Business Discussions

There have been endless stories about how people have coped with the past year by starting to bake their own bread or starting their own vegetable garden - both things that I have done and enjoyed greatly.  But we were curious about the new habits that haven’t been talked about, so here are some of the habits the Community team has picked up and how they are going.      ++++++   @Ami_D  I started a lot of habits during the last year, and I’m definitely not proud of all of them, like how much I spend on food delivery now. But, adjusting my daily exercise habit to match the circumstances of the pandemic was a huge game changer when it came to my mental health and wellbeing.    I belonged to a CrossFit gym pre-pandemic. When everything shut down they transitioned to Zoom classes and loaned out equipment, so it was pretty easy to keep going without missing too much of a beat. It wasn’t QUITE the same, but it was enough to keep me strong and moving.

Did somebody say Friday? Well, my Community friends, welcome to the best day of the week. I hope you are looking forward to having a great weekend. Before you check out for the day, I want to share this article by Fast Company about 5-weekend habits that will help you achieve your goals. Here's what they had to say:     Create a Plan and Schedule ItWhen I reviewed this point, my initial thought was, why would I want to plan out what I do on the weekends? I'm super spontaneous and usually go with the flow, but then I realized I never really get to achieve what was needed to be done. The author brings out a good point of scheduling time and planning for the weekend to prioritize what is important. For example, if you are trying to write a book, take 1-2 hours on the weekend to be creative and edit your work.   Revisit your goalsHow many of you have set goals and end up not on track after a while? I will admit I set a goal of losing some weight this year. I was on track,

Hello again, Community and happy Wednesday! By now, you all know I'm a big fan of businesses using their social media platforms to their full potential. As we coast through another work week, I thought I'd stop by and share some ideas to help you never run out of things to talk about when it comes to sharing with your followers.     Embrace SilenceFor me personally, silence is a rarity. I think it's safe to say that's a common notion for many people during this day and age. However, when you do get a moment of down time, take a few minutes to brainstorm for new ideas. Be sure to decompress for some time as well. Silence, meditation, and/or practiced breathing can expand your brain function which in turn will help develop new ideas in the future.   Find a Lesson in EverythingIf you're like me, maybe you work from a desk at home. This type of set up can make it difficult to see or experience anything unexpected. However, don't take advantage of the little things that can

Hi friends, and happy Friday! I've returned to the Business Discussion board to talk about a popular business topic - marketing. As we're all still living in the age of Covid, there are many businesses that have moved to working solely online. With that, marketing has turned digital which can make the desire to be more personal even more difficult. This article published on entrepreneur.com features a few helpful ways to be more personal when it comes to digital marketing.   Create Targeted MarketingJust reading this point title made me think of the QuickBooks Community itself. The vast majority of Community members are small business owners and accountants. That's why we focus on small business related topics to spark conversations. Reading further into the article, targeted content delivered to a specific audience at the correct time can make a big difference in customer conversion.   Personalize Based on Referral Source"A referral source is the method by which a

"We admire people to the extent that we cannot explain what they do, and the word admire then means marvel at" - B.F. Skinner   Good day, and welcome back to another segment of Talk About Your Business. If you are new here, we welcome you too. Today, I have a food for thought. Have you ever thought about who you admire? I most certainly have. At first, I reminisced about my family, friends, and celebrities such as Lebron James, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and the list goes on. However, I never really stop to wonder why exactly I admire these people. Was it because of their skills in basketball, in hosting a show well, or acting? I notice that I had to change my perception not of what they have done but who they are. It begs the question, does the qualities they have if it is something that I would want to include in my self-development. Or do their belief or values are what I align with? One writer poses some questions to help realize the "Why's," and here they are: Is it becau

I bet you didn’t know that the second Tuesday in March is national “Organize your home office day” did you?  (I didn’t either!)  But here we are, and I know for myself at least, it’s a good day for me to do some spring cleaning in my office and think about how to organize it a bit more.     Back in September, we did a piece talking about our home workspaces so I thought it would be a great time to check in with everyone and see what organization tips they might have to share after living with their setups for a while.     ++++++ @LisaNullar  Once I moved my “desk” from the kitchen table to the spare room, I quickly realized that some things just weren’t going to work for me anymore - most notably my habit of being able to write sticky notes to myself and post them on the wall next to my chair wouldn’t be possible any longer since the wall next to my desk is brick instead of drywall.   Additionally, I haven’t entirely unpacked

    CPA and QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Beverly Lang, can help you figure out which QuickBooks Online Payroll option is right for your business, and how low-cost services, such as our 401K plan, can make you a hero to your employees without breaking the bank.   Learn more about QuickBooks Payroll.   

It's finally Friday, Community! My favorite day of the week for many reasons; one of those being that I get to share a handy small business article with you all. Today's article was found on purewow.com and covers what is a good debt to equity ratio. And honestly, this is just good info to know, whether you're a business owner or not. Let's go ahead and jump right in...     What is a debt-to-equity ratio?This particular ratio is obviously comparing how much debt you have compared to your equity. The debt-to-equity ratio is often referred to as the D/E ratio which "looks at the company’s total debt as compared with its total equity." Whatever number you come up with could suggest whether or not a person or company has the ability to repay it's debts. With that being said, a low D/E ratio could work in your favor, showing that you are financially stable and have resources available on standby should you need them for an emergency. However, a high D/E ratio is most li

    Did you miss the livestream? Here is the replay of our session with Michael Gerber, author of “The E-Myth”, discussomg how business systems can help you free up time to focus on growing your business.        After the interview, make sure to sign up to get 5 free chapters from “The E-Myth Revisited”  by visiting https://quickbooks.intuit.com/live/gerber-interview/

Good afternoon, QuickBooks Community!! The question of today is, do you have a FAQ page? If you aren't aware of this, FAQ stands for frequently asked questions. This can be useful in your business for customers to get better acquainted with your product or services.       Here are some benefits of having a FAQ page:   Address Your Audience NeedsThis can be set up as a little blog or hub where your customers can get more information about your product and services. You can do this by analyzing or observing questions that customers constantly asked and create informative and accurate content to address this.   Be a Trusted ExpertLet's say you are in Best Buy and trying to find the best computer to buy, and you seek advice from a representative to help you. The reason you went to them is that you believe they are an expert in this field and can provide more knowledge before purchasing a computer. This is the same way customer should view your FAQ. It should help

Happy Friday, everyone! In keeping up with the theme of Acts of Kindness, my colleagues and I have been doing for the past week; I thought it would be a neat idea to have a calendar with daily acts of kindness. Of course, sometimes you may not be able to do it, but it poses a reminder. Feel free to take a screenshot. I will leave you this quote by Princess Diana, " Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you."   If you have any ideas to add to this act of kindness, leave a comment below. Until then, continue to be safe and be well, my Community comrades. 

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Today, February 17th, is Random Acts of Kindness Day, and I have a problem with that. No, wait - not the kindness part, the other bit. Random. There’s not much that Philosophers and Computer Scientists can agree on, except that nothing is truly random. If you were asked to pick a random number, you’ve probably got an array of your favorites at the ready, or maybe it's as simple as a physical number you pass on your daily commute to work. Even if you try to believe it's random, it rarely (if ever) is. If that's true for something as simple as a number, what about these Acts of Kindness? Some might say that random acts mean suddenly, in reference to the timing of the thing. Not necessarily that all kindness should be a surprise, but all surprises should be filled with kindness. I’m not quite sure that I buy that notion! To me, the greatest kindness requires careful planning and consideration, sudden gestures are those that run the risk of being unintentionally rude. Perhaps it’s a kind a

  “Setting up for Success” is a series of snack-sized, task-oriented articles curated around specific accounting workflows and the fundamental concepts behind them.   We recommend watching all of the videos in order as a set so you can confidently complete the specified tasks in QuickBooks Online. If you do decide to skip ahead to specific sections, set aside time to go back and read the article in its entirety so you have a firm grasp of the fundamental process end-to-end.  For this set of videos, there are no exercises to follow along with. Instead, we insist you simply absorb the broader accounting and workflow concepts introduced in this article. Taking a few minutes to contextualize your business within the broader “how’s” and “why’s” of accounting will go a long way in preparing you for sustain success. So sit back, relax, and let it all sink in.      How to Categorize Transactions: Types of Accounts &a

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"No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted." -Aesop     Hi there, Community! As some of you may know, this week is Kindness Week. Myself, and other Community hosts, are teaming up to share some examples and stories of random acts of kindness. Today, I wanted to share a little "Bingo" card of sorts that I came up with to check off some good deeds.       I took a screen shot of the card and set it as the lock screen on my phone for the week as a reminder to do good and be kind. These are just a few actions to do that show kindness to others and even yourself. Most of them are useful for everyday life, and some can even apply directly to small businesses. It's my hope that you'll be motivated to try to win a "Bingo" or maybe even be motivated to complete the whole card! Either way, we'd love to hear about it! Let us know how you felt afterward or if you got to see the receiving party's response. After all, that reaction is the best part. Take

  These tutorials guide you through the basics of Invoices and Sales Receipts in QuickBooks Online. Along with our “First time with QuickBooks Online” series, this article is an excellent starting point for brand new QuickBooks users.   Recording sales is the most important accounting activity for most users. In QuickBooks Online, you send Invoices to customers if you expect to be paid in the future and Sales Receipts if you were paid at the time of the sale.    Here, we will focus on the creation and steps for processing these sales forms, as well as how and when to use associated features in QuickBooks. Watch these videos in their entirety so you feel confident with the fundamentals of QuickBooks Online.   Setting up for Success with QuickBooks Online – Intermediate Invoicing and Sales Forms   How to Record Your Sales: Reports, Invoices, & More   Below is the basic sales workf

Hello QuickBooks Community! It's Friday! One of the best days of the week, don't you agree? Anyway, I have a fun fact for you. Did you know Wal-Mart averages a profit of 1.8 million dollars every hour? That's kind of mind-blowing when you think about it. Today, I wanted to stop by and share this article by USchambers about gaining customer traction. They highlight a few ways to do this, so let's find out.   Listening to Customer Wants and NeedsWhen you can identify your target market, you don't just stop at that. Businesses need to also listen to their customer. Listening to their needs, wants, what motivates them, or their challenges, your responsibility as a firm is to provide a solution through your product or service to suit their needs. Oil Garner, Co-founder of Unbounce, stated that "the customer isn't always. But if you don't listen to them, your product won't be either."   Building TrustHow do you build trust with someone? Let me guess; it takes some time, the same th

Hi, friends. It's the middle of the week and I'm here to drop some small business tips that I hope will come in handy. Today I want to talk about something that I believe you'll find useful in many areas, rather than just business related. What is it, you ask? Strategic communication is the answer.       So what do I mean by strategic communication? In this instance, I want to lay out the strategy, planning, or motive behind conversations, specifically related to business. This process consists of two main points. Here we go...            1. Identify and state the goal for the communication Goal = purpose. If there is no purpose of the conversation, the parties involved are wasting their time, to put it bluntly. Make it know what you want to relay to your listener(s). Listeners will also appreciate knowing the why behind your message.2. Understand the audience What do I know about them? Do I know where they stand o

Hello everybody! I see that here is the frequently asked question "How to transfer your business from offline to online?"So, my story, maybe someone will be useful I started my home business about 2 years ago. My specialization is consulting. Just a couple of months ago, I found the perfect solution for running my business - ExpertBox software. https://expertbox.io/ The software was very helpful in organizing my work. Clients book a place in it for a consultation with me at the hours at which I indicated. There is also a video/audio solution and billing directly in it. This is very convenient for me!

 "A brand is not a product or a promise, or a feeling. It is the sum of all experiences you have with a company." - Amir Kassaei.   Happy Friday, and welcome back to the Talk About Your Business segment. Today, I found an article by Entrepreneur that discusses the differences between growing a brand and growing a business. Here are a few points they shared:   Business is sales-focused, brand is community-based A business goal is geared towards making a profit. However, the brand is centered around reaching more people, customer wise. They are almost one and the same in that they both depend on each other. A business needs customers in order to generate this income or to make this profit. The brand serves as an identity for the company under which products or services expand (which is the business aspect).   Brand is larger than productA brand heavily relies on marketing and plays on the feelings of its customers. It is much more than just generating income. The arti

I'm going to be honest here, this series was *supposed* to start in January.  But, life happened and things didn't quite work out the way I had intended them to.  And if that isn't a perfect set up for a series on how to set and achieve goals, then I don't know what else could be.   🤣       Most people have heard of the SMART goals method, and that is still the foundation that we will use, but as the past year has shown, we need to be a bit more flexible and come at things from a slightly different angle to manage the changes and uncertainty that are part of our new normal.     So how do you start?  Honestly, by taking a break.  Schedule it on your calendar if you need to, but give yourself an uninterrupted period of time that you can sit and think.  Or, if you are like me and do your best problem solving while your body is focused on something else, then give yourself time to do some knitting or housework; or mayb

    This article takes a closer look at what to do to set up, record, and track sales tax for products you sell in QuickBooks Online. Foremost, QuickBooks Online is accounting software, not tax software. You cannot file your taxes directly with QuickBooks. However, you will use QuickBooks to track the collection of sales tax. These financial records are also essential for reporting your income to the IRS.  How to Set Up Sales Tax: Settings, Sales, & More   First, let’s make sure you’re set up to collect Sales Tax. All of your tax information is managed from the Tax Tab in QuickBooks Online. The first time you visit the Tax Tab, you will be prompted to complete an onboarding workflow.   Before completing this workflow, make sure you've selected your business’ accounting method in Account and Settings (Gear Icon > Account and Settings > Advanced > Accounting).  This step is very important – currently, the Automated Sales T

      This guide is for anyone converting from QuickBooks Desktop (Pro or Premier) to QuickBooks Online. Each section offers step-by-step guidance and includes visuals, tips and hyperlinks to important resources. Start your conversion from the "Before you Start" section or use the links below to jump to specific points in the conversion process if you've already started.    You can also download the complete QuickBooks Guide to Converting QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online from the right-hand column.    If you want the Quick Conversion Reference instead, follow the link.    Before You Start Should I convert from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online? Compare versions to make sure the fit is right for you! Time constraints, character limits, file size and other things to look at before starting the process.       The Conversion Process Sign up for QuickBooks Online and create a Company File Prepar

I am thinking of setting up S-Corp and have few questions.Business activities :1) Rental business for property to be owned by the S-Corp    Revenue : 20K approx.    Income after expense will be less than 14K2) Investment / Stock Market TradingQuestionsIs Rental business and Investing considered purely a passive Income activityDo I need to pay myself salary, if so what should be the guidelinesIf I have a Trade windfall and have capital gains of 50-100K in a year,  can all be taken as distribution after taxesWhat is the  probability that IRS will look at this setup and impose fines and cancel S-Corp election, if there is ZERO payroll taxes