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Number Crunchin' News
April 2004
SECRETARY'S MINUTES
The regular monthly
meeting of the Santa Barbara Bookkeeper's Association was held on
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 at Mulligan's Cafe. President Jennifer Loren
opened the meeting. Members were asked to call to make reservations for
lunch. There were two new members and one guest at this meeting.
Dues are due for the
half-year.
Paula Mauro
announced a volunteer opportunity. Gail Gillies announced that the SB
Chapter of the
IMA
(Institute
of Management Accountants) invites anyone interested to attend their
dinner meeting on April 14. Contact Gail at
964-4947
for more information.
A Summer Picnic is
planned. Volunteers are needed to organize this event. Anyone
interested please see Pam Allman or Vicki St. Martin.
The cost for lunch
now is $11. Paula Herschede won the free lunch (again!) for April.
Our Speaker is
Roberta Nielson, talking on the topic of "e-mail" and Outlook Express.
There was a lively question and answer session.
Paula
Mauro, Secretary SBBA
APRIL MEETING, TUESDAY 4/20/03 WILL
BE A SOCIAL MEETING
** WE ARE
LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR THIS YEARS SUMMER PICNIC – PLEASE CONTACT
JENNIFER LOREN (jenn.loren@cox.net)
IF YOU CAN HELP IN ANY WAY! **
Please don’t forget to RSVP if you’re coming to the April meeting
E-mail Jennifer
Loren
jen.loren@cox.net - be
sure to put RSVP in the subject line of your e-mail. She must receive
your response no later than the Friday before the meeting, March
16th. Thank you.
QuickBooks Users Group Meeting
Monday, May 3rd,
2004
Topic: Job
Costing
Guest Speaker: Monica Dittrich
Santa Barbara City College
West Campus –
Business & Communications Bldg.
Room BC214 –
Conference Room
721 Cliff Drive,
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
6:00
- 8:00 p.m. - $15.00 (Dinner Included)
Send Check payable
to QB Users Group
P.O. Box 3302, Santa
Barbara, CA 93130 to reserve seat
The Group is for
ALL levels of QB users open forum for users to share experience,
knowledge & support.
PLEASE COME JOIN
US!
For further
information, please email:
Bonna Hamilton
bonna@silcom.com
Jasmine Gollner-Gill
QBUsersGroup@aol.com
Nicole Blum-Negard
nicciblum@hotmail.com\
Visit Our Web Site:
www.QBUsersGroup.com
OTHER QUICKBOOKS RESOURCES: For QB
Articles & Seminars Go To;
www.newsletter@sleeter.com or
www.intuit.com
Another Educational Opportunity!
You too can become a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
I have been
spending about 1/2 hour a day over the last month (yes – during tax
season!) to complete my QuickBooks Certification. As an educator I am
impressed with the quality of the study materials including exercise
data files for practice, flip books, detailed explanations, etc. There
is a quantity of useful information. You can print pages for easier
study and/or use with clients. You are tested at the end of each module
with the wrong answers explained before you re-test. You proceed at
your own pace.
The certification
process is a great learning opportunity! Yes – it costs money – but I
think we should ALWAYS consider time and resources spent on education as
a debit to an investment account (an asset) not an expense!
For more information
about the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program and the Certification go to
www.qbadvisor.com Also you
can ask me questions via e-mail:
Sandra.omeara@cox.net
Submitted By Sandy
O’Meara, CPA
ARE YOU WILLING TO
SLEEP IN FRONT OF THE
FIRE?
By Brenda Richter,
CPA
A Member of the
Principa
Alliance
There is a story
attributed to Ben Franklin that carries a profound message that you and
your customers should heed.
It goes like this.
Ben had a printing
business and was concerned about a competitor’s pricing policy. He
invited his competitor around for dinner and placed a bowl of broth and
a piece of bread on the table. In the room was a warm fire with a
blanket next to it.
Ben said to his
guest, “I can live on this bread and broth and have no trouble sleeping
by the fire wrapped in that blanket. If you can live on less, you can
starve me out. If you can’t, you had best reconsider your pricing.”
Issues of illegal
price fixing aside, the lesson is clear. Unless your costs are lower
than your competitors’ or you are willing to sleep in front of the fire,
don’t compete on price. You might want to send this little piece of sage
advice to those of your customers who seem destined for many nights in
front of the fire.
SUPPORT RESOURCES
My firm is a member
of the Principa Alliance, a global network of business growth
consultants who are focused on helping small to mid sized business
owners build better businesses. I can help you with competing on
price. If you would like a copy of a business case regarding price
competition, please e-mail me at:
Brenda@BrendaRichterCPA.com
Minimum wage boost
clears panel in Assembly
The bill would hike the salary floor by $1 - to $7.75 an hour - in 2006.
By Clea Benson -- Bee Capitol Bureau (Abridged Version)
After two years without an increase in California's minimum wage of
$6.75 an hour, lawmakers took an initial step Wednesday toward giving
the state's lowest-paid workers a $1 hourly raise by 2006.
The Assembly's
Committee on Labor and Employment gave preliminary approval for a
minimum-wage increase that drew opposition from business groups and
support from labor organizations, which sponsored the measure. The bill
would boost the wage to $7.25 an hour next January and $7.75 the
following year.
Wednesday's vote
was just a first hurdle for the bill. And it is unclear what Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger would do if the measure ultimately gained the approval of
both the Assembly and the Senate
The current state
minimum wage took effect in January 2002.
Submitted By
Caron Garliepp
JUST FOR FUN
Do you know why
grown-ups are always asking little kids what they want to be when they
grow up?
It’s because they’re
looking for ideas.
-Paula Poundstone |