How Midwest CPA saves 15 hours a month with Retriever

Challenge

Chris Barrett, the owner of Midwest CPA – an accounting firm with an emphasis on serving business buyers and owners – faced a common challenge: creating customized financial reports that met each of his client's unique needs while avoiding creating a burden on his team's efficiency.

• Tedious exports from QuickBooks Online to Excel

• Formatting and customization for each client

• Manual "rollforwards" each month

• Difficulty refreshing data without repeating the entire process

• Balancing the need for customization with practical time constraints

Solution

Chris and the team at Midwest CPA partnered with Retriever to build custom reports that were simple to refresh:

• Direct data synchronization between QuickBooks and Google Sheets

• One-click and zero-click refresh capability for updated financial data

• Custom report building flexibility within the familiar Google Sheets environment

• Cost-effective reporting solution compared to alternatives

Results

Since implementing Retriever, Midwest CPA has experienced:

Simplified Workflow: "It feels so simple. I can export everything from QuickBooks into a Google Sheet quickly now versus downloading to Excel."

Enhanced Customization: "All of our clients want to see their EBITDA or custom metrics mapped out in specific ways that aren't readily available in QuickBooks. A spreadsheet ultimately is what you need, and Retriever makes this possible by syncing with Google Sheets."

Time Savings: "Once it's built, it's built, and then I just want to be able to refresh it."

Cost Efficiency: "It's such a fundamental problem that needed to be solved, and at not $10,000 a year per client."

Key Benefits

• Client-Specific Reporting: Every business has unique reporting needs, and Retriever allows Midwest CPA to build exactly what each client requires

• Seamless Data Updates: One-click refresh functionality eliminates redundant work

• Familiar Interface: Leverages Google Sheets, a platform most users already understand

• Affordability: Enterprise-level functionality at a fraction of the cost of competing solutions

"Every business is a little different. You can have all these tools that do fancy stuff, but I often feel like they're missing the point. I want to build a spreadsheet, and once it's built, I just want to be able to refresh it. It's such a fundamental problem, and one that really needed to be solved."

— Chris Barrett, Managing Director/Owner, Midwest CPA

About Retriever

Retriever is a Google Sheets app that syncs QuickBooks reports, enabling accounting professionals to create custom financial reports with live data connections.

If you have any questions or would like to speak with a human, please reach out to me at aubrey@retrieverhq.com.

Get started right now

Install the app from the Google Marketplace or book a demo to begin.

Adam W.

Owner

Axis Accounting

(5/5)

Best Customer Support and Google Integration

November 2025

I've tried many ways to integrate QBO with Excel or Google Sheets. Retriever met all of my usecases and then some. I have built amazing dashboards and budgets for my clients using Google Sheets and Retriever! They love them. The customer support is really amazing. Anytime I have a simple question, a complex build query, or feedback on features, the support is always fast and friendly! Highly recommend!!

Source: QuickBooks App Store