Waypoint #5: QuickBooks in Karma Compass, and what's next

Waypoints is our weekly note on what we shipped in Karma Compass, so you can follow along as it grows.

At some point in most board meetings, a director asks how many months of cash you have. Somebody then opens QuickBooks, or promises to email the answer later.

As of this week, if your books are in QuickBooks Online, that number sits on Mission Control. It reads "Cash" with the months of spending it covers, next to revenue, expenses and the surplus or deficit for the year so far. Every board member can see it.

We also gave each meeting a bar, headed "Next", that tells whoever runs it the one thing waiting on them.

Can Karma Compass show our QuickBooks numbers?

Yes. Connect QuickBooks Online once, from Integrations, and Mission Control gets a "QuickBooks" panel for the fiscal year to date. It shows:

• Revenue, with the share of budget it represents
• Expenses
• Surplus or Deficit
• Cash, with how many months of spending it covers

The figures are compared against your QuickBooks budget, or against the same days last year when there isn't one. You don't need to set anything up in QuickBooks first. A company with no budget, no classes and no nonprofit setting still connects and shows its totals.

The chair, treasurer, executive director, secretary, board assistant or an organization administrator can connect it. Anyone else sees "Ask your chair or treasurer to connect QuickBooks." Once it's connected, every board member sees the figures on Mission Control. Committees don't see the panel.

Compass only reads from QuickBooks. It never writes there. It keeps section totals and the largest account lines, and never stores transactions, customers or vendors. It reads once a day in the background. "Refresh now" reads again on the spot, and "Disconnect" forgets the connection and its figures and asks Intuit to revoke Compass's access.

Ask Compass can answer a question like "Are we within budget this year?" from the same figures. Claude, ChatGPT and other connected apps can't read them.

QuickBooks is part of Compass Organization and Enterprise. Every new organization starts with a 14-day Compass Organization trial, so you can try it there first.

How do I know what's left to do for a meeting?

Open the meeting. If you run it, the step that's waiting on you is marked "Needs you", and a bar headed "Next" sits under the steps with one button that opens the right place.

What it says depends on where the meeting is. Before the agenda goes out it reads "Finish the agenda and send it to the board", with "Open the agenda". On the day it reads "The meeting is today", with "Go to Meet". Later it might say "Record who was there" or "Answer the 2 questions left in the minutes". Once the minutes are adopted and no action item is open, it goes away.

Right after the meeting, the bar asks for your notes before it suggests adopting anything. The first draft Compass writes from the agenda has no questions for you, so the bar points you to Meet. Adopting stays available on the Summary step.

On a phone, the bar stays pinned to the bottom of the screen, and the four steps are labeled Agenda, Meet, Minutes and Summary. Directors who don't run the meeting see neither the bar nor "Needs you".

What does a past meeting look like now?

A finished meeting reads as the record. The agenda as it was sent sits beside a "Board packet" card, with View PDF and the share link, and a "Record" card that holds corrections and drafts. If someone corrected the record, a "Corrected" badge says so. Empty sections are gone, and open action items are one line that links to Action items.

Can I save action items from the minutes in one step?

Yes. When you review the minutes, the action items Compass is sure about now sit under one button, "Save N action items". One click puts them on your Action items list.

Reviewing minutes also got simpler:

• Changed an answer? "Done" takes you back to the summary.
• Open questions now show on the Summary step, so you can answer them and adopt in one place.
• Not sure who owns an item? Pick "Leave unassigned".
• Minutes stay on Mission Control until they're adopted, so none slip through.

Which plan includes QuickBooks and Slack?

We added a plan this week, Compass Organization, between Compass Pro and Enterprise.

• Free includes 4 meetings a year.
• Compass Pro allows 5 playbooks on at once, across all your boards and committees.
• Compass Organization is everything in Compass Pro, plus QuickBooks, Slack and unlimited playbooks.
• Enterprise is priced by quote.

A new organization starts on a 14-day Compass Organization trial. When it ends, the organization moves to Free and keeps everything it created. A paying Compass Pro organization can move up from the Subscription page with "Change plan". Slack, which Waypoint #4 listed under Compass Pro, is now part of Compass Organization. Prices are on the pricing page.

Also this week

• New committee sheet. Name the committee, tick people already in your organization, and mark who chairs and who votes. You can add someone new too. Committees now show as cards above the roster on Members.
• Committees from New meeting. "Meeting of" offers "New committee", which opens the same sheet and keeps your meeting draft.
• Committee packets with nobody on them yet. The packet builds, and Send waits with a link to add people. An administrator or executive director who oversees a committee without a seat can open its packet.
• One sheet per person. On Members, click a name to see their contact details, sign-in, RSVPs, attendance and votes. Roster managers get an Edit tab in the same sheet.
• Your first meeting doesn't wait on emails. If you skipped member emails during setup, Mission Control now offers "Schedule your first board meeting". People you add later can be invited to it.
• Packets that are out of date. The notice now has "Update the board packet", and a packet built before a document changed can't be sent until it's rebuilt.
• Playbooks on from day one. A new board starts with five playbooks on, including "The agenda hasn't gone out" and "Remind people about overdue work". The overdue reminder emails the owners of overdue action items, and on a new board it starts sending without the usual preview. A manager can pause it if you'd rather review it first. Playbooks need Compass Pro or above.
• A sign-in email you'll recognize. The code email now has a navy header, a compass drawing and the line "Pointing you back to your board."

FAQ

Does Karma Compass integrate with QuickBooks? Yes. Karma Compass connects to QuickBooks Online and shows revenue, expenses, the surplus or deficit, and cash on Mission Control for the fiscal year to date. QuickBooks is part of Compass Organization and Enterprise.

Can Karma Compass change anything in our QuickBooks books? No. Karma Compass only reads from QuickBooks. It stores section totals and the largest account lines, never individual transactions, customers or vendors, and you can disconnect at any time.

Who can see our financial figures in Karma Compass? Every board member sees the QuickBooks panel on Mission Control once it's connected. The chair, treasurer, executive director, secretary, board assistant or an organization administrator connects, refreshes or disconnects it. Committees don't see the panel.

Do we need a budget in QuickBooks for Karma Compass to work? No. With a budget, Karma Compass compares your figures against it. Without one, it compares them against the same days last year.

How does Karma Compass show what's next for a board meeting? Each meeting in Karma Compass has a "Next" bar for the people who run it. It names the one thing left to do, such as sending the agenda or recording attendance, and has a button that opens that step.

What's included in the Karma Compass free plan? The Karma Compass free plan includes 4 meetings a year, and committees are included. Playbooks need Compass Pro, and QuickBooks and Slack need Compass Organization. Current plans and prices are on compass.karmahq.org/pricing.

What is Compass Organization? Compass Organization is a Karma Compass plan between Compass Pro and Enterprise. It includes everything in Compass Pro plus QuickBooks financial reports, Slack and unlimited playbooks. New organizations get a 14-day trial of it.

Try it

Start at compass.karmahq.org. The free plan covers 4 meetings a year, and every new organization gets two weeks of Compass Organization first. If you missed last week, Waypoint #4 covers Karma Compass in Slack (now on Compass Organization) and committee meetings.