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January 2012
 Message from Doug Sleeter  

Doug Sleeter

How time flies…

This marks the 1-year anniversary of The Sleeter Group’s "QuickBooks and Beyond" blog, managed by Charlie Russell. He has done an outstanding job of creating a trusted source of technical information, mixed with some inspired opinions. The  quantity and quality of articles is impressive, and the web traffic is going through the roof.

This is evidence that people are hungry for good solutions from independent experts, and they want to know not just what the software does, but what we think about it, and how to work around problems when we identify them. Of course that’s what The Sleeter Group is all about.

Charlie has developed a team of regular contributors, including Chuck Vigeant, Michelle Long, Jim Savage, and Bonnie Nagayama, all of whom are highly respected for their technical and business skills. I thank all of them for their great work, and I hope all of our newsletter subscribers will subscribe now to the great content coming from our bloggers.

 What Are We Blogging About?  

QuickBooks and Beyond

Register for our Blog, QuickBooks and Beyond. Here’s a sample of some recent blog articles:

The blog is updated a few times a week – so be sure to register so you will receive an e-mail notification when new articles are posted.

 January's Deal of the Month  

Buy one QuickBooks Assessment Exam in January, get the second FREE! 

Anyone can say they know QuickBooks. But do they really?

Deal of the Month

Hiring the wrong employee or consultant can be very costly. Skills testing is the best way to avoid wasting resources on an unqualified applicant. 

Through the end of January, purchase one Bookkeeper, Controller, or Consultant assessment exam and receive a second exam of the same type for FREE.  These online exams can be taken anytime within one year after purchase. Click here to order.

Deal of the Month specials cannot be combined with any other offer. Limit 5 free exams of each type. Bulk discounts also available.

 January Tidbits  

Sleeter Group Consultant Network Monthly Meeting: Our next Members-Only Webinar will be held January 19, 2012 at 12 noon Pacific. Log onto www.sleeter.com and select "My SGCN Membership" to view the agenda and to register. If you are interested in joining our Consultants Network and attending these monthly webinars for free, call Nathan Fochler at 888-484-5484.

Product Recommendation: Track1099 – Electronic Filing Solution Track1099 is a SaaS (Internet-based) application that integrates with QuickBooks Online, Bill.com, Intacct (and others) to automatically fill out and E-file Form 1099-MISC. With this solution, there is no need to file Form 1096 at all. Click here for full details.

Sleeter Group Job Opening: Textbook Writer We are looking for a full time technical writer to assist us with updating our QuickBooks textbooks. Please visit: Sleeter Group Job Openings for more information.

 Special Webinar Offer - act before January 27  

How to Be More Productive in 2012 - Presented by Productivity Expert Laura Stack
Earn up to 10 CPE hours for only $99. You get these 5 courses:

  • Super Competent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best (2 CPE hrs).
  • I Love My Inbox; I Hate My Inbox: Email Best Practices to Save an Hour a Day (2 CPE hrs).
  • Managing Your Time, Priorities, and Schedule: How to Control Your Day in an Uncontrollable Workplace (2 CPE hrs).
  • Meetings, Meetings, Meetings: Where Minutes are Taken and Hours are Wasted (2 CPE hrs).
  • 30 Best Practices for Administrators to Schedule Their Days: Maintaining Calendar Digitally in Microsoft Outlook (2 CPE hrs).

View each webcast at your own pace. You have up to one year to complete each course. Regularly priced at $139, you get instant access for only $99. This offer expires Friday, January 27 at midnight PST. Order your Productivity Pro package today.

  2012 Accounting Solutions Conference  

Save the Date! October 22-24, 2012

Plan on joining us in sunny Southern California for the ninth Annual Accounting Solutions Conference. The 2012 Conference will be held at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, California. Located next to the Anaheim Convention Center and just two blocks from Disneyland Park, Disney’s California Adventure and Downtown Disney.

Attendee registration for the 2012 Conference will open in April, 2012.

Interested in Exhibiting? Contact us at 888-484-5484.

 

 

 

 

 Featured Webinars  

We have become the "graduate school" for QuickBooks and small business accounting technology because of our educational programs, including our fantastic Webinars. Our Webinar presenters are among the country’s leading experts in accounting software.

Featured WebinaLeslie Shinerr:
 Breakeven Analysis Using Excel by Leslie Shiner
Feb. 9, 2012, 9:00 – 11:00 AM Pacific
As the economy improves, your clients need to make strategic decisions about growth. Learn how to create a breakeven analysis to help make crucial decisions. Play the “what if” game to forecast the consequences of changes in overhead, margin, sales volume. Learn how to use this information to help your clients make strategic decisions.

Other Upcoming Webinars:
QuickBooks File Setup and Conversion by Bonnie Nagayama
Jan. 19, 2012, 12:00-2:00 PM Pacific
Construction Accounting Using QuickBooks by Leslie Shiner
Feb. 9, 2012, 12:00 – 2:00 PM Pacific
Tracking Labor Costs and Setting Billing Rates Using QuickBooks by Leslie Shiner
Feb. 28, 2012, 8:00 – 10:00 AM Pacific

For a complete schedule, including self-study and on-demand titles, visit www.sleeter.com/webinar.

 Where in the World is Doug Sleeter?  

Doug is headed to the AICPA headquarters in New York this month to participate in the 2012 AICPA Trusted Business Advisor Cloud Tax & Accounting Executive Roundtable.

This gathering of software developers and Thought Leaders in the accounting profession represents a great opportunity for software companies to benefit from exposure in the market, as well as from the inspired discussions with Thought Leaders in the accounting profession.

Doug will coordinate the presentations from all of the software companies participating in the event, and will help each of them tailor their messaging to appeal to accountants and their small business clients.

Doug’s unique focus is on the needs of small businesses as they develop, enhance, and streamline their business processes. As the technology world continues to shift towards the cloud, small business owners are seeing dramatic changes in the way their customers and vendors want to work with them. These trends drive an ever increasing focus on how they can leverage the cloud to improve their business results.

Read Doug’s latest article in the CPA Practice Advisor magazine where he discusses the market trends of Chunkification, Zero Entry, and Lego Mastery.

 Sleeter Group Consultants Network - Tricks of the Trade  

Every day, members of the Sleeter Group Consultants Network tackle the day-to-day problems of their clients in the real world. The following is an example problem-and-solution that surfaced this month on our Sleeter Consultants’ Experts Forum.

Question:I have a client with a small pool supply business. Someone returned an item and he went to the refunds & credits in the customer section to process it. He then clicked on ‘use credit to’ and chose ‘give a refund.’ The refund was then given in cash. When I went in to do the bank reconciliation, the refunds are showing up as outstanding checks. The other issue is that because he is so small and most of his sales receipts happen in check or credit card, his cash deposits from the register are few and far between.

My question is: how do I reconcile the bank account with the cash refund items showing up as checks? I’m hoping it is very simple and I’m just missing something obvious due to the holiday overload.

Ruth Perryman responded: Change the bank account at the top of the check to cash in drawer. This completely eliminates the problem with it showing in the make deposits screens and it won’t show at all in the bank rec. You should reconcile the cash in drawer account at least monthly too, most stores do it nightly.

Michelle Stephens responded: Using a zero dollar check is another option.  Go to the refund check and change the amount on the check to zero. In the splits section of the check, add another line as a negative amount (to zero out the total) and code the negative amount to "cash in drawer" account.

The Sleeter Group Consultants NetworkSleeter Group Consultants Network is the nation’s premier accounting software consultants’ network. Sleeter Consultants provide expert financial accounting software 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 phone our office at 888-484-5484.