Implementing Distributed Control Systems and Mobile Forms Technology in Food Processing Facilities

Implementing Distributed Control Systems and Mobile Forms Technology in Food Processing Facilities

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Food processing is changing. Advances in technology and more efficient methods of production have changed the way that food processing facilities are built, operated and managed. At the same time, consolidation is taking over many industries, making processing plants larger in the pursuit of better economies of scale. Approaches to vertical coordination are also changing, shifting away from the use of spot markets toward greater reliance on contracting in the grain and in livestock industries.

The emergence of distributed control systems is one major example of how innovation is affecting the industry. Distributed control systems are computerized control systems for a procedure or facility usually with a large number of control loops, in which autonomous controllers are distributed throughout the system, but there is central operator supervisory control. Most recently, developments in distributed control system processes have incorporated the use of wireless systems and protocols, remote transmission and logging of data history, mobile interfaces and controls, and embedded web servers. The advance and growth of distributed control systems have revolutionized the food processing industry and the value of having an integrated system has proven itself.

Similarly, integrating mobile form technology is proving to promote efficiency, decrease waste, and prevent failures and hazards. Integrated mobile form technology takes a facility’s or multiple facilities’ data and distributes it electronically to every corner of the operation. It takes the same benefits distributed control systems have over facility systems, and applies it to record-keeping, data transmission, storage, and analysis, and regulatory compliance efforts. Mobile form systems for food processing facilities range from areas like food safety inspection checklists, production schedule templates, pre-production checklists, and standardized recipes documents, to pest control procedures, food batch records, food hazard analysis forms, and food additives records. 

As the way food processing facilities operate changes and advances, so must the way data is logged, transported, and analyzed. Integrating data onto a mobile form software makes data more accessible, makes report creation simpler and more effective, and prevents any data from going unnoticed. This improves processes at food processing plants, food establishments and other food industry workplaces. Both production supervisors and production workers save time and cut out the hassle of poorly designed traditional food production forms.

Efficiency isn’t the only goal, however. Preventing citation from the United States Department of Agriculture or U.S. Food and Drug Administration, depending on your industry, is also critical to large and small food processors alike. Distributed control systems and integrated mobile form technology are essential for proper compliance with ever-changing modern regulation. Not only can these systems serve to prevent citation, they help to create a safer and more hospitable workplace for employees. Preventing hazards is just as critical to overall efficiency when running a successful food processing facility as the smooth operation of the machines.

The combination of these two technologies is pushing the food processing industry into the new century, revolutionizing every aspect of how a facility is built and operated, and are only going to serve to better promote efficiency and safety as the technologies improve.


Now you can easily modernize the way you are conducting quality control. Whether you are looking to improve your data handling processes or improve operational insight, we hope you consider using GoCanvas as your data collection tool. Sign up for GoCanvas free and give our platform a try today!

Interested in learning more? Check out how MOM & Post Consumer Brands save over $75,000 each month from automating their data collection. 

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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How Security Guard Managers Should Handle Complaints

How Security Guard Managers Should Handle Complaints

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notebook of complaintsYou’re working hard to keep your clients safe and their property secure. You’ve been careful about the staff you’ve hired to work as security officers, conducted the necessary background checks and drug screens, and provided diligent training while clarifying your coe of conduct and expectations for how your agents should conduct themselves while on the job.

Yet despite these efforts, it’s inevitable that people will occasionally file a complaint about how your security officers perform their jobs. Sometimes these customer complaints are quite serious; other times they seem trifling.

Regardless, every customer complaint form lodged against one of your security guards and personnel needs to be taken seriously. Failing to do so puts you at risk for reputation damage or costly litigation. Even your business license is at risk. That’s why it’s crucial to have a thorough policy for handling customer complaints – and to follow it.

Have the right kind of post-incident follow-up

Virtually every state regulates private security officers and companies, and those regulations often set guidelines for handling complaints.

With that in mind, here the steps your organization should take in following up on a complaint:

Listen. The first step in handling complaints is to hear what the complainant has to say about the incident or problem. Was a security guard rude? Not paying enough attention? Or are we talking about something more serious, like a security guard who is accused of being intimidating, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, harassment, or worse? Your goal here should be to gather the facts at issue as the complaining party understands them, not to defend or condemn your employee. This first step is critical because an individual wants to feel they are being heard and respected — and research has shown that listening may reduce your litigation risk. This first step may be the most intrusive, but it is extremely important in handling complaints and making sure you are receiving all the pertinent information on what occurred.

Review the record. A critical source of information will be your guard’s own incident report. You should review this document before speaking with your security guard. If the report tells a story that’s different from the one you heard from the complainant, then you’ll want to pursue that discrepancy in your discussions with your employee. Also, take note of when the report, which should have been filed as soon as possible after the incident in question, actually was filed when handling complaints.

Gather more information. Beyond the complainant’s version, the security guard’s version, and the incident report, gather any additional sources of information that might be available, such as statements from other witnesses or camera footage, to attempt to understand what actually happened. When handling complaints, it is extremely important to gather as many pieces of information and evidence for validates sources as possible. This gives you a well-rounded view of the situation and doesn’t make you biased in any way when handling complaints.

Seek a resolution. The action you take will depend, of course, on the results of your investigation. While in severe cases your hands may be tied and disciplinary action will be required, most of the time you’ll have some discretion. The most important thing is to fully document the investigatory steps you took, what you discovered, and why you chose to take the action you did based on the evidence found. When you are handling complaints, you will feel pressure to rush to a resolution. Don’t! You want to make sure you make the best decision, for all parties, and ensure that the complaint is fully resolved.

Plan for follow-up. No matter how you handle a customer complaint, you should always be prepared to defend your response. Sometimes a patron won’t like the way you handled complaints and will seek further action. Other times, a state regulatory agency or other bureau or authority will hear about the incident and decide to conduct its own investigation. If this happens to you, it’s important to cooperate and have all your notes in order.

Proper documentation — the timely and accurate logging and filing of incident reports and daily activities — makes the process of handling complaints much more manageable.

Start by making sure your security guards are well-versed in how to describe an incident and include basic information (time, date, location, and witnesses) as well as unbiased, descriptive details. This makes handling complaints much more time efficent.

The process of investigating a customer complaint and documenting the results is much easier when your reports are digital. Storing all your activity logs in the cloud makes it easy to find the data you need when you need it and to properly handle complaints when they occur. Automatic time-stamping means you’ll always know when a report was filed; that’s especially important when investigating a customer complaint because reports filed long after an incident occurred means the information is often less reliable. Late documentation should also be a violation of your internal policies regarding incident reporting.

Moreover, a report that’s altered after it’s initially submitted is often a sign that something is amiss, and digital reporting makes it immediately clear when that has happened.

While paper-based logs are still dominant in the security industry, a crop of mobile apps are starting to emerge to make documentation faster, easier, and more accurate. One example of such an app is GoCanvas’ “Security Officer Daily Activity Log Mobile App,” which allows security guards and officers to log an incident, and then add detailed information such as GPS and images. You can get started with mobile reporting for free for, then decide later whether it’s right for handling complaints and more within your business. Or explore 100’s of other security industry apps that may be perfect for your business!

While training security guards to correctly report incidents, enforce rules, and document activities in a detailed manner doesn’t guarantee that they won’t be the target of customer complaints, but it can help your business retain its professional reputation, minimize the repercussions of a complaint, and better handle complaints in the future.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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2018 Spring Subscriber Survey: 5 Most Interesting Trends

2018 Spring Subscriber Survey: 5 Most Interesting Trends

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We’re very excited to begin sharing with you the results from our 2018 Spring Subscriber Survey.

At GoCanvas, we believe that our subscribers should have a voice in everything we do. That’s why we love all the feedback we received this year in our subscriber survey!

We take all the responses captured, create a report, and distribute them throughout the company so that every department is able to benefit from the feedback. We also use the responses to analyze how and why subscribers choose the GoCanvas platform for their business.

This type of insight into our subscriber’s usage and deployment of GoCanvas allows us to better roadmap what types of functionality should be added to the development roadmap. It also allows our team to measure what areas of the platform we should focus more time, and what features deserve higher priority.

As you read through the survey infographic below, you’ll find a number of interesting stats and trends. Here are my top 5 most interesting statistics:

  • Flexible Platform – Aside from Construction, usage is deployed somewhat evenly across 5+ different industries. This illustrates the flexibility of the App Builder, PDF Designer, and the platform’s core features like Dispatch and Workflow.
  • Fast Payback – 7 months is the average time in which a subscriber receives a full return on their investment and deployment of mobile forms.
  • Multiple Forms & Use Cases – Inspections were the only type of form that was selected by more than 50% of subscribers. This illustrates the different amounts of use cases that GoCanvas subscribers deploy!
  • Photo Capture – Still the most popular feature across every industry and demographic, capturing photos gives every type of business the evidence they need to keep the most accurate digital records possible.
  • Multiple Submission Per Day – Over half of all subscribers said that they fill out and submit 2 or more mobile forms per day. This shows the common trend of implementing GoCanvas in operations that are frequent, data-intensive processes.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

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10 Best Mobile Devices for Business

10 Best Mobile Devices for Business

As businesses continue to replace outdated processes and move toward automation, it is important to evaluate which devices would work best for your company. Paperwork is an outdated and labor demanding chore that can be easily solved through apps.  Creating a streamlined workflow of data can be simple once you have determined what mobile strategy your team will use in the field.

In deciding on what device would meet your team’s needs, many factors might play into that decision. Typically, the purchasing process for new business devices is primarily based on cost, durability, security, and usability. These elements can make or break an organization’s decision. While the upfront cost of purchasing devices can seem daunting, the payback is both quick and large once you compare it to the time savings you get back by automating these core corporate data processes.

Some businesses are lucky enough that everyone has their own smartphone or tablet they can use, but that is not typical. One of the first steps in deciding on your mobile devices is determining which characteristics and functionality are most important for your business. We have made the decision-making process even easier by creating a list of the most popular mobile devices for automating your data collection processes.

iPhone

iPhones are one of the most popular mobile phones on the market! They easily one of the most user-friendly as most people have used one at one time or another. With an iPhone, users are also given access to many business improvement applications and employees can communicate without data service through I-Messaging and Calling. Encrypted tools also give these smartphones an upper-hand on security for your sensitive data.

iPhone 6s:  $440 – $550

(Photo Credit: Apple / iPhone)

4.7” Retina HD Display, 12 MP Camera, Touch ID, A9 Chip

iPhone 7: $500 – $650

(Photo Credit: Apple / iPhone)

Splash, Water, and Dust Resistant, 4.7” Retina HD Display, 12 MP Camera service, Touch ID, A10 Fusion Chip, Battery lasts up to 2 hours longer than iPhone 6s

iPhone 8: $700 – $920

(Photo Credit: Apple / iPhone)

Splash, Water, and Dust Resistant, 4.7” Retina HD Display, 12 MP Camera, Touch ID, A11 Bionic Chip, Battery lasts up to 2 hours longer than iPhone 6s

Galaxy Samsung 

Samsung offers a variety of cost-effective and durable devices. With a Galaxy Samsung smartphone, you can ensure each of your employees has access to a device that is easy to navigate and can communicate easily with your other office staff.

Galaxy Samsung S8 Active:  $670 – $800

Photo Credit: https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/phones/galaxy-s/galaxy-s8-active-64gb–at-t–meteor-gray-sm-g892azaaatt/

5.8” Gorilla Glass Display, Water, Shock, and Dust Resistant, Military -Grade Body, Ip68 Rating, Premium Camera

Galaxy Samsung S6 Active: $150 – $350

(Photo Credit: Samsung)

5.1” Super AMOLED Display, Water, and Dust Resistant, Military -Grade Body, Ip68 Rating, Premium Camera

CAT S41 

$415 – $550

The Cat S41 phone is made to withstand extreme conditions from water to dirt. This device has so much battery power that it is able to charge other devices through its battery share feature.

(Photo Credit: CAT Phones)

5” HD Gorilla Glass Display, 60 Min Waterproof, Military Standard 810G Shock and Drop Proof, 13 MP Camera

Kyocera Brigadier

$115 – $350

Similar to the Cat S41, enjoy peace of mind with this phone built for extreme environments. This durable device doesn’t slow down productivity with Glove† and Wet Touchscreen Operation technology allowing users to enjoy touchscreen access through cold weather, rough terrain, or wet hands.

(Photo Credit: Kyocera)

4.5” HD Sapphire Shield Display, Scratch-proof, water-proof, shock-proof, temperature extremes protection, 100db speakers for hearing clarity in loud environments, and 8 MP Camera

LG X Venture

$150 – $375

For a practical device with features for day to day outdoor activities, the LG X Venture is the perfect device. Its long-lasting battery and resilient body provide the end user with an easy to use functional device.

(Photo Credit: ATT / LG Venture)

5.2” Full HD Gorilla Glass, Shock, Dust and Water Resistant, 4100 mAH Battery, 16 MP Camera

Samsung Galaxy Tablet

$350 -$500

There are many Android devices to choose from for a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. These tablets were the first Android-powered tablets to go to market. Samsung’s Galaxy Tablets provide a practical solution for companies looking to provide employees with a device that has touchscreen capabilities and is easy to transport.

(Photo credit: Samsung / Galaxy)
 

Apple iPad Pro

$350 – $600

Similar to Samsung, Apple provides a diverse range of options for mobile technology. The iPad Pro offers a simple solution for you and your company with powerful capabilities like Pro Retina Display Features and a 10-hour battery time.

(Photo Credit: Apple / iPad)

Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1

Pricing Varies

The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1 offers an automation solution resistant to dust, water, and falls. This pad includes heavy glove sensitivity and a smart card/magnetic strip reader option. Your field techs can also take advantage of its dedicated GPS or 4G LTE mobile broadband connectivity.

(Photo Credit: Panasonic)

Getac F110

Pricing Varies

The Getac Tablet gives your company endless battery life with its two hot-swappable batteries. With multi-factor authentication, 4G LTE, dedicated GPS, and resilience to drops, shocks, spills, liquid, and dust you can be Getac F110 will make your whole team and the business owners happy.

(Photo Credit: GroupMobile)

Hp ElitePad G2 1000

Pricing Varies

The HP ElitePad 1000 is also referred to as a “total business solution.” This tablet has a customized body for the healthcare, retail, and construction industries. With a gorilla glass display, you can be assured scratches and tumbles won’t make a dent.

(Photo Credit: HewittPackard)

Hope you enjoyed getting the scoop on all these mobile devices. Whether you are planning to buy some of these devices for your business or already have devices, we hope you consider using them to streamline your business processes. Sign up for GoCanvas free and give our platform a try today!

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

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Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

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Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Collect, Sign and Share: Complete Documents Faster with GoCanvas + SignNow

Collect, Sign and Share: Complete Documents Faster with GoCanvas + SignNow

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The GoCanvas platform is constantly being updated, as you can see in our most recent release notes, but the most exciting updates are coming from our integrations department.

Our Professional Services team has been hard at work creating time-saving backend connections and custom tools to help your business increase productivity.

The newest of these high impact tools is our new connection to SignNow. SignNow is an industry leader in E-sign technology. They allow companies to take typical static PDFs and add live text/signature fields to the document. These documents are then retrieved, stored and filed for easy access.

The addition of SignNow to your typical GoCanvas process will help any company to improve the speed of documentation and data analysis.

You’re probably already familiar with the many ways that GoCanvas interacts and connects with Zapier, and this is just another amazing extension of that integration.

By connecting SignNow via Zapier, you’re able to leverage your existing GoCanvas PDFs and turn them into dynamic documents that your customers/staff can interact with via email or browser.

Below is an illustration of how the process works across GoCanvas and SignNow.

1) In GoCanvas, fill out a mobile form that requires a third-party signature

2) Indicate in GoCanvas who should receive the PDF and press “Submit”

3) An email is sent to the recipient, indicating that a document is available for them to review

4) Click “Open Document” and the GoCanvas PDF (now hosted by SignNow) indicates which “live fields” can be filled in by the recipient without the need for any downloads or login credentials

5) Once all required fields have been filled in, the recipient presses “Done” and both parties receive a final PDF version of the document instantly

Collecting signatures is sometimes trickier then it sounds.

Whether you are dealing with a remote field staff or serving a wide territory of clients, getting the final signature on a document can sometimes take hours or days when distance separates you.  But now with GoCanvas and SignNow, you can send GoCanvas PDFs to anyone, regardless if they are a subscriber or not, and have them add their information to the document instantly!

This new type of GoCanvas workflow is perfect for companies completing:

  • Proposals
  • Invoices
  • Estimates
  • Purchases Orders
  • Quote Sheets
  • Daily reports

And this is just the beginning!

So if you’re interested in learning more or how you can get this setup on your GoCanvas account, send an email to our Professional Services team at IntegrationTeam@gocanvas.com.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

business people discussing project

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

Closeup of a handshake.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Recology Saves $10K in Four Months by Streamlining Quality Control

woman processing wastewater

How Industry Leader, Recology, Streamlined Quality Control Procedures & Saved $10K in 4 Months

The Background

Since the 1920s, Recology has been a pioneer in the resource recovery industry. Promoting recycling, composting, and various other waste-decreasing programs, Recology has become a major influencer of industry standards. Consisting of 60 operating companies with 3,000+ employees, Recology has become a leader in collecting and processing solid waste while reclaiming useful materials that would have otherwise been buried in landfills.

The Problem

While Recology was experiencing unbelievable growth as a company, they still found themselves seeking a solution to improve their internal data collection processes

The Solution

After decades of using paper-based inspections, Recology decided it was time to convert their safety and operations paperwork into mobile forms with GoCanvas.

Within these departments, Recology had a number of forms they were looking to standardize and automate including:

  • Vehicle Inspections
  • Accident Reports
  • Facility Safety Inspections

At the same time, Recology’s Sustainability team was also working with GoCanvas to design specific mobile forms to help digitize their quality control procedures. Eric Ahnmark, Recology’s Sustainability Program Manager, worked with GoCanvas to design and deploy quality control-centric apps to fit their various needs. These apps enabled Recology to quickly capture data on their smart devices and have it automatically be formatted in professional-looking PDF reports.

GoCanvas is a solution that is flexible, robust, and mobile!”

– Eric Ahnmark

Additionally, Eric, and his team have taken the steps to begin standardizing apps across their entire business – helping Recology to create company-wide data dashboards that will allow for the tracking of contamination sources and much more!

The Outcomes

Since deploying GoCanvas just over 4 months ago, Recology has successfully developed and deployed over 30 mobile form processes across their 60+ operating companies.

With GoCanvas, Recology is now able to easily organize and manage data across their different operational locations with the assistance of GoCanvas Departments. This feature allows large, multi-location/department organizations like Recology to create sub-sections within their main GoCanvas account that can be managed by specially assigned users. Within these departments, Recology has created App Folders that allows field technicians to easily access the specific mobile forms they need for their job.

Today Recology has further solidified their place as an industry leader by increasing their data visibility and improving the way they share data with their customers. In just a few months since deploying GoCanvas, Recology has saved just over $10,000 and have increased their productivity by 19%!

Ready to Rethink How You Work?

GoCanvas has helped a variety of businesses across multiple industries transform their safety processes and rethink their efficiency, ultimately saving them money. Why not do the same? Reach out to one of our experts today to kickstart your process revolution.

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Three Mobile Forms That Every Commercial Paving Company Needs to Have

Three Mobile Forms That Every Commercial Paving Company Needs to Have

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Whether it be commercial, private or infrastructure based – the construction industry continues to grow along with the size of projects. And as the scale and complexity of construction projects continue to increase, the need for efficient document/data management has become critical to the success of any given construction project.

This is the primary reason today that you see many of the top tier construction companies ($100M+ revenue) moving towards ‘enterprise’ construction software, and removing paper-based documentation from their project sites.

But, what about the small and mid-sized firms? And what about the contractors who support these firms and their projects? In many cases, this group is the lifeblood of the Construction industry.

The issue? The majority of these firms are still collecting and sharing data the same way they did it 50+ years ago.

The reason? They feel like they can’t see the ROI in the multi-thousand dollar investment in an enterprise level solution. And this is the reason why GoCanvas was created.

With GoCanvas, you can now create a mobile form platform that fits your budget and data collection needs. This type of flexibility is perfect for people like Sandee Pierce,  Admin Director at Sierra National Asphalt, who was looking to streamline her crew’s daily reports and time sheets.



Since fully ditching their paperwork for GoCanvas, Sandee stated that Sierra National Asphalt loves GoCanvas because “Supervisors do not have to go to job sites to track down and collect time sheets (anymore). The reference data and validation tables have reduced the errors that previously caused corrections by the supervisors and office staff”. 

For small to mid-size construction contractors like Sandee Pierce, GoCanvas has become the go-to solution for companies looking to replace their outdated paper processes without blowing the budget.

If your exploring going paperless with your daily operations process, we have the perfect forms for you!

The specific mobile forms below are handpicked for the Asphalt/Paving industry and are as simple as “Click and Submit” to use. But also keep in mind that all our mobile forms are completely customizable using the GoCanvas App Builder, and can easily be tweaked to fit your existing data collection processes! You can even change the entire look and feel of the output PDF report using the PDF Designer. 

None of these Paving mobile forms a perfect fit? No worries! We have over 20,000 mobile forms in our App Store to fit any use case and/or industry!

For some businesses, their operations are so complex that starting from a mobile form template wouldn’t make sense.

In instances like this, GoCanvas has a special ‘white glove’ program called ‘Send Us Your Form’. This service allows you to scan and email a copy of the current form that you are using today, and we will convert it into a mobile version!

That means that you won’t have to search through our Application Store to find a mobile form that matches your existing process, or take the time to build it out from scratch using the App Builder. We take on the work of digitizing your current paper-based process for you!

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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A electrician inspecting equipment.

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Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Three Advantages of Connecting GoCanvas with Quickbooks

Three Advantages of Connecting GoCanvas with Quickbooks

Managing your bills and expenses can be a real headache. It can require hours of data re-entry and receipt tracking, but that’s not how it has to be. Imagine a solution that would allow all your accounting processes to be managed with a click of a button. We’ve made that possible and, no, you don’t need to implement any new software or fancy tools!

GoCanvas and QuickBooks have created an integration allowing for information to be easily transmitted from one platform to the other. What this means is, when a submission is made in GoCanvas the information is automatically recorded into QuickBooks as well, making it so all your accounting records are updated in real time. This allows you to maximize the way you’re using the platforms you already have!

Here are some different ways optimizing this process could benefit you and your company.

Time is money, and unfortunately, many companies are spending tons of time tracking their money. What an integration between GoCanvas and QuickBooks does is allow for financial managers to get better insight into information in real-time. Instead of tracking down receipts or trying to calculate new invoices for change orders, they can easily pull up the submission and review the data as soon as it is submitted.

Not only is invoicing turnaround time nearly eliminated, but you can also take back the time spent transferring information from one system to the other. The process of manually going through each submission and re-entering the data into the corresponding fields can require hours of productivity from staff. Manual data re-entry isn’t just a hindrance for employees though, it can also affect customer acquisition due to prolonged invoice turnaround times and human errors.

When logging expenses and receivables, accuracy is key. Whether it be for a potential audit, stakeholder visibility, taxes, or budgeting purposes every company wants to have a precise log of what their cash flows look like. With an integration between GoCanvas and QuickBooks, you’re eliminating the potential for manual reporting errors to be while also making you ready to present information for any of these situations at a moment’s notice.

Not only is the potential for reporting errors substantially decreased, but with accurate and real-time reporting, your company can understand its financial standing immediately. When your boss asks you to create a report on company spend and transaction history, you can be sure all the information is up to date and as current as possible allowing for more precise analysis.

A GoCanvas and QuickBooks integration is not limited to simply invoicing, but also encompasses forms and processes such as:

By integrating GoCanvas to QuickBooks, you are able to streamline a list of data-intensive processes that weigh down your back office.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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The 13 Biggest D.C. Tech Hires to Know About from February

Lorem Ipsum The 13 Biggest D.C. Tech Hires to Know About from February

Every month we recap the biggest tech hires and departures in the D.C. area over the past month. To get hiring and other local innovation news daily, sign up for The Beat. Here’s our list of the top hires in D.C. innovation for February:

Lanham, Md.-based 2U hired a new chief privacy officer, the company announced on Feb. 5. Katie Race Brin, who recently served as CPO at the Federal Trade Commission, will help oversee the company’s privacy and security safeguards. While at the FTC, Brin reported to the chairman and counseled them on privacy-related issues, and she also managed the FTC’s internal privacy program.

2U also made a notable board addition on Feb. 22. According to a press release, Greg Peters, the chief product officer at Netflix, has selected 2U as his first board position. Peters is the edtech company’s first tech expert to join the board, and he has been with Netflix for nearly a decade now.

Blackboard hired a new chief financial officer, the company announced on Feb. 6. Rick Essex joined the education technology company on March 2 from Survey Sampling International (SSI), where he served as CFO since 2012. Essex replaces Lisa Mayr who recently joined EverFi as their new CFO.

D.C. startup Arcadia Power expanded its leadership team on Feb. 6 as the company gears up for a big year. With that, the company brought on Sourav Nayak as its VP of finance, Chris Haines as head of product, Nancy Hersh as the data science adviser and Kate Henningsen as SVP of operations and general counsel. Henningsen has already been with Arcadia Power, but in other roles, since 2015.

Alexandria, Va.-based Research Innovations has a new vice president in its ranks as of Feb. 7. Doug Greenlaw joins the team as its new vice president of strategic growth, developing corporate strategy and overseeing long-term growth. Most recently Greenlaw was at Lockheed Martin as their chief executive for Asia.

Reston, Va.-based GoCanvas has a new chief product officer. According to a release on Feb. 13, Ben Foster is joining the mobile platform company as its new chief product officer. Foster’s resume includes a tenure at eBay in the early 2000s before heading to D.C.’s Opower. Since 2014, Foster has been an adviser to more than 40 tech companies up and down the East Coast, including FiscalNote, Contactually and Stardog Union.

Reston, Va.-based cybersecurity startup Graphus added a few key local players to its advisory board. According to a press release, the startup added Bob Korzeniewski, former EVP of VeriSign and CFO of Network Solutions; Bret Kinsella, CEO of Act with Edge and publisher and editor of Voicebot.ai; and Rick Gordon, director of Inova Personalized Health Accelerator and the former managing partner of the MACH37 cyber accelerator.

Alexandria, Va.-based Savi Technology added a Nokia executive to the company’s board of advisors. Johannes Giloth joins the supply chain management software company’s board after more than a decade at Nokia. Currently, Giloth is the chief procurement officer and senior vice president of operations at Nokia where he oversees all aspects of operations accountability.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

business people discussing project

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

Closeup of a handshake.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

GoCanvas Appoints Tech Growth Expert Ben Foster as New Chief Product Officer

GoCanvas Appoints Tech Growth Expert Ben Foster as New Chief Product Officer

RESTON, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GoCanvas, the leading mobile platform empowering companies to automate how work is done, today announced that it had hired Ben Foster as its new Chief Product Officer.

Foster comes to GoCanvas with two decades of experience in product management at technology firms on both coasts, including creating products to help rapidly scale eBay’s business in the early 2000s before joining Washington, D.C.-based energy efficiency software company Opower as they grew to an eventual $1 billion IPO. Since 2014, he has served as an independent product advisor to more than 40 technology companies up and down the East Coast, including FiscalNote, Contactually, Stardog Union, MediaMath, WHOOP, and more. At GoCanvas, Foster will set the strategy and execution of every interaction users have with the company’s platform, in both desktop and mobile forms.

“First and foremost, my role is to define the company’s future software solutions to enable its existing and new customers to automate and modernize their most critical workflows,” Foster said. “Our vision for the next phase of GoCanvas is inspiring, and I am excited to be a part of such a winning team. Together, we will continue to build a great company, further investing in top talent, driving product innovation, and maintaining customer focus.”

Foster brings an extraordinarily broad insight into his long experience in product management. Beyond being an inventor on over a dozen patents, he has helped hone user experiences, amplify product design and build world-class development teams for companies.

“Innovation through the product lies at the heart of our growth plans, making our platform even more powerful for our customers. We are demonstrating this commitment by adding Ben to our leadership team,” added GoCanvas founder and CEO James Quigley. “Ben has a passion for placing customers first and a great track record of building intuitive experiences through his product strategies. We look forward to Ben making an immediate and sustained positive impact on our customer engagement.”

Foster lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, son, and daughter.

GoCanvas is a mobile platform that makes it simple for businesses to automate how work is done, replacing outdated processes and expensive paperwork. The GoCanvas App works on smartphones and tablets, helping companies to easily collect information, share it instantly with others and gain real-time insight of their business operations. GoCanvas can be easily customized by any type of business to empower their workforce, unleashing the value in data across the organization to help them connect better with colleagues and engage more effectively with customers.

GoCanvas is trusted by thousands of businesses throughout 70 countries, automating millions of workplace activities, making it one of the fastest-growing mobile platforms in the world. To learn more, visit www.gocanvas.com.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

business people discussing project

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

Closeup of a handshake.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

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