Daylight Savings Time - Are You Ready?

“Quicklet” - A Podcast for QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise Solutions & Point of Sale users featuring helpful information, tips, tricks and suggestions for bookkeepers, business owners, and consultants. Got a QuickBooks Mess? Ask The QuickBooks Gal!



Hi, I'm Jayne Miller, The QuickBooks Gal. Welcome to another in our series of “Quicklets” – informational podcasts about QuickBooks and related bookkeeping topics. Today's topic is making sure we are ready for the new Daylight Savings Time that affects most of the country on November 4th.


While most computers will not be affected, you may want to play it safe and visit the Microsoft Daylight Savings Support Center to determine if you are ready or if you need to take steps to assure that you won't have problems when you turn your computer on after the time change. You can go to blog.quickbooksgal.com for a link.


I hope this information is useful. I appreciate your time and hope you will join me again next time for another in my Quicklet series. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have questions, send your email to jayne@quickbooksgal.com.


Don’t forget that we are now serving Incline Village, Lake Tahoe and Truckee, California. We have two great consultants that will be happy to assist with QuickBooks or Peachtree training & support. Visit our website at tahoe.custmbiz.com. If you are using Point Of Sale and need assistance, call us!



I’m Jayne Miller, The QuickBooksGal. Thanks for listening.

Jayne Miller is the owner of Custom Business Solutions, a firm in Reno Nevada that specializes in bookkeeping, payroll and small business accounting software support.

"Got A QuickBooks Mess? Call The QuickBooks Gal!"

©2007 Custom Business Solutions, Reno, NV

Do You Have a Company Computer Use Policy?

“Quicklet” - A Podcast for QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise Solutions & Point of Sale users featuring helpful information, tips, tricks and suggestions for bookkeepers, business owners, and consultants. Got a QuickBooks Mess? Ask The QuickBooks Gal!

Hi, I'm Jayne Miller, The QuickBooks Gal. Welcome to another in our series of “Quicklets” – informational podcasts about QuickBooks and related bookkeeping topics. Today's topic is Monitoring Employee Computer Use & Abuse.

Do your employees stab at their keyboards when you approach? Are their giggles unlikely to be caused by open invoice report or check register on the screen? Are they spending more time reading from their screen than producing when at the computer?

Maybe it's time for a formal Computer Usage Policy. Consider a policy that expressly states all or a variation of the following check list. I print two copies, require that employees sign both copies (one for them and one for me) and I add a disclaimer above their signature that violation of one or a combination of the above policies will be considered grounds for termination.

Company Computer Use Policy

1 - Our company uses a web-based email (if applicable). Do not use any other email or install email portals on your workstation.

2 - Our company uses only Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc. Do not use or install any other web browser on your work station.

3 - Do not open an email attachment before scanning it with virus protection software.

4 - Your company email address is for company use only. Do not send or receive personal email at this address. Personal email or Instant Messaging are not allowed on company time or via company computers.

5 - No Web Surfing is allowed while on company computers.

6 - No games, gambling, pornography or other personal multi-media activities are permitted on company computers...don't check your stock, personal email, the news, or shop online while on company time or facilities.

7 - Do not share your password with co-workers.

Our Company reserves the right to:

1 - Read & review all email activity on company computers or company email accounts.

2 - Monitor & review employee email and Internet activity at any time
3 - Restrict access to and distribution of email and Internet
4 - Prohibit distribution of email that may violate federal or local laws
5 - Restrict personal use of company computers
6 - Prohibit sending/forwarding of chain e-letters, gambling, or using company computers to create or forward pyramid schemes.
7 - Prohibit dissemination of confidential or proprietary information
8 - Prohibit forwarding company emails to personal email addresses

One more thing: Make sure you have a very strong, very reliable AUTOMATIC ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE in use to minimize damage should an employee open an email attachment before scanning it for potential viruses. Keep it current!
It's a good idea to formally establish and distribute a company policy and make sure everyone understands it. Additionally, make sure you have a policy of review in place. Don't issue directives if you don't plan to follow through or don't know how to....hire an IT person or contract with a local service that can install and update security software and will monitor activity and produce activity reports as well as set up an alert system when your employees violate your policies.

As always, the most important tip I can offer to you is to back up your work. Get a flash drive or learn to use the cd writer on your computer, purchase an external back up device or look into online back up services. This is the most important daily routine you can practice. If you are using an older version of QuickBooks, turn on the audit trail. It may slow you down a little, but you'll be glad you did. Note: QuickBooks 2006-2007-2008 now have automatic audit trail and the new database is keeps you running smoothly and quickly even with the audit trail turned on.

I hope you find my Quicklet helpful. If you have specific questions, please send me an email. If you are a Peachtree user, check out peachpods.custmbiz.com and look for some great Microsoft discussions on our new Podcast at Micropods.custmbiz.com.

Don’t forget that we are now serving Incline Village, Lake Tahoe and Truckee, California. We have two great consultants that will be happy to assist with QuickBooks or Peachtree training & support. Visit our website at tahoe.custmbiz.com. If you are using Point Of Sale and need assistance, call us!

Well, that’s it for now. I appreciate your time and hope you will join me again next time for another in our Quicklet series. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have questions, send your email to jayne@quickbooksgal.com.

I’m Jayne Miller, The QuickBooksGal. Thanks for listening.

Jayne Miller is the owner of Custom Business Solutions, a firm in Reno Nevada that specializes in bookkeeping, payroll and small business accounting software support.

"Got A QuickBooks Mess? Call The QuickBooks Gal!"
©2007 Custom Business Solutions, Reno, NV

QuickBooks Point of Sale

“Quicklet” - A Podcast for QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise Solutions & Point of Sale users featuring helpful information, tips, tricks and suggestions for bookkeepers, business owners, and consultants.

Hi, I'm Jayne Miller, The QuickBooks Gal. Welcome to another in our series of “Quicklets” – informational podcasts about QuickBooks and related bookkeeping topics. Today's topic is QuickBooks Point of Sale. If you are a retailer with one cash register in one store or you have 10 stores and need 10 cash register stations, then QuickBooks Point of Sale is a great solution.

In addition to being a great product, Certified Point of Sale ProAdvisors are local and accessible when you need assistance. Their proven experience in the Point of Sale software and hardware installation, implementation and training is an added bonus when using this product.


Point of Sale is available in three versions: Basic, Pro and Multi-Store. I'm going to discuss some of the features of each version now and, of course, you can find a link to detailed information and pricing at blog.quickbooksgal.com.

Point of Sale Basic

• Tracks inventory, sales and customer info
• Integrates with QuickBooks Financial Software
• Runs key reports to track business performance
• Processes credit, debit & gift cards

Use Point of Sale Basic edition for your small store to keep track of your inventory and sales information. You can accept credit cards and debit cards; create and accept gift cards, process vital business reports and it integrates with QuickBooks so you can easily transfer daily activity to your financial software at the end of the day. You can use the software with or without the approved hardware.

Point of Sale Pro

• Advanced inventory tools
• Sales orders, special orders & layaways
• Track commissions, tips & employee time
• Customize price tags, receipts & more

Take the next step...all the features of Basic and more. I especially like the addition of Employee time, commission and tip tracking. It integrates with your QuickBooks software to simplify your bookkeeping.

Point of Sale Multi-Store

• Manage up to 10 stores (up to 10 workstations per store) from headquarters
• Multi-store performance and inventory reports
• Track inventory between stores
• Rewards cards - track customer purchases, create and redeem rewards cards
  

All the power an performance of the Pro Version and more. You can manage your operations from a single location. Enhanced customization. It still integrates with QuickBooks financial software so bookkeeping is a snap. Great reports; great security and role assignment features make this a perfect solution for a multi-store merchant.

This is a dynamic product. Our clients like the product and they really like the fact that they can find a local expert to help them get started. When you are ready to move up to a Point of Sale system, call a QuickBooks Certified Point of Sale ProAdvisor to answer your questions and provide installation & implementation support. You'll be glad you did!

QuickBooks Point of Sale Tips

• Hire a professional to assist with installation & implementation
• Hire a professional to install or inspect your network adequacy prior to POS installation - check with your QuickBooks Point of Sale professional; they may do this for you or have a trusted & trained professional on staff
• Verify that your hardware meets the specifications required to run Point of Sale
• If you are already using an older version of Point of Sale, consider the value of updating to a newer version; especially if your version is more than 3 years old - the improvements in the newer versions of Point of Sale may be worth the investment
  
• Realistically evaluate and determine your budget for:
• Professional support to determine the right version for you, purchasing, installing, and training
  
• Software purchases and/or upgrades . Do you want only Point of Sale or will you also use QuickBooks financial software to do your bookkeeping?
  
• Hardware purchases or upgrades - is your current hardware POS ready?
• Internet connection
  
• Data entry
• Time needed to install, implement and train your staff

As always, the most important tip I can offer to you is to back up your work. Get a flash drive or learn to use the cd writer on your computer, purchase an external back up device or look into online back up services. This is the most important daily routine you can practice.

Don't forget, November 4th is the day most of the country will have to adjust clocks to accommodate the new Daylight Savings Time. Your computer may or may not be affected by this change. If you want to find out more, visit Microsoft's Daylight Savings Time Support Center at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst to learn more. I've put a link to that site on my blog.

I hope you find my Quicklet helpful. I'll be doing more Point of Sale podcasts in the future. If you have specific questions, please send me an email. If you are a Peachtree user, check out peachpods.custmbiz.com and look for some great Microsoft discussions on our new Podcast at Micropods.custmbiz.com.

Don’t forget that we are now serving Incline Village, Lake Tahoe and Truckee, California. We have two great consultants that will be happy to assist with QuickBooks or Peachtree training & support. Visit our website at tahoe.custmbiz.com. If you are using Point Of Sale and need assistance, call us!

Well, that’s it for now. I appreciate your time and hope you will join me again next time for another in our Quicklet series. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have questions, send your email to jayne@quickbooksgal.com.

I’m Jayne Miller, The QuickBooksGal. Thanks for listening.

Jayne Miller, is the owner of Custom Business Solutions, is a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support.

Enterprise Solutions "Magic Button" - Generating a Purchase Order from a Sales Order

Hi, I'm Jayne Miller, The QuickBooks Gal. Welcome to another in our series of “Quicklets” – informational podcasts about QuickBooks and related bookkeeping topics. You can listen to our archived podcasts at blog.quickbooksgal.com. If you are using Peachtree or Microsoft Office Accounting, be sure to check out our PeachPods & MicroPods....just visit www.quickbooksgal.com and follow the links.

Today we're going to talk about QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions' magic button that allows you to convert a sales order to a purchase order. It's really easy! Here's how:

1 - Open an existing sales order

2 - Using the Create Invoice drop down, select Purchase Order

3 - Choose one of the following options

a) Create Purchase Order for All Allowed Items - this lets you to use all allowable items

b) Create Purchase Order for Selected Items - when you want only some of the items into into a purchase order, use this option and then you can select the items & quantities you wish to convert. Keep in mind that items are displayed in the order of the original entry (sales order); you can Sort by Preferred Vendor (check-box) if you wish to make the items easier to find.

4 - Click the Vendor drop down list to choose the vendor

5 - Review & edit the purchase order

6 - Save the form

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is a great product for companies that are outgrowing QuickBooks other accounting products. The QuickBooks Gal is a charter member of Intuit's Enterprise Solutions Provider Program and we currently have two Certified Enterprise ProAdvisors in our office. If you have questions about Enterprise Solutions, give us a call!

Once again, I want to remind you to back up your data.
It's simple and it's worth it!

I'll be attending the annual Sleeter Conference in Las Vegas from October 22-26, so look for future podcasts with some of the exciting news and tips I'll be bringing home with me.

I hope you find this discussion useful. If you have questions about this topic, just drop me a line at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. If you are a Peachtree user, check out peachpods.custmbiz.com and look for some great Microsoft discussions on our new Podcast at Micropods.custmbiz.com.

Don’t forget that we are now serving Incline Village and Lake Tahoe. We have two great consultants in the area that will be happy to assist with QuickBooks or Peachtree training & support. Visit our website at tahoe.custmbiz.com. QuickBooks newest Point of Sale is great! If you are using POS and need assistance, call us!

Well, that’s it for now. I appreciate your time and hope you will join me again next time for another in our Quicklet series. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have questions, send your email to jayne@quickbooksgal.com.


I’m Jayne Miller, The QuickbooksGal. Thanks for listening.


Jayne Miller, is the owner of Custom Business Solutions, is a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support.

Getting Ready for End of Year - W-2 & 1099

Hi, I'm Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal.

Welcome to another in our series of “Quicklets” – informational podcasts about QuickBooks and related bookkeeping topics. You can listen to our archived podcasts at blog.quickbooksgal.com. If you are a Peachtree user, be sure to check out our new PeachPod series at peachpods.custmbiz.com.

Last year I published a podcast about W-2's and 1099's that I think is worth repeating. It's getting to be that time of year and we need to be thinking about some of the things we have to do to get ready. As a business owner with employees or subcontractors you will be required to issue W-2's to employees and 1099-Misc to non-incorporated, non-employee service providers.

Subcontractors and service providers who are not incorporated must provide a form W-9 to you. You'll use this information to issue a 1099 to them if they were paid $600 or more in the tax year. You can download form W-9 at IRS.GOV. I generally mail this form to all subcontractors with their first payment. If you haven't done this yet, then it would be a good idea to mail or fax these out now so you will be prepared to process forms next month.

Form W-2 for Nevada employers is a 4-part document. You will issue 2 copies to the employee, keep one file copy with your payroll records and submit one copy along with transmittal form W-3 to the Social Security Administration.

Form 1099 in Nevada is a 3-part document. One copy remains with your payroll or vendor records, one is mailed to recipient, and one copy along with a transmittal form 1096 is mailed to the IRS. Employee and vendor copies must be distributed or postmarked no later than 1.31.08 and federal transmittals are due no later than 2.28.08.

In Nevada, we don't have personal income tax, so be sure to become familiar with your state's filing requirements now to assure that you are compliant.

Here's a simple checklist I use each Fall to get ready:

1 - Verify current employee information -create a simple form that you can attach to the next paycheck for each employee requesting their name, current address, social security number. I also include a line for their signature and the date they complete the form.

2 - Download Form W-9 - you can fill out this form online, then print multiple copies for distribution to any vendors who will receive a 1099 form. Independent contractors and other non-incorporated vendors who received $600 or require issuance of a 1009. I like to get these mailed or faxed no later than November 15th. I create a check-list of all that I submit and then attach returned forms to the list. You can download this form at www.irs.gov.

3 - Order forms now - order W-2's, 1099's and corresponding envelopes now. You can go to my website for special money saving offers. If you issue W-2's or 1099's for multiple companies, you may want to contact the IRS to order extra W-3 transmittal and 1096 transmittal forms. Additionally, if you issue 1099 Interest forms, you may want to order those directly from the IRS. Go to the IRS website for more information. Office supply stores will not, however, offer W-3 transmittals or 1096 transmittals separate from kits or bundles. When you purchase a package of 50 W-2's or 1099's, the manufacturer includes 1 or 2 transmittals. I like to order extra transmittals directly from the IRS at 800-829-FORMS; they're free. By the way, you can order any tax related form from the IRS, but remember, they are not computer friendly! Pay for the forms; order the transmittals only from the IRS.

4 - Make sure your tax tables are up to date - If you are using QuickBooks, be sure your subscription is up to date and that you are downloading updates when prompted. Peachtree users - make sure you order the tax tables for 2008 soon to assure that you are ready for end of year processing.

Don't forget...the W-2 forms for 2007 have been redesigned....you will not be able to use old forms! Order compliant forms soon to avoid last minute stress!

Are you backing up your data?
Get a flash drive, use a CD, or an external backup system.

Once your data is gone, it's gone!
Back Up!

I hope you find this discussion useful. If you have questions about this topic, just drop me a line at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. If you are a Peachtree user, check out peachpods.custmbiz.com.

Don’t forget that we are now serving Incline Village and Lake Tahoe. We have two great consultants in the area that will be happy to assist with QuickBooks or Peachtree training & support. Visit our website at tahoe.custmbiz.com. QuickBooks newest Point of Sale is great! If you are using POS and need assistance, call us!

Well, that’s it for now. I appreciate your time and hope you will join me again next time for another in our Quicklet series. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have questions, send your email to jayne@quickbooksgal.com.

I’m Jayne Miller, The QuickbooksGal. Thanks for listening.

Jayne Miller, is the owner of Custom Business Solutions, is a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support.