Moving Day

I have published 125 articles to this site.  In that time I have gone through many changes.

I got my CPA.

I changed jobs.

I moved into IT as well as accounting.

My focus has changed and this site was designed more for those who were in the processes I have moved from.

Its time to move on.

I have created a new website that is what I am about now.

Please join me at www.power-abacus.blogger.com

There you will find articles on Excel, Peachtree, and QuickBooks.

Maybe I will talk about the occasional pure accounting topic.

See you there.

QuickBooks Vs. Peachtree

Something I truly enjoy is questions that I get from my readers.  A short time ago I had a reader mention that they would like to see a comparison between QuickBooks and Peachtree.  Since I do work with both and I am working with both on the expert level, I thought perhaps I could make the comparison between the two.

As a professional accountant who also works in Information Systems, I have a slightly different point of view about what accounting software should do and how it should work.  I do however take into account what my clients like and issues we run into.  Much of that become topics for articles I write.

If software or accounting automation were to function ideally, whenever you made a sale or provided a service, the appropriate entry would be made automatically and it would update your books. Well, you can get part of that in a retail business, even with small business software like the QuickBooks POS terminal, but it still won’t do your depreciation, purchase of fixed assets, bill payments, etc. etc. automatically, even if you paid for and used every service you can subscribe for through Intuit over the internet. For many other businesses you will have to make entries for your transactions manually.  Sorry, but there really is not an automated way to get the information

So what should we be looking for? What should we expect out of a software program?  Something that cuts down on accountant or book-keeper time. Now, what exactly does that mean? Things that a small business will primarily need a book-keeper or accountant for are:

1. Accounting for prepayments

2. Payroll accounting and returns

3. Depreciation for GAAP and Tax purposes

4. Minimizing tax legally

5. Useful, sensible reporting

Both packages meet these goals, but which is better?  Well, both have their merits and shortfalls, here is a brief look at the good and bad for each.

QuickBooks – The Good

In my opinion, QuickBooks is probably the more comprehensive of the two packages.  It provides relatively efficient functionality, with a standard interface, customizable reporting, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Feature-wise, it probably contains more than Peachtree; it will do the basic accounting, invoicing, payroll subscriptions, credit card transactions, GL, AR and AP, prepaid, customer statements, financial reporting, etc.  QuickBooks ALSO has some concept of drill down functionality, which can be relatively insightful at the click of a button.

Another area that QuickBooks has a big plus in its wide market area and availability of support. It is relatively easy to find QuickBooks consultants (certified or not). The support network is out there, and their own web site can guide you on where and how to find support. Plus, QuickBooks is the software of choice for many Universities, making most accounting graduates QuickBooks literate, if not experts.
In addition to the friendly interface, QuickBooks is relatively self explanatory. The titles in the menus, the screens, the interface, the ease of use, all makes it a very efficient piece of software, especially if you’re a computer literate accountant. Even if you’re not, the learning curve is not too high.

QuickBooks – The Bad

From my position, I really don’t have much bad to say about QuickBooks. I’ve been using it for several years, and functionality wise, there’s really not much wrong with it (in comparison with other accounting / bookkeeping software in the market). The only possible drawback is that its ultra feature richness may make it confusing for the not so computer literate user.

Technically, QuickBooks has one pitfall. From year to year, newer versions come out, and compatibility has been an issue in the past. If you upgrade, you have to convert data, and although it’s not that tedious with the new version, it would be much simpler if Intuit simply made QuickBooks backward compatible, which it probably doesn’t for reasons of profitability.

Peachtree – The Good

Peachtree is a fantastic piece of software.  The first piece of accounting software I used on the job was Peachtree Accounting 2003. I was self taught and had selected Peachtree to use in my own small business.  I liked how Peachtree was organized; however, I am a trained accountant so Peachtree appealed to me.  Besides at the time QuickBooks was still at the level of being a glorified version of their Quicken.

 Now, it’s very similar to the latest version of QuickBooks, and offers virtually all the functionality of QuickBooks. There’s less gray unlike QuickBooks ; the interface and layout are very clean, the different templates are customizable as they are in QuickBooks, and it offers all the supplementary functionality credit cards, good journal layouts, invoicing, POs, SOs, etc. All in all, this is a great piece of software, and is a wonderful place to start for any small business. It’s not to heavy on the pocket, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how it works. Oh, and Peachtree offers some drill down functionality like QuickBooks.

Peachtree – The Bad

Like QuickBooks, Peachtree comes out with a new version every year.  It too is not backwards compatible.  Again this may be for reasons of profitability.

 

What about the components of QuickBooks and Peachtree?  Basically I look at three basic aspects of both programs.  The database, client interface, and reporting.

Database

I thought I would start with the key component of each program, which is the database.  This is essentially the heart of each program.

Peachtree’s database is very well designed and interfaces well with programs such as Excel.  I have found that when I need to review a database and or repair one, that Peachtree’s database is very user friendly and allows for simple fixes.  I have had to transfer database components from an old company database to a newly created one.  This was to do a complete repair of a company’s data.  Peachtree makes it very easy to do this and even provides great documentation as to the best order to use to effectively make the change.  The process is very smooth and Peachtree even has it set that when you go to re-reconcile the accounts the reconciliation tic marks are already there.  It makes balancing a breeze.  Peachtree allows for the easy export and import of the data and uses the Excel data set known as a CSV file to accommodate the viewing of data while in transition.

QuickBooks has a very comprehensive database and it too is easy to interface with Excel.  There is plenty of information in the database so if you need to fix something it is easy to locate and repair.

I have also had the opportunity to convert a database from an old database to a new one.  QuickBooks has attempted to make the information so user-friendly (probably to assist the layperson), that the data is harder to convert.  I found that the process was harder and I did have to spend time viewing the data to assure it was working correctly.

QuickBooks also has documentation to help you with making a conversion which makes the process fairly easy.  I did find that the use of what QuickBooks calls IIF files to be a bit cumbersome and in the end I had to re-balance pretty much on my own.   The IIF files were essentially text files, while I could open them in Excel, I had to convert to CSV to work with the file and then convert back to text.  This process can lead to additional mistakes.  I think that the direction that QuickBooks approached the database, while great for the layperson, makes it harder on someone who needs to do behind the scenes work as there is too much information to sift through.

Advantage Peachtree.

Client Interface

Peachtree has been working hard on its client interface.  It has become more user friendly over the years.  Both Peachtree and QuickBooks offer a pushbutton navigation where you select where you want to go by simply pushing the icon of what you want to do.  You can generally locate what you want by checking around the menus.  There is a bit of a learning curve as to all of the functions that Peachtree has.  For most versions there is a very comprehensive training guide that really clarifies all that Peachtree does.

QuickBooks remains the most user friendly interface.  The menus, sub screens, and point and click options are very user friendly and make it a breeze to navigate around.  I also like how the reports are titled so you pretty much can find what you need.  Some versions of QuickBooks even have a module where you can make your own reports.  This module works with Excel, making the customization of reports very easy.

Advantage QuickBooks

Reports

 

Peachtree comes with a great report package.  There are plenty of reports to choose from so you can see what your business is doing and more importantly how it is doing.  The reports allow for some drilling down into the data for a quick review of where the numbers come from.  Customization of the reports within the program, once you have trained on how to do it, is very comprehensive and allows you to get something more to your liking.  The downside as I mentioned is there is a learning curve as to how to do this.  Peachtree does have good documentation on how to customize reports, but you will spend some time figuring this feature out.   You have the option to export the reports to Excel to work with the item further if you wish.   Peachtree also comes with Crystal Reports so you can further customize some reports and forms.  To have full access to Crystal you do need to pay an additional fee and Crystal also requires extensive training in order to use it correctly. 

QuickBooks also has a great set of reports.  You can customize the reports within the program and it is menu driven.  Simply follow each page of the menu to locate and make changes.  The menu does limit your choices, however, so some things you may want to do may require you to export the report to Excel to accomplish customization to your liking.  QuickBooks also has a report customization module that in some versions you pay extra for and others it comes with the program.  This customization module works with Excel and allows you to create a report to your liking.

For reporting both programs do a great job and allow for a variety of ways to get the data you want.

 

What we can conclude about this look into the two most commonly used accounting programs is that each has its own merits and essentially it is up to the needs of your company and your accountant that should really be considered when selecting a program.

QuickBooks is definitely set for use by laymen and they market the product in that manner.  Peachtree does require a little more work to get to know, but once you do it’s a great program to work with.

I am a local expert serving clients with their software needs.  Specializing in Set-up, Training, Troubleshooting, Data-file clean up and customizing QuickBooks and Peachtree for your business!  By customizing QuickBooks or Peachtree for the way your business or organization operates, you can improve the performance and profitability of your business.  I have the experience and expertise to help you get QuickBooks or Peachtree working for you!  When set up properly QuickBooks and Peachtree will provide you with the financial information you need to run your business.

At Komisar Brady and Co. LLC.  We don’t just work with Numbers we work with People.

We have a team of professionals ready to understand and work with your business.  Whether it is consultation on your software needs to concrete tax advice we have the professionalism and expertise to give you the straight answer. 

If you are seeking balance between your Accounting and Tax needs we are ready to help you.  Stop by our website for more details and information at www.komisarbrady.com.

Peachtree Toolbox: Adding department codes for better reporting

It is a rare occurrence, but once and awhile I have a company that asks about being able to divide out information by location.  For instance, a retail store that has two locations and wants to see how each locations sales and expenses work out.  Most companies also want the ability to also see the company as a whole.  Peachtree offers the ability in its Premium and Quantum products to allocate revenue and expenses by using department codes.

 

Peachtree Premium and Peachtree Quantum products include a feature called account segments that simplifies the process of creating departmental financial statements. However, you can still create customized departmental financial statements by building on one of Peachtree’s Predefined Financial Statements.  If you use Peachtree First Accounting, you will not be able to edit any of Peachtree’s predefined financial statements.  Customizing forms and statements is not a feature of Peachtree First Accounting. 

 

Peachtree Accounting allows a great deal of flexibility in the way you create ID’s, or department codes, for records. The coding system you use is up to you. However, it is important that you create a consistent, logical method that everyone in your office understands, especially when you are creating your Chart of Accounts for use in designing Departmentalized Financial Statements.

 

You will need to create a code for each department.  You can use letters or numbers for this code.  For example, if you have Construction and Retail departments in your company, you might use C and R for Construction and Retail, respectively. You might use CON and RET, or 01 and 02 just as easily.

 

You will then create General Ledger accounts that contain the department code. It is essential to have the department code at the end of the account ID. For example:

40000-C  Sales-Construction
40000-R  Sales-Retail

Typically, for use with rollup financial statements (using the rollup feature), you could also have a master account such as:

 

40000-0  Sales

 

You will not be able to use the following characters in General Ledger Account ID’s:

Asterisks (*), plus signs (+), question marks (?), leading, or trailing spaces.

 

In addition to the steps below, Peachtree provides a Financial Statement Wizard that can assist you in creating custom financial statements. For more information, go to Help on the main Peachtree menu and click Peachtree Accounting Help. Go to the Index tab, and type Financial Statement Wizard.

 

 To do this, select Reports & Forms (or Reports in Peachtree 2007 and earlier) from the Peachtree menu, then select Financial Statements.  Click once on the report that you would like to modify and click Design.  For our example, we will begin with the <Standard> Income Stmnt.

The Financial Statement Design screen will display.
In the Financial Statement Designer, you will be entering the Department Mask in the Column Description properties, so that a column you specify will pull the information only for one department.

 

Right-click the rectangular button along the left side of the screen labeled Column Desc. Left-click Properties from the shortcut menu that appears.
 
The Column Description properties window will display.  The Column Definitions table lists the column numbers, the types of information in your financial statement and the title for each column.
Click the line for Column 2, with contents Activity, so that the row has a red line surrounding it. On the right you will see attributes of this column.

Click in the Dept. Mask field in the upper-right part of the window.

Type in an asterisk for each non-departmental character of the General Ledger Account ID and then the department code you want to display for this financial statement at the end.  For example, since your sample company has account numbers with 5 digits, a dash and the department code, you would type *****-C to mask for Construction, or *****-R to mask for Retail.
 
Click row 4, with the contents Year to Date. Enter the same department mask you entered for Column 2. In this example, *****-C for Construction or *****-R for Retail.

Click OK.

 

To save the new financial statement design, select the Save button in the design window.  Enter a new name (i.e., Department C Income Statement) and click OK. 

Do Not include the phrase <Standard> in your new report name or your report will not save.
To test the report, click the Preview button at the top of the screen.  The report will display data for the accounts that fit into the department mask that you have specified.  In the example here, accounts that end in the letter C (for Construction Department) will be shown.
Line Descriptions are modified instead of Column Descriptions when creating Rollup Financial Statements.

 

Select Reports & Forms (or Reports in Peachtree 2007 and earlier) from the Peachtree menu, then select Financial Statements.  Click once on the report that you would like to modify and click the Design button near the top of the screen.  For our example, we will begin with the <Standard> Income Stmnt.

 

Locate the Line Description button that corresponds to the section of your Income Statement that you want to rollup (in our example we are going to modify the Income section).  Right-click the Line Description button you have selected. For example, if you are rolling up the Sales accounts into one line, right-click the Line Description button in the Revenue section of the Income Statement.
 
From the menu that displays, select Properties with the left mouse button.

The Line Description Screen will display.  In the lower right, locate the field labeled Print.
 
When you click the dropdown arrow to the right of the Print box, it appears that there are only two options. Scroll down, and select Rollup

The field directly below the print field will now read Rollup Mask.  Place your cursor in this field. 

 

The Rollup Mask works in the opposite way than the Department Mask.  First, type the leading digits that represent the account group you are rolling up, income accounts for example, and type zeros for the rest of the digits as place holders until you get to the department code.  Then type asterisks for the department code. 

For example: You are interested in rolling up income accounts for all departments.  Your income accounts begin with the number 4 and there are a total of 5 digits in each regular General Ledger account number.  The department code consists of a dash and one character as the last digit.  If you create a Rollup Mask using this criteria the rollup mask would be 40000**.
Note:  If you want to rollup only the Department Masked accounts your Rollup Masking would be 40000-*.  This will print the 40000 accounts on one line and all department masked accounts on another line.

Click OK
 
Save the rollup Financial Statement as a new report. Select the Save button at the top left. Give the report a new name, such as Rollup Income Statement or a name that reflects the content of the report and Click OK.  Be sure to not include the phrase <Standard> in your new report name.

 

When the Rollup Mask has been used properly, the report will display the total of the departmental accounts specified with the description of the Master account.  In our example, the report displays the total of the activity from accounts 40000, 40000-R, and 40000-C and it is labeled Sales, which is the description of account 40000.
All accounts that start with a 4, and have a department code, will be rolled up into their respective master accounts.  Any account that does not have a department code will be printed on it’s own line.

You can rollup account activity in any section of the Financial Statement you are customizing.  For example, if you rollup accounts in the Cost of Goods Sold or Expenses sections, you would go back to the design screen and modify the corresponding Line Descriptions for those sections.  The only difference would be that the leading digit on the Rollup Mask would reflect the same leading digit for Cost of Sales type accounts or Expense type accounts.

 

The report department feature allows the company to look at data in a more dynamic way.  The company can evaluate how they are doing as a whole and look at how each department is doing.  This gives the company the additional ability to determine what areas in the company need attention and what areas are doing well.

Peachtree Toolbox: 2010 New Release

It’s one of my favorite times of the year, new release time!  Peachtree is getting ready to release the 2010 version of their programs.  It seems that every year there are some new enhancements added to the programs that in most cases make them easier to use.  I thought I would spend some time outlining the new features and posting on them.

 

One of the key things that Sage worked on with their Peachtree programs for this year is the speeding up of transaction, look up, and reporting.  One feature that really caught my eye was being able to open multiple companies at the same time.  As an accountant who may be working on multiple companies this is an invaluable tool.  The customizable dashboard is wonderful.  I tend to use the dropdowns, but if I could put all my favorites in one place, I will do it.

 

The list below is the new and enhanced features available on Peachtree 2010 and Quantum 2010.  Quantum is designed for a larger amount of users, thus is comes with more features.  You can get further information on www.peachtree.com.

 

Peachtree by Sage 2010 – Release Overview

 

Transaction History

 

þ     Easily and quickly view all history related to a particular customer or vendor transaction throughout the entire chain of events at any point in the sales or purchase process.

þ     View forward from a quote to a receipt or backwards from a payment to a purchase order.

þ     Save time getting to the information you need to take action!

 

Customer Management Center

 

þ     Save time by viewing the details you need all-in-one-place to better manage and service your customers without missing a beat.

þ     Create a customizable dashboard view of your customer’s information such as their converted and unconverted quotes, invoices, receipts, time tickets, aged balances, items sold, and much more. Drill down to the detail and quickly take action.

þ     Save time by looking up customers quickly based on their id, phone number or any of their contact information or recently looked up customers, and filter further based on date ranges.

þ     Utilize the Recent Selections link to quickly pull up customers who you have already viewed.

þ     Easily export customer information to Excel® or PDF or launch an e-mail from the Customer Management Center.

 

Open Multiple Companies

 

þ     Get your work done faster by being able to open multiple companies within Peachtree at the same time!

þ     Open all of your companies at the same and toggle to the company you need without closing your current company.

þ     Save time by not having to reenter your login information when switching between companies. Enter your user id & password once and Peachtree will remember it until you close Peachtree.

 

Multiple Contacts

 

þ     Store a virtually unlimited number of contacts per company in Peachtree!

þ     The new “Contacts” tab in the Customers screen allows you to keep track of any specific details you want regarding multiple contacts per company.

þ     Track more details like multiple contacts titles, phone numbers, e-mail address and specify the bill-to and ship-to contacts.

þ     A new Notes field allows you to track unique information about each contact.

 

Automatic Backup

 

þ     Automate your backup process for any time that is convenient for you and your company! No more hassles or worries about the safety and security of your data.

þ     With Peachtree Automatic Backup, set up your schedule once, and the rest is taken care of for you. Peachtree doesn’t even have to be running to make the scheduled backup.

þ     Notify users to log out, or automatically log them off in order to run your backup.

 

(PeachtreeQuantum only)

 

Employee Management

 

þ     Save time and reduce errors by keeping track of all your employees’ information in one place!

þ     Store additional employee data within Peachtree such as emergency contact, performance reviews, employment details like hiring date and I-9 verification, additional phone numbers, and much more.

þ     Easily stay on top of your employees’ records by receiving alerts and reminders for key tasks coming up such as review dates.

 

Business Analytics powered by iLumen

 

þ     See how your company is performing compared to other companies with the new customizable company dashboard!

þ     Get instant access to view up-to-date key financial trends in order to compare items such as Total Revenue, Gross Margin %, Days Sales Outstanding, and much more.

þ     Use this tool to help improve your business’ financial health and make critical decisions.

 

Inventory Management

 

þ     Save time looking up items with the ability to search on inventory information in the Description for Sales, Description for Purchases, or the Item Note fields.

þ     See what your customers are buying with the new Item Sales History by Customer onscreen view and report.

þ     Streamline your data entry when setting up new items with the ability to set the Item Class default based on your most common inventory type such as Stock, Non-Stock, Service, etc.

 

Password Security

 

þ     Secure your company’s data from unauthorized access with increased password security options.

þ     Strengthen your password security with new customizable options such as automatic password expiration, multiple incorrect password attempts lockout, no repeat passwords, and masking passwords from other users in Peachtree.

þ     Maintenance is easier giving users the ability to change their own passwords without relying on the admin, and requiring strong password compliance.

 

Peachtree Resource Center

 

þ     We know you need more than just Peachtree to run your business. That’s why we have a variety of products and services that can help meet your needs.

þ     You’ll find a full list of Peachtree services, training courses, marketing tools, and much more readily available as your business needs evolve.

þ     Get easy access to the latest news, product tips, white papers, knowledgebase articles, and other free resources to help you run your business more effectively.

þ     No need to look around – just reference the Peachtree Resource Center for all your business needs.

 

In-Product Advisor

 

þ     Learn the best way to work within Peachtree by leveraging our in-product user tips. These tips will help you discover functions or features that will assist you in learning other areas of the product quicker.

þ     The Advisor will assist you in pointing out better ways to accomplish common tasks in the program, in areas such as Sales/Invoicing, Inventory, Vendors, Receipts, and General Journal Entries.

þ     And you can set your experience with Peachtree to maximize the effectiveness of assistance you might require, as well as set the length of time that each message will be displayed.

 

Peachtree Quantum – My Dashboard

 

þ     Everyone is unique in how they work in Peachtree. Now every user can create their own personalized dashboard to help them clean up the clutter and only focus on what they need to.

þ     Customize the screens to only show things you do on a regular basis like managing Aged Receivables, or Aged Payables, or Payroll and much more. Mix and match from various functions in Peachtree. Or make another view that shows only the tasks you need on a weekly or monthly basis – you choose!

þ     However you create your tabs, you will have the ability to customize the individual areas and filter data based on how you need to track it. And security is assured so that only available modules are shown based on the user’s security level.

 

Peachtree Quantum – Order Process Workflow

 

þ     Improve daily efficiency of your business with the new Order Process Workflow system in Peachtree Quantum.

þ     Keep track of all the moving parts of your order process so nothing gets missed and everything moves along as planned.

þ     Notify the next person in the process, with a status and specific notes as needed.

þ     Have one centralized place to keep track of all process statuses, or just your own tasks.

þ     Automatically send notifications to designated employees/customers/vendors once a task is completed.

 

Peachtree Quantum – Multi-User Management

 

þ     Now a better way to manage users in Peachtree!

þ     Send notifications to other users that they need to log out, or if necessary, manually log them out of the company.

 

 

If you are interested in learning more about Peachtree or have accounting or software needs I can help!  Sorry, I am limited to South Eastern Wisconsin, but if you are in need I can be contacted at dchermak@yahoo.com, I will give you further information from there.  Or you can use the link on the sidebar to contact me.

Peachtree Toolbox: Backing up your Data

I finally have an opportunity to start sharing with you the things I have learned about Peachtree and QuickBooks.  I will mainly concentrate on Peachtree since QuickBooks does a great job of providing free information to its users.  Peachtree does an adequate job, however, it seems that there is not as much free information out there from other locations.  Today I am going to talk about backing up your data.  It may seem trivial, but I do get a ton of questions on this topic from day to day.

When you have completed what you wanted to complete in your company, you can make a back up for yourself, or to be forwarded to your accountant for further work.  Providing your accountant uses Peachtree to echo your work.

 To save a back up:

Select File

Select Back Up Ctrl+B

You will get a pop up box.

 

 You can backup online if you wish, however, you pay for that service.  Most people and accountants prefer to back up to a disk, Flash Drive, or a separate hard drive.

 I prefer to have the company name in the backup file name.  You do not need to include archives in the back up-it only makes the file bigger.

 There is also a reminder to remind you to back up at a selected frequency.  I have it turned off here, however, if you are pretty busy it’s hard to remember to back up, so the reminder is a great way to keep track of you back up schedule and keep you on track.

 At this point click back up.

 You will get the save box.  Obviously if you have ever saved anything you know that you can select where you want to save the file.  Use the “Save In” selection to save the location of the file you wish to save in.  For a disk, select the drive, for a flash select the flash location.  You can even select your desktop to save the file if you wish.  You can e-mail the file to your accountant if you wish, so note the location of where you saved the file so you can attach it later.

 

When you have selected the location of where you want to save the file. Click Save. You may get the message below if you did not select a hard drive location.  Peachtree has not updated its backup function to recognize that most of us no longer use 3 ½ in floppy disks.  So, if you don’t use a hard drive location it thinks you are going to use the floppy disk and it will divide the file out if it is too large.  If you get a message that the file requires more than one disk then you need to cancel and save to your hard drive.  Then copy the file from that location to your flash or CD.  My message would not prompt a need to do anything special, so I will just save.

 

 

The file will just back up.  If there are no issues. You will return to your Peachtree screen.  Congratulations! You just made a back up!

If you want to e-mail the file, simply open an e-mail, address it, add any message you want, and attach the file to your e-mail.  Keep in mind that most e-mail services only allow 10KB to be sent on attachments, anything larger than that will need to be put into a Zip file, or you will need to try a service that allows larger files to be sent.

Some accountants even have a way for you to sign in to their system and upload the file if you wish.

If you like what you see here and are in the Milwaukee or South-Eastern part of Wisconsin? I am available and am willing to work with your company on QuickBooks and Peachtree as well as meet your Accounting needs. 

Feel free to e-mail me at davidchermak@gmail.com.  I will be happy to start a conversation with you and get you connected with a partner at my firm to see what we can do.

Personal Finance-Getting a grip

We all are feeling the pinch of the down economy.  Some of us may be living with business as usual.  Others may be cutting back.  Still others may be facing the idea of a layoff.

Either way, we all are considering the status of our finances.  The question is how do we keep better control over our finances?

I had heard about a website called Mint, www.mint.com, this site is free and allows you to load all of your accounts in one convenient place.  This means you hook mint into your Checking, Savings, and major Bills like your mortgage.  Mint then will update your accounts automatically and help you to see where your money goes.

As I had explained in an earlier post, my wife and I use a credit card like a check card for all of our purchases.  We have the added benefit of getting points from our purchases which lead to additional bonuses throughout the year.  An added benefit of using the credit card is that the card can upload into mint and through the credit card I am able to see the categories of where I am spending my money.

It’s great in that we know where we are spending, what we are spending on, and Mint has a budget feature that allow us to set limits on what we are spending and receive warnings when we are near or over the limit.

Another benefit is Mint will send you a weekly report of where your accounts are.  I also added my investment accounts to Mint and get a weekly report of how my investments are doing.

All this for free!

Some further notes

As I am now working for a great CPA Firm in Milwaukee, Komisar Brady & Co. I have some new experiences that I will be able to share with you.  As it is currently tax season, I don’t have a lot of time to post, but I am coming up with a lot of new ideas.

I am now working extensively with Peachtree and QuickBooks.  In fact, part of my job is to be the expert in these programs.  I will be spending time posting on both of these programs and sharing ways that accountants can get more out of these useful tools.

An added benefit is I will share quite a bit on Peachtree.  I have found that most of the Peachtree training is not offered for free, now you will have a resource for good FREE ideas on working with Peachtree.  Watch for more to come.

Merry Christmas! The Journey Continues

Merry Christmas!

 

This year has turned out quite differently than I had expected.  I guess we can’t always expect things to work out just like we planned.  The economy, a change in leadership, gas prices, the stock market, and in general decisions made; all come into play when it comes to what we end up doing.

 

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.  Even though I found my self without a job near Halloween, I found an even better job by Christmas.  This is truly the best present I could have gotten.

 

With those thoughts in my mind, I would like to talk about the future.  I certainly will continue to blog.  I will have to find time differently as the demands of my new job probably will be quite a bit different from the demands of my past job.  But that is what the adventure of starting a new job is all about.  I firmly believe that my new job is and will continue to be an adventure as I get to contribute my developed skills and in return I will be learning a whole lot of new things.

 

Since I will be learning a whole new set of skills, I will continue to share them with you in my posts.  A kind of pay it forward if you will.  I will still continue to find more ways to talk about Excel, the life of an Accountant, and the other things I have talked about in the past.  I will have new things to talk about, since my new job has me delve into the world of QuickBooks, Peachtree, and perhaps taxes and audits.

 

The opportunities for topics are boundless and I look forward to sharing them with you as I learn about them.  Now I realize that many who view my blog don’t really read the current stuff, but search it for information they are looking for.  I continue to hope that my blog will remain a resource for those who need information on how to do things in their work.

 

For now I wish everyone a Happy Holiday!  And a Merry Christmas!

The Job Hunt-One Accountants Journey

The majority of the users of my site use it to find information on Excel and perhaps the CPA exam.  I really have not heard from anyone that I have not blogged in some time.  Just in case, someone is following along and perhaps I might touch someone with this post, I am going to tell you why I have not posted in over a months time.

 

Back in October my consulting assignment ended.  I knew something was up when a 40 million dollar company asked me to take time off without pay, while they found something new for me.  I quickly found out that I was right to be worried when I was laid off.

 

I had been consulting in the bank and brokerage industries.  For obvious reasons, there were no orders for work currently and in the future.  I could tell that I might have a problem and fortunately I was prepared.

 

I don’t know if any of you have ever lost a job.  I have been laid off before, a few years after 9/11 in the brokerage industry as I was a bank broker and the bank I was working for sold the majority of the branches in my territory, thus, I no longer had a viable working territory.  So, I found myself laid off.  Fortunately, at that time I was in a position and wanted to make a career change into accounting so, I was unemployed for roughly two days and was back at work.

 

This time around was very different.  One, even though I had a feeling that there was trouble, I did not believe it.  Second, I felt that I would be “on the bench” while my company found something for me.  So, even though I knew I should be worried, I wasn’t.

 

To lose a job is a terrible feeling.  I describe it best as losing a good friend.  The emotion side of things is harrowing.  You go through an actual morning period, you are sad, you are angry, you are scared, and even at some points you suffer from depression.  The fear and depression come from not knowing what your future holds.

 

Despite all of those emotions, it is imperative that you push on.  I have often heard that looking for a job is like still having a job.  In that job you are in charge of your own company and it is up to you to generate leads, and go to appointments.  If you do well those appointments will lead to a sale.

 

The thing about looking for a job is there are plenty of rules that others try to impose upon you.  Who to contact and how, where you need to go, limits on how much contact you can have.  On your end, you have to remember that you cannot play by their rules.  The reason is the rules exist to make their job easier and that does not help you when you are not employed.

 

That is why a network is so important.  Your network allows you to work around the rules and get to the person who can actually help you.  What if you don’t have a network?  Then create one, talk to family and friends, talk to colleagues that you are friendly with, and talk to recruiters.

 

Essentially, what you are doing is creating for yourself a group of sales people.  Especially the recruiters as they get paid if they get you hired.  These sales people will try to get you in front of those you need to talk to, more importantly; it gets you around the rules.  Talk to as many recruiters as you can.

 

The online websites have become a very valuable tool.  I highly recommend Indeed.com.  This site will search all of the other sites based on your job search criteria and bring to you in one spot all of the jobs you may be looking for.  I was able to get five interviews based on submissions from the Indeed website.  Not only does it look at Career Builder and Monster, it looks at company and other more obscure job websites.  Indeed is a wonderful time saver.  Also, be sure to look at Career Builder and Monster because I found that Indeed missed a few jobs.  This was probably due to the criteria I put in did not match exactly.

 

The one thing we accountants can do is temp if needed.  I contacted all of the temp agencies in my area and offered up my services.  By doing this, I had a job within three days of being laid off.  Essentially, I was back working at pretty much my same salary.  Granted I did not have benefits, but, it is temporary and the idea is to keep the bills paid.

 

If you are temping, be sure to make it clear that you are looking for permanent work.  This gives you leverage to go out and interview and you never know, the temp job may become permanent.

 

Interviewing, what I can say about that is do your homework, learn about the company you are interviewing with.  There are plenty of resources to find out about companies.  I mainly used Hoovers and Yahoo.  Both had plenty of resources to get a handle on the company you are going to meet with.  Also, want to bend the rules, Hoovers often has contact information for the CFO on the site.  You could send an e-mail or letter right to the head of the finance area and get your foot in the door.

 

I also raided websites for interview questions.  If you look at enough sites you will have a good list of questions to ask, be sure to customize a bit for the company.  But the list will give you a good place to start.

 

By doing all of this, I ended up finding a great job.  In fact, I had two offers within an hour of each other.  I picked the one that fit me better and now I am back on track.

 

Losing a job could be a reality for many of us as we work through this recession.  At best you will make it through without a scratch, but if you find yourself without a job, do what you can to keep working and work hard to find the next job.  You may find that things happen for a reason.

 

If I really look at my situation, I was technically without work for roughly a week.  Then I was right back at it.  Good luck to everyone who may be on the job hunt.

Managers Corner: Are you treating your employee’s right?

 

Sorry that I have not posted in awhile.  Things just keep piling up, making it harder and harder to find time to do the extras.  Unfortunately, my blog is one of the extras.  The other day a fellow employee gave me something I have not heard in a long time. She gave me a complement on my work and told me she appreciated my work.  Funny thing was it was not a manager but a fellow employee.

This lead to a conversation that indeed we rarely hear from management when we are doing well.  We certainly hear plenty when we make a mistake, however, we rarely hear from management when we are doing just fine.

It’s kind of by design, when we make a mistake, management needs to address it and they need to assure that the mistake will not affect other or at least will minimally affect others.  Management also needs to assess whether or not the error will occur again, whether or not the error occurred by employee error or by system error.  Often with that assessment there is criticism and or a critical discussion with the employee.  Most of the time it is just done to ascertain what happened to create the error.

So, why would managers not have the same conversations when things are going well?  Put simply, managers are asked to do so much and their time becomes so limited, that taking the time to give a complement becomes secondary.  Once that habit is formed, then complements simply do not come.

There are times when silence is golden, however, in the workplace it’s not a good habit to have.  When a policy of, “you will hear from me only if there is an issue.”  Seems to be a way to create an air of you are fine if you hear nothing.  This is an excuse to not communicate, and it is a shortcut to only deal with things when problems occur.  This creates even more issues because, one when you ask to see an employee to discuss something, they will immediately jump to the conclusion that there is a problem which creates stress.  Secondly, you develop the habit of not communicating even simple issues.

This leads to not treating employees as they should be treated.  Employees appreciate complements on their work and will perform better when given them.  Instead of creating habits to not communicate and not give positive feedback it might be a better habit to give compliments whenever possible.  If you lack the time, give the compliment when you pass the employee in the hall, or when returning a piece of work, or even ask them to stay a moment after a meeting.

Note something?  Giving a complement or encouragement only takes a moment.  Dealing with problems takes a lot of time.  Employees that feel good about their jobs and are reminded that they are valued employees will and can do better and will work to eliminate mistakes.  A simple complement or work of encouragement not only can be done easily it may help you to save money in the long run.

Back to Work: Cash is king, a day with an Accountant

What a wild two weeks!  It never ceases to amaze me the amount of work that can all be generated at the same time.  In my case I had month end duties, year-end duties, projects, and conversions all due at once.  Everybody in the department was working hours upon hours just to keep up.  Fast-forward to a week later and things have returned too normal.

 

That aside, its good to be able to take some time to again, sit back and continue the conversation on accounting.  I know that I stick pretty much to Excel tips and tricks; however, I have been promising over and over to get on Accounting topics.

 

The thing is how do I make these topics have a little zing to them?  How about remaining educational?  I believe I alluded to the idea of describing a day in the life of an Accountant, or in my case a Financial Analyst.  So, lets take a good look at what a typical day is like.  I will be working through a day slowly and making each task a topic so this may go on through several narratives.

 

My current role, as a contract employee, is to handle a specific account for the company I am assisting.  I will not be able to give too much in specifics, since I am afraid of crossing the confidentiality line, so I will try to describe things as generally as possible, and perhaps try to look at similarities I have run across with several of my assignments.

 

The life of a Financial Analyst varies.  Sometimes I am called upon to handle day-to-day accounting entries. Other times I may be involved in high-level decisions on budgets or reporting standards.  Either way, the job has its ups and downs.  That is something we all need to understand.  Every job has it mundane parts, but that makes the fun and interesting stuff even more of a treat.

 

My day begins with a look at my assignments cash position.  As we learn in school, cash is king, without a solid cash position a company can go south very fast.  So, each morning I get to sit down and balance out the cash.  As soon as I am satisfied, I then report the cash position to the individuals that rely on that information for their decisions.

 

I have done that in many roles, a few years back I was employed as a controller for a small catalogue retail firm.  Again, my first task each morning was to assess the cash position and report it to the president.  He in turn would either move money into the account or out of the account as needs warranted.  The idea was to maximize the interest earned, while maintaining enough liquidity, so we often moved money from the savings to the checking and vice-versa. 

 

In my current role, the cash amount determines what needs to be done.  So, it’s similar, yet we are not moving the money back and forth from two bank accounts.  In my current situation, the cash amount determines purchase and sale of other items.

 

So, what is assessment of the cash balance entail?  Without getting too deep into the details and put in its simplest of terms.  Balancing the cash is like balancing your checkbook against your bank statement.  You essentially, check where you were the day before, subtract payments made and add deposits received.  Of course for a corporation, the payments and deposits come in many forms, sometimes it’s a result of external activity such as a customer paying their invoice.  Other times it may be something internal such as the sale of a bond, or stock, or even inventory.  Either way, in it’s simplest of forms, its cash coming in and cash going out.

 

This role is to make sure there is enough cash available to run the business, therefore the morning cash balance is key to assuring there is available cash on account to accomplish this.  Next time we will be discussing reconciliation’s.  This again may be on a high level to assure that privacy is maintained.