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A well-designed invoice can reinforce a company’s brand, make charges easier to understand, and help customers know when and how to pay. Understanding the tools available in QuickBooks Desktop is essential for customizing invoices to meet your business’s needs and preferences. If you want your invoices to stand out, here are some tips that will help you do that. Navigation: Under the customers section, you will see a create invoices tab. Once you are on a customer invoice, you can go into formatting and customize the data layout of the invoice. Consistency: Maintaining a consistent format for your invoices will allow you to build a professional image with your customers. This not only helps your business but also helps your customers identify important information on their invoices. Such as payment terms, due dates, item descriptions, and amounts owed. The layout designer feature will allow you to set margins, borders, and placement of information to fit your design needs. Logo: Your business logo is an essential part of an invoice that you should have if you want to build brand recognition. It may not be a requirement, but it will help customers identify your business and distinguish your documents from others. When adding a logo, make sure it is high-quality, sized appropriately, and does not interfere with the invoice details. QuickBooks Desktop allows you to insert your company logo using the layout designer feature. Having your company logo saved as a PNG file is a good option if you want a transparent background. JPG/JPEG files can work for logos with a solid background. Review: The print preview feature lets you see how your template will be displayed to customers. It is important to verify that your layout does not cut off any important information. Templates: You can have multiple templates saved for different types of invoices using the lists tab. If your business offers different types of services, you may also benefit from creating separate templates for different invoicing needs. If you need help navigating these features, contact our office for QBD help! We can help you customize your invoices to fit your business needs and create a professional look that reflects your brand.

Life is moving along so quickly, the world is changing, technology is advancing, but Accountable Bookkeeping offers the same hometown service as we have since 2007. Is QuickBooks Desktop going away? The short answer: no, it is not. Is it getting more expensive? Yes, unfortunately it is. Pro & Premier versions can keep renewing to current subscriptions However, Enterprise version is the only version that new businesses can obtain. We remain dedicated to assisting clients with the Desktop version of QuickBooks and providing that hometown service by customizing your bookkeeping needs either onsite with limited internet or remotely. Our Payroll services offer a unique hometown service through live customer support help right in our office. We do not outsource our payroll. If you have QuickBooks Online and don’t like all the automation of the payroll service that is required by Intuit, give us a call and we can help you work around that and keep your payroll local and in our office. If you feel a need to advance in technology, we offer QuickBooks Online bookkeeping. We can help you convert your Desktop file to the Online version giving you our quality hometown service and support. Whether you are looking for Desktop, Online, Payroll, Excel spreadsheets, we are just a phone call away for questions, support, and HOMETOWN service!

Intuit will never proactively or unprompted call you to fix technical issues, report data corruption, or process payments. If you receive an unsolicited call claiming to be from Intuit, QuickBooks, or Merchant Services, it is a scam. Hang up immediately, as these fraudsters aim to steal data or gain remote access to your computer. How the Scam Works • Fake Tech Issues: Scammers claim your QuickBooks software is corrupted, out of storage, or blocked from receiving necessary server updates. • High-Pressure Tactics: They threaten immediate service interruption or loss of data to panic you into acting quickly. • Remote Access: They offer to "fix" the issue by having you download software or grant remote access to your computer. How to Protect Yourself Never grant access : Do not allow anyone to remotely control your computer unless you placed the call and verified their identity. Do not click links : Avoid clicking links or downloading attachments from unsolicited emails or pop-up messages. Verify : If you are unsure if a message is legitimate, do not call the number they provide. Instead, look up the official Intuit Support page and contact them directly. Report Fraud : Forward suspicious emails and report fake calls directly to the Intuit Online Security Center or email them to security@intuit.com.

We still have time before the Quarter Finals in the World Cup Tournament, but here are the Quarter Finalists of time saving processes for QuickBooks Online. Using “Receipts” app to upload your bills into QBO. This not only speeds up the process of entering bills into QBO, it also attaches a PDF of the bill in QBO for easy reference, creates greater accuracy by eliminating mistyping information, and increases consistency with coding to the correct GL account. Linking Bank and Credit Card accounts to QBO to utilize the “Bank Transactions” app. This saves time by matching items clearing the bank or credit card to your QBO account and offering suggestions on posting items clearing the bank or credit card which have not been entered in QBO yet. At the end of the month, the bank reconciliation is already done and just needs to be approved. Setting up vendors to be paid by ACH through QBO. Eliminate costs of stamp, paper, printer ink and time in paying bills. Recurring entries. Gain efficiency by setting up recurring entries for bills, invoices, and general journal entries that occur repeatedly. With any automation, human verification is essential. If you have any questions about any of these cost and time saving processes, please contact us for more information.

The weather is getting warmer and with that comes summer and seasonal hiring. As an employer you need to be prepared. You need the same information for a seasonal/summer employee that you do for a full-time employee. The forms and documentation you will need from your employees are as follows: W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Certificate) I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) including acceptable documents (listed on form) to establish both identity and employee authorization Certificate of Residency Direct Deposit Authorization (if applicable) 4029 (Exemption from Social Security and Medicare Taxes) (if applicable) *Remember if you are hiring a high schooler age 14-17 you will also need a copy of their working papers. You also need to be familiar with the Child Labor Laws to determine permittable working hours and duties for individuals 17 years old and younger. These can be found on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s website here. Also, keep in mind the state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. If you have more questions on summer and seasonal hiring, please contact our payroll department.

Chances are you’re already knee deep in work as the weather starts to warm up and the requests come rolling in. Also, chances are your other tasks are starting to get pushed to the back burner. That’s understandable, so here’s a list of smaller projects you can work on now that will help you get ready for and make the most of your busiest time of year and beyond! • Put together an email list: Collect emails from current or past customers/clients you want to reach with email marketing. Be sure to keep the list as organized as possible using tags, segments, and correct info. • Send out a monthly newsletter: With your email list, start sending out a regular monthly newsletter letting your audience know what’s goings on in your business while remaining personal and interesting. • Start promoting your services for the slower months: Take the newsletter a step further and send promotional emails about summer or fall offers, services, deals etc. specific to your business. • Start or update your social media page: If you have an old social media page floating around that needs to be brought back to life or if you’ve been wanting to start one, now is the perfect time! Pretty soon you’ll have loads of fresh pictures and content to share. • Get on top of online orders: Whether it’s office supplies, merchandise, or job supplies you know it’s better to get a head start now so you have everything you need when you’re too busy to think about it. We are here to help! If these tasks sound like something you want to do, but can’t make the time for, call us and we can get you set up with our Marketing & Office Assistant who can manage and carry out these tasks while you focus on your work!

The bad news: scam emails are becoming more common. The good news: you can be more aware with a few helpful tips! When receiving messages that may look official, but you're unsure about, check to see if they include the following red flags that are often used: • urgent payment demands • unexpected invoices • requests to “confirm” account information • links that don’t match the sender’s name • misspellings • unfamiliar email addresses • attachments you weren’t expecting To verify the sender, check the full email address (not just the display name) and contact the company directly using a phone number or website you already trust—not the information in the email.  When in doubt, avoid clicking links or downloading anything, and take a moment to verify before responding to help protect your financial and personal information.

Using QuickBooks Online can simplify your business finances—but only if you use it correctly. Let’s go over 5 common mistakes small business owners make (and how to avoid them). 1. Not Categorizing Transactions Regularly If you let transactions pile up, things get messy fast. Fix: Set aside 10–15 minutes each week to review and categorize. 2. Mixing Personal and Business Expenses This is one of the biggest headaches during tax time! Fix: Use a separate business bank account and make sure only business expenses go through it. 3. Ignoring Bank Reconciliation Reconciliation ensures your records match your bank. Fix: Reconcile monthly. It helps catch: • Missing transactions • Duplicate entries • Errors 4. Not Using Automation Features QuickBooks Online is powerful, but only if you use its tools. Fix: Take advantage of: • Bank rules • Recurring invoices • Auto-categorization 5. Skipping Reports Many business owners never look at their reports and miss key insights. Fix: Check these monthly: • Profit & Loss • Cash Flow • Expenses by category Avoiding these mistakes will save you time, stress, and possibly money. A little consistency goes a long way! Contact our office for QBO help.

One of the advantages of operating your own business is hiring family members, however, employment tax requirements for family employees vary from those that apply to other employees. Take a look at the chart to decipher who's exampt from what! Also, if your business is located in Lancaster County, PA, ANY employee under the age of 16 is EXEMPT from local withholding taxes. If you have a family member employed by you and would like to know more about these exemptions, please contact us!