General QuickBooks Information

Will English was invited to the Cultivate conference again! This is a U.S. premier convention and marketplace where those who work in horticulture, those interested in a career in horticulture, looking to buy horticultural products or services for their business, and business owners looking to sell to horticulture companies connect in one place for education and networking.

With Will being an exhibitor, it allows us to represent the QuickBooks (QB) product and our support services to potential and existing QB customers. At our booth, we were excited to raffle off copies of the QuickBooks Point of Sale and QuickBooks Financial Pro desktop software. Many conference attendees spoke with Will about the products, our services, and they entered to win with great expectancy. We appreciate everyone who stopped by and look forward to assisting them!

From the Cultivate website “At Cultivate'15, you'll find educational sessions to give you the tools and strategies you need to tackle your challenges triumphantly. You'll find the latest innovations and technologies to keep you competitive and your skills razor sharp. You'll find your cohorts, colleagues, and business partners from across the industry and within the supply chain, ready to get to work, strategize resources, and create win-win situations so that the industry as a whole can come out ahead... At Cultivate, we offer more than 120 sessions full of innovative ideas and easy-to-implement solutions guaranteed to help you stay competitive. From classroom sessions to hands-on learning, idea exchanges to rapid-fire Q&A, we enable you to learn in the ways that suit you best.

For more information on the education program visit Cultivate: Knowledge or one of the segment-specific pages listed under the "I am a..." section on the right side of the page.” Read more http://cultivate15.org/

Contact Us if you are looking to implement a POS and Accounting software system or if you already have one in place but need assistance!

Due to a recent conversation with the business owner of a service-based company, I find it important to write about the dangers of purchasing a pirated copy of QuickBooks software. That means you are purchasing software from a secondary source that is not an authorized Intuit Reseller or from Intuit directly, and the software has been duplicated and distributed without authorization.

Some people make a conscious decision to purchase this type of software while others buy it unknowingly, believing that they’re purchasing a legitimate copy. Piracy or copyright infringement is illegal activity.

Some dangers of purchasing illegal copies of the Intuit QuickBooks software are:

• Intuit will discover this and disable your license. They are generous in notifying you and giving you a certain amount of days to purchase a legal copy before they disable your illegal copy.
• Pirated software may be loaded with malware (malicious software) or viruses.
• It may be defective so it won’t work properly.
• Pirated software may be used to collect personal information from your computer without your knowledge like credit card and bank account numbers, passwords, address books, etc.
• Counterfeit software will not get the legitimate software updates that is necessary to prevent cyber thieves.

When you purchase QuickBooks software from an Authorized Dealer or Channel, the software downloads come directly from the Intuit servers. At English Management Solutions, Inc., we maintain the status of an Intuit Premier Reseller. The Premier level is the top tier within the Intuit Reseller Program and is designed for members with consistent and robust sales who provide the highest level of customer service. Premier Resellers have expertise in technology and solutions integration for small-to-medium sized businesses. They are certified to resell, implement, and support QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, QuickBooks Point of Sale, and other Intuit and third-party products.

Before purchasing through any Intuit Authorized Reseller, you can contact Intuit directly to verify you are buying from a trusted source.

A legal way to get a copy of someone else’s QuickBooks software is to transfer ownership. If QuickBooks software is going to change hands from one business owner to another, Intuit will ask for the seller to complete a Transfer of Ownership form. They will review the details to determine whether a transfer of the license to the purchaser will be approved or denied. This the only way that an Intuit license can be transferred.

Our customer’s story:
The customer explained that his computer crashed so he had to purchase a new one. He sent the new computer to an IT company who was supposed to load his existing software onto the new computer and transfer the necessary data. Sometime during this process, he upgraded his QuickBooks Point of Sale (QBPOS) software. He received a license number and product code for it, and was able to login to his online QB account. Everything seemed fine. He used the QBPOS for quite a while when all of a sudden he started receiving a message each time he opened the software, which was daily, warning him that he had a certain number of days to register the software or upgrade it before it would be disabled. What? He thought that was already done and didn’t understand this so he called Intuit. Since so much time had passed from the software installation, he couldn’t remember where he purchased it and couldn’t find record of it. Each Intuit representative he spoke with confirmed that he did not purchase directly from them or an Authorized Reseller so they requested that he provide proof of purchase. Unfortunately, this customer couldn’t do so. You can imagine the shock he felt knowing that without proof of purchase or purchasing a new licnese, his QBPOS would be disabled and how that would drastically affect his day-to-day business transactions. He purchased the QBPOS software upgrade from us and is now using a legal copy of the software.

You can see from his story and the reasons listed above why it’s imperative that you purchase QuickBooks software form an Authorized Reseller or Intuit directly. This applies to any commercial software.
 

R4 is here, R4 is here!

QuickBooks Point of Sale (QBPOS) Release 4 (R4)  is available for web download and contains quite a few fixes, especially related to the <Ctrl-Tab> functionality to move between open windows. The complete list of fixes is included here.

The biggest change is to upgrade the database engine to a newer version. This is done primarily to ensure the database engine that QuickBooks Point of Sale Desktop runs on is a supported version because support for the old database engine was about to be discontinued. And just like when Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP on April 8, 2014 and therefore XP machines are no longer supported, the database engine will stop being supported, therefore Intuit needed to make this change. (You are not on  XP, right????).         

So what do I need to do?

The patch is currently available for web download and is scheduled to be pushed out via the normal update process to the community at large shortly.  You need to be aware that it will take some time to upgrade the database. As the knowledge base article states:

The company file will be upgraded to a more reliable and faster Database, this process can take some extra time when you open the file for the first time in after installing R4.  

So once the R4 patch is downloaded, it will upgrade the database. It does let you know the progress of the update but "a while" may be a bit vague. I tested the update on several files. The smallest file took a few minutes, but a 450 MB file took 25 minutes for start to finish. And this was on a machine with an I7 processor and 16 GIG of RAM. While the program warns not to stop the process during the update, what you need to understand is that while there is a backup done into the default location before this process and although during Intuit's extensive testing they didn't run across any problems, it doesn't mean that there will not be problems.  

Our recommendation is that you work with your trusted Certified Intuit ProAdvisor Consultant so they can control the process. If you don't have one, please give us a call. It's best if the ProAdvisors helps you download and install it from the web and most importantly advise you to make a backup immediately before downloading and installing R4. Stuff CAN and DOES happen, there could be a power outage, the hard drive crashes, WHO KNOWS!!! Better safe than sorry I say. The problem is that if something does happen and the process is stopped, the database is unrecoverable and the only option is to restore a backup and while there is a backup available, I always feel better when I have a backup on my trusty thumb drive. Upgrade the server first and then immediately upgrade the client machines, if any. In a multi-store installation, you must ensure all of the stores are updated, starting with the server workstations and then the clients.

Again, I believe that this upgrade will cause very few if any problems, however in the words of our beloved Ronald Reagan, Trust but Verify or in this case the more backups, the better.

Another recommendation is that, while the update is very good at telling you where you are at in the process, bring up Task Manager in windows and watch the CPU usage for the POS program. To start task manager, right click on the time/date in the system tray and choose Start Task Manager. As long as you see CPU usage by qbpos.exe and QBPOSShell.exe, leave well enough alone and wait for a long time before ending either program. Again, I will say it again, Intuit and a select group of users have tested the update with NO PROBLEMS, but unless there is a good backup to restore from if the unthinkable happens, I don't feel safe downloading and installing R4, and since it will be pushed very soon, I wanted you to be among the first to know so that you can communicate and prepare.

Author: English, William S., President of English Management Solutions, Inc. May 29, 2015

Q&A with Will English:
Today’s topic is: QBPOS Refunding a Non-Discounted Purchase Price

Our client who manages a nutritional supplement retail store just experienced an issue when a customer returned an item that was bought on sale, QuickBooks Point of Sale (QBPOS) refunded it at the regular price.  

Client: Our cashier just showed me something in POS that needs fixing. If she sells a product to which a discount has been applied, and then the customer returns the product, POS refunds the non-discounted purchase price.

The actual example was, a product that is currently on sale at 15% off. POS automatically applies the discount when the product is sold, but the next day, the customer brought the product back. POS refunded the non-discounted price to his card. Any fix for this or adjustment needed to our procedure?

Will’s answer: Yes, the customer needs to bring the receipt back and the receipt is scanned using the Accept a Return exchange under the “I want to” menu.  In this way, the actual receipt will be brought up with the discounted price listed to be refunded.  It is a little weird that being on sale it would not have scanned at the discount price as a return.

Our office will be closed on Memorial Day and we will return for normal business hours of 9am-5pmPST on Tuesday May 26.

Should you have any customer service requests: QuickBooks customers who require technical assistance or have an emergency during our office closure may do one of the following:

 CONTACT US: call local in San Diego 858-467-0400 or toll free 877-467-0451 and dial 5, or send an email to info@englishmgmt.com. Please state the reason for the call and your contact information. Our billable rate will apply.  

*For non-emergencies, leave a message at our office number or send an email and we'll reply the following business day.  

  CONTACT INTUIT SUPPORT: Fees may apply:

* Point of Sale: 1-800-4INTUIT (800-446-8848)
* Enterprise Solutions: 866-340-7237
* Merchant Services: 800-558-9558   

Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor’s have expertise in accounting and bookkeeping services for small-to-medium sized businesses. Another one of our team members, Sofia Avendano, is now a certified consultant who has been tested and certified by Intuit to help businesses learn and use QuickBooks Financial desktop software.

Sofia has been on staff at EM$ since 2009 as a Bookkeeper. She uses the QuickBooks (QB) software on a daily basis to perform her work tasks, and she manages a lot of client’s books. As we know, there will occasionally be issues with any system. Nothing is perfect. Plus we have to factor in human error. Sofia found herself working with Will English and the Intuit support department to assist clients with their QB issues, so it was a natural progression to gain her certification. We can now assist more clients in less time.

It is our mission to empower small business owners with the financial information they need to be successful. We use QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS) and QuickBooks Financial software to help accomplish our mission. We provide software support and training to companies nationwide by meeting with our client’s onsite or remotely. We use QuickBooks as a tool to teach them business processes, internal controls and proper cash flow management.

April 22nd is when Earth Day is usually celebrated. It is a good to time to think about the changes that we can all make to more environmentally friendly. Here are some of the things we have put into practice:

Email invoices instead of mailing them. The only time we don’t use email is if a client specifically requests the snail mail option, and we only have one client who has made that request.

Save emailed information in an electronic format instead of printing the pages.

If and when you mistakenly print one sided pages, or you don’t need every page that was printed, mark the printed side to indicate that it is trash. Then, reuse that paper when you need to print internal documents. Just print on the blank back side.

Recycle as many items as allowed. Here is a link to the Waste Management website page What Can I Recycle? We have more options than we’re probably aware of. Disclaimer: we are in no way affiliated with Waste Management and are not endorsing their company. This site has been provided as a resource only.

Turn lights off when leaving a room, unless that means putting your boss or co-worker in the dark! : ) In that case, you may want to leave the light on. If you have a window that brings in ample light, use desk lamps instead of overhead lighting and lamps.

The QuickBooks software is offered as a download which offers a quick and easy installation. There’s nothing to mail, so no packaging and waste.

We were excited to be invited to the IRC at ASD.  Sounds like a lot of initials doesn’t it.   First of all, IRC stands for the Independent Retailer Conference.  This show is the brain child of the folks at Retail Minded, an e-magazine devoted to the Independent retailers as well as a web site full of additional resources.  IRC puts a trade show within a trade show allowing retailers to have a one stop shop to review vendor offerings as well as providing an educational track.  ASD is a collection of trade shows featuring specific verticals as different as Beauty and Fragrance to Smoke Shops.

In most of our trade shows, we are buried on an isle in the middle of a row and try hard to gain the attention of attendee coming down the row.  At IRC, we were in the lobby next to registration and the food court.  In real estate, they talk about location being the most important thing and we had an ideal location.  All day long, we had people walk up to the booth and ask for information about our products.  Of course, representing Intuit was a BIG HELP in that every small business owner either uses or knows about QuickBooks.  In addition, each time we did an educational session, we would have a rush of attendees seeking more information about us and the product.

We were excited to introduce Intuit’s new POS line up.  In the desktop version, we now have V12, a much needed improvement over V10 and 11.  In addition, we were excited to be one of the first to show the new IPad based Point of Sale (POS), QuickBooks POS powered by Revel.  This solution integrates the elegance of an IPad with a cloud back-end and integration to QuickBooks Online to allow the retailer to manage their business from anywhere.

Now Intuit has a lineup that can handle the needs of almost any retailer.  We were excited to have attended IRC and ASD and look forward to next year. “Will, we are thrilled to have you on board again.” Heidi Ames. Manager, Partner Programs, Retail Minded and Independent Retailer Conference.

Author: English, William S., President of English Management Solutions, Inc. March 2015

We're excited to announce that Will English has been chosen to teach at the March 2015 Independent Retailer Conference taking place at ASD Market Week.

Will's speaking topics are QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS): Gain an Overview, Managing the Physical Inventory Process, 60 Minutes with a QuickBooks Expert: Get All of Your QuickBooks POS and Financial Questions Answered, and Retail Terminology 101.

A quote from the Conference Co-Founder:

"The Independent Retailer Conference is excited to have the EMS team join us in helping merchants gain trusted insight that they can apply to their businesses. In particular, with QuickBooks being such a popular retailer solution, we are looking forward to sharing this unique learning experience to the attendees of ASD Market Week,” shares Nicole Leinbach Reyhle, Independent Retailer Conference Co-Founder.

The Independent Retailer Conference is dedicated entirely to the unique lifestyle and responsibilities of indie store owners with a focus on delivering in-store and e-commerce operational insight and expertise that can help independent merchants further succeed in their retail goals.The Independent Retailer Conference is the nation’s only retail conference dedicated entirely to the unique lifestyle and responsibilities of independent store owners...Read More

Attendees of ASD Market Week can expect an interactive experience that leaves them better educated and more inspired – with takeaway tools to bring back to their stores. ASD MARKETWeek brings the world’s widest variety of merchandise together in one efficient consumer-goods trade show that’s as easy to shop as it is to love. ASD Market Week brings together 40,000+ attendees and 2,800 sellers in the wholesale merchandise industry...Read More

We hope you are enjoying the new year so far! We want to remind you about our QuickBooks (QB) Webinars and training opportunities. See the calendar and details here.

Whether you're a seasond QB user or brand new to the software, we provide the level of training that you need. Our webinars are topical but we also offer personalized, one-on-one training for you and your staff. We provide a variety of QuickBooks support options because you want and expect to get the most out of your QuickBooks Point of Sale (QBPOS) and QuickBooks Financial (QBF) system.