"Maad" Rants & Other Stuff | QuickBooks for Contractors blog

03Nov 2016 by Nancy Smyth

Someone literally stole our content!

Maybe you've noticed (and maybe you haven't) that it's been mighty quiet around here and I've been an absent blogger for well over a year, so I thought I'd hop in here and let you all know what is going on ---- finally! First of all, let me assure everyone that: I haven't stopped supporting QuickBooks I haven't stopped supporting contractors using QuickBooks I haven't run out of tips and tricks to write about and I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth :-) What has happened (and I'm going to be REALLY blunt here) is that I have become very aggravated and disillusioned by the people who are supposed to be my "peers" - namely other so-called "QuickBooks professionals" and I use that term quite loosely. Now,…

18Aug 2014 by Nancy Smyth

Happy 14th Birthday Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc.

"Maad" Rants & Other Stuff

14 years ago, on a sailboat in the middle of Flathead Lake in Montana, Ben proposed and we formed Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. (Of course I had no choice but to say yes to the marriage proposal because I was scared to death he’d throw me overboard! LOL) Seriously though, I feel very blessed. One of the first things that we did, before we got too carried away, was to call the Office of the President at Intuit, where we explained what we wanted to do and asked how we could market our software as an “add-on” without getting into trouble. This led to a couple of very lengthy calls with Scott Cook and several Intuit attorneys, before they told us that as long as we stressed that we were…

04Jun 2014 by Nancy Smyth

Simple Controls You Can Put Into Place to Discourage Fraud

News You Can Use

As a business owner, there are many simple controls that you can put into place to discourage fraud from happening. Small business owners never intend to leave their doors wide open to theft and white collar crime – it just sort of happens; and unfortunately, small businesses have every reason to be concerned about fraud. Fraud is often a cost of doing business that is hidden from view and unfortunately most business owners only know about fraud only when it's discovered; after the fact and then it is sometimes too late to do anything. Eliminating fraud completely isn't possible, but with reasonable actions made by the business owner, it's impact can be limited. Preventing fraud from occurring in the first place, however, is a win-win situation. This final article in…

28May 2014 by Nancy Smyth

Business Susceptibility to Theft and White Collar Crime – Are You a Target?

News You Can Use

Small businesses are very susceptible to theft and white collar crime, as a matter of fact, a staggering number of businesses falter and even fail because someone on the inside - an employee, vendor or even a partner - steals money, goods, data or intellectual property from an organization. Our first article in this series discussed the Early Warning Signs or "Red Flags" of Fraud. For small businesses, the median loss due to theft and white collar crimes is greater than what has occurred in Fortune 500 companies. In fact, one third of all business bankruptcies are due to employee theft and American businesses lose 7% of their annual revenues to fraud. According to a 2012 study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a vast majority of fraud is…

21May 2014 by Nancy Smyth

Warning Signs & Red Flags of Fraud – Are Your Employees Stealing From You?

News You Can Use

Learning the warning signs and red flags of fraud can help business owners prevent and detect fraudulent activity. A staggering number of businesses falter and even fail because someone on the inside - an employee, vendor or even a partner - steals money, goods, data, or intellectual property from the organization. In fact, one third of all business bankruptcies are due to employee theft and American businesses lose 7% of their annual revues to fraud! I recently had the opportunity to participate in a webinar called, Stealing More Than the Secret Recipe - Identifying and Safeguarding Against Business Fraud, with two really great ladies; Kimberly Shannon of Off-Site Business Services, Inc. and Shamese Shular of SHU Books. Each of us had specific topics relating to business fraud and I've…

19Dec 2013 by Nancy Smyth

Happy Holiday’s to you!

"Maad" Rants & Other Stuff

In the next couple of weeks, many of us will take extra time off from work to spend with family and friends. It’s a good idea for us to take a step back from the routines that make up our daily life; in order to enjoy each moment with our loved ones. Take a day or two to forget about your business and work! There will always be bills to pay and accounts to balance; we tend to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday activities! Life is short and we need to make the moments with those we love count. Hug your loved ones. Learn to: verbalize your love and appreciation for family and friends, slow down and smell the flowers, breathe deeply, look for the…

09Dec 2013 by Nancy Smyth

Sunburst’s Weekly Wrap-Up of Popular Posts 12/2 – 12/8/2013

News You Can Use

Here at Sunburst, we specialize in QuickBooks for the construction industry – and we have an incredible amount of information between our three QuickBooks related websites; so much so that sometimes people are overwhelmed – I know I am in trying to keep it all straight! Below is a list of the most popular posts and pages from the Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. family of QuickBooks related websites according to AddThis tracking stats. From the QuickBooks for Contractors blog: Q & A: QuickBooks Employee Payroll Reimbursements & Job Costing QuickBooks Tip – Job Costing Starts With A Simple Item QuickBooks Tip – Determing Cost of Goods Sold QuickBooks 2013 Upgrade Do’s, Don’ts & Frequent Questions QuickBooks Tip – Child Support Garnishments How To Turn On and Use Manual Payroll in…

02Dec 2013 by Nancy Smyth

Sunburst’s Weekly Wrap-Up of Popular Posts 11/24 – 12/1/2013

News You Can Use

Here at Sunburst, we specialize in QuickBooks for the construction industry – and we have an incredible amount of information between our three QuickBooks related websites; so much so that sometimes people are overwhelmed – I know I am in trying to keep it all straight! Below is a list of the most popular posts and pages from the Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. family of QuickBooks related websites according to AddThis tracking stats. From the QuickBooks for Contractors blog: QuickBooks at Year-End: Getting Ready for 1099?s QuickBooks Tip – Job Costing Starts With A Simple Item Searching For the Right Time Tracking Add-On for QuickBooks? Cleaning Up Your QuickBooks File at Year End Using Account Numbers in Your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts QuickBooks 2013 Upgrade Do’s, Don’ts & Frequent Questions…

25Nov 2013 by Nancy Smyth

Sunburst’s Weekly Wrap-Up of Popular Posts 11/16-11/22/2013

News You Can Use

Here at Sunburst, we specialize in QuickBooks for the construction industry - and we have an incredible amount of information between our three QuickBooks related websites; so much so that sometimes people are overwhelmed - I know I am in trying to keep it all straight! Below is a list of the most popular posts and pages from the Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. family of QuickBooks related websites according to AddThis tracking stats. From the QuickBooks for Contractors blog: QuickBooks Year-End Tip – Tracking 1099 & W-9 Information Cleaning Up Your QuickBooks file at Year End QuickBooks 2013 Upgrade Do’s, Don’ts & Frequent Questions QuickBooks Payroll Tip – Tracking Employee Advances or Loans Using Account Numbers in your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts Calculating & Displaying Fringe Benefits on a Certified…

18Nov 2013 by Nancy Smyth

Weekly Wrap-Up 11/9 – 11/15/2013

News You Can Use

Below is a list of the most popular posts and pages from the Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. family of QuickBooks related websites according to AddThis tracking stats. From the QuickBooks for Contractors blog: Windows, QuickBooks & 3rd Party Apps - The Struggle Within How to Turn On and Use Manual Payroll in QuickBooks How Well Does the New QuickBooks 2012 Condense Feature Work? Using Account Numbers in Your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts QuickBooks 2011 - New Balance Sheet by Class Report - Part 1 From the main Sunburst Website: What is Certified Payroll? How Do I fill out the report? Welcome to Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. From the Learn to Use QuickBooks in your construction business website: Employee New Hire Information & Checklist QuickBooks for Contractors Bookkeeping Tips & Training

24Jul 2013 by Nancy Smyth

Experts And Those Who Would Like You To Think They Are

"Stuff" that drives me insane

There are self proclaimed experts everywhere when it comes to QuickBooks. As business owners you should use caution and interview your candidates carefully. Just for giggles, I did a Google search using "quickbooks expert" it returned about 83,200 results; that's a lot of experts! The point to this blog post? Well to be honest, part of it is a rant and the other part a warning. The Rant: At a recent nationally recognized QuickBooks conference there were two people who were asked/hired by the conference host to provide training sessions to other QuickBooks accounting professionals: one person gave three, one hours sessions on payroll. This person had stolen (word for word) blog posts not only from my blog but from another bloggers site as well - and claimed them as…

16May 2013 by Nancy Smyth

Is Someone at Work Wearing Too Much Perfume or Aftershave?

"Stuff" that drives me insane

Do you have a hard time with people who wear too much perfume or aftershave? You know, the people who you swear just opened the bottle and poured it over their head, rather than having taken a shower in the morning - the ones that walk by you and leave a trail of overwhelming SMELL behind them? Whether this happens in your work environment or when you are in the grocery store or out having dinner at your favorite restaurant - this can certainly be annoying. While I love perfume, perfume oils, fresh flowers, etc. I also am VERY sensitive to those same smells - and I'll be the first to tell you that having a fragrance sensitivity can be downright painful! For me it starts with a burning…

24Apr 2013 by Nancy Smyth

You Get What You Pay For – Do Cheap Bookkeepers Save Money?

"Stuff" that drives me insane, Be A Better Bookkeeper

As a business owner it’s important to watch how much money you spend. When it comes to bookkeeping though you tend to get what you pay for. When you hire a cheap bookkeeper, ten-to-one it’s what they don’t know that is going to cost you big time! As a contractor would you go to the dollar store to buy hammers? Probably not – you’d want your employees to have the best possible tools to perform their job. Hiring a bookkeeper and paying them minimum wage is no different than getting those dollar store hammers! If your bookkeeper (or potential bookkeeper) say they know QuickBooks because: they’ve taken a one-day seminar, watched some videos on YouTube, spent a tax season working in an accounting firm, or worst of all is “self-taught”…

13Apr 2013 by Nancy Smyth

InformedContractors.com – A New Resource for Contractors

From Our Guest Bloggers, News You Can Use

Diane Dennis of Monk and DBug, LLC, known as "Diane at TheContractorsGroup.com" since 1999, is launching a new website and newsletter focused on making life easier for contractors - InformedContractors.com. This is Diane's 4th in a series of construction-related websites, all of which focus on providing information that her readers specifically have requested. Each newsletter from InformedContractors.com is made to keep up with the busy contractor rather than slow him down, because it: is designed to be read in 5-10 minutes has one article (written by an industry expert) answering reader's questions provides practical solutions for contractors to increase their income (and efficiency) while decreasing their hassles Early on in Diane's contracting career, she learned that there was painfully little information available for contractors. Now she feels the exact opposite…

13Mar 2013 by Nancy Smyth

Quick is a fantasy!

"Maad" Rants & Other Stuff

Quick is a fantasy! When was the last time that you stopped for a quick cup of coffee, took the dog for a quick walk, or ran a quick errand? The definition of "quick" is occurring in a short time; happening or done rapidly - Wiktionary. But seriously, when was the last time that you did something that was "quick"? I mean really done something that only took you a short amount of time to accomplish? Personally, I think "quick" is a fantasy that we all live in or believe in. Is it because we have lost our concept of time? Or is it because that we live in such a fast paced world and have so much on our plates that we feel we should be able to complete…