This month is the Sleeter Group’s eleventh year of providing expert QuickBooks consulting and training to accountants and small businesses. We owe our success to the support we have received from our clients and colleagues over the years. We are looking forward to new challenges and continued success in the next year.

Everyone on The Sleeter Group team is working hard on our 2005 QuickBooks Consultant’s Conference (this November 9-11 in Las Vegas, NV). We are currently organizing the Conference Speakers and firming up the specific topics to be taught. We are pleased that Intuit is returning this year with the "Intuit Academy" and the popular “Town Hall Meeting” providing attendees to give feedback to the QuickBooks team. Our conference is already at one-third capacity. The conference sold out in 2004, so sign up early (and don't miss out on the Early Bird discount).

I would like to extend a personal congratulations to our “Tax Season” contest winners Claire Auslan and Linda Kugler. We are beginning a brand new Early Bird Registration contest so there are still more chances to win (read about it below).

In this month's issue we have included information on SourceLink, a new product from Personable, Inc. SourceLink is a QuickBooks Add-on product that attendees at our QuickBooks Consultant's Conference in November will get to see first hand as Personable is one of our Gold Sponsors at the November conference.

We have also included a review of PayCycle's online Payroll services. PayCycle sponsored the Sleeter Group's 2004 QuickBooks conference and will be returning as a Gold Sponsor to our 2005 Conference. We are pleased to announce that PayCycle will be hosting a Cocktail Party for ALL QuickBooks Consultant's Conference attendees on Thursday November 10th. We hope you will join us!

We have just released "QuickBooks Fundamentals Version 2005" workbook. If you teach QuickBooks, check out this book. It is also a great self-study guide. It is 430 pages, and the companion workbook "Intermediate QuickBooks-version 2005" will be out shortly. Next month we will release the full Teaching System for these new workbooks that will include companion PowerPoint slides and everything you need to give a great QuickBooks presentation or seminar.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think would benefit from it. I look forward to seeing you in November in Las Vegas!

Congratulations to Sleeter Group clients Linda Kugler and Claire Auslen for winning our first Early Bird Registration contest this year – April’s "Tax Season Contest". Claire and Linda each won a free one year Sleeter Group Consultant's Network Membership by registering for the 2005 QuickBooks Consultant’s Conference before April 30th.

We gave away two memberships – one to a current member of the Sleeter Group Network: Claire Auslen. Claire has been a member of the Consultant's Network for over 4 years. Her membership will be extended for a full free year.

We also gave away a membership to Linda Kugler, who is new to the network. Welcome to the Network, Linda! Both Claire and Linda and will receive the following benefits as part of membership:

•Consultant's Reference Guide (book & CD-ROM) •Access to The Sleeter Group's private Yahoo! Email Group •Access to the Sleeter Group’s FTP or “File Folder” Sharing System
•Access to Independent certification testing and test banks for QuickBooks
•Use of Sleeter Group’s Certified Network Logo (upon Certification)
•Web site profile on The Sleeter Group's "Find a QuickBooks Consultant" (upon Certification) •QuickBooks Shortcuts Mouse pads
•"Need QuickBooks Help?" Button.

We are offering a NEW Early Bird CONTEST for early registration! See details below.

This month, we profile Sleeter Group Certified QuickBooks Consultant and Sleeter Group Author, Christine L. Manor, CPA MBA. Christine is the author of The Sleeter Group's QuickBooks for Not-for-Profit Organizations workbook. Christine provides QuickBooks consulting and training services for Not-for-Profits across the country.

Christine joined the Sleeter Group team in 2001. She has been working with not-for-profits for 24 years. Her background includes advisory roles with the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services of San Francisco, and California Association of Nonprofits. Her clients include National Academy of Social Insurance, The Philanthropy Roundtable, Society of Conservation Biologists, American Architectural Foundation, The Oceanography Society, North American Alliance of Folk Music and Dance, the Postsecondary Electronics Standards Council, and many more. Christine is an instructor in QuickBooks training for CAN (California Association of Nonprofits), the Washington (DC) Council of Agencies, and for The Sleeter Group.

We asked Christine a few questions about her life and her journey towards QuickBooks consulting in the Not-for-Profit arena.

Christine was born at the Naval Air base in Pensacola, FL where her Father was stationed. She grew up along the East Coast and received her undergraduate degree, a BS in Humanities, from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. At Drexel, she worked in the theatre as a Technical Director, but because theatre work was hard to find in, she fell back on her bookkeeping skills from high school for part time work.

Christine first entered the Not-for-Profit sector when the League of American Wheelmen (now League of American Bicyclists) needed a new Administrative Director to relocate their office from Chicago to Baltimore, MD. Christine worked with the YWCA as a bookkeeper where she learned about cost accounting the NFPO way. She received her MBA in 1992 from Loyola University. She passed the CPA exam on her first try.

Christine began using and consulting in QuickBooks in 1992. Christine says she took every QuickBooks seminar she could find until she discovered The Sleeter Group in 1996. Christine and Doug began discussions in 2000 about addressing QuickBooks in the Not-for-Profit segment. In 2002, Christine co-authored the Sleeter Group’s QuickBooks for Not-for-Profit Organizations (Version 2002). In 2004 she authored the revised edition for versions 2004-2005. The QuickBooks for Not-for-Profit Organizations workbook has received much acclaim in the Not-for-Profit world. The workbook can be purchased at www.sleeter.com’s online store.

Christine’s hobbies include folk and square dance, bicycling, gardening, and home restoration. Christine lives with her husband, Al Taylor and their two adopted daughters, Katharine and Isabel, and three cats in a 1926 bungalow in Rockville, Maryland.

Christine enjoys teaching QuickBooks seminars for the Not-for-Profit sector and consults with Not-for-Profit Organizations in the Washington DC area, and remotely with Not-for-Profit clients across the US. Contact Christine at clm@clmanor.com.

The days of searching through files for documents associated with a QuickBooks transaction are history. Any document associated with any record or transaction can be linked to, providing a range of connectivity in QuickBooks not before available.

Planning on attending the 2005 QuickBooks Consultant’s Conference? Here are TWO great reasons to register early:

Register for the conference by July 31, 2005 and you’ll automatically be entered in our “Win 3 Night Free Accommodations” contest. Winner will receive 3 nights free stay at the Tuscany Suites & Casino hotel where the conference is being held ($79 per night room rate excluding taxes). The Tuscany Suites Casino and Hotel is an all-suites hotel (located 2 blocks from the Bellagio and Flamingo hotels) with rooms averaging 650 square feet surrounded in Italian ambience with plush landscape, pools and fountains.

In addition, you’ll receive the Early Bird Discount registration price of $449 (a $100 savings)! If you’re already registered for the conference, don’t worry! You’ll automatically be entered into this contest. The winner will be announced immediately following the contest so stay tuned! Contest rules can be found on our web site.

If you’re interested in adding more services to your practice, PayCycle's Online Payroll Service is worth a careful look. PayCycle is designed for small businesses with less than 50 employees, and is attractively priced so that you can turn a profit. With PayCycle’s Wholesale Service for accounting professionals, you pay $14.99 per client per month for the first 5 clients and $9.99 per client per month for clients 6+. There’s no upfront cost or minimum contract. Accounting professionals receive discounts based on client volume, which can reduce the cost to as low as $9.99 per client, per month.

The ALL-NEW 2005 “Learning QuickBooks Step-by-Step Teaching System” will be released at the end of June! We have modified the format of the 2005 teaching system based on comments and suggestions our instructors have made over the past year.

We recommend you first purchase our “Basic Teaching System” which will cover two student workbooks: “QuickBooks Fundamentals” and “Intermediate QuickBooks”. Also available will be two additional “teaching modules” - Using QuickBooks Payroll and QuickBooks for Construction & Job Costing.

Each module includes one copy of the student workbook(s), exercises, quizzes, case studies, sample data files, companion PowerPoint presentations, our Seminar Planning Guide and marketing templates to help you market your seminar. Pre Order your copy today to ensure you receive the product in the first round of shipping.

Our new 2005 "QuickBooks Fundamentals" book is ready NOW. This book is now 430 pages and only $35. Sleeter Group Consultant’s pay only $25. Our "Intermediate QuickBooks" book will be released in mid June.

The Sleeter Group's Successful QuickBooks Consulting System includes three of our most popular products bundled together at one low price!

Considering starting a consulting practice and not sure where to begin? Already have a QuickBooks consulting practice that you need practice management assistance with? The Successful QuickBooks Consulting System teaches you how to successfully build AND manage a QuickBooks consulting practice, both from a marketing and management perspective.

The system includes a 10-hour live taping on CD-ROM of “Managing & Marketing Your QuickBooks Practice Seminar” presented by Sleeter Group's seminar instructor, Joe Woodard. Joe shares our experiences building QuickBooks consulting practices for CPA firms throughout the country. You’ll also receive a copy of our Consultant’s Reference Guide (book & CD-ROM) for version 2004 and our popular "Consultant’s Toolkit" CD ROM.

Sale ends June 30th.