Tag Archives: bookkeeping software

Ilene Eisen to Speak at Inuit Virtual Conference

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Ilene will be speaking that the Intuit Virtual Conference , Wednesday December 10, 2014  she will be presenting:

QuickBooks Desktop Accountant: Your Friend at Year End (Part 1 of 2)

This course has been designed to introduce the accounting professional to strategies for working with your clients’ QuickBooks company files at month‐end or year‐end. It provides an overview of  the tools and features that streamline the process of evaluating and correcting your client’s QuickBooks data as well as those tools and features that enable you to work efficiently and directly with your client on month‐end and year‐end accounting processes & financial reporting. These tools are available with your QuickBooks Accountant Desktop Plus 2015 subscription or QuickBooks Accountant Desktop 2015 software, and QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant 15.0 software

QuickBooks Desktop Accountant: Your Friend at Year End (Part 2 of 2)

Your clients’ QuickBooks data is seldom clean enough or complete enough for you to use when preparing their year‐end financial statements and / or income tax returns. In this session, we will “walk through the Balance Sheet” using the tools and features covered in the previous session (QuickBooks Desktop Accountant: Your Friend at Year End ‐ Part 1) to quickly find AND correct mistakes, allowing you to confidently use the QuickBooks trial balance to prepare your clients’ returns. You will also learn proactive steps you can take with your clients to keep their data accurate throughout the year – to streamline both income tax return preparation and periodic financial statement preparation.

 

Ilene Eisen to Speak at QuickBooks Connect

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Ilene will be speaking that the Intuit Conference QuickBooks Connect in San Jose, California, Monday October 20, 2014 she will be presenting Mastering QuickBooks Inventory in Pro and Premier. This session will highlight the inventory features and strategies that Ilene uses when working with client to create an efficient workflow and accurate reports.  The session complete description is:

Managing Inventory can be quite complicated in any business! QuickBooks has features and tools that will help non-accountants manage the process. This course covers inventory concepts to help you understand the process and then introduces features and tools to purchase inventory, sell Inventory Parts, and enter Inventory adjustments.

Management should also understand the concepts, and use the tools provided, review reports, and be an active participant in the process to enhance internal controls. For this reason, we will also discuss reports, the reconciliation process, and an evaluation tool to easily identify errors and issues.

There are various versions of QuickBooks and we will discuss the inventory features that are available in QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, and QuickBooks Accountant version so that the user can assess their needs and purchase or upgrade to the version that is best suited for their Inventory needs.

New QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Subscription Plans

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This month Intuit changed the way they sell NEW versions QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions (QBES), it is now sold on an annual subscription and will no longer function if the subscription is not renewed.  In addition to the Subscription, there are three packages that a customer chooses from, Silver includes Advanced Reporting, Gold includes advanced Reporting and Enhanced Payroll, and Platinum which includes advanced Reporting, Enhanced Payroll, Advanced Inventory, and Advanced Pricing.  Customers who currently own QBES will not be affected by this change.

Selling QBES on a subscription basis is a major change in the relationship between Intuit and the end user.  In the past a customer would purchase the software and had the option of purchasing the Full Service Plan (FSP) after the first year to keep the software current, if you did not purchase the FSP plan annually the software would continue to work, however you no longer receive product updates, online backup and technical support services.

The advantage of the subscription plan is that it is less expensive to add Enhanced Payroll and Advanced Inventory especially for customers with fewer users. The new price structure is also easier for customers to understand without having to price add-ons like payroll, Advanced Inventory and Advanced Pricing.  If the new structure reduces your cost, you can contact Intuit to switch to the subscription model, however this would be a non-revocable decision.

The disadvantage is that if you do not renew the subscription on an annual basis you will lose the ability to use or access your accounting software.

Technical Support Scams

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I wanted to make you aware of a Technical Support Scam.  I keep getting calls from someone who says they are from Microsoft or Windows technical support.  I know that these calls are not legitimate since I have not reported any issues and they are calling on my home phone which I never use for software registration purposes.   If you get one of these calls and you are not expecting a call from technical support you should not engage the caller.  For more information on this issue, please see the following Microsoft statement on their Safety & Security Center site:  http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/avoid-phone-scams.aspx

 

Creating a QuickBooks Period Copy

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There are times when you may need to send someone a copy of your QuickBooks company file but you do not want to give them access to all transactions.  This could be in response to the Internal Revenue Service, a subpoena, lawsuit, etc.  Once the decision has been made to supply specific information, you can use a utility available in the Accountant version of QuickBooks or QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Accountant  to create a “Period Copy” of your data file.

I recommend that you make a backup of your file, Restore the backup to your computer using a different file name, and then make a period copy from this backup.  Therefore you will not be affecting the company file.  Keep in mind that creating the period copy can take several minutes to several hours depending on the size of the company file, I generally run this overnight.  Below are the instructions for how to make the period copy using the newly created data file

File Menu – Utilities – Condense Data

In the Condense Data screen select the third option “Transactions outside a date range (to prepare a period copy of the company file),  Enter your Date Range , Select Next

Select create one summary journal entry (recommended), Select Next

Select Summarize Inventory Transactions (recommended), Select Next

Select all the listed in the next two screens, Select Next

Select Begin Condense

After the utility runs verify that the balances are correct !

Tax Time Resolutions

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Once again we’ve seen another tax deadline come and go!  Each year preparing the books and records for the tax preparer is a task that takes time and energy from things that we would prefer to do.  For many it’s also a learning experience to see what your annual profits actually were.  Wouldn’t it be nice to know how you are doing during the year so you could make adjustments and increase your revenue?

Now is the time to talk to your tax preparer and accounting staff about your recordkeeping practices.  I have found that additional training and/or upgrading bookkeeping practices usually saves considerable time and increases the accuracy and timeliness of your records.

Accounting Software Formats

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Many firms are looking to upgrade or replace their accounting software.  They look forward to a more efficient system but are concerned about making such a large change and the consequences of making the wrong decision.  In the past we looked at fairly similar features and the higher the price the better the software we found.  Today all bets are off and it’s hard to even compare prices of possible solutions. 

The accounting software ecosystem has changed and there are terms that we may not be familiar with or we may not completely understand.  In this article, I’d like to discuss the options:  cloud applications, hosted software, client-server software, and desktop software.  All of these options are very different and the option you choose will significantly affect your access, functionality, workflow, and costs.

Cloud Applications are programs that reside on the software provider’s servers and they are installed and updated by the provider.  You will not need to maintain servers or take daily backups, examples of such applications are QuickBooks Online, NetSuite,and  Xero. 

Hosted Applications are not really a program but a hybrid solution where you select an accounting solution that meets your needs and it is installed on a server provided by a “hosting” company.  This option allows you to choose a software package that meets all your needs without having to maintain a server and the necessary IT staff. 

Client Server Applications are programs that reside on your server and are accessed from various workstations.  The computing is performed at the server and therefore is faster and does not require as robust workstations.  

Desktop Applications are programs that vary from very basic to advanced software that reside on your workstation/computer,  These applications can be single user or accessed by other users on your network. The computing is performed at your computer and will be dependent upon the speed of your computer (and network if shared with other users) Examples of such applications are QuickBooks, and Peachtree. 

I hope this summary has helped you understand the Accounting Software options and will help you narrow down an appropriate software for your business.  

 

What is the best QuickBooks Program for Managing MY Inventory?

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Many clients have inventory and struggle with how to manage the inventory effectively and easily.  Although QuickBooks does have inventory functionality in QuickBooks Pro/Premier and Enterprise, there are various add-on solutions that are also be helpful for your specific needs.  To determine the correct version and add-ons I’ve created the summary below. Retail businesses should also review the Point of Sale section. 

Quick Books Pro

Inventory functionality is very basic.

  1.  Inventory features are designed for businesses that buys and sells the same items over and over again (ie Antique Shops buy and sell different items).
  2. These businesses do not assemble items or repackage them and only have one location.

QuickBooks Premier

Inventory functionality of QuickBooks Pro and

  1. Ability to assemble items (remove raw materials from inventory and replace with finished goods or repackage in smaller quantities.)
  2. Create Sales Orders to manage partial shipments of goods and manage unfulfilled orders

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions

Inventory functionality of QuickBooks Premier and

  1. Ability to use custom fields in transaction to configure orders
  2. Ability to add-on Advanced Inventory (annual fee)
    1. Use Multiple Inventory Locations
    2. Track Lot and Serial Numbers
    3. Bar Code Tracking

QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS)

This is a separate program that integrates with the other QuickBooks programs mentioned but is designed to work in a retail environment and function as a cash register.   

  1. Ability to run daily cash register reports.
  2. Ability to track individual cashiers
  3. Bar Code Tracking
  4. Multi-Store ability
  5. Styles view to see inventory availably by 2 designated features (i.e. size, color)

Should I Process My Own Payroll or Use a Payroll Service?

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The best time to change payroll processing is at the beginning of the year.  Therefore it’s time to look at your payroll processing and determine if it meets your needs.

The first question is, to determine if you want to be responsible for preparing your payroll returns and paying tax payments…

  • I would suggest that only organizations with a full time Payroll or Hunan Resource specialist take on this responsibility since the fines and penalties can be substantial, if errors are made or deadlines missed.

The second question is, if you outsource your payroll, how do you choose a payroll processor or service?

  • If you are a small business and do not use accounting software, check with your Tax Preparer to see who they recommend or if they provide this service.
  • If your accounting software processes payroll ask if the accounting software company also offers full service payroll that will integrate with your software and post the payroll to your records saving you time and increasing efficiently, while handling the regulatory duties of filing payroll returns and making tax deposits.
    • Many large software vendors now provide full service options such as Intuit and Sage.
  • If you need job costing and/or you are billing customers for time it’s important to get a processor who will integrate with your accounting software.  Keep in mind that the best integration will be provided by the publisher of your accounting software as mentioned above.
  • If you need advanced Human Resources features you will probably be happier with a national payroll processor that has these options.

When making payroll decisions it’s always a good idea to check with your CPA and software consultant for additional information and insight on the issue.

 

 

Should I choose an In-House, Hosted, or Cloud based Accounting Software Solution?

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Lately I’ve received many calls asking about cloud based accounting software solutions and in particular QuickBooks Online.  My answer to these questions tends to be a lengthy discussion of the needs of the client.  Here are my thoughts…

Find the software that meets your needs first.  Many cloud applications require the use of various add-ons to achieve the total solution while in-house software may have all the functionality needed in one product.  If the in-house product is a better match for the business, it can be hosted by various companies and you still have the option of a 24/7 solution. 

If you have a cloud based or hosted solution, you can access your data and program 24/7 and multiple users have access from any location or device that connects to the internet.  That sounds great but there are the issues to address:

  • Connectivity – Vendor issues that may not allow you to access your data, what is their history?
  • Security – What security is available and does it meet the legal requirements of you industry?
  • Costs – Expect a monthly fee per user or company file.  I am not a fan of free solutions.
  • Backups – Do you have the ability to download your data in a usable format?

If you choose an in-house solution you have more control, however there are also issues to address:

  • Connectivity – Do you have remote users that need to log into the system?
  • Security – How will you provide the proper level of security for your business?
  • Costs –What are the software costs, annual renewals/updates, and cost of maintaining server?
  • Backups – What is your backup strategy?

These are just some of the issues you will need to consider.