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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Hello [Firstname],

There are 28 more days until April 15th! Now's a good time to take a break and join us for this issue of GrowthForce E-News. It has marketing tips that can help through tough economic times. You will find ideas on how to improve cash flow – the lifeblood of any small business. We also highlight a unique, new technology called SmartVault that links scanned images to transactions inside QuickBooks. 

As always, we extend an invitation to attend some valuable upcoming seminars designed for business using QuickBooks.  So check your calendars. We hope you can join us.


ARE YOU FEELING STIMULATED?

By now your employees should be seeing the impact of the new tax stimulus package in their take home pay. If you run your own payroll in QuickBooks make sure you download the new tax tables to get the new withholding rates.

Click here to find out more information from Intuit.


CASH FLOW IMPROVEMENT FOR QUICKBOOKS USERS

The more a business grows, the more cash flow problems it is likely to have. According to a popular statistic, cash flow is the reason 80 percent of all businesses fail in the first five years. This article discusses how to avoid cash flow problems by outlining the cash flow best practices using QuickBooks. The tips deal with Intuit Billing Solutions, Intuit Online Bill Payment, Bank and Credit Card Downloads, Forecasting Cash Flow and a new Dun & Bradstreet program specifically designed to accommodate small businesses.

Click Here to read how to grow your cash flow via QuickBooks.


SMARTVAULT

Accountants by trade typically use a lot of paper. But here is a smart way to practice green bookkeeping.  SmartVault is a new system which allows you to take your office paperless in minutes.  This solution to paper overload allows you to scan and attach documents directly to your QuickBooks transactions.

In addition to saving trees, SmartVault safely and securely stores documents and company files that can then be shared with your CPA. SmartVault is an off-site vault for important documents that saves businesses using QuickBooks both time and money.

As a friend of GrowthForce, SmartVault is offering you a free 30 day trial. Click Here for details.


A QuickBooks Tip:

What’s the other side of this entry?
Users can be skeptical
 of QuickBooks because they cannot see the debits and credits. But QuickBooks is a true double entry financial system. Want proof? Hit Control Y and it displays all the debits and credits for a transaction. You can see wkeyboardhat bookkeeping was done for that transaction and where it was posted. Control Y shows all accounts that a transaction is split between. This is really helpful in payroll, for instance, to see the taxes included in the payroll transaction.

 


KING WRITES A MONTHLY COLUMN FOR HOUSTON CPA SOCIETY

Starting in March, Stephen King, CEO of GrowthForce, will have a monthly column in the Houston CPA Society Forum and eForum newsletter. King will cover small businesses and give their CPAs best practices advice. The first topic of the Small Business Best Practices column is: Guard Your Clients from the Risk of Fraud, QuickBooks Internal Controls. A year subscription to the newsletter is free for member and $30 for non-members.

To subscribe, email Elyse Turla at ETurla@houstoncpa.org


PHIL MORABITO ON MARKETING IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES

Phil Morabito the CEO of Pierpont Communications, Inc. presented Marketing your Business to Win in Times of Turmoil at the March 4th BRG meeting. He taught attendees ideas about how a business can keep its' marketing effort strong by choosing lost cost/high impact tactics that work. Now you can learn ideas that can be applied to your business immediately.

Click here to see Phil Morabito's Presentation.


We Do Audit Support !!!

Having a tough time getting though an audit? Can't get those Prepared By Clients schedules done? We will get you audit and tax ready in no time!

Click Here for more information

Upcoming Seminars:

How to Avoid Getting Ripped Off by Your Office Manager: Best Practices for Reducing the Risk of Using QuickBooks

Taught by GrowthForce CEO Stephen King, CPA*
Click Here for a seminar description. 

Tues., April 14, 2009
Registration: 7:30 a.m.
Seminar: 8-9 a.m.
Employer Flexible PEO
7904 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. West
2nd floor
Houston, TX 77064

Click Here to register.



QuickBooks Training Class

Taught by GrowthForce Senior Manager of Accounting Systems
Margaret F. Gow, CPA* Advanced Certified QB Pro Advisor

Thurs., April 17, 2009
8 a.m.- 5 p.m.
at Employer Flexible PEO
7904 North Sam Houston Pkwy. West, Houston

This introduction to the QuickBooks system offers everything a novice user of QuickBooks needs to know to get started. You’ll learn about creating Lists – Chart of Account, Items, Centers; bank account and balance sheet activities; selling and paying for goods and services; reporting results, tracking time, designing forms and letters.

The cost is just $299 per person. Discounts are available for multiple attendees from one company. Each attendee will receive a comprehensive QB training procedure manual.

HURRY SPACES STILL AVAILABLE!
Click here to register and be contacted with more information.


Houston CPA Society
Texas Ethics for CPAs
Speaker: Willie N. Cargill, PhD, CPA ~ W. N. Cargill, CPA, Sunrise Beach, TX

Location: The Nathaniel Center (804 Russell Palmer Rd., Kingwood)

Tues., April 23, 2009
1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

Cost: $85 for member, $100 for non-members

Click Here for a discription and to reigister.


Association for Accounting Marketing
Summit 2009
20th Anniversary Marketing Palooza: Preparing your Firm for the Future
June 2-5, 2009
Austin, TX

Click Here for more information.


Click Here if you’d like more information about GrowthForce’s outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services
or call 281-358-2007.

* GrowthForce is not a CPA firm.