FREE Webinar — Intro to Pivot Tables and Using Pivot Tables for Job Costing

Do you want to learn how easy it is to create pivot tables in Excel?  Would you like to learn how to use pivot tables for Job Costing?  If so, then join Chuck Vigeant, M.Ed. (creator of QQube™ and founder of CLEARIFY℠) as he teaches you the simple components of working with pivot tables, while demonstrating that pivot tables are NOT hard to use.  He will use several frequently requested, real world QuickBooks examples.  Read more

QuickBooks ProAdvisors, CPAs, Accountants and Bookkeepers — Are You Ready to Finally Earn Six Figures This Year and Beyond?

You might remember from an unscientific study in my first book, Successful QuickBooks Consulting, that many QuickBooks ProAdvisors — a full 85% — are stuck at an annual revenue of five figures with no idea of how to get to six figures. As service professionals, if we don’t fill our inventory of hours, that time goes unused and unbilled forever; we can never reclaim that revenue.But that’s only part of the problem. What if we don’t want to work that hard, but still earn more? What happens when we burn out?  Read more

Intuit Merchant Services and PCI Compliance Fees

Recently small business owners and ProAdvisors who use Intuit Merchant Services had $35 – $100 withdrawn from their bank account for Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance Fees (as explained below).  This caused  complaints, confusion and frustration.  Intuit sent an an email notification however many people report that they did not receive the email and were surprised when the charge was deducted from their account.  Read on for more details, possible alternatives and information for QuickBooks ProAdvisors.  Read more

Special Event — Anything Goes Q&A with Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors

I’m excited to invite you to Anything Goes!  A special live event in the Successful QuickBooks Consultants Linkedin Group on Tuesday, April 24 from 1:30 – 2:30 CT. The event includes a live Q&A event with Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors, a special offer on QuickBooks Accountant 2012 and someone will win QuickBooks Accountant 2012 (MSRP $499.95)! Read more

Why Accounting Professionals and Bookkeepers should use QuickBooks Accountant vs. QuickBooks Pro

Do you wonder if you should get QuickBooks Accountant instead of QuickBooks Pro?  After all, QuickBooks Pro is cheaper.   Is QuickBooks Accountant really better than QuickBooks Pro?  Would QuickBooks Pro be sufficient?   If you are an accountant, bookkeeper, tax professional or QuickBooks consultant, then you really should get QuickBooks Accountant.  QuickBooks Accountant has the following unique features and functionality to help accounting professionals be more efficient and productive.  Read more

Creating an App for That and the Value of Outside Expertise for Your Business

I asked one of my clients, Dan Stratman (Captain Dan) creator of Airport Life^® app to share his story of starting his business.  Captain Dan came up with the idea for the Airport Life app a couple of years ago.  He has invested about $100,000 of his own funds thus far and recently announced the launch of the mobile app to aid stressed and frustrated passengers.  I enjoy working with clients like Dan and seeing them succeed with their business! Here’s Captain Dan’s post about creating his business and the value of using outside resources and experts to help:

Read more

How to Meet Your Income Goals Every Time

Does your business experience a feast/famine cycle when it comes to work and clients and revenue?

Are you just starting your business and wonder how you’re going to make the income you want?

Do you feel so busy that you fail to market when you know you should be?

Do you feel like you are in a reactive mode when it comes to marketing, just looking for the next client, then the next, then the next?

Are you having trouble attracting all of the clients you want?

Are you falling short of your desired revenue every year? Read more

Infographic: Details of Apple’s New iPad, Statistics on Tablet Sales, Market Share and Data Plans

I started with the original iPad and fell in love with it!  Then, I bought an iPad 2 so I could share my screen when presenting seminars.   For my use, I don’t see a need to get the New iPad — what about you?  Check out the infographic below on what’s new in the latest iPad, statistics on tablet sales, market share of tablets and info on which data plan would meet your needs. Read more

CLEARIFY announces the release of QQube Version 4 and unveils new community

CLEARIFY announces the release of version 4 of QQube — the incredible reporting tool and recipient of 2012 Awesome Add-Ons by The Sleeter Group.  Plus,  CLEARIFY unveils is “new community as a central place to get help, ask questions, get answers, and interact with QQube Users and Solution Providers.” Read more

QuickBooks Advanced Certified ProAdvisor Exam and Training Updated and Now Available

The updated QuickBooks Advanced Certification exam (V3) and training are now available in the ProAdvisor course locker.  To gain access to the exam and training, you must be certified in the three most current  years of QuickBooks (currently 2010, 2011 and 2012).  There are many benefits to earning the Advanced Certification as noted on the website: Read more

Results of Billing Rates Poll of Accounting Professionals

Frequently accounting professionals will ask questions like: What should I be charging for my services? What is the average billing rate for bookkeepers? Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors? Accountants? Certified Public Accountants (CPAs)? Enrolled Agents (EAs)? Tax Professionals? Should I charge an hourly rate or fixed fees? Unfortunately, the answer is usually — it depends. There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to billing rates for accounting professionals. It depends on your education, experience, expertise, geographic location and more. The good news is that there is information available to help you get an idea of average billing rates to help you determine and set your billing rates and policies.

I put a quick poll on my website asking accounting professionals for their most common billing rates. Here are the results based on almost 1,000 replies:

For more detailed information on average billing rates for accounting professionals, check out these resources:

• Intuit’s Average Billing Rates Survey
• National Society of Accountants Survey of Average Tax Preparation Fees

Remember billing rates should be established based on a number of criteria and considerations. Keep in mind the value of your education, experience, skills and more. Please do not set your billing rates too low. It may be tempting when you are new to the profession or just starting your business or whatever, but it devalues your services and does not help you get quality clients.

QuickBooks ProAdvisors — Changes to Intuit’s Find a ProAdvisor Website Launched Nationwide

The Find-a-ProAdvisor website receives over 400,000 unique visitors annually.  These small business owners (SBOs) and QuickBooks users are looking for someone to help them with QuickBooks.  The Find-a-ProAdvisor website is a a great source of leads, referrals and new clients for many QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisors (you must be certified to be listed).  Thus, when Intuit makes changes to the Find-a-ProAdvisor website, we want to know what changed and how will it impact me?  Hopefully this blog post will help answer those questions.  Read more

Learn QuickBooks from expert Michelle Long in Training Videos / Seminar

Michelle Long has taught thousands of people how to use QuickBooks in hundreds of seminars over the past 12 years.  Michelle teaches other accounting professionals about QuickBooks as a national trainer for Intuit and writes courses for Intuit Academy.  Now you can learn from her expertise in a comprehensive QuickBooks training course. Read more

QuickBooks Tip: Using Color to Help Identify Accounts or Files

It is frustrating to enter  transactions into QuickBooks and discover you entered them into the wrong bank account or QuickBooks file. Using different colors can help differentiate checkbook registers (i.e. accounts) or QuickBooks files.  This helps you quickly identify which account or file is currently open.  Read below for details on how to change the color of accounts and QuickBooks files.  Read more

Join Michelle Long at Scaling New Heights – an Advanced Training Conference for Intuit Advisors

I’m thrilled to be presenting several sessions again this year at Joe Woodard’s Scaling New Heights 2012 conference in Nashville, Tennessee from June 17 – 20.  Joe has lined up great sessions and speakers again this year.  There’s over 100 hours of in-depth training on Intuit products and selected QuickBooks – integrated solutions and more.  Read below for more details and register before February 29 for the early registration discount.  Read more

Great Sale on QuickBooks Pro 2012 – Remember QuickBooks 2009 to Sunset in May

There are some GREAT sales on QuickBooks 2012 right now.  Plus, if you or your clients are using QuickBooks 2009, it will be sunset on May 31, 2012 which means many online services will no longer work.  Read below more for details about the service discontinuation or sunsetting of QuickBooks 2009 and details on sales for QuickBooks 2012. Read more

Congratulations to Winners of QuickBooks Enterprise, ProAdvisor Program Membership and the 10 winners of QuickBooks 2012!

Thank you to everyone who subscribed, shared and posted during the contest over the past few months.  Below you will see the final list of all the winners.  Hopefully, I will have more contests or giveaways in the future.  Watch for  some of the survey results in future blog posts.  Also, check out the quick poll on billing rates on the website and watch for a new poll soon. Read more

Intro to Social Media for Accounting Professionals and Small Business Owners — Free Webinar by Michelle Long

In this webinar, Michelle Long presents an Introduction to Social Media.  If you want to learn the basics to get started with social media for your business, then you need to watch this free webinar.  Michelle covers the basics of getting started with Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter and demonstrates important things about each.  Also learn about tools and tips for managing social media efficiently and effectively including using HootSuite to help  monitor and schedule posts and more.  Read more

Last Call – Enter to Win a ProAdvisor Membership with Enhanced Payroll for Accountants ($799) or QuickBooks Enterprise 12.0 ($3,000)

The latest winner of QuickBooks Premier 2012 was Janet Roderick, CPA!  You still could win a ProAdvisor Membership with Enhanced Payroll for Accountants ($799) or QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 12.0 (5 user – $3,000) — details below.  It only takes a few minutes to enter and you can’t win if you don’t enter!  Also, answer the poll on average billing rates on my website to see how your rates compare to your peers.   Then, check out Intuit’s Average Billing Rates Survey for lots of details.  Read more

iPad (or Tablet) Basics and Benefits to Improve Productivity and Efficiency for Accounting Professionals, Business Owners and Others

Are you considering an iPad or other tablet for the holidays?  Are you wondering how will you use it?  Are there enough benefits for you to justify the cost?  Do you need 3G or WiFi only?  How much storage space should you get?  Can you use QuickBooks or other programs on an iPad or tablet?  This blog post will provide you with an overview to help answer these questions and more to help you decide whether to get an iPad (or other tablet) or not.  I hear a lot of accounting professionals and business people wondering if they will benefit from an iPad or tablet.  I have had my iPad for six months and I love it.  Hopefully this post will help answer some of your questions to decide whether an iPad or tablet is right for you. Read more

FREE Webinars – Intro to Social Media and Intro to Pivot Tables

Michelle Long and Chuck Vigeant are offering you free webinars in December.  Pivot tables provide the most powerful option to analyze business data from a variety of angles and Chuck will help you learn the basics of using pivot tables.  Social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and more) is a revolution (watch the video below to see the importance and magnitude) and Michelle will show you the basics to help you get started.  Also, please take a few minutes to complete Michelle’s quick survey to provide general information about yourself and your feedback and comments.  Read more for details on everything.  Read more

Last Chance – Enter Weekly Drawing to Win QuickBooks Premier 2012 – Plus, Enter to Win a ProAdvisor Membership or QuickBooks Enterprise

Last week Jo Ellen Peters entered the drawing and she won QuickBooks Accountant 2012!  You still have one more chance to win QuickBooks Premier 2012 ($399).  Plus, enter the drawing for a ProAdvisor Membership with Enhanced Payroll for Accountants ($799) or QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 12.0 (5 user – $3,000).  It only takes a few minutes to enter and you can’t win if you don’t enter!  Read more

Tax Preparation Fees a Strong Value, Says National Society of Accountants

Survey finds average cost for an itemized return is reasonable at $233

What can you buy for $233?

How about this: the services of a professional tax preparer or accountant who can complete your 2011 tax return, relieving you of endless hours of hassle trying to decipher the ever-changing federal tax code (not to mention state tax law changes).

A biennial survey of nearly 8,000 tax preparers conducted by the National Society of Accountants (NSA) showed the average tax preparation fee for an itemized Form 1040 with Schedule A and a state tax return is only $233. Rates for non-itemized returns are also low – the average cost to prepare a Form 1040 and state return without itemized deductions is only $128.  Read more

Final Weeks–Will You Win QuickBooks Enterprise? A ProAdvisor Membership? QuickBooks Accountant or Premier 2012?

We are in the final weeks of the QuickBooks 2012 contest.  As a reminder, Intuit generously donated nearly $8,300 worth of FREE QuickBooks 2012 products and services for me to give away!  Eight people have already won but there are still four prizes to give away worth almost $4,700! Read more

Intuit Service Outage Continues to affect Merchant Services, Email and other Online Services

Unfortunately Intuit “executed a planned maintenance over the weekend and ran into some issues.”  Monday the servers were experiencing outages or delays in processing and users are reporting problems this morning (Tuesday) too.  Affected services appear to include Merchant Services (processing credit cards), QuickBooks Online (slow or offline), emailing invoices,estimates. etc.  from QuickBooks and possibly other online services.  Check Intuit’s Facebook page for updates. Read more

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