Helpful Quickbooks websites?

Look up Keith Gormezano on the Biznik site. I understand that he is the Quickbooks guru.

You just described the book I wrote. I hope you enjoy it!

Check out Madeline's profile since it is filled with complements on her book. You can order it off her website or if you are in Portland, we sell it at CubeSpace.

Don't mean to thread hijack, but in talking about QB you reminded me of an article I read today that I think QB users should read. It's pertaining to their merchant account services and some shady activity.

(http://braintreepaymentsolutions.com/blog/merchant-services/rule-breakers-in-the-credit-card-processing-industry/)

By the way John, I feel your pain. I use QB Online, and what a headache it was trying to figure it out. For being a "leading" tax software provider, I sure am scratching my head a lot at the way the developed certain aspects of the software.

John,

If you are ready to hire someone to assist, Keith or Madeline are great options I'm sure. If you are determined to do it on your own, I've used QB's for almost 15 years. Call me anytime and I will walk you through stuff over the phone or help you determine if it's time to give them a call. My pre Business Coach life is 20 years in accounting for small business.......Scott

Send me an email and I'll give you my phone #

Speaking of Quickbooks (and not to hijack this thread)....

Ive been a bookkeeper for over 20 years so I know my way around accounting issues (plus I have a fantastic accountant!)...so accounting per se is not the issue...

My issue is how do I/can I track inventory of raw ingredients or maybe I cant unless I get a different version of Quickbooks???

Example:

Supplies: 50 lbs coconut oil 100 lbs sodium hydroxide 50 lbs fragrance oils etc

Then the manufacturing starts and diminishes the above supplies.

So in Quickbooks 2007 Pro (I think thats the version I have)... how do I take the above supplies, make the product, reduce the above supplies resulting in the new amount of existing supplies? (ahem...does that make sense??)

Right now I just physically eyeball the supplies then reorder when necessary.

Madeleine's book, Radical Accounting, is a breath of fresh air. She addresses the fundamentals of setting up accounts and cuts through lots of cr*p. I gave it to my office manager to read and can't wait to get it back so I can finish it.

Rebecca,

The premier edition will allow you to build inventory assemblies that will deduct the raw material sub components from inventory as you build and sell assemblies.

I, rather my clients, need someone willing to take on company or trust set up in support of litigation or possible litigation using online quickbooks. I don't have one right now, but last year we did two online quickbooks setups and one was a sizeable amount of work for the QB person. My person moved to Idaho which is just a little far away.

Thanks for saying such nice things about the book. I wished Intuit endorsed it. That's something to look forward to. They say "the accounting part is easy". What a joke! But I have to acknowledge that it's not a QB book..it's an accounting book that works with any accounting software.

As to your inventory question, you can do all that in QB as Scott said, but inventory is not user-friendly.

In older versions, it would change #'s willy-nilly and make the P&L and Balance Sheets be off. I'd have clients back out inventory and go to using "non-inventory" items, and the financials would start being accurate.

It works in the version you're using (there's a QB online forum where you can ask & answer all sorts of questions), so at your version it's user problems. Kieth supports it.

6 years ago, one small business had a purchasing agent who wanted to use inventory, but the bookkeeper had already backed out inventory (and said it was like picking nits out of her daughter's hair) to get perfect numbers. I suggested two databases. One guy kept track of the inventory details in his database, and she typed in macro numbers in her own. Everyone was happy.

Thanks for the inventory replies. I think for now Im not going to worry about it. It was just something I wanted to play with but after looking at my qb version it would be too time consuming to try to figure out. Its way too easy (and faster which is more important!) to just do the eye-ball thing!

That hasn't been my experience with QB's. If the user is using the software correctly there were no issues on the financials. In earlier versions of QB's Pro you could use end item inventory groups which acted like build assemblies in the premier edition but in 2004 or so when Intuit really pushed the accountant, contractor, premier editions, they moved the inventory sub assemblies/group feature out of the Pro version to force people to upgrade.

The key, as Molly mentioned, regarding Madeline's book is set-up, set-up, set-up. Set-up and process procedure and utilization design for any accounting system is crucial.

I am going to put in my 2 cents, now 5 cents with inflation about people having problems with QuickBooks.

In regards to John's concern, you can use QuickBooks to keep track of your payments (e.g. owner's draws) to yourself as an owner.

You just have to set it up and work with an accountant to make sure that the right taxes get withheld as sole proprietors have special situations in this area that may affect your final obligations (such as mileage, WOTC, or Section 179 deductions.)

I keep copies of Madeline's book (I reviewed it) in my briefcase to sell to clients who admit that they don't know much about bookkeeping and accounting and want to. I also encourage them to get a copy before meeting me.

For Rebecca, you can set up inventory in Pro. There is a trick for doing so. Basically, you break down your items into their invidual components such as a pound of coconut oil into 1/2 ounce and then grouping all of the items into a Group to use when you make a sale. I would be happy to walk you over the phone or my April 10th seminar.

For the Premier and Enterprise versions, I encourage my clients to maintain and support the inventory features of those versions but you have to use it consistently.

Unlike Peachtree, QuickBooks (not Quick Books) only supports the average cost of inventory (a major flaw in my mind.)

This means that if your costs substantially vary, it may throw off your balance sheet and profit and loss reports (think cost of goods sold which will be based on this average cost rather than the actual) rather than LIFO or FIFO (last in, first out or first in, first out.) I just saw this today with a client in South King County but I don't know if part of that is due to their not tracking all their inventory correctly.

One way to get around this average cost issue when prices are varying is to make each set of received inventory items unique (coconut oil at $1.50 an ounce, coconut oil at $1.69, coconut oil at $1.34) and use them up by customer before going on to create the next set. You will have to decide if you want to use the LIFO or FIFO method for handling your inventory.

I agree with Scott that along with asking the right questions and identifying the right version of the program for you (which is what Madeline and I are good for, hint, hint), the key is set-up, set-up, and set-up.

If you're not using inventory, you probably don't need the Premier lines although some of the reports and other features are useful to use such as being able to install it on two computers and dialing in to one from the other for a year free of charge.

In regards to Theresa's comment about needing help setting up QuickBooks online, you and anyone else using this program are welcome to use my name, phone number, and business name to get up to 25% off your online edition subscription.

Please keep in mind that I don't endorse this version although I will support it. I have had too many problems with it with several clients. I find it too slow to use. You can't use it on the Mac per se.

For the amount of money you are going to spend each year on a QuickBooks online subscription, depending on the size of your practice, you might be better off buying Pro, Premier, or even Enterprise (if you have more than five users at the same time.)

And finally folks, if things aren't working for you with your financial software, marketing campaign, cell phone, telephone service, all-in-one printer, support personnel, etc. or you are contemplating a purchase, please ask for help. It is a great opportunity to network.

Many of us in Biznik are happy to be asked and offer up to a free half hour telephone consultation (that seems to be the norm) to make sure that you make the best decision.

And you get to write a compliment about how they helped you in your "fill in the blank business" which helps you as well, hint, hint.

Keith... thank you for your at-length post. It makes my eyes cross just reading it...it sounds like at this point it might be safer (accounting wise) for me to not mess with the inventory thing. I dont want to have to get nit-picky with the financials.

There are a lot of websites that offers free trainings on QuickBooks. One of which I am using (and actually am a fan of) is http://www.qbexpress.com. You can check it out. They offer free quickbooks training class every week. They teach how to solve the toughest Quickbooks problems that we normally encounter.

You should be able to locate a manual online or ask your friendly accountant some questions. The good ones should answer the simple questions without charging you but make sure of it.