Business Discussions

I think it’s safe to say that we all work hard for what we have. Day in and day out. Maybe 9:00-5:00, or 8:00-6:00, or maybe even sun-up to sun-down. With all of this hard work, it’s important to have goals set in place. If you don’t have a particular goal or achievement you’d like to meet, one can easily become burned out. You may even start thinking, “What’s the point?” As a small business owner, you certainly don’t want that. I don’t want that for you either, so, I’m sharing some points in an article I read about ways to prevent this burnout feeling:   Create three clear, objective goals for the year. Grab a notebook or planner, pencil, and maybe even a cup of coffee. Sit down and write down as many goals you can think of. These may be specifically for your business, but it’s ok if they’re personal goals too. Once you have a nice list, start prioritizing. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to create a system and rank the importance of these goals 1-10. You may even want to start a th

Whether it's in golf, business, or nearly any other facet of life, we're always on the lookout for tips to make things easier. Often these tidbits speak to us in ways that words aren't usually able to convey.  All that being said, I hope you'll take a moment and share with the Community the best business tip you've ever heard.   One that has always resonated with me is from Napoleon Hill, “Do not wait: the time will never be 'just right'. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.”   I'm looking forward to the sharing and learning!

  Are you filing a 1099 form this year? Whether or not you like to go running at 6pm, you may need one. The 1099 form is used to report wage information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), most commonly for non-employee wages. However, it also serves other purposes.    Want to take a closer look and learn more?  Find everything you need to know about the 1099, including where to find it & how to e-file it in our 2019 year-end guide.  

Life is constantly throwing us curve-balls, and these may come more often when you’re trying to start your own business. With that, some mistakes are inevitable, but keeping those to a minimum is of course ideal. I read a list of common startup mistakes business owners make and pointers on how to avoid them. The list was compiled by a group of entrepreneurs, who’ve experienced the roller coaster that business ownership can be. Here’s what they had to say regarding startup mistakes:   Believing everyone’s advice. Our natural instincts and intuition exist for a reason. I think paying close attention to your “gut-feeling” is excellent advice when it comes to decision making. Additionally, people will feel free to share their advice and opinions. As a business owner, you have to take [most] advice from others with a grain of salt, and truly follow your own intuition.   Not putting in the ‘work after the work.’ As an entrepreneur, the work doesn’t end when your business hours

Hello everyone!   I thought it would be interesting to hear from members of the Community on when they felt that their business had become a success.  Perhaps it was the first customer, or maybe the 10,000th, that provided the achievement. Maybe it was a long journey, or a short one, before the moment arrived.    Whatever the story may be, I hope you'll take a few moments to share it!  We all could use a bit of inspiration during this busy time of year.

            “Look everywhere you can to cut a little bit from your expenses. It will all add up to a meaningful sum." –Suze Orman   I read an article just the other day that discussed practices for businesses to save money. The four practices featured in the write up are all practical and helpful. I’m listing them for you below:   Low-cost Advertising: We all know the internet has so much to offer and answers to everything. Your advertising needs can be met there as well. You may even want to consider setting up a public relations team for your business to get this job done.   Protection from catastrophes: As the old saying goes, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” That’s why it’s a good idea to be prepared. Having insurance for your company is an extra layer of protection in the case of an emergency. Funds to repair or replace don’t come out of your pocket or the company’s.   Sponsors for Events: I’m a firm believer in

  Hi everyone!     January is synonymous with resolutions, from fitness to launching a business.  For those with the latter goal, it can often be overwhelming to get a company off the drawing board.     With that in mind, what advice would you give to a friend who was starting a business?         The inspiration for this topic came from a recent conversation that I had with a good friend. They have decided that 2020 is the year for launching their business.  Their dream is to turn their hobby into a successful company.  It's as exciting as it is frightening for them.      Our conversation focused on the importance of being as prepared as possible before the launch.  We agreed that any available free time should be utilized for research and laying the groundwork.  It reminded me of an old college professor who would often say, "fail to prepare, prepare to fail."   &nb

Many of us have a question that did have bothered: How to Backup Email from Gmail account locally? While Google has a strong track record of managing data, the fact remains that accounts could be hacked, and the possibility does exist that someone could get locked out of a Gmail account.Many of us have years of mission-critical business and personal history in our Gmail archives, and it's a good idea to have a plan for making regular backups.I use SysTools Gmail Backup on my own tenant that backup all my Gmail account mailbox into multiple file formats such as PST/MBOX/EML/EMLX/MSG.What you all do to backup Gmail account.

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Hello, I'm new to QB online. We are launching a coffee company in the next few months selling on Amazon via FBA and our website hosted by Shopify. I'm trying to find the best solution to integrate the three of these platforms in the most effiecient way possible. We are looking to elimate manual data entry and keep accurate records with a trusted/proven/tested solution.  Here are a few solutions I found on both the Shopify and Quickbooks App stores that appear to possibly do what we are looking for. Does anyone have any experience with these? Do you reccomend one over the other, or know of any other solutions we should be looking at? Thank you very much for any help or direction you can provide! Unify: https://openid.intuit.com/unify Agiliron: https://openid.intuit.com/agiliron Cloud Cart Connector: https://openid.intuit.com/cloud-cart Regards,Nick

Here we are, it’s officially 2020 at last. If you’ve been following along in this forum for the last couple of weeks, you’ve taken the time to celebrate your greatest achievements and set SMART goals for the first half of 2020.    Do you remember when we said, “Setting, sharing, and regularly reporting on your goals makes you 33% more likely to achieve them?”   It’s time to share!      But, why is sharing such an important step? According to psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo, author of the book Better Than Perfect: 7 Steps to Crush Your Inner Critic and Create a Life You Love, accountability is a major factor.    When no one is around to say anything about an incomplete task, Lombardo says, it’s easy to push it to the next day and the next week, and so on.    On the opposite side of the same coin, however, sharing stokes motivation, improves clarity, and even creates valuable social connections with others who are dedicated to reaching t

I'm trying to open my business file and my quickbooks is giving me a "warning: no admin" anyone else have this problem? How did you fix it?

The rise of video content on the internet is undeniable. It's easier to digest information through a video and this is primarily why videos are shared 300% more than any other type of content. So why aren't more businesses creating videos?  When polled most business owners said that they weren't savvy enough to create video ads and that video production in general is just a too costly and time consuming process. If it were a couple years ago, I would have even agreed with this mantra. However, there’s no more excuse for not being able to create marketing videos nowadays with the rise in DIY video makers. I personally have used Video Jaguar to create many video ads for my business. It has really helped out with content marketing too, as my brand always has compelling content to share on all my social media accounts. Plus it has built in libraries of royalty-free images and music, which simplifies the entire video creation process. We've been able to create professional videos in un

Hello, EveryoneI'm new to Quick Books and I have a customer who wants me to except more money than I billed him for and then have me forward the extra to another person sounds like a "Scam" to me has anyone else had this happen to them???Thank You, Joey BakerB&B Trowel Trades 

  Wow, we made it through the holidays! With less than a week until we ring in 2020, it’s time to look toward the future, and decide what 2020 and beyond mean for your business.   Did you know? Setting, sharing, and regularly reporting on your goals makes you 33% more likely to achieve them.   Lucky for us, we have a whole network of friends and fellow business owners to help set and hold us accountable for our goals, right here in the QuickBooks Community!     Step 1: Consider your long-term goals.    For most small to medium businesses, long-term goals will reflect what you hope to achieve in the next 3-5 years and should reflect your company’s mission statement.    According to Bill Baren, a business coach, "When you think about why the company is there in the first place, goals take on a whole different meaning. There's more energy behind them. They don't feel forced."   Most long-term goals will fall into the following 4 categorie

There's the old adage that one has to spend money to make money. Perhaps it's in this spirit that some businesses get carried away and overspend on things. This spending can be especially tricky for new companies since resources can quickly get stretched thin.   I recently read an article by the Forbes Finance Council on this topic and wanted to share it here: 14 Unnecessary Startup Expenses Wasting Hard-Earned Money.     As we put 2019 in our rear-view mirror and look to a new decade of opportunities, many of us will be looking at starting or revamping businesses. Given this timing, I felt it would be a good resource and topic to discuss.    Whether you're just getting started, are an established entrepreneur, or somewhere in between, I'd love to hear your thought on this! Maybe there's a suggestion in the article that you wish you knew when starting out. Perhaps there are other lessons on spending that you've learned and want to share.    Somet

If you’re anything like us, you’re looking at the calendar wondering where 2019 went! This year was a whirlwind, and 2020 is bound to start off with a bang.    Before we kick off the new decade, we want to wrap up the year with a nice bow to make sure you roll into the new year feeling ready to accomplish your goals and tackle any challenge that comes your way.    To start: Reflect on your year. Celebrate!   Open a notepad, journal or Word doc. Take a moment to reflect on the great things you accomplished this year, big or small, write them all down. Day by day it can be hard to see how much you’ve really accomplished, but when you have the chance to see everything in front of you, you may be surprised!    Don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back, or high five the person nearest you. All of these things are worth celebrating. Then, share your favorite wins or accomplishments as a reply to this post so that we can celebrate with you!   For

Hi,  Its late and i cannot for the life of me figure out what the SKU section is for when you set up a service to invoice.  Would appreciate the answer. Thanks in advance.

As a custom software developer, we have integrated custom application software using both Intuits API and the QODBC SQL API, with QuickBooks Enterprise edition for our customers who manufacture, sell and ship products to their customers.   It doesn’t matter if they have a retail storefront with sales being entered directly into QuickBooks, or sales orders entered online via an e-commerce website. In one case, our client enters order sales orders for future delivery dates.  Then, each afternoon they run our custom “Inventory Management and Delivery Routing System” to create a pick list for the next days’ delivery.  The system will print a truck load sheet based on delivery zip code, then using Google Maps, the software will plan an optimized delivery route for each driver.  What used to take 4 hours to prepare can now be completed in 15 minutes.In another case we’ve integrated e-Commerce Templates e-commerce website with QuickBooks.  And most recently we ad

Hello! Please forgive and direct me if I am in the wrong area of the forums! I am learning Quickbooks Desktop Pro. The community has been great help! I am looking for advise on the following situation: I purchased an excavator for my business, as I was starting it. I got a personal loan from my bank, which I later opened a business checking account with the same bank. Since my loan to pay for the excavator was a personal loan, we paid to the machine and own it, now just pay back the personal loan. I have been transferring the payments from my business checking account to my personal loan, and I am wondering what I should do to start recording these transactions. I "think" I can't create a loan for the machine, since I cannot loan to myself... right?Should I just enter this  machine as a fixed asset since we own it and classify the bank feed transfers as owner draw?Do i make sense? HA. Thanks for the time! I am a single member LLC.

I run an online subscription-based service.The accounting is accrual-basis.At the end of every month the processor issues and sends a statement in which all settlements are listed. Refunds and chargebacks are also listed, however, some of the chargebacks apply to previous months' transactions. As long as those chargebacks are at the same year, it should not affect the reporting, however, what happens when a chargeback for a transaction occurs (and deducted by the processor) in the next/following year?On the 1099 form the processor doesn't show any deductions but just the gross sales.I collect and post all deductions and deduct them from the gross sales at the end of the year.But what should I do about those deductions that come in the next year?

Hello! I'm testing the waters to see how many of you are involved in business groups (Facebook, Reddit, Etc) and how that's affected your business decisions. I would love to join these if they are already established, and if not, see who would be interested in forming one with me. I am currently a member of @lynda11_2's Quickbooks Facebook group (which is great by the way!) but am always interested in finding more communities to interact with. While this forum is okay for discussions it seems to me that it has a long way to go before there's an active discussion daily on business strategies. A little about me for some background information. I own a bookkeeping business that started a little under a month ago. I've been in the accounting industry for three years and started my own business because I wanted to be more involved in helping my clients business succeed. I will have been married to my beautiful wife for 2 years Nov 18 who works as a Nurse in a Women's Health C

Hi again.  I have set up a meeting with my client re: the bakery bookkeeping and I want to be able to give them an idea of how much time it will take me to do the work for them.  Weekly or daily.  I am hoping you can give me idea of what it takes so I can quote them as close to it as I can.  I would love some ideas.  I appreicate any feedback.  I am meeting wih them on Tuesday.  Thanks and happy Sunday.

Hi I am not happy with the Quickbooks merchant services situation. Started using it years ago for several clients because it seemed to streamline posting to invoices, but we have so many error messages and software integration issues that it seems like it's time to move on.  The rates are not competitive considering the hours I spend troubleshooting, as well as lack of transparency about ongoing issues.  (Example :  I called today and first rep said no issue and hung up the call. Second rep said yes issue but can't tell me anything.  Supervisor came on and said yes she's heard there's an issue but they have to hear from a lot more people about the issue before software engineers will do anything.) Has anyone had good luck with outsourcing the A/R management including the merchant account service to say a service like bill.com?  The ideal would be that it would integrate with Quickbooks Desktop. Thank you.

Hello I'm going to sit at a table for a career day at local HS where my daughter goes, and wondered if anyone had done this or if QB had some slides that worked for them. I was going to have a one page handout and business cards, but additional ideas welcome. I wont' be actually standing up and presenting anything so interaction is more like a trade show very brief. Thanks folks for reading.  ScottHarvest Accounting Services