07Jan 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Lesson 1-Getting Started; FREE QuickBooks for Contractors Training eBook

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks
Well it's Freebie Friday again here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog.  With the new year, we have a whole bunch of NEW ebook lined up to offer you.  We hope you enjoy them and that you'll take the time to leave us a brief comment as to what you think about them. And now, with no further delay.............this week's ebook is........... Lesson 1 - Getting Started; Introducing QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition. Lesson 1 - Getting Started is intended for new QuickBooks users or users who feel that they would like a “refresher” course and will: Discuss why you need to keep books for your business. Discuss why you need to keep books from the IRS's point of view. Using Forms and Registers to record transactions. Teach you how to…
Read More
10Dec 2010 by Nancy Smyth

Free QuickBooks Ebooks – FREEBIE Friday

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, QuickBooks 2011 - What's New?
Welcome to Freebie Friday here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog:-) Below is a list of the current QuickBooks related eBooks that we have available - I do have several new ebooks that are ready to go, but you'll have to wait until after the first of the year in order to have access to them as I'm in the midst of moving our main website to a new platform and I don't want to have to fix anymore links than necessary. What's New in QuickBooks 2011 142 pages covering the new features of QuickBooks 2011.  This eBook has been moved to our Learn to use QuickBooks in your construction business webshite where you can complete our simple request form to gain instant access to this ebook.  Request your copy…
Read More
03Dec 2010 by Nancy Smyth

#QuickBooks for Contractors Freebie Friday Tracking Subcontractors Insurance

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks
Each Friday, here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog,  we will be offering a free QuickBooks related eBook, offering tips, tricks, and training – so stayed tuned, visit often or sign up to have our posts delivered daily via email. This week’s eBook provides information and tips for setting up a system to track Subcontractors Workers Compensation and General Liability Insurance expiration dates. When a contractor works on a construction project and he/she hires subcontractors; one of the things that he is required to keep on file is a CURRENT copy of each subcontractors Worker's Compensation Insurance Policy and a copy of their General Liability Insurance. Keeping track of expiration dates and making sure that you always have a copy of the current policy on hand, can be a daunting…
Read More
19Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

#QuickBooks for Contractors Freebie Friday Prevailing Wage Fringes

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks
Each Friday, here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog,  we will be offering a QuickBooks related eBook, offering tips, tricks, and training – so stayed tuned, visit often or sign up to have our posts delivered daily via email. This week's eBook provides information on paying and tracking prevailing wage fringe benefits, when you work on a government funded construction project that requires the submission of certified payroll reports.  Tracking fringes gets quite complicated, as they can be: paid to a Union on behalf of the employee paid to a bona-fide fringe benefit plan on behalf of the employee paid in cash to the employee or, a portion of the total hourly fringe benefit amount can be split between payments to a bona-fide plan with the balance in cash to…
Read More
12Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks for Contractors-Freebie Friday Job Cost Equipment

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Job Costing Tips
Each Friday, here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog,  we will be offering a free or fee-based QuickBooks related eBook, offering tips, tricks, and training – so stayed tuned, visit often or sign up to have our posts delivered daily via email. As a contractor, determining the cost-per-hour for each piece of equipment or machinery  that your company owns and uses on a job site is a great tool for understanding, and even eventually, recouping the actual cost of the machine itself.   Once you have this information, you can improve the accuracy of your bidding, book equipment and machinery costs in your accounting software, and even identify ways in which you can maximize expenditures throughout the year. QuickBooks doesn't automatically have a way of job costing equipment, so this week…
Read More
05Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

#QuickBooks for Contractors blog-Freebie Friday eBook Giveaway

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Payroll Tips
Welcome to the launch of "Freebie Friday's" here on the #QuickBooks for Contractors blog. Each Friday we will be offering a free and fee-based QuickBooks related eBook, offering tips, tricks, and training - so stayed tuned, visit often or sign up to have our posts delivered daily via email. To start off our Freebie Friday's eBook series, we are offering a 19-page eBook called Payroll Mistakes - It's Not As Easy as 1-2-3 ; it seemed appropriate since year end payroll is just around the corner.  After all, payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance.  Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained.  If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks it can…
Read More
14Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Job Costing – Determining Equipment Costs per Hour

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Job Costing Tips
Determining the cost-per-hour for each piece of equipment or machinery  that your company owns and uses on a job site is a great tool for understanding, and even eventually, recouping the actual cost of the machine itself.  Once you have this information, you can improve the accuracy of your bidding, book equipment and machinery costs in your accounting software, and even identify ways in which you can maximize expenditures throughout the year. Equipment and machinery cost-per-hour rates are calculated by adding together three distinct pieces of information: What it costs to own or lease (acquisition cost-per-hour) What it costs to maintain (maintenance cost-per-hour) What it costs to run operate it (running time fuel consumption cost-per-hour) 1.  Calculating Acquisition cost-per-hour (ACPH) Formula:  Divide the total price paid (including interest paid) by…
Read More
29Jun 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Construction A/P – Tracking Subcontractor Insurance

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Questions from our readers, Vendors & Accounts Payable
A reader wrote to ask the following question: I have a vendor (subcontractor) whose general liability insurance expired.  In QuickBooks I was able to produce a check for them.  How do I QuickBooks to notify me that their insurance has expired? Answer: Unlike some of the more costly construction specific software programs out there, QuickBooks wasn't designed to prevent us from generating a check to a Vendor/Subcontractor whose General Liability or Worker's Compensation insurance has expired. The QuickBooks Premier (or Enterprise) Contractor edition does have a "section" in the Additional Info tab of the Vendor Record where you can enter an expiration date for both Worker's Comp and General Liability insurance - and if you enter dates in these fields you will get a warning when using a vendor whose…
Read More