Archive for March, 2009

Investing in a recession

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Many people are asking why should they keep investing if we’re in a recession.

First off, a recession is defined by economic data, not market data.  Markets move much faster than the economy and see early indications that things are improving - as reflected in earnings estimates, valuations and other variables that bring investors back to investing, primarily institutions first.  Retail investors slowly gain confidence as the markets go up, they start investing little by little, causing markets to go up further, which, over time encourages consumers to start spending and employers to start hiring, all of which pumps life back into the economy.  If you look at past recessions, you’ll actually see the stock market posting a gain.  Durin the recession of 1981-82 the S & P posted a 14% return.  Typically stocks bottom before a recession is over, ususally around the halfway point, and in the past have delivered an average of 25% gains.  Theirs no better time to be buying quality investments.  (Of course, all performance referenced is historical and is not guarantee of future results.)

I would suggest calling a wealth advisor  for additional information.

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QuickBooks Training for Businesses

Monday, March 9th, 2009

Dempsey Vantrease & Follis PLLC, a certified public accounting and consulting group in Murfreesboro and Lebanon TN supports clients using QuickBooks.

We encourage small business clients to use QuickBooks when they don’t currently have a reliable method for coordinating their accounting data. As a firm, or individually, we do not receive anything from QuickBooks, it has just proven to be a highly user friendly software. There are many software companies that make accounting packages but QuickBooks has proven to be user friendly and effective at getting clients accounting more organized.

Dempsey Vantrease & Follis has several QuickBooks ProAdvisors that can assist clients with set up and training. This service includes personal one-on-one training and allows businesses to customize QuickBooks for their unique needs and get the most out of the software. ProAdvisors are a great resource when businesses run into trouble.

Below are some details of the new features of QuickBooks. Some of these items may mean nothing to you; however, some might spark something that you can use in your office. If you have any questions or need additional information feel free to contact one of our ProAdvisors.

QuickBooks 2009 New Features

Company Snapshot
This screen offers real-time view of important information such as bank balances, customer balances, and vendor balances. This screen can be customized to show specific accounts. Not everyone is interested in this feature but some owners really like this quick picture.

Improved Bank Reconciliation
You can finally sort the bank reconciliation window by date, check number, or amount to make searching for cleared transactions easier. This change has been a long time coming. You simply click on the column header for the column you wish to use as the sort criteria.

Quick filter range search
Allows you to filter a report for a range of accounts, names, etc rather than clicking every item you wish to see. For instance, you can indicate the first account and the last account as the range rather than choosing every account you want with a check mark.

Client Data Review
This tool gives the accountant a checklist view while correcting the client data. The checklist is very comprehensive and does provide some helpful tools. This is the one of the biggest programming changes between 2008 and 2009 QuickBooks versions.

Intuit Statement Writer
This is the third attempt by QuickBooks to be flexible with their reporting tool. They are trying to allow accountants to prepare GAAP compliant financial reports without using separate software. This is based in excel and is real time so might prove to be useful if modified financials are needed.

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Posted in Accounting | No Comments »