June 2007
 A Message from Doug Sleeter  

Doug Sleeter With so much going on in the world of accounting software, we’re really excited about the opportunities it presents for consultants and small business owners. In fact, with all the reports from our network, and from business owners, it feels like a new boom is upon us in the small to medium business marketplace.

Here is what I think is driving this boom:

The Internet has now reached critical mass. For years, I’ve been talking to accountants and their clients about moving many business-critical systems to the Internet, but until recently, I encountered stone-faced, heals-dug-in responses, mostly relating to information security and availability of high-speed access issues.

Accounting software is now “open” to third-party developers. Since 2002, when Intuit opened up QuickBooks with their SDK (Software Developer’s Kit) which allows third-party developers to read and write data to the QuickBooks database, there has been a steady flow of new solutions that are now reaching maturity. And since QuickBooks has become a “platform” for other applications, many other vendors are following suit. For example, both Sage and Microsoft have open platforms with Peachtree and Office Accounting. So while the mid-range software market has always been more open as far as add-on integration is concerned, this new development in the low-end is finally beginning to pay dividends in the broad low-to-middle market.

Several mature, vertically-focused software companies have begun targeting the small business world, specifically the QuickBooks market. Companies like Business Objects (Crystal Reports), MISys (SBM), Alterity (Acctivate), Exact Software (Job Boss), Salesforce.com, eBay, Yahoo, Google, Sage (ACT! and Timeslips) and several others. What’s interesting here is that since these companies have developed links to QuickBooks, the whole ecosystem of QuickBooks add-ons has benefited. For example, just simply the existence of a QuickBooks link in Crystal Reports gives rise to a whole submarket of opportunities for end-user customers, consultants, custom developers, and even other commercial software companies.

Consultants, specifically QuickBooks consultants (and CPA firms who either employ them or refer clients to them), have started to fully embrace the idea of recommending and installing add-ons to solve many of the previously unsolvable client problems. Many have begun specializing in add-on integrations such as QuickBooks Point of Sale, BillQuick, Fishbowl, Legrand CRM, PDG Software’s Ecommerce Storefront, Cabinet NG’s CNG Books, Personable’s Sourcelink, Alterity’s Acctivate, MISys, and Truecommerce EDI. In addition to these, there are many more REAL applications that solve real customer problems and yet still allow the client to keep their QuickBooks installation in place. This is a compelling story for the consultant because it allows one to expand on existing skills while maintaining an advantage over other consultants, for whom QuickBooks expertise is lacking. Of course, it takes a QuickBooks expert to know one, so this advantage does not necessarily translate into competitive success, because the client usually doesn’t have a clue about why your expertise is so valuable until they try the other guy and experience failure. However, QuickBooks expertise is a huge advantage and a barrier to entry for those new to the game.

Re-engagement with the existing client base. With more integration options to choose from, many consultants are going back through their client base and initiating new projects to tackle problems around advanced inventory management, CRM, POS, mobile solutions, or advanced construction management. In addition, these new technology options allow consultants to engage new, larger clients with a broader set of needs than was typical of the typical QuickBooks client a few years ago.

 2007 Conference Update  



The Sleeter Group’s annual Conference will be held October 23-26, 2007 at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The main conference is a three day event (10/24-26) plus “Pre-Conference Optional Sessions” on Tuesday 10/23/07.

We have recently posted new Tracks & Session Information to the conference web pages. Conference keynote speakers include Dr. Barry Asmus, a leading economist and Steven Little, a business growth specialist. Featured speakers include Randy Johnston of K2 Enterprises, Greg LaFollette of The CPA Technology Advisor , Steve Blundell of Intuit Inc. and Leslie Shiner of The ShinerGroup. Many Sleeter Group Consultants and key accounting software industry leaders will be presenting as well.

We would like to extend a special welcome to our Diamond Sponsor; Intuit Inc., and to our Platinum Sponsors; The CPA Technology Advisor and Sage Software. We have  many great exhibitors signed up…  check out our exhibitor web page. Whether you are able to attend the conference or not – these vendors have some great solutions for you and your clients.

Conference Giveaways
Conference attendees will receive a free copy of Sage Software’s Peachtree 2008, Intuit’s Simple Start 2008 and Microsoft Office Accounting 2008. Conference attendees will also receive a one-year subscription to The CPA Technology Advisor magazine. There will be many more giveaways added over the next few months!

We have just completed our 2007 conference flyer which we will be mailing to all of our previous seminar and conference attendees soon. You can download the flyer from our conference web page today. If you do not receive mailings from us – sign up for our mailing list.

Visit our Conference/Seminar page for full details and to register.

Members of The Sleeter Group Consultants Network receive a substantial discount on conference registration. For information on joining the network visit our Become a Consultant page.

Be sure to register soon – this conference sells out every year. The Rio Hotel discount rate is also on a first come first serve basis.

 QuickBooks Webinar: QuickBooks File Setup and Conversion Tips and Tools  
We are pleased to announce a new training opportunity for QuickBooks Consultants: "File Setup and Conversion Tips & Tools" Webinar.  The training will cover assessing the QuickBooks file setup, determining when a new file is the best alternative and what steps are necessary to move transactions. In this 2-hour webinar, QuickBooks expert Bonnie Nagayama, CPA,  covers the tips and tools you need to make file setup and conversion as straight forward as possible.
 
Topics include:
  • Kiss of death set up issues
  • Assessing the health of a QuickBooks data file
  • File setup mid-year vs. year end
  • Data transfer tools
This webinar will be offered on July 19, from 10 AM to 12 PM PDT. Registration opens July 3rd. The cost of this 2-hour webinar is $99. For more information visit www.sleeter.com/seminars. 
 
Bonnie Nagayama founded McWilliams & Associates, Inc. in 1992. She was the recipient of the California CPA Education Foundation’s 2001 Award for Instructor Excellence for her QuickBooks related courses. Bonnie was invited to participate in Intuit’s Small Business Round Table and Intuit’s 16-member Customer Council plus she is a frequent contributor for Intuit’s ProConnection Newsletter.
 Tricks of the Trade  

Every day, members of The Sleeter Group’s 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 Group’s Consultants Network Yahoo Group".

Question: I have a new client who has been using Quick Books since 1998 and have problems with their sales tax.

I have read your information on correcting sales tax and even though I have done a lot of it before this one has me stumped on how to correct. (without starting a whole new company)

  1. The chart of accounts (g/l) shows a large balance compared to what they actually owe.
  2. The sales tax (to pay) has a lot of figures that do not agree with anything anywhere – how do I get these off.
  3. The sales tax liability report has a third set of figues that do not agree.

Is there a way to correct all of this – all checks relating to sales tax have cleared over the years and some of the journal entries that were made were put to shareholders distribution over the years.

Answer: Sales tax problems are some of the hardest, so I doubt this will be an easy fix.

I hate to make specific suggestions without knowing your specifics, but here are a few thoughts that MIGHT help.

1) Since the three reports don’t match, if you’re confident in the Gross Revenue numbers, then you can look at monthly or quarterly P&Ls to come up with the gross sales, and then back into the sales tax amounts from there. It’s the sledge hammer approach, but you could pay all the sales tax (per the pay sales tax window) from the "Journal Entries" bank account, and then zero out the Journal Entries account with a journal entry to equity. This would essentially clear out the ST Payable account.

2) The problems likely stem from improper recording of sales transactions. For example, journal entries, deposits coded to income, etc. I have a memorized report called "Non-Sales Income Transactions" that shows all such transactions. You can download this report from our Free Stuff area on our web site if you want to download and use it. It will work with any client file because the filtering is generic (i.e. not list-specific). You can import it from the memorized reports list by selecting Import Template from the Memorized Report menu at the bottom of the memorized reports list. This report will display all transactions that are NOT properly recorded from the sales tax perspective. That is, it looks for anything that hits an Ordinary Income account other than Invoices, Sales Receipts, or Credit Memos. The assumption is that if it hits ordinary income, it must be sales tax related. Therefore, those transactions should be replaced with the proper sales forms, which will affect the sales tax payable information.

3) You’ll probably end up creating a new file for this client, because the permanent fixes may take longer than is economically feasible. We can do "adjusting" things like #1, but the underlying data is still wrong, so reports about that data will be flawed.

 The Sleeter Group Consultants Network  

The Sleeter Group Consultants Network is the nation’s premier accounting software consultant’s network. With over 500 members located throughout the US and Canada, our members serve over 30,000 small businesses. We provide expert QuickBooks consulting, add-on integration services, business process workflow consulting, outsourced bookkeeping services, and financial statement preparation.
In addition to client consulting, many of our consultants provide consulting services to software developers who seek advice on the best practices for integrating their applications with QuickBooks and other accounting software products. To located 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. Members of the network receive a substantial discount on products and our annual conference.