Get Ready… It Is Year End Again!

With 2016 just around the corner, and the holidays looming, you should be planning for year-end. Don’t you just love that phrase…”plan for year-end”. You hear it all over the place at this time of the year, on the news, from your accountant, on social media, but what does it really mean? What should you… Read More »

Why Is QuickBooks Acting Strange – 4 Possible Reasons

Some of the most common complaints I hear about QuickBooks Desktop is that it isn’t acting “right”. It takes forever to open, it opens but the window isn’t positioned correctly on the screen, there are hiccups, or it crashes and closes all by itself. There are four possible reasons for why QuickBooks stops acting like… Read More »

When To Hire A Bookkeeper

When we started our businesses we had a very specific idea about what we would do, how we would do it and what our days would look like. Then reality sets in and we find that there are tasks that need to be done that aren’t fun, weren’t in the initial picture, and don’t seem… Read More »

Online Bookkeeping – Cons

So, last week I explained some of the benefits and positive aspects of online bookkeeping, and specifically QuickBooks Online (QBO). This week I will look at some of the disadvantages of QBO and online bookkeeping in general. Cost. I know I listed cost as a positive last week, and it can be. But if you… Read More »

Online Bookkeeping – Pros

Although this post focuses on QuickBooks Online, because that is the program I am most familiar with, the majority of these pros (and in the next post, cons) also apply to the other online bookkeeping options. Now, I’m going to be completely honest, up until this year, 2015, I was hesitant to recommend online bookkeeping… Read More »

EMV and You

If you haven’t started to already, you are going to be hearing a lot about the shift to EMV or “Chipped” credit & debit cards. This is because the liability shift took place on October 1st. So what is EMV, what does it mean to you as a consumer, and what does it mean to… Read More »

Favorite QuickBooks Shortcuts

After 11+ years of working with QuickBooks I have found a number of shortcuts and tricks to make some processes more efficient and to eliminate some of the more annoying quirks of the program. Here are a few of my favorites. 1. You don’t have to use invoices. If you are running a business on… Read More »

Do I Need To Upgrade to QuickBooks 2016?

QuickBooks Desktop 2016 is now out and available for purchase or download. So you ask, “Do I need to upgrade?” Well, the answer is that depends on which version you are currently using and what functions you use regularly. In May of 2016 Intuit will “sunset” QuickBooks Desktop 2013. Although the list of functions that… Read More »

Are your Sub-Contractors Really Employees?

Hiring sub-contractors, also called 1099 contractors, independent contractors or even 1099 employees, can be beneficial to small businesses. These vendors can provide highly skilled services, can give your company flexibility in handling changes in work-flow, and there is the potential for cost savings over hiring an employee. However, it can also be quite detrimental if… Read More »

Do You Have a Team or Service Providers?

Whether you are a solo entrepreneur or a small business owner with an employee or two or ten, you are working with at least a couple of outside business professionals in your business. None of us do it completely alone. The most common professional would be your insurance broker, second would be your tax preparer.… Read More »