Question 1

How much does SmallBiz App Suite cost?

Accepted Answer

Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial so you can explore before you commit. After that it is a one-time purchase, not a software subscription: $297 (Solo), $347 (Team — includes Network Marketing), $597 (Commerce), and $747 (Abacus Pro). Executive is $2,500 one-time plus $297/month for Ongoing Technical Support & Performance Improvements. Every plan also has a $20/month hosting fee, billed directly by Abacus, that keeps your app online.

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Question 2

Is there an ongoing subscription after I buy my app?

Accepted Answer

Your app is a one-time purchase — no software subscription (just the $20/month hosting fee paid directly to Abacus). Beyond that, we offer an optional ongoing membership (starting at $29/month) for business owners who want monthly strategy and mindset coaching, resource placement, accountability check-ins, and priority support. It is completely optional and you can cancel anytime.

Question 3

Who are SmallBiz App Suite’s competitors?

Accepted Answer

Most small business owners piece together several separate tools that each do one job: a digital business card app (such as HiHello or Popl), a CRM (such as HubSpot or Zoho), a client-management tool (such as HoneyBook or Dubsado), invoicing software (such as FreshBooks or QuickBooks), a scheduling tool (such as Calendly), and a storefront (such as Shopify). Those are the tools we compete with. Most of them are separate monthly subscriptions with separate logins. SmallBiz App Suite puts your card, contacts and CRM, invoicing, goals, storefront, AI assistant Alfred, and (on Executive) a booking page and a weekly Digital Technology Officer briefing into one app you own with a one-time purchase, plus the $20/month hosting fee. We don’t try to replace your accountant’s books: Executive includes a QuickBooks Online connection (activating soon). Each of those tools may go deeper in its own specialty, so compare what you actually use today against the tier that fits.

Question 4

Does SmallBiz App Suite provide KPI metrics?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and the metrics grow with your tier. Every tier shows your invoicing numbers (outstanding, overdue, and collected this month) and a Contact Insights page with source and campaign performance: which channels, links and QR codes bring in contacts and how many became clients. Solo tracks progress on one goal, and Team and up add goal analytics across all your goals. Executive adds a weekly Digital Technology Officer briefing with new leads and hot contacts, money collected, outstanding and overdue invoices, spending by category, net after expenses, upcoming bookings, open onboarding checklists, active goals and QR scans, plus an AI-written monthly business report. Executive also includes AI Performance Intelligence (rolling out): estimated hours saved, a Response Quality Score, a Rework Rate, and Churn Risk alerts. Your numbers come from what you record in the app, so they are only as complete as what you enter.

Question 5

Which tier is right for me?

Accepted Answer

Solo is for a one-person business that needs a professional identity, a contact list, client invoicing, and one goal tracked. Team adds branded cards for your staff, the full Network Marketing module, the sales pipeline and follow-up reminders, and the full MileMarker Goals. Commerce adds an online storefront and an expense tracker. Abacus Pro adds the AI tools and hands-on setup. Executive is for an established business whose owner wants a Digital Technology Officer keeping watch over clients, money, goals, and AI quality every week. Each tier includes everything in the tiers below it.

Question 6

Can I start simple and add more later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. SmallBiz Suite is designed to begin with a professional digital identity and expand into additional tools as your business needs change. Moving up keeps everything you have already built — your card, contacts, invoices, and goals stay in the same account. Review the tier comparison for current inclusions.

Question 7

What does the built-in CRM (My Contacts) do?

Accepted Answer

Every tier includes My Contacts: people who share their details through your QR code, card, or forms land in one contact list with a timeline of every touch, and you can export it to CSV anytime. Team and up add a drag-and-drop sales pipeline and follow-up reminders. Abacus Pro and up add Alfred’s AI help: a Focus 5 list of who to contact next, AI research on a contact, and AI-drafted follow-up messages that you review before sending.

Question 8

Does the AI ever send anything to my clients without me?

Accepted Answer

No. Alfred drafts; you decide. AI-drafted follow-ups appear in your dashboard for you to edit, copy, or open in your own email program, so clients always hear from your own email address. Invoices go out only when you click Send.

Question 9

How do I know the AI is actually doing a good job?

Accepted Answer

On the Executive tier, AI Performance Intelligence (rolling out to Executive members) measures quality, not just speed. It shows estimated hours saved compared with your own “before AI” times, a Response Quality Score based on how heavily you edited each AI draft and whether a follow-up needed a correction, a Rework Rate for resolved requests that came back within 72 hours, Churn Risk alerts when a client goes quiet for twice their usual gap (at least 14 days), and a weekly Quality vs. Speed verdict. Hours saved are estimates, only replies logged in the app are measured, and churn alerts are warning signs, not predictions.

Question 10

What is the Executive tier and the Digital Technology Officer (DTO)?

Accepted Answer

Executive puts a Digital Technology Officer in charge of your business admin. You get a weekly business briefing with one recommended action; alerts for overdue invoices, hot leads not contacted, unusual expenses, goals behind schedule, at-risk clients, and dropping AI quality; an AI-written monthly business report in plain English; a public booking page that feeds your CRM; onboarding checklists for clients and new hires; a QuickBooks Online connection (activating soon); AI Performance Intelligence; and Ongoing Technical Support & Performance Improvements directly from Don, with a log of every upgrade. It includes everything in Solo, Team, Commerce, and Abacus Pro.

Question 11

What does the $297/month Executive support plan cover, and what if I cancel?

Accepted Answer

Ongoing Technical Support & Performance Improvements covers support tickets answered by Don and the ongoing upgrades to your app, each listed in your “what’s new” log. If you cancel, you keep your software and all your data; only new performance improvements and direct support stop. You can restart it later from your dashboard.

Question 12

Does it connect to QuickBooks?

Accepted Answer

Executive includes a QuickBooks Online connection so invoices flow into your books without double entry. It is activating soon and works with QuickBooks Online only (not QuickBooks Desktop). Until it is switched on, you can still export expenses to CSV for your bookkeeper.

Question 13

How does client invoicing and getting paid work?

Accepted Answer

From Solo up, you create branded invoices (your logo and colors come from your business card), add line items and an optional tax rate, and send them. Your client gets an email with a secure pay link, pays through Stripe, and the invoice is marked paid automatically with a notification to you. Card details are entered on Stripe’s secure payment page, not stored in SmallBiz Suite. Unpaid invoices past their due date are flagged as overdue.

Question 14

Who owns my data, and can I get it out?

Accepted Answer

Your business data belongs to you. You can export your contacts and expenses to CSV at any time, and on Executive, cancelling the support plan never removes your software or your data.

Question 15

Is my information secure?

Accepted Answer

Your dashboard is protected by your own login, passwords are stored encrypted (hashed), and you choose what appears on your public card. Payments are handled by Stripe, so card numbers never pass through or stay in SmallBiz Suite.

Question 16

Does it replace my accountant, lawyer, or tax advisor?

Accepted Answer

No. SmallBiz Suite organizes your information and helps you act on it, and Alfred’s reports are written only from your own data. Tax, payroll, legal, and accounting decisions still belong with a licensed professional. Many owners use the monthly report and CSV exports to make those conversations faster.

Question 17

Does SmallBiz Suite replace every business tool I use?

Accepted Answer

SmallBiz Suite brings key parts of your business presence into one place. It is designed to reduce unnecessary complexity, while complementing specialized or enterprise tools where those are appropriate.

Question 18

Who is behind SmallBiz App Suite, and how do I get help?

Accepted Answer

SmallBiz App Suite is built by Don Short Solutions and runs on the Abacus AI platform. The SmallBiz Suite Assistant answers questions on this site anytime. Abacus Pro includes onboarding, training, and priority support, and Executive members open support tickets that Don answers directly.

Question 19

What is MileMarker Goals?

Accepted Answer

MileMarker Goals turns a big business goal into milestones you can see and check off. It is included in every tier at no extra cost: Solo gets one active goal with milestones and progress tracking free, and Team and up get unlimited goals, AI-drafted roadmaps, Coach Alfred, reminders, branded progress reports, team sharing, calendar sync, and analytics.

Question 20

How does Alfred help me reach my goals?

Accepted Answer

Roadmaps & Accountability is Alfred’s fifth duty. Tell him the goal, your deadline, and how many hours a week you can give it, and (from the Team tier up) he drafts the milestones for you to edit. He flags what is due or slipping, answers “what should I do next?” based on your real milestones, and writes progress reports you can share. On Executive, goals that fall behind show up as alerts in your DTO briefing.

Question 21

What can Alfred Advisor do?

Accepted Answer

Alfred Advisor is the business advisor inside your dashboard. Every tier gets seven exact calculators (loan payment and amortization, break-even, pricing margin, 12-month cash flow, ROI, cost of your time, and commission), each with a downloadable CSV. Abacus Pro and Executive also get the Ask Alfred chat: ask a business question in plain English, and Alfred runs the exact calculator when numbers are involved, thinks harder on strategy, legal, hiring and funding questions, and can use your own invoices, expenses, pipeline and goals if you switch that on. A Research the web tab searches for current rates, rules and competitors and cites its sources. Alfred gives information, not licensed legal, tax or financial advice.

Question 22

What is Alfred’s Read? Is it a personality test?

Accepted Answer

No. Alfred’s Read is a communication guide for a contact, not a personality test. Paste a few of their emails or your notes, or answer a quick 6-question check-in, and Alfred estimates how they like to communicate (with a confidence level), the best way to approach them, what to do and avoid, their best channel, and ready-to-use lines. It uses only what you provide; nothing is scraped from LinkedIn or other sites, and it must never be used for hiring, credit, insurance or housing decisions. Solo includes 3 reads a month; Team and up get unlimited reads and sequence emails written in each contact’s style; Abacus Pro and up also style AI drafts and auto-sent emails. Every tier also gets Alfred’s Short List: 4 to 5 high-quality contacts every other day, each with a how-to-approach tip, so you never face 100 names in one weekend.

Question 23

What is Fit Finder?

Accepted Answer

Alfred’s Fit Finder rates businesses for how well they fit something you are building: a partnership, a membership group, a vendor list, a client base or an acquisition. You describe your ideal fit once (or let Alfred draft it from a paragraph), add businesses one at a time, paste a list of up to 25, or pick companies from My Contacts, and Alfred gives each one a Fit Score from 0 to 100, a letter grade, a verdict, category scores, a must-have checklist, concerns, questions to ask on the first call and a draft first email. One click adds a good fit to your CRM and Sales Pipeline. Abacus Pro includes one Ideal Fit Profile and 50 analyses a month; Executive gets unlimited profiles, a fair-use 300 analyses a month, branded fit reports you can share by link, and new strong fits in the DTO briefing.

Question 24

Where does Fit Finder get its information?

Accepted Answer

Only from what you give it: the business name, your notes, any CRM notes on a linked contact, and, only if you tick the box, the text of the single website page you enter. Fit Finder does not crawl websites, scrape LinkedIn or social media, or buy data. When information is missing, Alfred says so, lowers his confidence, and adds a question for you to ask instead of guessing. It is decision support for choosing business relationships and must never be used for credit, lending, insurance, hiring or housing decisions.

Question 25

Can SmallBizSuite run my projects, proposals and cash flow too?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every tier gets Projects & Tasks (Solo: up to 3 open projects) and can turn a project into an invoice draft in one click; Team and up get unlimited projects, task assignees and Alfred's AI task plans, plus a Content Planner calendar and Tax Prep checklists to get organized before you meet your tax professional. Commerce and up add Proposals your clients accept or decline online (you are emailed the moment they answer, and an accepted proposal becomes an invoice in one click) and a 30/60/90-day Cash Flow forecast that warns you before a shortfall. Abacus Pro adds "Draft with Alfred" for posts and newsletters; nothing is ever posted for you automatically. Executive owners see overdue projects and cash-flow warnings in the DTO briefing. The forecast is an estimate from your own numbers, and the checklists are organizing help, not tax advice.

Question 26

How do the Sales Pipeline and Email Sequences work?

Accepted Answer

From the Team tier up, every contact can carry a deal: a stage (New, Qualified, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed Won or Closed Lost), a dollar value, a win probability and an expected close date, shown on a drag-and-drop pipeline board. Team also gets Email Sequences: enroll a new contact in a four-step nurture series (a thank-you right away, a follow-up on day 3, a helpful resource on day 7 and a soft ask on day 14). Alfred drafts every email, and on Team you approve each one before it sends. Abacus Pro and up add Alfred’s Monday pipeline briefing (total active pipeline, deals closing this week, and deals with no activity in 14 days or more), and you can switch on automatic enrollment of newly captured contacts and automatic sending. The Sequences dashboard shows active sequences, open rates and the next scheduled email, and every email includes an unsubscribe link.

Question 27

What exactly is a digital business card?

Accepted Answer

It is a modern replacement for paper cards — a beautiful web page with your photo, title, bio, contact details, and links. Update it anytime and everyone who has your link always sees the latest version. No reprinting, ever.

Question 28

What happens after someone scans my QR code or opens my link?

Accepted Answer

They arrive at your branded SmallBiz profile, where they can learn about you, find the information you choose to share, and take the next available action, such as contacting you, exploring a resource, booking time, or viewing an offer.

Question 29

What does the Network Marketing module include?

Accepted Answer

Six powerful tools built into one dashboard: a visual downline genealogy tree so you can see your entire organization at a glance, a drag-and-drop recruiting pipeline (Kanban board) to move prospects from first contact through enrollment, customizable rank tracking with progress bars and a leaderboard, an activity tracker for calls, presentations, follow-ups, and events with trend charts, a team dashboard with growth and performance analytics, and QR-powered prospecting that generates personalized codes for every team member — when someone scans, the new lead is automatically attributed to the right person.

Question 30

How does the QR prospecting work for network marketing?

Accepted Answer

Each team member gets their own personalized QR codes tied to specific campaigns (events, business cards, flyers — anything). When a prospect scans the code, they land on a lead capture page and their information flows straight into that team member's recruiting pipeline — no manual data entry. You can track scans, conversions, and which campaigns perform best, all in real time.

Question 31

Can I customize the rank system for my team?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. You define your own rank ladder — name each level, set the color, and choose the requirements to qualify (calls made, presentations given, team size, active members, personal recruits). The system automatically calculates each member's progress toward the next rank and displays it on their profile with visual progress bars.

Question 32

Is the Network Marketing module ready for a mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every feature runs on a professional-grade REST API with secure token-based authentication, so a companion mobile app can plug directly into the same backend — same data, same accounts, same login. Your team can carry their genealogy tree, pipeline, activity tracker, and QR codes right in their pocket.

Question 33

Does SmallBiz Suite include telehealth and business funding?

Accepted Answer

Yes — every tier includes both. The Health and Telehealth module provides information about affordable 24/7 virtual healthcare, and the Business Funding module covers working capital, invoice factoring, equipment financing, and more. Book a free consultation to explore your options.

Question 34

Is ongoing membership required?

Accepted Answer

No. Membership is optional. It is available for owners who want ongoing strategy, coaching, resources, and support after launch.

Run your whole business from one hub you actually own — with a Chief of Staff who never lets a lead slip.

A professional presence that does more than look good

Digital business card

One shareable link

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Alfred’s Read & Short List

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Proposals & cash flow

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How it works

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Your AI Chief of Staff — not just another chatbot.

Attention & Infiltration

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The Monday-Morning CEO Briefing

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When someone is interested, give them somewhere useful to go.

Pick a tier. Own it forever.

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Everything you need to know

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