Scott Gregory, QuickBooks Expert

Webinar: Understanding Assemblies, Bills of Material and Groups/Kits in QuickBooks

 
Looking for a better understanding of how to set up and track assemblies and groups/kits in QuickBooks Premier, or Enterprise?

Get the insights you're looking for with my new webinar called "Understanding Assemblies, Bills of Material and Groups/Kits in QuickBooks"

Designed for all inventory based businesses that are looking for insights and ideas on how to use QuickBooks better!

Be sure to take advantage of the early registration discount too...

The QuickReport in QuickBooks - See the History of a Customer, Item or Vendor Instantly

Ever found yourself trying to figure out why the on-hand quantity of an item went negative?

Wanted to see the invoices and payments for a customer during a particular period of time?

Been in search of the transaction details for inventory, customers or vendors?

If so, the QuickBooks Quick Report is something you'll want to have in your tool kit! (this is found in QB Pro, Premier and Enterprise - if it exists in QuickBooks Online, I don't see it...)

ACCESSING THE QUICKREPORT

For example, let's say that you want to see the history for an inventory part in QuickBooks.

Simply find the part in your item list, highlight it, click the Reports box at the bottom of the item list, then click QuickReport (or CTRL + Q if you prefer keyboard shortcuts). You'll get a report that looks like this:

As you can see, this provides a great way to visualize exactly what happened with this item during the period.

The same concept applies if you want to see what happened with a customer and/or jobs. Simply find the customer/job, right click on the name, choose QuickReport, and you'll get a report that looks like this (in this example, I did a QuickReport on the main customer and all the jobs for that customer):

 

Hopefully having this report in your tool kit will help you save time while working in QuickBooks each week!

Webinar: How to Track Inventory in QuickBooks Desktop (Pro/Premier/Enterprise)

Wish you had a better understanding of how to set up and track inventory in QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Enterprise?

Get the insights you're looking for with my new webinar called "Tracking Inventory in QuickBooks Desktop - From Purchase to Shipment"

Designed for all inventory based businesses that are looking for insights and ideas on how to use QuickBooks better.

What is a Sales Receipt in QuickBooks and How Can It Help Me?

Ever notice the little icon on the QuickBooks desktop road map that says Create Sales Receipts and wonder what it's all about?

Here's the scoop...

A sales receipt is designed to post the sale of your product/service AND the payment for it all in the same transaction.

In the traditional invoice process (where you sell now and (hopefully) get paid later), there are three steps:

1. Create the invoice
2. Post the customer payment when received to credit the open invoice(s)
3. Deposit the money in the bank

With the QuickBooks sales receipt process, if you're getting paid at the same time you deliver, you've now just cut the process down to two steps:

1. Create the sales receipt
2. Deposit the money in the bank

This results in 33% less work for you - how cool is that?

In fact, it is so cool, a client to whom I showed the sales receipt functionality exclaimed - "this is freakin' cool and will be an amazing game changer for our business!"

Love to hear things like that!

On the sales receipt screen, you simply plug in the payment details right there too as shown in the screen shot below: 

 

Create the sales receipt, save it, and you're on your way to getting more done in less time.

Please share your experiences with QuickBooks sales receipts with us! Look forward to hearing how they work/don't work for your business...

 

Eliminate wire transfer fees and simplify global payments with Veem

While attending the Accountex accounting show in Boston a few weeks ago, I spied a session on the agenda that was focused on simplifying wire transfers and global payments.

This topic is quite relevant for my consulting practice and likely for many of my clients too, so I made sure to catch the session to see what it was all about.

The folks from Veem did not disappoint...

DISRUPTING THE INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS MODEL

The presentation by the Veem team was centered on this simple premise - "rethinking wire transfers and making the process easy and affordable".

As anyone involved in business to business wire transfers knows, the existing process is certainly not easy, nor affordable. And, it is not even close to being transparent.

Take a look at how the Veem approach to international payments works - a lot simpler, and far less hands touching things (click to enlarge):

As you can see, their process is eliminating the middleman from the international payment process. A wonderful idea!

Veem is currently positioned to send business to business funds to over 60 different countries (and expanding that list regularly) with no wire transfer fees. In addition, you can also receive payments via the Veem platform.

DID YOU SAY NO WIRE TRANSFER FEES?

Yes, you read that correctly.

The Veem platform provides you the capability to send payments at no charge.

Veem gets paid by earning a small percentage on the foreign exchange rates that are involved in the transaction. I'll let them explain it to you via this example (click to enlarge the view):

BACKED BY SOPHISTICATED INVESTORS + 40,000 CUSTOMERS STRONG

The Veem platform is backed by a number of prominent inventors from around the globe, including:

• Silicon Valley Bank
• Fenbushi Capital
• SBI Holdings
• Digital Currency Group
• and others...

Veem indicates that they are currently servicing over 40,000 customers - many of them small and mid-size businesses like yours.

In addition, according to their web site, Veem was founded by a world class team of industry veterans with over 100 years of combined experience in payments, payment processing and banking IT infrastructure management, who aim to change the financial payment system through innovation.

Read more about Veem via TechCrunch and Forbes.

FAQ AND RESOURCES

Veem has set up comprehensive pages of FAQ and helpful resources to help you better understand how their service works as well as the reasons why you should consider moving your international payments to them, and ditching your bank ASAP.

EXTRA BONUS...

Veem also offers connectivity to the Xero and QuickBooks Online accounting platforms (sorry, it does not connect to the QuickBooks Desktop platform as far as I know).

SIGN UP IS FREE

Veem has provided me a special signup link to share with you to get you right into the flow of using their service. There are no signup fees of any type to use the Veem service!

CHEERS TO THEIR SUCCESS...

If there ever was something that needed disruption, it is the wire transfer process. I think back to my CFO days 20+ years ago, and all the hassles I had with that process. You never knew much about what was going on, other than that I was getting nicked by fees all along the way.

All I know is that if Veem existed back then, I'd have signed up in a flash!

I wish the Veem team great success as they tackle this challenge...

 

Are you using Veem today? I welcome your feedback on how their service has worked out for your business...

 

Simplify Sales Rep Tracking, Reporting, and Remote Access with Crik-IT for QuickBooks

Do you find yourself constantly working to provide reports, details, and snippets of other information to the sales reps for your business?

Have you considered moving toward more of a "self-serve" approach and letting your sales reps access this information themselves without you being stuck in the middle?

If so, consider the Crik-IT sales rep/CRM portal for QuickBooks.

Their solution will provide sales reps (and customers too!) with access to current sales reports, dashboards, inventory, order and invoice information. Reps can also enter orders themselves as well if you want them to!

THE CRIK-IT PORTAL/CRM FOR SALES REPS

Here are some of the reports that your reps would have at their fingertips:

• Year over year sales comparisons for a 3 year period
• Monthly sales comparisons for the past 3 years
• Reports by SKU, customer, rep or product line
• And more...

The Crik-IT Portal/CRM can also help automate and streamline the administration of your sales reps in the following ways:

• Complete remote access - no need for them to be inside QuickBooks itself
• Lead and opportunity tracking
• Order entry
• Inventory availability

Here is a sample dashboard view from Crik-IT:

And here are samples of a few of the reports available for instant access:

 

FREE TRIAL FOR QUICKBOOKS DESKTOP OR QUICKBOOKS ONLINE

Crik-IT is compatible with both the desktop versions of QuickBooks (Pro, Premier and Enterprise) in addition to QuickBooks Online. You can grab your 30 day free trial today.

Take it for a test drive so you can get a deeper look at how it can solve common headaches when working with a team of sales reps.

PRICING FOR CRIK-IT

Crik-IT is offered in several different packages, which include:

• Customer Service Package
• Order Desk Package
• Sales Force Package
• Full Circle Package

For example, the Customer Service Package starts at $29/month for 1 user, and then an additional $15/month for additional users.

Features and functionality scale up as you move across the various package offerings. Just follow the Pricing link on this page for more details.

WHAT'S YOUR APPROACH TO SALES REP MANAGEMENT?

I'm curious - do you currently use CRIK-IT? Have any thoughts to share on it?

Using something else for managing your reps?

Please let me know how you're handling this aspect of your business - others will be interested as well!

Spreadsheet Type Calculations within QuickBooks?

Have you ever needed to make additional calculations within a QuickBooks form, but found it limiting?

For example, if you have tried to:

• Total shipping weights on an invoice
• Total or subtotal columns on a purchase order, sales order, or invoice
• Add line numbers to a packing slip or invoice
• Calculate a running total on a bill of lading

or any other type of calculation beyond quantity x rate, you've likely found QuickBooks to be rather frustrating!

ENTER FORMCALC SST

 

The FormCalc SST add-on for QuickBooks can help you extend the functionality of QuickBooks to handle the above scenarios (and many more too!).

The SST stands for Superior Spreadsheet Technology, and what it means for you is that you can literally add spreadsheet like calculations to the following QuickBooks forms:

• Invoices
• Sales Orders
• Quotes/Estimates
• Purchase Orders
• Credit Memos
• Sales Receipts

HOW FORMCALC SST WORKS

Setting up calculations involves taking a "snapshot" of the QuickBooks form (Invoice, etc.) you want to work with, then entering spreadsheet formulas in it. From there, you will save the FormCalcSST template.

When ready, you then simply use a series of "hot keys" that will then call up the template you have created and put to work on a form within QuickBooks.

FormCalc SST can also enhance your QuickBooks by offering:

• Text handling and calculations
• Column totals and subtotals
• Date and time math
• The use of custom field, headers and footers in calculations
• Results and text formatting
• "Mini-spreadsheet" features

WORKS WITH PRO, PREMIER OR ENTERPRISE VERSIONS

Regardless of which desktop version of QuickBooks you have (Pro, Premier or Enterprise), FormCalc SST can plug right in and get to work so you can get more done in less time every day.

A 30 day free trial of the software is available for you to try before you buy.

If you don't need as much horsepower as FormCalc SST offers, you can easily choose the core FormCalc product,

This is the original application in the FormCalc series.

Are you already using FormCalc SST or FormCalc in your business? Would love to hear from you and learn more about what things it is handling for you!

Why Is My Customer Showing Overdue? I Set Up the Right Terms in QuickBooks

Let's say that you recently negotiated a sale (congratulations!), and your customer snagged some extended payment terms with you as part of the deal.

So, instead of paying you in your normal net 30 day terms, they are going to pay you with net 45 day terms (hopefully your profit margin covers this extra financing term!)

You go to create the invoice in QuickBooks, and quickly see there is no "net 45" day term in the list. So, you click the Add New option, and create the new terms that look like this:

and blast through the OK button to get this invoice out the door.

All seems to be good at this point, right?

THE AGING REPORT TELLS YOU SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Next week, you do a quick rundown of your accounts receivable aging report, and you see the invoice to this customer showing as overdue. Say what?

There is no way it is overdue at this point!

Well, QuickBooks thinks something different about it than you do.

HOW TO SET UP THE PAYMENT TERMS PROPERLY

QuickBooks would indeed show you the correct aging of this invoice - if you had done one additional thing when you set up the terms above.

And here is the thing:

In the original box above, the "net due in" was not changed from 0 to 45 days. So, QuickBooks would see this invoice overdue on the very first day you sent it, even though the terms "net 45" appeared on the invoice.

In the updated box below, the "net due in" is correctly set up to match the applicable terms.

Once you get in and reset the definition of the payment terms (quick shortcut to access them - click Lists > Customer and Vendor Profile Lists > Terms List). QuickBooks will then properly age the invoice on your reports!

The Jobber App for Your Mobile Service Business

If you visit your customers to provide your services, need to handle scheduling, keep track of customer information, invoicing, billing, and more, then Jobber is for you.

Jobber was designed and built specifically for mobile service companies - and it was built exceptionally well!

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT JOBBER FEATURES

Let's take a peek under the hood at the Jobber application, and review the features found there that can help simplify and streamline your service business...

Scheduling - Whiteboards and Google Calendar can only take you so far. Speed up your scheduling with Jobber’s map view by assigning jobs to employees using the smartest route. Our job scheduling wizard can easily create complicated recurring job schedules. Jobber's drag-and-drop calendar covers all scheduling scenarios such as month, week, and daily views. Includes:

• Job scheduling wizard
• Ability to view map routing
• Drag and drop calendar
• Route optimization and website integration are available as add-ons

CRM - All of your client’s past jobs, quotes, invoices, and payments are easily searchable. Access the information anywhere with iOS and Android Apps. Capabilities include:

• E-mail client reminders
• Client history and search
• Quoting
• Custom fields and tags
• Texting client reminders (additional fee applies)

EVEN MORE JOBBER FEATURES...

Team Management - Assign tasks and jobs to your employees and keep up-to-date on their progress with the Jobber Field app. Employees can track their time, add notes and attachments to visits, and Jobber can automatically create GPS waypoints throughout their day Capabilities include:

• Tasks and time-tracking
• GPS tracking
• Team assignments
• Text message of arrival notifications (additional fee applies)

Easy invoicing and payments

• Sync with QuickBooks Online or Xero (additional fees apply for accounting sync)
• Batch invoicing
• Expense tracking and E-Payments from customers (additional fees apply)

 

GET YOUR FREE TRIAL AND A $75 CREDIT

Jobber is rated at 4.5 starts out of 5 in the Intuit App Center - feel free to explore what others have said about it and how it has helped their business.

Jobber offers a completely free trial of their software, and no credit card is required. Use my link to sign up for your free trial, and you'll also receive a $75 credit toward your paid service.

Are you currently using Jobber for your service business? Feel free to add your comments to the conversation in the box below!

A Simple Way to Sell Products or Services on Your Existing Web Site with Shopify

Trying to find a new revenue stream for your business?

Looking to sell products or services from your web site?

Does the thought of "adding e-commerce functionality" to your web site give you a headache and keep you from moving forward?

CONSIDER THE SHOPIFY BUY BUTTON

Here's the good news...

Selling products or services on your existing web site doesn't require an IT specialist or an expensive web designer.

In fact, all you need is a Shopify Buy Button.

HOW THE BUY BUTTON WORKS WITH SHOPIFY

As easy as 1-2-3...

Step 1 - Decide which products or services you want to sell on your web site

Step 2 - Grab the "embed code" that Shopify automatically creates for you to present them exactly as you want. Customize the colors to match your existing site

Step 3 - Copy and paste the code into your web site

This adds a mobile friendly and secure shopping experience to your site. All the power of Shopify in a single button.

BEYOND THE BUY BUTTON...

Adding the Buy button opens the door to a complete suite of tools that Shopify also offers their customers, including:

• Integration with QuickBooks desktop (via Webgility) or directly into QuickBooks Online
• Easy order tracking - notifications of orders received via e-mail or mobile
• Shipping integration with all major carriers if desired
• Analytics tools - assess sales and other metrics via the handy dashboard
• Fully mobile - you can easily run the business from your phone or tablet
  
  

THE BUY BUTTON WON'T BREAK THE BANK

Adding the Shopify Buy Button to your existing web site runs just $9 per month. Other Shopify plans are also available to allow you to build your own online store and add even more features if desired - those start at $29 per month.

Shopify offers a free 14 day trial, with no credit card required so you can see for yourself how the Buy button and other features might work for you.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Facebook advertising for e-commerce entrepreneurs
• 50 ways to make your first online sale