Question About Bookkeeping !!

[Mojo]

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

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

I'm a former accountant so obviously I do my own bookkeeping.  I open a file for each order, alterations I kind of lump together under the heading of "time and materials".  With an open file, each invoice is dropped into the file and entered into a spreadsheet.  At the end of the month, as soon as I clear my bank statement, I know what use tax is due to the state revenue guys.  At the end of the year, I pretty much have everything ready to go.  Just have to go through and run my yearly figures from the monthly spreadsheets and I'm good to go.

For me the key was taking the time to set up the spreadsheets.  I knew what I needed from my last job (accountant for a construction related company) as that is where I learned how to cost out jobs.  I pretty much mirrored the spreadsheets I set up for them and it makes it very easy.  If I get pressed for time and don't get files opened right away, I get into trouble so I try to be very strict with myself about opening up files for each new job.  Doing things in this fashion pretty much makes tax time a piece of cake.  Last year the only thing I had to run down was my mileage and that was all tracked in my daily planner, just had to total it up.

Virginia

[byhammerandhand]

Summary:  I do the day-to-day stuff.  I have always treated bookkeeping like learning a foreign language at school -- never get behind.    I never go to bed without taking care of all the day's data entry.  My wife does the monthly, quarterly and annual work.

In a prior life, I was a database administrator and the company I worked for sent me to a week long accounting class so I could understand what some of the software needed to be doing and I also took a couple of MBA-level classes in accounting and finance.   So I know the basics.

I do mostly repair work.  At the beginning of 2014, I "semi-retired."    I kept one national account.  They send me work as it comes in, I call the end-customer, schedule a service call, file a report and bill and they EFT payments every Friday.

Before that, probably 80%+ of my business was commercial accounts with national service companies, local independent furniture stores and delivery services.  The rest was some B2B accounts (hotel-casino, restaurants, law offices, disaster recovery companies, insurance adjusters, carpet cleaning companies that damaged something, etc.) and individual home-owners who mainly found me via Angie's List, my one-page web site, or because I'd done work for them for one of the third parties above.

I do the billing daily via Quickbooks.   Consumers normally paid upon completion of service and commercial accounts got invoiced and paid monthly or weekly.    I entered the invoices or sales orders into Quickbooks.   Also if there were any expenses, those got entered.   Usually, for the type of work I did, there was no separate charge for materials and supplies, unless I had to order something like a recliner mechanism.

A typical month, when I was full time, would have 80-120 sales invoices or sales receipts.

Labor and materials is taxable in my home state and has to be reported in the county where the service was performed.  Each county has its own tax rate.  I do work in 4 counties regularly, and about 4 others occasionally.  I do work in two neighboring states, but they have no tax on labor, thankfully.  Some clients are also tax exempt for various reasons (they bill out services to the end user, tax exempt organization, etc.)

At the end of every month,  I have to report all taxable and non-taxable sales by county.  QB is very good at sorting this all out.  I file this online and they do an EFT of payment out.

My wife is a CPA and has done income tax filings, public accounting at a regional firm specializing in small businesses and professionals, and more recently corporate comptroller's office.  She does the monthly closing -- reconciling the bank statements, making sure everything balances, auto-payments are entered,  and asking me, "What was that $15.95 you spent at Lowe's on the 19th?"   She also does the quarterly income tax estimates for city, state and federal, and the 1040s at the end of the year.

[MinUph]

I've always done my own bookkeeping. But with the new business being incorporated and 4-5 employees I will have an accountant for some time until I know what needs to be done and when. And may keep them on even after if its worth while.
I've also used QB since it came out years ago and will continue with it. Estimates, Invoicing, Sales tax etc. I am not sure what I will be doing for payroll I may try what the accountant offers. I looked into QB online and decided to stay with the desktop versions. I wouldn't like not having a backup at my disposal. The big downside to the online version.

[bobbin]

I have a fabulous book keeper.  Best money I spend, frankly! he's familiar with the computer stuff and I'm good with the day to day stuff.  I know how to keep good records, I'm "in touch" with the checking account and expenditures.  We meet every 2-3 mos., sit down together and look critically at the next "quarterly" so I'm not caught unawares in the "off season".  We have a plan for the year. 

I have friends who dread quarterlies.  I don't.  Sure, there are some "lean" months for me, but my book keeper and my own good sense have helped make the "lean months" considerably less painful!

[Mike]

ive got to improve my scheduling.  as it is a customer call to get a price. so I visit the boat to measure show samples and give a price on the spot. ( some places ive heard go back to the shop and add it all up and call back with a price) seems to ne then they have to return again or get the customer to take the time to visit the shop I take notes in my notebook with the customers name phone ect. . I then write a contract and take a deposite cash check or charge. the contract go into the case with all the other jobs  in order. that were I need to improve in new England al my work came to me so I could see them in opder inmy lot or at the dock here ther all just patterns and a paper in my case. I need a system to jave them on a board to see the order of what needs to be done and also ordered for ,

[Darren Henry]

How about putting them on a calender---either one of those large desk top "day planners" or your i-phone. I used to use a dry erase board with monday,tuesday,etc... to organize my week.

[Mike]

I tried puttinm on my phone and if i didnt open the app it wasnt in my face. Or johns.
Im trying to set my new shop up well making the best used of a small space.
Ill have to look at office depot.

[Mojo]

Mike:

I got my clipboard setup idea from Russ ( stitcherguy ). It has really helped me tremendously
in staying on schedule. I hang the clipboards up on the wall according to order. I also color coordinate my order sheets. They are all fluorescent green. My inspection sheets are electric blue, my sign up sheets for rally inspections are vivid yellow.

I can see a paper anywhere in my shop and know right away what it is. Makes looking up orders easy. People like you and I Mike have to do these things because of our short term memory and cognitive losses from our strokes. I have to stay very regimented in order to stay on track.

On my order sheets is a date for when the order was taken and then a promise date. Those dictate the order of my clipboards. I have a notebook that I take notes in when talking on the phone and then I transfer that info to the order sheet.

This system works great for me but may not be good for others. For someone like Mike or myself we struggle with memory issues. Perfect example is last week when I got a call from a customer " just wanted to check on my order " ? My heart nearly stopped. " What order " ? I took the order over the phone and did not make out the order sheet right away and forgot about it. I didn't even remember our conversation. heck I talk to so many people throughout the week I cannot keep the conversations straight. That cost me $ 50 as I paid for shipping and gave him a discount as well to make up for my dumb mistake.

No system is worth a hoot unless you stick to it and in this case I didn't. :( Mike, if you want me to mail down one of my order sheets I will. You would have to change some of the things on it so it pertains to your type of work. But it may give you some ideas. I will make sure I put it in an envelope and use 3 lbs of duct tape to seal it................lol....:)

Chris

[Mike]

no need to mail can you email a pdf? it may give me a idea.   funny on the short term memory also if I don't write womthing down asap after a call lets say I can forget it but yesterday I had a guy dome in the shop asking it I do widow enclosures. whowd me acard with the boas photo I remember write away I did the aft enclosure on it nine years ago

[Rich]

Chris,
Just curious. I see you said you take the order and schedule it before your wife makes up an invoice. Does this mean you take no up-front payments on any of your work?
Thanks,
Rich

[Mojo]

Rich:

I never take a deposit. Well, I shouldn't say never. I have a couple times when I had a bad gut feeling about someone.

I have only been burned once when a customer cancelled an order on me at the time of delivery. Otherwise my customers ALWAYS pay right away upon being invoiced. Typically within 24 hours. My business is a bit different from the rest of you. I am almost all internet based, all orders are done through e-mail and all invoicing is done through Paypal.

My customer base also is made up mainly of professionals - airline pilots, Doctors, lawyers, engineers, business owners, etc. I am blessed because they all pay their bills on time. I am also extremely lucky that I have the niche market I have where our products that we make are being applied to very expensive buses. You have to have a pretty good income in order to afford these.
The motorcoach enthusiast is a different breed. They are extremely picky when it comes to what they will buy and they will gladly pay a premium if it is the highest quality product on the market. Their buses are their babies and many of them live in them as they tour the country.

I have processed some very large orders but have never given it a second thought about not getting paid. My wife loves the fact we do not take deposits because it means alot less work for her.

I should say Rich that if I was doing work for people off the street such as furniture, marine work, etc. then heck yes I would require a deposit. But in my tiny little world of mega dollar buses it really is not needed.

Chris

[Darren Henry]

funny on the short term memory also if I don't write womthing down asap after a call lets say I can forget it

Even before his stroke Dad was a "note taker", to the point that he cut down his cigarette packages to leave notes around or to attach to recipes he had printed off on line etc...[ The front and back are the size of recipe cards -- 3X5 ]. He would just put them where he would see them. For example; He'd set one by the phone  " Darren's B-day Thursday the 28 th" a couple of days ahead.

[Mike]

chris funny it seems to me your payment method just sayin' it seems to me if I was to order a awnong for my rv just as if I ordered a sun setter awning for my house. id expect to have to pay in full.  just as when I order online parts for my boat ect say a seat or piece of electromics and then shiiping sometimes orrurs 7 to 10 days before its shipped.

[bobbin]

I tried using the Google calendar.  It worked fine, but wasn't a lot easier than  my "turn the page"  weekly calendar, frankly.  I don't have a "smart phone" and the "turn the page weekly calendar" works just fine.  Getting "evolved" seems to require more dependency... I don't miss app'ts. and my "on time" record exceeds many who rely on "smart" technology.  Don't get me wrong, I think technology is great, but only if it's in sych. with the person using it!  I am not that evolved yet.