Hi all, apologies in advance for this long post however I feel the context is relevant. just reaching out to see if theres anyone else out there as disappointed as I am on what appears to be a decision by Shopify to cease support of the script that connects Shopify to the AccountEdge accounting package.
To frame my situation - I'm a small business owner that's been using MYOB/AccountEdge on a Mac for over 14 years. I grew the business with AE software and had reached the stage where I began to believe I had to create an e-commerce store to expand the reach of my company. Not sure exactly when it was announced, however 4 years ago I learnt AccountEdge could connect to Shopify and would sync online sales/inventory with AccountEdge negating the need for double entry, this as you might imagine was huge news for smaller businesses.
After careful research I signed up for the Shopify service, purchased the recommended POS hardware through Shopify and set about developing a store. Regrettably my research didn’t reveal the difficulties involved in setting up an e-commerce store in the Caribbean however thats a topic in its own right.
But it doesn’t end there, in early 2020 AccountEdge (having been purchased by "Priority Software" a seemingly large ERP software company) decided they were no longer upgrading Accountedge for Mac citing
AccountEdge is not and will not be Catalina-compliant
We are disappointed to share that we will not be able to offer a Catalina-compliant version of AccountEdge - now or in the future. In the end, AccountEdge’s 30-year-old codebase proved too outdated to establish compatibility with Apple’s newest operating system. In spite of a multi-year project that involved a team of developers and analysts, it’s a project we will not be able to complete."
While I expected something insidious would ultimately arise out of the acquisition, this was not what I was expecting and effectively has prevented me from upgrading my Mac OS for the last 3 years. For if that were to occur I would be locked out of my accounting files and left unable to conduct business.
Of course since then I've been searching for a suitable alternative to AccountEdge that was capable of handling manufacturing of inventory while syncing with Shopify. Quickbooks Online scammed me into arranging a consult over the phone and signed me up for an annual subscription to be able to ACCESS their support, only to determine that QBO cannot handle the inventory manufacturing I required (despite asking at the outset). Through my own research I eventually learnt that if i switched to a PC that QB desktop could achieve my manufacturing goals. However I would need an add-on app that costs annually more than the Quickbooks subscription, of course. Which ultimately lead me back to AccountEdge subscription for PC which entails significantly less stress, in that I wouldn’t need to convert my account package files to QB.
So just last week I bit the bullet and decided to purchase a PC and switch to the AccountEdge subscription for PC. Despite the now muted pain of working on a PC I was actually reasonably happy with the performance of the program on the platform. However I soon realised one significant issue remained. After migrating my account files I realised AE was not able to communicate with Shopify? When I contacted AE support I was informed... There was nothing they could do about it.
The explanation given was:
"Shopify decided that they did not want to integrate with any software that was not web-based. The decision was made suddenly, without notice. This effectively killed the sync script we initially created, while leaving us no time to develop a solution before the decision went into effect. As soon as we were aware of this, we started working on a web-based replacement version, but new scripts take time to develop.
We submitted our newer web-based script recently for Shopify's approval. Hopefully, we'll have a replacement option soon, but we don't know how long it will take to get approved or how many revisions it will take. We understand that this is not a firm release date, but this is the most up-to-date information we have available."
Seriously... WTF
I'm sincerely hoping someone from Shopify reads these discussions because after 4 years of paying a subscription and investing in equipment, trying to find an accounting package that integrates with Shopify, still not having an operational store.... This really doesn’t sit well with me
I can't imagine I was the only one using the AccountEdge Shopify Link, can anyone else please share their experiences because these companies are outright playing with peoples livelihoods and are taking the people that support them for granted, I am hoping this is a gross misunderstanding and a Shopify representative will respond to bring clarity to the situation as I am sure your goal is to assist people with developing their businesses rather than assisting with destroying them. I am sick and tired of the big company attitude that more and more of us are being subjected to.
Small businesses cannot grow into bigger businesses if they do not receive support???
Please share your story if you too have been impacted by this incredibly corporate decision - IT IS UNACCEPTABLE
