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 January 2010
Inside this Issue
I hope your year is off to a good start. I’ve been visiting several QuickBooks Meetup groups around the country, talking about topics such as "Taking Your Practice Online." If you haven’t begun the process of using online technologies in your practice, I really encourage you to start right away. Here at The Sleeter Group, we never stop looking for innovative tools to help you help your clients. In this newsletter, you will see a fantastic video from our Conference by Randy Johnston on ground-breaking technology, part of our Online Conference Library. We share information about resources we offer, such as our e-mail forum and cutting-edge Webinar series. Finally
In this two You can read this article by clicking the link below.
This month we We are kicking off this series with a This free session is just one of the 47 sessions available in the Online Conference Library. You can see more details about the Online Conference Library at www.prolibraries.com/sleeter or in the article below.
We’ve slashed the price The Online Conference Library is available at www.prolibraries.com/sleeter. Sale ends March 31st. Use the code dta40 to receive the following pricing:
You can see an example of our Online Conference Library by watching Leslie Shiner’s hilarious keynote at www.sleeter.com/demo. You can also check our new Monthly Conference Session series in the accompanying article.
Our Webinars have become the "Graduate School" for QuickBooks and small business accounting technology. Our Webinar presenters are among the country’s leading experts in accounting software. All two hour Webinars are $69 and offer 2 CPE credits. Members of the Sleeter Group Consultants Network receive a 20% discount (to receive the discount, members must log in to our Website with their member credentials before registering). Featured Webina Construction Accounting using QuickBooks with Leslie Shiner Other Upcoming Webinars: QuickBooks at Year-End with Amy Vetter For a complete schedule, including self-study titles, visit www.sleeter.com/webinar.
You (and a Friend) Could Win $1,000! Have you tried the Client Data Review (CDR) features in QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition? It’s easy to use, and if you give Intuit just 10 minutes to try CDR, you can enter to win $1,000 – and learn how to save up to four hours every time you clean up a client’s QuickBooks file. Client Data Review includes a number of tools that help you find and fix client entry errors quickly and easily. How to Enter the CDR Challenge Go to the CDR Challenge page and use QuickBooks Premier Accountant 2009 or 2010 to try just one of the CDR tools to find and fix errors in the sample QuickBooks file. After you’ve done one cleanup task with CDR, you can enter the Client Data Review Challenge sweepstakes by telling Intuit what you would do with your newly-found free time. Then, tell your fellow accounting professionals about the Challenge and, if they enter the sweepstakes, you get even more chances to win. Intuit has made it easy for you to refer your colleagues to the CDR Challenge by providing e-mails and social network links on the Challenge Web page.
Every Question: I’m looking for feedback on how other consultants handle travel charges to clients. Do you charge for travel? If so, do you use a flat rate based on mileage radius? Per mile? Higher hourly rate than for remote services? Suggestions appreciated. Responder #1: Within a certain service range, I do not charge for travel. It is figured into my hourly rate and 1hr minimum on-site visit. Outside of that range, I usually charge about 50% of my normal rate based on the time for travel. Responder #2: Yes, I do charge a per hour fee for my travel time if it is outside of a 15 minute radius of my office. The hourly fee we charge is about a third to a half of my normal hourly rate. I have never really had any clients complain since I implemented this fee about 4 years ago. Responder #3: Sorry, the previous post gave me a laugh. I live in [a large urban] area and 15 minutes will barely get me 2 miles in the car. My usual trip to a client (or friend) takes 1 hour. It would be such a luxury to live someplace where you could actually get someplace in 15 minutes. I do not charge for travel unless it exceeds 2 hours. I find this increases my remote support time and time with my cats. Responder #4: I charge 50% of our bookkeeping rate and do not charge mileage. Depends on the client, but usually I just charge for one way. I had to institute this in 2008. I was paying over $800/month in employee mileage + the time to get to the appointments to my people. Because clients were not paying for this, they had no regard to time of day they requested appointments, or amount of time, in traffic, it took to get to them. What I charge still does not cover it all, but makes a big dent, and makes clients pay attention. Sometimes they will request remote sessions or come to the office to save on those charges, which is so much better for us anyway. Responder #5: For me, after one or two visits, it’s a remote relationship or not at all, except for the occasional on-site visit that is just necessary. Responder #6: I find that basing it on time doesn’t work well given local traffic patterns. My policy is anything over 20 miles I charge 1/2 my usual rate. I will sometimes waive this for first visits to help develop the initial relationship but I enforce a two hour minimum for those. The Sleeter Group Consultants Network is the nation’s premier accounting software consultant’s network. Our members provide expert QuickBooks consulting, add-on integration services, business process workflow consulting, outsourced bookkeeping services, and financial statement preparation. To locate one of our certified consultants, visit our Find a Consultant page. To learn more about becoming a consultant, visit our Become a Consultant page, or call our office at 888-484-5484 or +1-925-416-6300. Members of the Network receive a discount on our resource products as well as our annual Accounting Solutions Conference. Membership also includes a copy of our Consultant’s Reference Guide. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2009 The Sleeter Group, Inc. All rights reserved. 5798 Stoneridge Mall Rd. #101 Pleasanton, CA 94588 888-484-5484 |
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Also, if you haven’t joined your local Meetup group, contact us here and we’ll help you find one in your area. These groups are a great way to network with your local colleagues and build your skills and referral network.
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