16Feb 2011 by Ben Smyth

Backup – Times 3

Be A Better Bookkeeper, From Our Guest Bloggers, General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
Everybody says it, but most people don’t really understand it until they need to restore some data they don’t have saved.  Only then does it sink in for most people.  Not that I’ve never lost anything, but when your job in college was rotating 9-track tapes to offsite locations for 20 hours a week for a bank, backup has been ingrained to my genes for longer than I can think.  One of the reasons DEC was my favorite operating system is that every time you saved your work, a copy was made, so unless you purged your old files, you could see the state of your work as it progressed and recover to any point in time you wanted.  Still to this day Windows hasn’t completely duplicated this built in…
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09Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Preventing Embezzlement-General QuickBooks Controls & Procedures

Be A Better Bookkeeper, General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to theft simply because they don't have the resources or security controls in place to stop them. Employee theft is extremely common; unfortunately, we hear about it or read about it in the newspapers all of the time. While it is fair to say, most people don't steal, embezzlement does happen; so it only makes good business sense for you to consider what you can do to minimize your employees' opportunities to steal. Below are some general internal procedures that many business owners who use QuickBooks can implement quite easily. Who should be the QuickBooks Administrator? As the business owner, you should create the QuickBooks Admin account and password and be the Administrator for your own QuickBooks company data file.  All too often we have…
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08Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Embezzlement, It CAN Happen To You – Tips For Prevention

General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
As a busy business owner it is quite easy to fall into the bad habit of simply turning over your business’s accounting to someone else; because your time is best spent in the field and not in the office doing paperwork.  Not only is this a bad habit, it can also become a dangerous situation. In the course of my bookkeeping career, now over 30 years, I’ve seen many instances of employee theft – from the simple act of people taking home office supplies in the fall for their children, employees giving themselves unauthorized raises, bookkeepers embezzling money from the business, accountants “cooking the books”, and even family members “making a mess of things”. Whether it's theft of money, supplies, inventory, equipment, or intellectual property, nearly every small business will…
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03Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – How Much Data Can QuickBooks Hold?

Be A Better Bookkeeper, General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
How much data can your QuickBooks company file hold before it becomes "stuffed", overflowing like a file cabinet, and SLOW?  This is a very good question that most people don't take into consideration -- well because it's software and should hold an unlimited amount of data. QuickBooks Pro and Premier are designed for small businesses with 20 or fewer employees and annual revenues of less than $1 million per year, according to the latest information from the ProAdvisor certification study materials.  It is intended to store at least 2 years of detailed information in a company file - this allows you to compare your current business years performance with that of a previous year. Quickbooks Enterprise is designed for larger businesses having 20-250 employees, needing up to 30 simultaneous users,…
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04Jan 2011 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips – Year End Tasks for Filing Taxes

Be A Better Bookkeeper, General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
The end of the year always adds even more tasks to your already busy schedule, and sometimes it is simply overwhelming and I’ve often been asked – “What do I need to do?” Intuit has built a very good “QuickBooks Year-End Guide/Checklist” and it’s included right in your QuickBooks program by going to the Help Menu and choosing Year-End Guide.  Over the next few days, we’ll cover each topic listed in the Year-End Guide, and offer some additional tips on each of the three sections: Tasks to prepare for filing taxes, Tasks to do if you use subcontractors, Tasks to do if you have employees and some Tips for the upcoming year. Tasks to prepare for filing taxes: Reconcile all bank and credit card accounts – now really you should…
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16Dec 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip: User Permissions & Third Party Applications

"Stuff" that drives me insane, General QuickBooks News, New Technology, QuickBooks Add-Ons, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
User permissions  issues can occur especially when dealing with third party QuickBooks integrated applications and the Enterprise edition where user permissions can be highly customized.  In some cases, it appears that all users need to have the same administrative rights when they sign into QuickBooks as when the software was installed. Better understanding of the process may help reduce some of the frustration and allow you to assist your clients in installing the third party application satisfactorily. When a QuickBooks third party integrated application is initially installed, and sends its first request for data, the person who is the QuickBooks Administrator must be logged into the company data file in single-user mode to grant the application permission to access the company data file. Example: Larry is the QuickBooks Administrator and…
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13Dec 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Bookkeeping Tips – Why Do I Need to Keep “Books”?

Be A Better Bookkeeper, General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
The primary purpose of using QuickBooks to keep books is to provide financial and management information in order for you to run your business, make sound business decisions, and to prepare your taxes. Most business owners are very worried about generating income; however, running a business involves a lot of other tasks.  You will need to invoice customers, record payments from customers, pay your own bills to outside vendors, perhaps manage inventory, and analyze your financial data to see where you need to focus your efforts next.  QuickBooks is a tool that you can use to automate the tasks you are already performing as a business owner or to set up a new business. Financial Management is the process of: Running your business Recording money coming in Recording money going…
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01Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip-Turning Off Pop-up Ads, Live Community & more

General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
Every year when Intuit puts out a new version of QuickBooks, we are overwhelmed by new ads for Intuit services that seem to pop-up at the most inappropriate times.  Many QuickBooks users (myself included) find this to be very annoying. Over the last several weeks, since people have been upgrading to QuickBooks 2011, I've seen a lot of posts on forums and user groups from people asking "How Do I turn off QuickBooks pop-up ads, Live Community, etc."  This article will answer that question. You can turn off the pop-up advertisements (messages) for Intuit services by going to the Edit menu -> Preferences -> click on General Preferences -> and in the My Preferences tab check the option to "Turn off pop-up messages for products and services" and then save…
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12Oct 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks 2011-Upgrade or Not Upgrade, THAT is the question

General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks 2011 - What's New?
Each year when a new version of QuickBooks is released, we are asked by our customers "should I upgrade?" and "is your software compatible with the new version". These are both important questions which deserve consideration by QuickBooks users who also use QuickBooks integrated applications.  Each year my answers are usually this: Is your software compatible with the new QuickBooks version? Yes, it is, see our compatibility announcement dated 9/28/2010. As Intuit Gold Developers we "usually" have access to new versions of QuickBooks while they are in beta status.  Usually we can obtain a beta version of the new QuickBooks version in August, so we can begin testing our software for compatibility; this type of early access usually includes the ability to obtain several different/updated beta releases; before we actually…
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08Sep 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks 2011 – Computer Requirements & Office Compatibility

General QuickBooks News, New Technology, QuickBooks 2011 - What's New?
We all think that when we purchase a new computer and/or version of Microsoft Office - that all of our software; including QuickBooks 2011 will run perfectly........this is NOT always the case. Each version of QuickBooks (Pro, Premier and Enterprise) has different compatibility requirements for use with Microsoft Office.  Not all versions of QuickBooks 2011 (and some of the reports) are compatible with Office 2010.  Read these requirements carefully! QuickBooks Pro & Premier 2011 (excluding Premier Accountant Edition) Computer Requirements: 2.0 GHz processor, 2.4 GHz recommended 1 GB RAM for a single user, 2 GB RAM recommended for multiple users 2.5 GB available disk space (additional space required for data files) 250 MB disk space for Microsoft .NET 3.5 Runtime (provided on the QuickBooks CD) 1024 x 768 screen (monitor)…
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07Sep 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks 2011 Available Beginning September 27, 2010

General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks 2011 - What's New?
The news we have all been waiting for - QuickBooks 2011 announced. According to a press release from Inuit, QuickBooks 2011 will be available to purchase beginning on September 27th 2011 directly from Intuit and Authorized QuickBooks Affiliates (such as ourselves). Some of the new features include: Customer Snapshot - which offers a consolidated view of an individual customer's purchase history, average days to pay, and outstanding balance. QuickBooks Search - lets users quickly find any customer, account, report, and even invoice details within their company file; using a simple keyword search. Customer Y Vendor History - provides at-at-glance views of customer and vendor details; such as history, estimates, and past orders - all on a single screen. Balance Sheet by Class - allows Premier and Enterprise users to trace…
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17Jun 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Service Outage – Practical QuickBooks blog

"Maad" Rants & Other Stuff, General QuickBooks News
Beginning on Tuesday evening, June 15, 2010, many Intuit websites and services became unavailable due to a power outage at their data center.  Even though you may be using the Desktop version of QuickBooks, this could have had a major impact on your ability to conduct business.  Charlie Russell, from the Practical QuickBooks blog wrote a very interesting piece yesterday that he is continuing to update, if you would like more information. Even though I use the desktop version, when I went to do payroll VERY early yesterday, before I knew about all of this, I did a payroll update and tried to process payroll but no taxes were withheld.  Once I realized what was going on with Intuit servers I knew what the problem was - I couldn't connect…
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30Apr 2010 by Nancy Smyth

Using a Service to Host QuickBooks and Other Software.

General QuickBooks News, New Technology
Having QuickBooks "hosted" is far different than using the QuickBooks On-line edition.The QuickBooks Online version does not have the same features and functionality as the Desktop version of QuickBooks - while having QuickBooks "hosted" by a reliable service provider allows you the best of both worlds - anytime, anywhere access to your fully functional QuickBook Pro, Premier or Enterprise desktop software! In an article written by Joanie Mann  of InSynq, Joanie shares feedback received directly from their hosting customers; as to why businesses have opted to access their QuickBooks and other applications via a hosted solution instead of handling it in-house.Here are the leading reasons why businesses opt for a hosted solution with InSynq: Ability to connect anytime, anywhere, with my applications and data (48.1%) Ability to collaborate with team…
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