Getting ready for the year end

Now is one of my favorite times of the year.  We can work on our records without having to be so time constrained (that time is coming next month for all bookkeepers and CPA's).

A wonderful article provided on Intuit's Proline website is listed below:

Proline Article

Sometimes at year end you don't remember all of the tasks that you must do.  This article will remind you.

It is also a wonderful time to go through all of your records (especially if you have not been diligent about doing this monthly) and get them ready for your year end.  I like to make a set of grouped reports that your CPA asks for every year and memorize them.  I am also "old school" and like to print out my General Ledger and sit with a highlighter and highlight things I need to fix or change.  I know that is probably not the "green" thing to do but I find I can go through the records more thoroughly this way.

Another great tip in modifying the above report (and save paper) is to check off the setting to only show accounts in use. 

Enjoy the week and the Christmas Holiday!

New website--a work in progress

Well, I am off and running, (literally, if you see my Facebook page) with my new business and new website. It is still a work in process, which is one of my favorite things to do when working with contractors on their accounting!

It is not quite there yet. Advertising is so important and I know tweaking this website will be happening for the next few weeks until CRUNCH time happens. I will touch on CRUNCH time in another blog posting.

So, feel free to check it out and let me know what you think. I have provided the link below:

Check out my website www.artesanibookkeeping.com

Ch Ch Cha Changes.....

So, I have not blogged since the end of October. I have been busy with the move to Florida, setting up my new business and getting many many clients updated and ready for the end of the year. You see, I have several very good clients who have mastered the art of procrastination. Each year I only hear from them at the beginning of the year. They promise to be better in their record keeping, try to do it more on a regular basis. But, they never do. Knowing that I was heading south to Florida, I offered them the opportunity to get their "house in order" for the new year. Surprise, surprise, they took me up on the offer. So, I have been working on some clients files and doing 10 mos. worth of record keeping.

This is a much better time of year to do this type of work for me because I don't have that deadline (March 15th) looming over my head. I usually have to get the data to the CPA no later than the second week of February and when I get 20 different clients wanting my services, I have no choice but to do them in order as how I have seen them throughout the year. This usually means that the procrastinators end up at the end of my pile and I usually work till the wee hours of the evening trying to get their records ready for processing. Not an easy task.

Maybe this year will be better for the procrastinators. Who knows. I have done 10 mos. worth of work so I will only need to complete the final two months to get their records current and to the CPA.

I am going to blog for my new website when I have it up and running. That is a task I have not completed yet. Hopefully, I will have it up by the end of this week. I am finally feeling like I have settled in. Yeah! It also feels really good when it is 72 degrees here in Estero, Florida and they have had their first snowfall in Rhode Island.

Check out my website at the end of this week at www.artesanibookkeeping.com (formerly Rhode Island Bookkeeping).

New Features in QuickBooks 2010 - Forms Design Wizard

Well, I cannot wait to play around with this feature. From the webinar that I watched, you will have many more ways to customize your invoices in 2010 version. I usually use the layout designer and it looks like there will be many more templates to choose from as well. I still have not loaded my company into 2010 version. I have been reading other ProAdvisor's blogs and there are still some kinks that need to be worked out.

I should be settled in next week to get working on my paperwork that will be shipped down here to sunny Florida. I will have lots of time to play around in the program and will update this blog once I have actually used the new version. I think I will steal from Joe Woodward's rating system and come up with my own and rate what I think is good and bad in 2010 version.

So stay tuned......

Lynda


Check out my website www.rhodeislandbookkeeping.com

Enterprise Solutions 2010 - New Feature Custom Fields

Back to a feature that I will definitely use for one of my companies is the new custom fields. I have a real estate company that I use all of the custom fields available. Now they have added more and allowed us to make drop down lists for selections. For example, I have a custom field for "Pets" that I have a blank space that I manually type in dog or cat for my selection. Now I will be able to make a customized drop down list where I can select "dog" or "cat".

Okay, so that won't save me a ton of time, but I am sure I will be able to use this new feature for other areas of some of the companies that I use.

Lynda

Check out my website www.rhodeislandbookkeeping.com

New Features in QuickBooks 2010 - Electronic Signature

Okay, now for a feature that I am definitely not in favor of:

Adding an electronic signature

So, I may be "old school" but I think you should sign every check in your business. I don't believe in having a signature stamp either. I have done forensic audits for far too many businesses and find that this is an area where you need to be diligent about your record keeping. It is too easy for a staff member to write themselves a check and use a stamp and this new feature in QuickBooks allows for you to save a digital signature and have it pre-print onto a check. There is NO SECURITY using this method. There is no controls in place for your business. So unless you plan on being the only person with access to the signature and checks for your business, I would skip this new feature entirely.

Lynda
Check out my website www.rhodeislandbookkeeping.com

New Features in QuickBooks 2010 - Favorites

QuickBooks 2010 has added another new feature similar to many programs on your pc. It nows has a "favorites" button where you can store your favorite areas of QuickBooks that you use. You can save favorite reports there too.

While I understand that some may need to use this new feature, I am not sure that I will use it. Of course, I was slow to be a believer in the Home Page. It wasn't until a staff member asked me to stop shutting it off because they use it before I started using it. I liked the old way of using the icon bar and did not see a need for it. Then I found the home page to be such a useful tool when I taught QuickBooks. So, maybe I will use the favorites area of QuickBooks 2010. Only time will tell.

Lynda


Check out my website www.rhodeislandbookkeeping.com