Estimates aren’t just for car repair shops or HVAC technicians. You may want to present them to customers if your company does projects that: 

• Don’t have firm price tags 
• Consist of multiple parts, like hourly work and materials 
• Are likely to be expensive 

You can create estimates in Microsoft Word or in accounting software like QuickBooks. The latter is preferable for many reasons. For one thing, you already have customer, product, and service information stored there. You can also convert estimates to invoices in one click. Whichever method you choose, you’ll be more likely to have your estimate approved if you adhere to a few guidelines. 

Create a checklist for yourself ahead of time.

Don’t just fill out an estimate form. Go over each step of the project in writing first. You undoubtedly have price lists for hourly work and supplies, but there may be additional charges. If multiple people will be contributing, you’ll need to build a timeline so you can promise a realistic delivery date. 

Be precise. 

“Precise estimate” may sound like an oxymoron. After all, you’re not absolutely certain what the final total will be. But spell out every element of the project with hour/cost totals. Be sure you include things like setup, corrections, and color/part changes.  

Build-in early notifications of cost overruns. 

Track costs carefully as you go. If you get partway through the project and realize that expenses are growing beyond the estimate, notify the customer before proceeding. You could specify a percentage (i.e., early warning if costs exceed a 5 percent increase).  

This guarantee should be spelled out in your estimate. It will ease some of the apprehension your customer might have about approving the expenditure. 

Make your estimate visually appealing. 

Handwritten thank-you notes can be appropriate in some business situations, but not handwritten estimates. Paper and electronic forms you send to customers should be polished and professional-looking 

QuickBooks allows you to customize your estimates. You can insert your company’s logo, add or remove fields (even inserting a Due Date field), and modify the design (fonts, colors, etc.).  

Build-in a follow-up date.

The process of having an estimate accepted may require multiple interactions with the customer. Don’t just send it and hope for the best. You might personalize the actual form with a handwritten note if you’re snail-mailing it or an additional email if you send it electronically. Tell the recipient to expect a call or visit by a specific date to discuss your proposal. You could consider adding a modest discount if an estimate is accepted by a certain date. 

These suggestions may seem like overkill if you’re simply proposing to build a website or do a minor car repair. But the more complex the project, the more effort you should put into your estimate. 

Our accounting specialists can help you with sales forms and anything else you’re struggling with in QuickBooks.  Contact us to set up a consultation. 

Before your new business even makes its first sale, you need to know how you’re going to meet your accounting needs. You should select a system that will suit you in the early days of your venture and will also allow you to handle growth. 

You have a few options. Some small businesses take the most familiar path: manual bookkeeping. You can do much of what’s required using Microsoft Office applications, primarily Word (for invoices, receipts, promotional materials, etc.), Excel (for reports and customer lists), and Outlook (for email and scheduling). 

There’s a big problem associated with that method: It doesn’t provide tools for recording and automatically tracking sales and expenses. You might be able to cobble together such a system in Excel, but you would probably find that task even more difficult than designing a report.  

Further, finding specific data, like a payment or a bill, can take a long time. So can matching a payment with an order or reconciling accounts. As your business grows, you’re likely to find that you’re spending so much time on your accounting chores that you’re not planning and managing and creating.  

Software Can Help 

These drawbacks have prompted many small businesses to invest in accounting software. QuickBooks is the most popular; it was designed to be used by small businesspeople who have little or no experience with financial bookkeeping. Using QuickBooks, you can connect to your online accounts (checking, credit cards, etc.) and import transactions so you don’t have to wait for a statement. 

The software allows you to create and email sales and purchase forms, record and manage incoming payments and outgoing bills, and generate dozens of reports by simply choosing one of the templates provided and letting QuickBooks fill it with your own company’s data. All of your customer and vendor data is stored neatly in records, and you can find the smallest detail anywhere in the system in seconds by using the software’s search tools. 

There are other advantages over manual bookkeeping. You save time. All of your financial data is in one place. You’re more likely to stay current with your accounts receivable and payable. And, your accounting records can be easily backed up off-site. 

Getting Expert Assistance 

As transformative as QuickBooks can be, some small businesses still struggle with its operations and the time it takes to maintain their financial books. Even those that don’t face a bigger problem: understanding what this neatly-organized data means for their future. How can they make better decisions based on an analysis of it? 

We can help in both areas. Our accounting specialists can help you get started with QuickBooks and use it more efficiently. We can even take over the accounting tasks that vex you and eat up the time you need for more pressing managerial responsibilities. Our team stands ready to meet with you and determine where it can fit in to lighten your load and provide expert insight on your finances. Contact us, and we’ll schedule a consultation. 

QuickBooks was designed to appeal to millions of small businesses – different as they are. To make that possible, the software was also designed to be as customizable as possible, while still following the rules of standard accounting practices.

If you have left QuickBooks as it was when you purchased it, you may have found it wanting in some areas. Or, you might be bothered by features and options you don’t need. Here’s a brief overview of how to solve some of those problems.

Customize the Icon Bar. Set up QuickBooks’ Icon Bar to make it appear where you want it and contain the tools you access most often. Open the View menu to move it from the left to the top (or hide it completely). Click Customize Icon Bar in the same menu to add, edit, delete, or reorder navigational icons.

Modify your Preferences. This one will take a while. Open the Edit menu and select Preferences. Click on the titles in the left vertical list to see what your options are in each area. If you are the software’s administrator, you can work in the Company Preferences tab to, for example, turn on or off features like class tracking, inventory and purchase orders, and time-tracking. Click on My Preferences to see what your individual options are.

Explore the Lists menu. In this menu, you can see the different types of lists that you will be maintaining. They aren’t all mandatory. You will be building some of them as you go (like the Item List, which will grow as you create records for your products and services).  You may discover some features that are unfamiliar to you, like the Price Level List and the Fixed Asset Item List. Let us know if you want to work with some of these but aren’t sure how.

Tailor QuickBooks’ forms to better fit your company. Depending on what version of QuickBooks you are using, you have probably seen icons in the different toolbars and menus that represent actions like Manage Templates, Customize Design, and Customize Data Layout. These all refer to your ability to change the look and content of customer and vendor forms like invoices, sales receipts, and purchase orders. For example, you can remove or rename fields, add logos, as well as select different background, fonts, and colors, etc.

Check your version of QuickBooks. The most current editions have the year 2020 in the title. Are you a few versions back? Upgrading may be the solution to software problems you are encountering. Or, you may be using Pro when you really need Premier – or even Enterprise.

We can help you get the most out of QuickBooks by assisting with a number of tasks, including:

• Installation and setup.
• Customization.
• Everyday workflow.
• General financial management.

Contact us to set up a consultation, and we’ll work with you on any element of QuickBooks—or accounting in general—that’s giving you trouble.

You didn’t start a business to learn about compliance with federal and state employee compensation rules. Yet here you are, wearing out your calculator twice a month as you try to stay current with tax tables, government regulations, and worker benefits. One small mistake, and you’re paying penalties, making employees and a whole lot of agencies, or benefits providers unhappy.

Isn’t your time better spent managing your business and planning for its growth? Automating payroll will give you those hours back and reduce the possibility of costly errors exponentially. There are countless websites that provide these services. They can help you:

Maintain comprehensive employee profiles

How do you store and retrieve your employee information now? On time cards, in folders or Microsoft Word files? However you do so, it can be cumbersome just looking up details. Payroll websites let you create online records for each employee that contain everything you need to know, including:

• Contact information
• Compensation
• Required tax form data from the W-4 and W-9
• Benefits
• Direct deposit authorization

Set up multiple pay schedules

Do you pay some employees weekly and others semi-monthly, for example? Payroll websites accommodate such an arrangement. They also allow off-cycle payroll runs.

Define multiple earnings types

You might pay some workers by the hour while others get an annual salary, but payroll websites go well beyond these classifications. They can support bonuses, commissions, etc., and even let you set up custom earnings types. You can also automate withholding, like garnishments.

Calculate state, federal, and local payroll taxes

This step is probably the bane of your existence if you’re processing your company’s payroll manually. The online solutions available not only calculate payroll tax withholding, but most of them actually submit those taxes and any filings necessary by the prescribed deadlines.

Add deductions for pre-tax benefits

If you offer your employees benefits like health insurance and retirement plans, calculating and incorporating those payments and any matching contributions you make can also be quite the challenge. Payroll websites automate this step.

Track sick and vacation time

Once you define your PTO policies, you will always know when an employee is eligible to take time off.

Prepare W-2s in January

Using the data they’ve collected through the year, most payroll websites take this task off of your to-do list, too.

Set up all of this

These online applications usually offer step-by-step tools to setup and get ready to run payroll. Company onboarding specialists are also always available to help.

Run payroll

Actual payroll processing generally only takes a few minutes. If your payroll is often the same, you may be able to put it on autopilot.

If you’re already doing your payroll manually, you should be able to make the transition to online fairly easily. But if you’re struggling with or new to employee compensation, we can help you get up and running, or even take over this element of your accounting completely. Contact us, and we can discuss your options.