Inside this Issue

• Message from Doug Sleeter
• Big Business Starts as Small Business
• QuickBooks 2009 Sneak Peak - by Bonnie Nagayama
• 2008 Sleeter Group Conference Update
• 2008 Conference Exhibitor Information - Cisco Webex
• Pre-Conference Session Highlight - ECommerce with PDG Software
• QuickBooks Textbooks -Now Include Trial Version of QuickBooks 2008
• Tricks of the Trade
• The Sleeter Group's Consultants Network

 

Message from Doug Sleeter

I just returned from Intuit’s ISP, RSP, IDN, and Enterprise users all-in-one conference, held last week in Dallas. It was a very interesting gathering, and we heard all sorts of new things about the future direction of Intuit.

In all my years of partnering with Intuit, last week stands out as the biggest sea change at the company. For the first time ever, Intuit is clearly articulating a compelling message about how they will lead the charge in the Software as a Service (SaaS) world.

The key to their new "Connected Strategy," includes their new "Platform as a Service." This is a platform on which SaaS applications can be quickly developed, marketed, and hosted, all within the Intuit umbrella.

Intuit is leveraging everything they’ve built with QuickBase and QuickBooks Online Edition, and they’re adding development tools (Adobe Flex with QuickBooks SDK plugins) to create a development toolkit as well as a software hosting platform that allows developers to bring new solutions to market much faster.

While this new strategy is just that – new (and according to some developers, there is still quite a bit of technology missing),  I believe the direction they’re heading is right on, and all of us in the consulting community should take notice.

We’ll be talking more about this over the coming months, but for sure, this new strategy will have far-reaching implications for developers, consultants, and clients who want to move more of their accounting and business management applications to the web.

Speaking of conferences… our 5th annual conference is in less than 60 days! We have been very busy here at The Sleeter Group working with our team of speakers on finalizing the session descriptions. Most of the sessions are posted on our site. Check it out! Be sure to register this month to take advantage of our Early Bird pricing and our September registration contest.

I have spent a good part of this summer evaluating over 75 add on software products (including the products of our forty plus 2008 Conference Sponsors and Exhibitors) for our 2009 Awesome QuickBooks Add On Award. I will announce the 2009 award recipients at the conference in November, as well as in my QuickBooks Advisor column in November issue of The CPA Technology Advisor.

P.S. We have recorded many of these product demonstrations in webinar format. These webinars are available for all visitors of our website to view for FREE. You can watch them at your convenience and contact with these companies now or come and meet them in the Exhibit Hall in Phoenix this fall. Visit www.sleeter.com/webinars.

Hope to see you in November!

Doug

Big Business Starts as Small Business

According to the old saying, “information is power”. Every business needs as much information as they can get about their business activities and performance in order to empower them to make necessary adjustments in this ever-changing economy.  Considering how most small businesses get their start in accounting for their business operations, it is not surprising that managing business information becomes one of the most time-consuming and frustrating tasks.  In this article, business information is examined through the lifecycle of a growing enterprise.

QuickBooks 2009 Sneak Peak - by Bonnie Nagayama

QuickBooks 2009 is still a few weeks off from an official release, but you can get a sneak peak about what is coming. According to the ProAdvisor Intuit website, the top three feature enhancements for Accountants will be:

• Client Data Review Center;
  
• Accountant’s Copy improvements;
  
• And a more flexible bank reconciliation screen.

Other feature enhancements to note: multi-currency and a complete overhaul of the help function which is replaced by a QuickBooks Live Community.

Also of note for the QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 9.0 product:

• Intuit Statement Writer;
  
• Increase to 30 concurrent users;
• Multi-user enhancements to improve efficiency;
• And the addition of QuickBooks Messenger to provide chat capabilities.

To see all the information including a test drive, go to: http://proadvisor.intuit.com/product/whatsnew/index.jsp

To sign up for notification when the 2009 training is announced, go to: http://accountant.intuit.com/training_cpe/index.aspx?lid=leftnav

2008 Sleeter Group Conference Update

The Sleeter Group’s 5th annual Conference will be held in Phoenix, Arizona November 10-13 at the Renaissance Glendale hotel.  The conference is for accounting professionals, bookkeepers, CPAs, and small business technology consultants.

Session Descriptions are now posted! Most of the session descriptions are  now available on our site. Check it out here. View the conference schedule here.

Early Bird Discount Ends 9/30/08!
Be sure to register by September 30th and save on conference registration fees!

REGISTER by 9/30/08 and Enter To WIN a $200 Spa Gift Certificate at the Renaissance Glendale Hotel for use during Conference week.  Already registered? You have been automatically entered in the contest.

Congratulations to our August registration contest winner Karen Siewert of  Certified QB Group in South Burlington, Vermont. Karen won a one year membership in The Sleeter Group Consultants Network.

Travel Discounts - The Sleeter Group has arranged travel discounts for attendees including rental car discounts and hotel discounts. Visit our Accommodations page for more information.

More Raffle Prizes Posted!  Many of our 2008 Exhibitors are offering raffle prizes including an iPhone, iPod Touch, a Presario Laptop, an Asus Laptop and much more! Check it out.

2008 FREE Webinars – Join Doug Sleeter as he hosts some of our 2008 Conference Exhibitors in a series of free webinars demonstrating some fantastic accounting software solutions. Visit www.sleeter.com/webinars. All of our Exhibitor Webinars are recorded and available to watch at your convenience. You do not need to attend the conference to view these webinars.

Questions about the conference? Please visit our conference web pages or give us a call at 888-484-5484.

2008 Conference Exhibitor Information - Cisco Webex

Pre-Conference Session Highlight - ECommerce with PDG Software

As many of you know we have been searching for best of breed products in the ECommerce area. We have certainly found a winner with PDG Software. We have selected PDG as the topic for one of our three In-Depth 2008 Pre-Conference sessions this November: ECommerce with PDG Commerce Software.

This full day session will be held on 11/10/08 in Phoenix and will provide an in-depth understanding of the skills and techniques necessary to build a Web storefront for your clients using PDG Commerce. You’ll learn how to create a web store that provides the full online shopping experience for customers, plus you’ll learn how to properly integrate the Web store with a variety of accounting software. This course will focus on the tools and applications necessary to make the shopping experience secure for both the merchant and the buyer. You will learn how these solutions can benefit both you and your clients, streamlining the processes that help save time and reduce errors.

Andrew Abrams, Executive Director of Technology in a Box will facilitate this session. Andrew is one of the nation’s leading QuickBooks and Microsoft consultants, providing Information Technology and Accounting Software Solutions to small and medium sized business across the country. With over 15 years experience in accounting, management information systems, retail and sales, Andrew has guided many business owners on how to improve their productivity through the use of their technology. Read more about Andrew here.

This Pre-Conference session is one of three choices at the 2008 Accounting Software Consutling Conference. You do not need to attend the main conference in order to attend one of these sessions. Visit www.sleeter.com/seminars for complete information.

QuickBooks Textbooks -Now Include Trial Version of QuickBooks 2008

We are still working to get the word out that all three of our 2008 college textbooks now include a free 140-day QuickBooks trial software! These books are filled with in-depth step-by-step exercises that walk students through learning QuickBooks. Access to the free software trial gives students more options for practicing and completing the exercises. Students with no previous accounting or QuickBooks experience can learn what they need in order to master QuickBooks.

Higher education instructors who adopt our textbooks have access to the companion PowerPoint slides, Test Banks and Instructors Manual to make preparing for class easy. Click here to request a free examination copy.

QuickBooks Fundamentals Version 2008 covers accounting basics, tracking revenue and expenses, bank reconciliation and file setup. QuickBooks Intermediate Version 2008 covers inventory, sales tax, payroll, estimates and budgets. QuickBooks Complete Version 2008 covers all of the topics in the Fundamentals and Intermediate books combined.

In addition to working in the classroom, each of these three textbooks makes an excellent self-study tool. Click here to order. For more about the Trial Software, read this article.

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 Group Consultants Network E-Mail Group.

Question: Has anyone used the loan manager? I attempted to do so yesterday with a fairly simple loan that I needed to amortize interest for. I had a loan with two draws and several payments made on the balance. The manager would not let me put in the beginning balance (the first draw) because it was less than the current balance. I called tech support but they told me my scenario is too complicated for the software. Is that right?

Michelle L. Long answered: It sounds like you’re dealing with a line of credit? The loan manager is for a traditional loan with a fixed interest rate and payment period. If you’re working with a line of credit, I’d suggest setting it up as a credit card type. Then, you can record the draws, interest, service charges, record payments made, and reconcile with the bank records.

Jeanne Miller Tarazevits suggests: Try T-Value.

Diane Krause added: I agree that the loan manager is for traditional loans and not lines of credits which it sounds like you are working with. I use the Loan Manager very successfully with a traditional loan. If you are indeed working with a Line of Credit, most banks provide a monthly statement for these accounts. We set them up in QuickBooks as an "other current liability" account and use the account register to add interest and draws as Increases (per the account statement) to the account balance and the payment as a Decrease. Then we reconcile the account to the statement.

The Sleeter Group's Consultants Network

The Sleeter Group Consultants Network is the nation’s premier accounting software consultant’s network. With over 600 members located throughout the US and Canada, our members serve over 150,000 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 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. Members of the network receive a substantial discount on our resource products as well as our annual Accounting Software Consulting Conference.