If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
That’s what small business owners Jake Gottlieb and Jason Hung decided to do when they launched Levion, a QuickBooks add-on that brings small business accounting to the cloud.
As small business owners, they believed that the problem with the QuickBooks accounting software was that they couldn’t use it while away from the office. Hung, who’s a programmer, and Gottlieb decided to develop an application that would allow them to access their QuickBooks documents remotely.
They decided to commoditize the application and have now been approved for a QuickBooks Gold Developer status which is given to developers who sell applications that work with the major accounting software and who seek a relationship with Intuit Developer Network, the company that owns QuickBooks.
“We want to work with the big guys, not fight them,” Gottlieb said.
With Levion, QuickBooks users can access their accounts from their laptops, desktop computers, smartphones, tablets and any other Internet-enabled devices with full-featured web browsers.
Everything done on the web-based Levion application syncs with the offline QuickBooks software through the Levion Connector, which also makes updating and debugging easier since its done via the web rather than on a hard drive bound program, according to the website.
“Levion builds a staircase from your desktop to the Internet and the cloud,” Gottlieb said.
QuickBooks offers online services at additional costs but Levion is free. Gottlieb said the application allows QuickBooks customers to continue to use the accounting software that they know and trust, while providing an affordable solution for switching over to the cloud.
Gottlieb said they have no intention of charging for the basic Levion product, which was launched with the help of a private investor, but that they will charge for special features in the near future. They are currently focusing on product development and user acquisition, and they are talking with venture capitalists.
More about Levion
Founded: November 2010
# of employees: 8
Revenues: Not available
Founders: Jake Gottlieb, Jason Hung
Website: www.Levion.com
Twitter: @LevionInc
Blog: Levion Blog
Phone: 1-877-953-8466
Headquarters: 4350 E. Camelback Rd. Suite E-150, Phoenix, AZ 85253