We have scheduled our Quickbooks class for February 22nd - March 15th. Classes will be Monday evenings, 5-7 pm, at BetaLoft in downtown Salt Lake City.
 
To register, please fill out the registration form (links below) and submit it with payment to alex@backyardbookkeeper.com. If you are unable to email, please call (801) 583-0272 for other options.

A few weeks ago, one of our clients told us she wished Quickbooks classes were offered somewherelocally and we are happy to oblige! We would like to start holding classes as early as February or March. If you or someone you know could benefit from a class about using and customizing Quickbooks for your business, please send Alex an email with your contact information, and we will let you know when classes begin.

*The email is only to let us know you are interested. We will send you information about how to enroll as soon as the classes are scheduled.

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.

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.

I came across a question today on Intuit's forums about how to clean up old open balances, both for vendors and for customers, without messing up the financial statements. This is something I've been meaning to write about for a while, but I haven't gotten around to it until now. So here is at least the first part of Backyard Bookkeeper's guide to cleaning up old mistakes.