As the holidays approach, are you thinking of your employees and how wonderful they’ve been? Have you been thinking about how you would like to give them a bonus, but you are unsure how to account for it in the books?

Now that we've been in business for over two years, we've run the gamut of client-bookkeeper relationships. Backyard Bookkeeper has helped in several situations where a previous accountant or office assistant defrauded, stole from, or otherwise messed up the books of the business. We have also dealt with some difficult situations of our own. Based on these experiences, I'd like to make a couple observations and offer some advice for dealing with your own bookkeeper or clients, as the case may be.

One of the first things I do when I sit down at someone's computer to review their Quickbooks file is open up the Preferences window and turn off the Live Community feature. (Edit Menu --> Desktop View --> My Prefs) Otherwise, that window pops up automatically every time you open the program, slowing down your computer and cluttering your desktop.

One frequent problem I see in people's accounting records is how they record money they take out of the business as their "paycheck." I'd like to explain how to do this correctly.

We really do believe in free resources (see our earlier post about this here), and we want to do everything we can to help small businesses succeed. Accordingly, we are offering free Quickbooks setup or a free review of your existing Quickbooks file.

To recap, the challenge was to finally tackle the piles of unfinished business in our lives/homes/offices, particularly those related to bookkeeping. 

Choosing a bookkeeper is just like hiring any other professional to help you in your business, whether an employee, subcontractor, or lawyer. You have tasks that you need to delegate, so you look for someone who is both suited to the task and who fits well in your business. Here are some specific recommendations for choosing a Really Good Bookkeeper.

I had a fun conversation with my sister on Skype this morning:
Lisa: Have you unpacked the boxes in your office yet?
Julie: Yes, the file cabinet is done
Lisa: *pat* on your back
Julie: Some stuff ended up in a laundry basket, though :-/
Lisa: I think the laundry basket thing is a disease
Julie: then it’s a GENETIC disease [our mom always used laundry baskets to organize projects]
Lisa: I know I think I’ve conquered it though
Although I just looked over and realized I have a laundry basket with junk in it
Alas
Julie: :D Not cured, then

I found a post on twitter today (via @robicser) about a free download that may interest you--the Quickbooks 2009 For Dummies guide by Stephen Nelson. I didn't find anything online to suggest the download is unauthorized, so I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity. I intend to read it myself, in case there are some shortcuts I haven't discovered yet. The book applies to all versions of 2009 Quickbooks (Simple Start, Pro, Premier, etc.). See links below.