confusing!
Lots More Reports and Resources
You may have noticed this, but we’ve dramatically expanded on our library of reports and resources available through our plugin. A few examples:
- Quickbooks Comparative Trial Balance: we’re working on a series of tools to support tax filings, this report is a central part
- Xero AP, AR, and Transaction Reports: we now offer every standard report Xero provides through its API, and are building others to bolster that function
- Shopify Fulfillment and Payment Reports: GAAP reporting can be challenging for eCommerce businesses, we’ve built a suite of reports that can simplify it
Check out the latest in the plugin, and send us a note if there’s something new you’d like to see!
An Active Templates Center
Last but not least, our Templates Center is now up and running. The Templates Center provides a resource to show complete solutions built with Amalgam, in addition to downloadable files you can use for your business. They’re both a quick-start guide and an example of what other users have accomplished on our platform.
The offerings are small to start, but look out for additional posts in the coming weeks highlighting specific teams and what they’ve built, specific solutions for tax, budgeting, and audit processes as we head into busy season.
And if you’ve built something you think is cool, we’d love to highlight you and your business! Feel free to reach out with examples, or requests.
Thanks for being a part of this process – we wouldn’t have gotten to this point without the support, feedback, and critiques from the knowledgeable people we’ve worked with along the way. Now that we’ve got the basics covered, the pace of progress is only going to increase!
