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July 2007
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| A Message from Doug Sleeter |
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 This month The Sleeter Group is hosting our first in a series of Webinars which we hope you will attend. These informational deep-dive sessions are geared for consultants who need:
- in-depth, ready-to-implement methodologies and techniques, presented by the top experts in the country,
- no nonsense advice on consulting best practices,
- technology recommendations, and
- unbiased product comparisons to help you match the right solutions to each client need
I encourage everyone to attend our first event this Thursday. See below for details.
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| QuickBooks Webinar: QuickBooks File Setup and Conversion Tips and Tools |
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 New Webinar – This Thursday! Register Today
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.
This webinar will be offered this Thursday, July 19, from 10 AM to 12 PM PDT. The cost of this 2-hour webinar is $99. For more information click: July 19th Webinar.
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| William English Discusses the "Document Offset" Account |
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William English is a certified member of The Sleeter Group Consultant’s Network, focusing much of his practice on QuickBooks Point of Sale consulting. Check out his article that discusses the "Document Offset" account you might find in your client’s QuickBooks file.
In this article, William explains what the account is for and how you can avoid erroneous postings to it. Fortunately, Intuit renamed this account to "QuickBooks POS Adjustments" in QuickBooks POS version 6, but if your clients have used earlier versions of the POS software, that account may still be hanging around in their QuickBooks chart of accounts.
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| Product Release News |
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 QuickBooks Fundamentals Version 2007 is now shipping. Our popular Learning QuickBooks Step-by-Step Teaching System’s resource book has been completely updated for version 2007. This 417-page book contains the following new features:
- A new "final summary" problem – The Walker Business Scenario which covers topics from throughout the book and is a great tool for teachers and students to test understanding of the content.
- New updated step-by-step exercises using the 2007 Chart of Accounts.
- The Sales Process, a new streamlined chapter focusing on tracking company sales.
- Enhancements and 2007 updates to all chapters, including the Company File Setup and Maintenance chapter.
Read more and order your copy here.
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| QuickBooks Point of Sale - Best Practices for Success |
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 QuickBooks Point of Sale: Best Practices for Success!
For Consultants and Clients
This new book by Leslie Capachietti teaches implementation, daily transactions and financial exchange with QuickBooks Financial Software. It is an invaluable resource whether you are new to Point of Sale or an experienced QuickBooks Point of Sale consultant. Filled with step-by-step instruction and easy-to-read graphics, it covers behind the scenes accounting information so there are no surprises when integrating with QuickBooks.
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| 2007 Accounting Software Consulting Conference Update |
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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 three optional “Pre-Conference Sessions” on Tuesday 10/23/07.
This month we are highlighting our October 23rd Pre-Conference sessions. You do not need to attend the main conference to attend one of these sessions. Each session provides 8 CPE credits.
Pre-Conference Sessions Include:
Fishbowl Inventory Consulting led by Joe Woodard – Topics Include:
- Why Fishbowl Consulting Helps Expand Your Practice
- Growing Your Practice to Serve Larger, More Lucrative Clients
- Keep QuickBooks Clients Instead of Losing them to High-End Accounting Systems
- How You Can Increase Your Consulting Rates with Fishbowl Inventory
- Things Accountants Must Know About Fishbowl Inventory
- Qualifying Opportunities to Ensure Success
- Best Practices for Integration with QuickBooks
- Planning the Installation – Things to Consider Before you Start
- Installation Checklists
- Case Studies and Examples
QuickBooks Train the Trainer led by Amy Vetter, CPA – Topics Include:
- Why Teach QuickBooks?
- Planning, Marketing, and Advertising your QuickBooks Courses
- Presentation Pointers to Assist you in being a successful facilitator
- In-depth review and teaching approach for each chapter of the Sleeter Group’s QuickBooks Step-by-Step (QBSS) textbooks
- Working lunch session with your peers to share best practices
- Expert Panel: marketing seminars, effective presentation methods, and addressing the challenges of teaching to different audiences
QuickBooks Point of Sale Consulting led by Leslie Capachietti – Topics Include:
- Overview of QuickBooks Point-of-Sale
- Is POS right for your client?
- How QB POS interfaces with QuickBooks Financial Software
- Setting up QB POS properly – the first time!
- Developing end-of-day processes for your clients
- Importing data from other vendors and other software into QB POS
- How QB POS Items differ from QuickBooks Items
- Setting up QB POS merchant account processing
- Creating QB POS reports
- Tips and tricks to make QB POS run smoothly and avoid problems
- Troubleshooting common problems with QB POS
- Expanding your practice with POS installation services
- Becoming a QB POS expert, QB POS Certifications
- Pricing and marketing your services
- Scheduling post installation follow-up sessions
Attendees of both a pre-conference session and the main conference will receive a discounted registration rate. Attendees of all events will enjoy a continental breakfast as well as a networking lunch. Pre-conference sessions begin Tuesday at 8:00am and will end at 4:00pm.
We recently mailed our 2007 conference flyer to our previous seminar and conference attendees. if you have not received one, click here to view the flyer (PDF). 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 discount on conference registration. For information on joining the network visit our Become a Consultant page.
NOTE: THE EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT IS GOOD THROUGH 8/23
THE RIO HOTEL DISCOUNT IS GOOD THROUGH 9/23.
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| The Sleeter Group's Consultants Network |
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 The Sleeter Group’s 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 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 products and our annual conference (as well as many more benefits).
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| Tricks of the Trade |
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 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 an Enterprise 7.0 client that when they switch from Accrual Basis to Cash Basis the Balance Sheet goes out of balance. Since they use inventory, looking for open balances in Accounts Receivable doesn’t work all that well and I cannot tell which account is creating the out-of-balance scenario.
Answers: From Mark Stricker: It may be obvious and you probably did this already but did you search on the amount that you are out of balance. Maybe you’ll get lucky.
From Cindy Hovig: One trick I have used is total the balance sheet by month to figure out when it went out of balance. Once I determine which month, then I total by day to see what day it went out of balance. This can narrow your search.
From Joe Woodard: That procedure is covered step by step in the Consultant’s Reference Guide. Though I think they [Intuit] may have corrected this in more recent versions, one of the most likely causes for a cash basis imbalance is a customer discount entered on the Receive Payment window. You can offset the discount to any P&L type account and to some B/S type accounts, but offsetting the customer discount to equity (and I think perhaps liabilities) can cause this problem. Again, may not be an issue in the more recent versions because I don’t run into this problem anymore.
That being said, it could be caused by other issues in the file, but almost certain the issue would be related to A/R or A/P – if indirect. The only non A/R or A/P issue I can think of is a data file corruption that may or may not show in the Verify Data utility. I would rebuild the data file (if you have not done so already) and if that doesn’t work I would create a portable company data file and then open the portable file – to re-index the database.
If the procedures in the Consultant’s Reference Guide and if performing the steps above don’t help you, you may have to send the file to Intuit data recovery department. You can contact the PAP technical support group and they will refer you over.
Let us know what you find. I’m always curious about the causes behind imbalances balance sheets.
From Doug Sleeter: See the Consultant’s Reference Guide:
- version 2006 (page 251)
- version 2007 (page 236)
This is probably caused by
- a "discount" transaction recorded in Receive Payments, coded to a balance sheet account.
- a journal entry hitting AR or AP
- or a few other possibilities.
Start by looking closely at the entry to determine the meaning. Then
try to record it using forms, zero dollar checks, or journal entries.
It’s still happening in 2007, so don’t panic, just record the same meaning using other transaction types.
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| Write for Us! |
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 Do you have some great tips, tricks, or tutorials that you want others to know about? Are you interested in becoming published?
Write for Us!
If you have some accounting software tips, tricks, workarounds or other information that accounting software users and consultants would be interested in, submit them to us and we will consider publishing them. Visit our Authors Information page to learn how you can write for us.
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