Intuit Releases Quickbooks 2008

September 24, 2007

Quickbooks 2008 has been released!

There are many new and improved features that you should examine and decide whether to upgrade or not.

  • email directly from within the Quickbooks application
  • share data with your accountant (less guessing about how to do it)
  • streamlined billing for time and other expenses
  • improved importing function
  • improved help system

Should you buy it? Well, the jury is still out, but if you can find it on sale, it may be worth your time to upgrade from a prior year’s version.


Quickbooks for Dummies

September 15, 2007

Quickbooks for Dummies is a great introductory book for using the popular software package.

As with the other Dummies books, it is written in an easy-to-read style, giving you just what you need to know and little more. After you gain more experience with Quickbooks, you may want to pick up another reference book or two.

However, if you’re just starting out, it will be enough for probably 95% of small business users to get started.

Having books available can be invaluable to look up specific step; it’s sometimes faster than using the help section of the software.


Quickbooks Online Activex Vulnerability

September 8, 2007

According to SearchSecurity.com, a “bug” in Quickbooks online could allow a hacker to gain control of your computer.

The flaw appears to be restricted to those who use Internet Explorer with versions 9 or older. Intuit, the maker of Quickbooks, claims that Version 10 remedied this problem before it was ever announced to the public.

This little bit of news is a reminder that we must always be vigilant about security online. And have you noticed how many computer exploits target IE or are affected by IE but not other browsers?

Firefox appears to be a much better browser overall, for security reasons if none other.


Quickbooks Tutorial

September 2, 2007

Regardless of your skill level in accounting in general or Quickbooks in particular, people are often looking for a Quickbooks tutorial to help them master a certain task in Quickbooks.

The advantage of using Quickbooks is it allows you, the small business owner, to manage your company’s finances, even if you are not an accounting expert. When your transactions are entered into Quickbooks properly, the program provides reports that are helpful for tracking performance and for effective decision-making.

Day-to-day use of Quickbooks

If you are a QuickBooks user, here’s what you should do to get the most out of the program.

The most obvious activity is to perform bank reconciliations for every company bank account. It’s easy to put off doing bank reconciliations, but don’t overlook this vital step for it give you a higher level of confidence that the reported bank balances actually represent of the cash which can be used paying expenses or making investments.

Quickbooks also contains reports for comparing budgeted results with actual results. This can be useful on several levels depending on the structure of your business and whether employee or manager pay is directly tied to meeting budgetary goals.

Some users find it helpful to download transactions into the program. This can save time but you must take care to avoid duplicate transactions. Of course, if you are doing monthly bank reconciliations, you would notice the duplicate transactions at that time.

Using Quickbooks for Payroll

Payroll can be difficult to manage, due to multiple requirements. Employees need to be paid everything they have coming to them, and there are multiple government jurisdictions that either take a piece of the employee’s paycheck and in many cases add additional amounts that the employer must pay. In addition there are often applicable child support or alimony payments and other garnishments that must be properly computed and withheld from paychecks. On top of this, payroll must often be completed quickly.

There is also an optional payroll outsourcing service available for an additional fee.

Governmental Reporting and Paying Taxes

A good software package like Quickbooks should make it easier for you to submit required reports and pay your taxes on time. This is important in order to avoid penalties and unnecessary staff time dealing with government agencies over disputes with your tax returns.

Summary

Although QuickBooks is intended to be easy to use, at times one may have difficulties operating the program. I hope this Quickbooks tutorial has been useful to you and will encourage you to either pick up a copy of Quickbooks or expand your knowledge and skill of the program.