Outright was an accounting and bookkeeping software application that assists small businesses and sole proprietors with managing their business's income and expenses. In May 2022, GoDaddy announced the software would be discontinued on June 18, 2022.[1]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online Accounting, Bookkeeping Taxes, Schedule C |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Defunct | July 18, 2022 |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California |
Key people |
|
| Owner | GoDaddy |
Number of employees | 16 (2014) |
| Website | www |
The software also provided means to organize and categorize expenses for filing a United States Schedule C tax return.[2][3][4] It was acquired by GoDaddy in 2012 for approximately $20 million and had been rebranded as GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping.[5]
History
editKevin Reeth and Ben Curren worked together at Intuit in 2006 and then later at a web-application firm called Esomnie LLC. As a Product Manager and Software Engineer respectively, the two were heavily involved in the development and marketing of Quicken products.[citation needed]
Curren and Reeth had become increasingly frustrated with the complexity of doing taxes for small businesses, so in 2008 they founded a company and website called BootStrap.[6][7][8] The Website was renamed Outright just a few months after launch, though it continues to be operated by BootStrap, Inc.[9]
In 2009, the company raised a total of $7.7 million funding from Sequoia Capital, First Round Capital, Shasta Ventures and SoftTech VC among others.[7][10][11] Today, the website manages $1.2 billion in transactions from small businesses and independent contractors.[8][12]
On July 17, 2012, Outright.com announced in an email to all customers that they had been acquired by GoDaddy.com.[13]
Functions
editThe software was designed as a software as a service model. It provided the following functions:
- Tracked and managed business income, expenses and tax liabilities.[14]
- Data import - The application could import financial information from PayPal, FreshBooks, oDesk, and other financial management tools.[3][7][14][15][16][17]
- Reports income and expenses for sole proprietors filing a Schedule C or 1040
- Managed W-9s for paying independent contractors, freelancers, and anyone outside of company staff for 1099 filings[18]
- On-line selling on eBay Bookkeeping Selling Manager app that imported transaction data from eBay and PayPal accounts to help eBay sellers manage their finances.[19][20]
Reviews
editAs of 2014[update], PCMag gave Outright Plus 2.5/5, praising its user interface; however they criticised its limited features, saying it would be ok for "a sole proprietor or very small business", and recommending QuickBooks Online for those seeking a fuller-featured solution.[21]
As of 2014[update], Tech Republic said Outright was "worth a look", comparing it to Intuit's Mint.com but cautioned that while it offered better tax-calculation facilities than Mint.com, it offered no way to actually pay taxes.[22] Small Business Trends recommended it for sole proprietors, finding it lacked features such as payroll necessary for businesses with employees.[23]
Macworld in 2010 scored it 3.5/5, saying "it was easy to get data into the application, but was missing some critical features that Outright said would be added at a later date."[24]
References
edit- ^ Steiner, Ina. "eBay Sellers Desperate after GoDaddy Bookkeeping Ends Support". eCommerceBytes. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ Meece, Mickey (2009-08-22). "On to Plan B: Starting a Business". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ a b By Kathy Yakal, PC Magazine Review of Outright. Accounting & Tax. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ By Karen Klein, BusinessWeek. “Advice for Tax Procrastinators, 2009.” Retrieved March 29, 2010
- ^ "GoDaddy Acquires Outright, Establishes Mountain View Office". TechCrunch. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ^ Outright.com Home Page. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ a b c Ty McMahan (2009-11-16). "Outright Lends A Hand To Small Businesses With $5.5M Funding". Wall Street Journal Blog. blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ a b "Bootstrap launches financial management site for businesses that don't like financial management". VentureBeat. 2008-07-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ Ben Kepes, Cloud Ave (16 February 2009). "Accounting 2.0 at CloudAve". cloudave.com. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ^ By Paul O’Brien, Outright Blog. “Outright Raises $5.5M with Sequoia Capital.” Retrieved March 25, 2010
- ^ "Outright.com launches with $2M funding". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ Reagan D. Lynch. "Simple, Non-cluttered, Accessible Bookkeeping". outright.com. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ "GoDaddy Acquires Outright, Establishes Mountain View Office". TechCrunch. July 18, 2012.
- ^ a b By Leena Rao, TechCrunch. “Outright Tracking More Than $1 Billion, Launches W-9 Management Service.” Retrieved March 29, 2010
- ^ By Howard Greenstein, Inc. “Small Business Web: Leverage and Cooperation.” Retrieved March 29, 2010
- ^ Abate, Tom. "Outright software tools free to freelancers". SFGATE. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
- ^ By Scott Blitstein, WebWorkerDaily. “Outright Teams Up With PayPal & Expensify to Ease Your Bookkeeping Woes.” Retrieved June 04, 2010
- ^ Outright News “Collect and Manage W-9 Forms Online; Free.” Retrieved June 04, 2010
- ^ By Kevin Reeth, Outright Blog. “One complete picture.” Retrieved August 11, 2011
- ^ By Vangie Beal, Ecommerce-Guide Essentials. “eBay Integrates Outright Bookkeeping Solution.” Retrieved March 29, 2010
- ^ Yakal, Kathy. "Outright Plus: Review". PC Mag. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ Nawrocki, Matthew (May 7, 2013). "Outright: Review". Tech Republic. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ McCue, TJ (Aug 12, 2009). "Review:Outright: Simple Online Bookkeeping for Sole Proprietors". Small Business Trends. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ Battersby, Jeffery. "Outright". Macworld. Retrieved 14 January 2014.