I am curious to know who does your Bookkeeping ? Do you do all of it yourself, have your spouse help or just take bags of receipts to an accountant and throw it on their desk ?
I do not do any bookkeeping at all and we do our own taxes. We use Quickbooks and my wife handles everything after the sale including customer contacts ( unless the call is a technical question ).
The way our system works is: I take the order ( either by e-mail or by phone ). I then make out a show work order. This includes all measurements, colors, coach type, customer info ( phone, address, e-mail, etc. ). I then place the order on the schedule which is a series of clip boards hung on the wall in corresponding order. Once the order is complete I give the shop order along with all e-mail correspondence to my wife who creates the invoice, enters all the data and then bills them through Paypal. If it is a credit card order then she contacts the customer and does the transaction over the phone. A few of my elderly customers demand that we accept a check which is no problem. We have never had a bounced check throughout all the years we have been in business.
Once that is completed she gives it back to me and then I create the shipment. I box everything up, cut the polyrod to size, create their owners packet with our thank you letter, several business cards, a rack card and our warranty card. We also include the Solarfix warranty card, 303 product literature, etc.
Coach owners are given a huge file box when they buy their buses and inside it is all manufacturers manuals, warranties and other literature pertaining to their bus. The vast majority of our customers are sticklers about info and keeping their files current so their owners packet from us goes directly into their file box. We get rave reviews over them.
I then weigh the box I am shipping and then make out the shipping label ( we ship Fed Ex ground ). If we have several orders to go out then we schedule a pickup. If it is just one then I take it to the airport's Fed Ex center while I am out running errands. When I create the shipment Fed Ex sends a tracking number to our customer and believe you/me I really appreciate this service. Saves me having to e-mail the customer directly and enter the tracking info myself which is typically a dozen or more numbers. I then give the order back to my wife and she closes out the order and files the paperwork. Once a week she reconciles all of our accounts ( checking, savings, CC's, etc. )
I am just curious as to how all of you handle a sale and who does the bookkeeping.
Chris
I do not do any bookkeeping at all and we do our own taxes. We use Quickbooks and my wife handles everything after the sale including customer contacts ( unless the call is a technical question ).
The way our system works is: I take the order ( either by e-mail or by phone ). I then make out a show work order. This includes all measurements, colors, coach type, customer info ( phone, address, e-mail, etc. ). I then place the order on the schedule which is a series of clip boards hung on the wall in corresponding order. Once the order is complete I give the shop order along with all e-mail correspondence to my wife who creates the invoice, enters all the data and then bills them through Paypal. If it is a credit card order then she contacts the customer and does the transaction over the phone. A few of my elderly customers demand that we accept a check which is no problem. We have never had a bounced check throughout all the years we have been in business.
Once that is completed she gives it back to me and then I create the shipment. I box everything up, cut the polyrod to size, create their owners packet with our thank you letter, several business cards, a rack card and our warranty card. We also include the Solarfix warranty card, 303 product literature, etc.
Coach owners are given a huge file box when they buy their buses and inside it is all manufacturers manuals, warranties and other literature pertaining to their bus. The vast majority of our customers are sticklers about info and keeping their files current so their owners packet from us goes directly into their file box. We get rave reviews over them.
I then weigh the box I am shipping and then make out the shipping label ( we ship Fed Ex ground ). If we have several orders to go out then we schedule a pickup. If it is just one then I take it to the airport's Fed Ex center while I am out running errands. When I create the shipment Fed Ex sends a tracking number to our customer and believe you/me I really appreciate this service. Saves me having to e-mail the customer directly and enter the tracking info myself which is typically a dozen or more numbers. I then give the order back to my wife and she closes out the order and files the paperwork. Once a week she reconciles all of our accounts ( checking, savings, CC's, etc. )
I am just curious as to how all of you handle a sale and who does the bookkeeping.
Chris