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940 Quickbooks Annual Payment

Post author By RK
Post date January 29, 2014

I have run across this problem this year and last, so I though a post would be nice, since I could not find help anywhere in QuickBooks support. Also I was on hold with QuickBooks for 46 minutes to get an answer.

The problem was that the Federal Unemployment is withheld for each quarter, but the payment is only due once per year. I wanted to combine those payments into one, but there was another problem. My state has borrowed money from the federal government in order to pay their unemployment. So when I printed out my annual 940 form there was an adjustment for “credit reduction”.

That sounded like a good thing to me, a Credit Reduction. But in fact it is an additional charge.

So I go into QuickBooks to print the check for the year, except it only lets me print the four checks one at a time, and the total amount does not reflect the “credit reduction”.

So after waiting 46 minutes on hold, I got the answer. First I need to make the adjustment for my state being fiscally irresponsible, and borrowing money it hasn’t repaid. (By the way, I asked the IRS if I would get this money back, once the state repaid the loan. They said no.) Big surprise.

So to make the adjustment do these steps.

Click on employees, payroll taxes and liabilities, adjust payroll liabilities
Put in the date for 12/31/__
This will be a company adjustment and the item name will be “federal unemployment”
Enter the amount for the credit reduction
In the memo field, enter “credit reduction”
Click “Ok”

That takes care of step number one. Now we need to combine the payments into one check. This is how you do that:

Now click on “related payment activities” in the employee payroll center.
Then click on “create custom liability payments”
Make sure the dates are from January 1st to December 31st of the reporting year
Then Click “Ok”
Put a check mark on “federal unemployment”
Now you should be able to print and create one check for the proper amount.

Thanks QuickBooks and the IRS for this information. It only took 2 hours to get.

I hope this helps at least one person. Good Luck!!

940 Quickbooks

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Web Tools Weekly Tips

Google Places

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date January 27, 2014

Are you using Google Places or Google +? You should be. I assume you would like your business found. I bet you would like them to visit your website. I think you might even like them to contact you. Maybe, buy your product or service? Well, it all starts from finding you. More people search online than ever before. It’s just so easy. “OK, Google” Find me “……”. “Siri” what’s the best place to shop for “….”. You don’t even need to be at a desktop computer anymore, if you have a smartphone, it’s on you at all times.

Between your smart phone, tablet, desktop or laptop, it’s rare that you don’t have a readily available answer to the question or be able to search for the product you need. But if you are the one selling it, could you find your product (without typing in the exact product or business name)? If you answered no, then how is anyone else going to find you. One of the easiest ways to get you started is something anybody can do themselves. Add your business to Google Places. Here is the current way to do this. It’s changing all the time so the details could be slightly different, but you should still be able to accomplish this fairly easily. If not, don’t worry we can help.

This consists of 3 steps:

Submit your information, from basic contact info to photos and video.
Verify the listing by phone or postcard.
Wait for the listing to appear on Google. Verification will take up to two weeks

To Get Started: Go to http://www.google.com/business/placesforbusiness If you have an account “Sign In” (If you don’t have an account click “get started for free” and set up an account.)

On Google Places homepage, click Add new busines
On the “Find your business” tab, search for your business by phone number to see if Google already has information about your business. Select the country of your business location from the drop-down.
Enter the phone number of your business listing.
Click Find business information.
Review the search results, if any, to see if one of them describes your business.
If none of the results are related to your business, you will be prompted to add business information on the Edit Details page.
If none of the results is your business, click Add a new listing. You’ll be prompted to add more information on the next page.
Fill out the basic information about your business. This includes:
Company/Organization: This is the official/registered name of your business. Some businesses may be located within a mall or a container store, which is a store that contains another business. If your business is within a container store or mall, and you’d like to include this information in the local listing, specify the container store in parentheses in the business name field. For example, Starbucks (inside Safeway).
Address (required): The address should look exactly the way you’d write it on a standard mailing envelope. If you are a service-area business, you’ll be able to hide your address in a few steps. We recommend listing suite numbers in Address Line 2.
Phone Number (required): Be sure to include the area code with your phone number.
Website: Your website URL can be a maximum of 255 characters.
Click Next.You’ll now have the opportunity to provide the following information about your business:
Categories: Enter several categories to describe your business, to make it easier for others to find when they search Google. Google will automatically suggest categories as you type. Make sure you choose one Google-suggested category before adding customizable categories. You can enter up to 5 categories for your business.
Hours of operation: Select your hours of operation using the dropdown menus. If would prefer not to specify your hours of operation, keep the radio button selected next to “I prefer not to specify operating hours.”
Payment options: Select the checkboxes next to the payment methods that your business accepts.
Photos: Use the photo uploader to add a photo from your computer, or specify a URL to add a photo from the web. You can add up to 10 photos to the listing. Photos will appear in order of greatest size and quality. To learn more about adding photos, check out the User Guide.
Video: To add a video, upload it to YouTube and copy and paste the URL to the listing. You can add up to 5 videos to the listing. For help with uploading your video to YouTube, read the article on how to upload a video in the YouTube Help Center.
Additional details: Use this section to add custom information fields to the listing. For example, parking availability, or whether your business allows pets.
You can preview the listing as it will appear in Maps on the right side of your screen. New information will appear in the preview as you enter it. When you’re satisfied with the listing, click Submit at the bottom of the page.
Choose how you would like to verify your listing and click Finish.

Once you’ve submitted your business information, you’ll be asked to verify it before it goes live. There is even an Android App that helps you keep your account up to date. CHECK IT OUT

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Uncategorized

What Are Your New Year’s Resolutions as a Business Owner?

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date January 8, 2014

New Year’s Resolutions as a Business Owner

Here are a few of the top resolution suggestions for small business owners. (mashable and fox business news.)

Go Mobile. If you haven’t yet you must. By 2015, more U.S. Internet users will access the web through mobile devices than through PCs.
Delegate. Give up control of administrative tasks to others and you’ll free up time for what will keep you in business. Bringing in revenue.
REFRESH your website. Any referrals and links that bring people to your website should bring them to current and engaging content.
Find one new way to get in touch with customers.( Blogging, Facebook, Coupons). Try to be where your customers are.
Make planning a weekly habit and set a budget for your plan.
Grow and evolve your products and services.
Get your books ready for tax time early.
Don’t procrastinate.
Go Local. Make sure your business has updated local listings on key search engines like Google Places, Bing maps, and Yahoo maps.
Keep yourself motivated and inspired and reward yourself for new milestones reached.

This may seem like a lot but set small goals and you will eventually get it done.

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Customers

What Kind Of Experience Are You Giving Your User?

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date January 8, 2014

User experience: “ thoughts and responses with respect to a product, system or service.”

Traffic is important to a website but once people get to your website the user experience will determine whether they stay or not and if they do stay, whether they will come back. A major part of the user experience is the usability of a website. Bad usability will leave the customer, confused, overwhelmed and frustrated, just like in the picture in this article.

What Kind Of Experience Are You Giving Your User?

When you are designing or updating your website make sure you can answer these questions with “yes”.

Is the design easy on the eyes, clean and memorable?

Can people find what they want quickly?

Is the form easy to understand and asking for only the necessary information?

Is your brand consistent on all devices. Ex. desktop, tablet, mobile.

Is the customer service exceptional? Are knowledgeable people available to respond to inquiries in a polite and timely manner?

Negative experiences will make people forget. Positive experiences will make people remember, bring them back and encourage them to share with others. This will bring referrals and help your business to grow.

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Weekly Tips

Using Pinterest for Content Marketing

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date January 2, 2014

Pinterest for Content Marketing

It seems Pinterest isn’t just for recipes, crafts, decorating and DIY. If you aren’t using Pinterest to promote your marketing content, you need to start thinking about it. Why?

Pinterest:

In 2 yrs surpassed 10 million users –
Capable of driving more referral traffic than twitter
Pinterest users are twice as likely to interact with brands than people on Facebook

Tips for Pinterest

Write unique quality content- Seems article pins are the new big thing
Very important : Add visually appealing images. It’s the first thing people will notice even if you are pinning an article. Make the image descriptive and relevant to the content
Pins do show up in Google searches

Just like other forms of social media Pinterest may not be for all businesses. Do a little research and see if Pinterest can work for you

(For a little more information check out this blog article. http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/pinterest-announces-rich-pins-for-articles-nj

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Weekly Tips

Looking for Ways to be More Productive?

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date December 18, 2013

Be More Productive

I came across a great Infographic by Anna Vital founder of Adioma with tips on how to get more out of your day and be more productive. Some of these tips may apply to work, some to home and some to both. I hope some of these will help you be more productive and get more accomplished in your day.

Do the easiest things first
Tune out the news
Visualize your end product
Spend less time on trivial things like what to wear
Learn what to ignore
Know the 80/20 rule. What 20% of work produces 80% of result?
When energy is low, take a nap
Prioritize one item per day
Visualize the end product
Discard what you stop using
Manage anxiety by running, dancing, working out
No meetings unless they are decisive

Last and most importantly,

Treat time as your money!

Start with one or two of these tips and see if they help you get more productivity out of your day.

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Web Tools

Chrome Remote Desktop

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date December 10, 2013

Chrome Remote Desktop

Chrome (if you don’t have it download it) – CLICK HERE
Open Chrome
Sign into Google (if you don’t have an account you can create one HERE
Install Chrome Remote desktop HERE
You will see a button on the top right that says “+ FREE”, Click That.
You will need to approve a access and privacy issues. If you want to use this you will need to agree

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Customers

How Do You Retain Customers?

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date December 9, 2013

Here are some tips on how to retain customers. People say these work for them.

If you sell a product follow up in two weeks and ask how the product is working for them
Build a relationship and exceed the customer’s expectations
Under promise but over deliver
If a customer wants or needs something or has a question you can’t answer, find a way to get what they need. They will appreciate you went the extra mile
Stay in touch at least quarterly
Treat customers fairly and always be honest and upfront
Give them a reason to come back with discounts, referral rewards and great website content
All of the things listed above fall under the most important category “Customer Service “which can make or break a business.

I bet 90 % of us have stopped doing business with a company because of poor customer service.

Remember this quote that is simple and to the point. “Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job.”

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Customers

What Do Customers Want from a Business?

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date November 20, 2013

What Do Customers Want from a Business?

1. Great products and services.

2. Competitive Prices.

Can you guess the third? Come on. Think. It shouldn’t be hard.

3. Superior customer service.

Bad customer service can really hurt a business. Providing superior customer service isn’t only the right thing to do, it’s a must. Here’s why:

Twice as many people share bad customer service experiences over good experiences
86% of consumers stop doing business with a company that provided a bad customer service experience
73% of consumers said they gave up on a brand because of rude and incompetent customer service personnel but
40% said they would spend more money with a company with superior customer service
8 out of 10 consumers said they would pay a little more for superior customer service

Now here’s a startling fact : The latest Annual Mystery Shopping Study showed that only 10 out of 100 top online merchants made the cut for “stellar” customer service. Wow!

Looks like consumers have raised the bar for what they consider superior customer service. Invest more in this aspect of “marketing” and deliver superior customer service. Remember, It’s not just the right thing to do it’s something you must do.

Source helpscout.net infographic 3-2013

More to consider…

What else do customers want from a business?

How can you help them get it?

How can you provide better customer service even if you have a 5 star rating?

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SEO

Why Do You Need Interactive Content?

Post author By David Kauffman
Post date November 11, 2013

Why Do You Need Interactive Content?

Content marketing was king and that use to be enough. However, people are moving away from reading text and are looking for things that will engage them. More and more marketing now includes “interactive content” which can help get more leads.

“Interactive content is content that starts dialogue with your audience and leads to an exchange of information.” It allows participation.

On average, when companies produce and distribute interactive content, they generate:

Click rates of 50%
Lead form completion rates of 80%
Social sharing rates of 20%

Compare that with average email click rates of 5%

Here are tips to incorporate interactive content.

Video that answers some of your customer’s questions.

Interactive product demos

Rotating or sliding content

Polls, surveys

Trivia quizzes

Contests, like photo contests

Think about what interactive content you can incorporate into your marketing that will have an impact, keep your audience engaged and help them remember you and your business.

Content needs to stand out. When you stand out the possibilities are endless.

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