Multi-currency invoicing coming next

On the subject of expectation management, how about a roadmap?

I know there are commercial considerations, but a broad brush overview for the big ticket items (multi-currency, cashflow reporting) would be good along with an idea when you will be addressing various lesser glitches or gaps, such as PDF exports from the accounts screens, debtor statements, etc.

There are lots of threads on Get Satisfaction that end with "we'll definitely add that to the list" but those threads then never get updated.

Not sure I agree, Roan!

Based on my own past experiences as a Product Manager for a software house - communication (even where it's communicating a lack of news) is better than not. (even at the risk of having to communicate a bit of bad news about a promised feature).

The trick with (public) roadmaps is to not over commit - you don't even have to put dates on it, just a communication of broad themes for short/medium/long term can be enough.

On the second point - the issue isn't that you are being misleading (which I don't believe for a minute) but that the userbase doesn't get informed when things go on the backburner. We won't be upset (promise!), because it lets us know how to plan (do I invest in a utility to generate PDFs from web-pages, or is this going to be fixed in a weeks' time anyway?).

Final thing - your core issues (resource) are not your customers core issues (When will I get that thing I need?). You're never going to have the resources to "implement things as fast as some people would have liked". Demand is infinite, so communication and expectation management is always going to be critical.

The nature of the SaaS market is that it involves a more open level of communication between supplier and customer that was ever dreamed of by the likes of Sage or MYOB - who do all they can to present an impermeable corporate 'face' to the world - handing new releases down from on-high. SaaS is much more about a collaborative process.

Go and talk to Dennis about his views on this - he's passionate about this subject, and will always give you food for thought.

I trust you take all the above in the sprit its offered! I just signed up for the annual contract with FAC, which I hope shows what I feel about the product and my faith in it.

Absolutely - don't be afraid to say 'No' (or 'Yes, but not now')! Users don't always realise that some apparently simple things can have insanely tricky implications. I always used the example of someone asking to move the Humber Bridge a foot to the left - "It's only a short distance, what's the problem?". Software is no less complex a piece of engineering, but people assume you can unravel it with the click of a mouse.

Agreed that Get Satisfaction doesn't really provide an easy way to track stuff - not really its role, I suspect. Having said that, the assumption of many (myself included) is that you would make a seperate note of occasions when a GS thread does product a potential 'to-do' item - with a cross reference to the original GS thread if you need to go back to us for feedback.

Now it's been two years since multi-currency invoicing is possible. Please add multi-currency expenses at least!