Number Crunchin' News
April 2006

Secretary's Minutes

The March meeting of the Santa Barbara Bookkeepers’ Association was held at Mullligan’s Café on Tuesday, March 21, 2006. 

President Karen Mora called the meeting to order, and then welcomed new members. Next she asked for any job announcement and if anyone had other comments to share.

Karen stated that the QB Users group will tentatively be meeting Monday, May 1^st at the City College conference room in the business building. The information will be e-mailed prior to the meeting date. 

The American Payroll Association is hoping to have a meeting sometime in April but will definitely meet sometime in May. More information will be provided as it becomes available. 

The free lunch drawing was won by Suzie Hayes, congratulations! 

Sandy O’Meara referenced some groups that specialize in support of certified bookkeepers. The trend seems to be leaning toward bookkeepers achieving certification. 

Vicki Martin introduced our speaker, Roberta Nielson. Roberta presented a few options for data storage software and data management. Her information was very helpful to our group.  

Rosemary Chidester, SBBA Secretary

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION NONPROFIT SEMINAR

One of my staff and I went to a free seminar sponsored by the State Board of Equalization last week in Long Beach, where they had speakers from the Board of Equalization, IRS, FTB, EDD and Office of the Attorney General who discussed tax laws, exemptions, and reporting requirements as they apply to non-profit and exempt organizations. The seminar was one of the best free seminars I have ever attended, and well worth the drive to Long Beach! I have submitted a request to for them to bring this seminar to Santa Barbara. The speakers were wonderful, the topics they covered were great, and they had open question and answer sessions at the end of each hour. The attendance was over 200 people, and they offer these seminars all over California. I learned detailed rules about conducting raffles, selling food at fundraisers, deducting the value of a meal from a ticket price, what income that nonprofits should be claiming as taxable income, how many things can cause a nonprofit to lose its exempt status, how to apply for and claim the welfare exemption for business and property taxes, that many stipends should be paid as wages, and much more. I know that the nonprofits that we work with will be benefiting from what we learned. 

The next closest seminar is on Thursday, May 11^th in San Gabriel, and I am encouraging my staff to attend. If anybody is interested in more information, or attending the seminar in San Gabriel, let me know and I will share the seminar materials. I will also setup carpooling if people are interested in going. If you do bookkeeping for nonprofit or exempt organizations, you will learn a lot at this seminar. They will be in contact with me when they get Santa Barbara on the seminar circuit, and it could be soon, but also may not be until next year. For more info go to: http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/nonprofitsched.htm

Submitted by Karen Mora

QuickBooks Users Group Meeting

Monday, May 1, 2006
Santa Barbara City College.
West Campus – Business & Communications Building
721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara
Room BC214 – Conference Room
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. - $15.00 (Dinner included)
To reserve a seat, send check payable to:
QB Users Group, P.O. Box 3302, Santa Barbara, CA  93101

The Group is for ALL levels of QuickBooks users and is open forum to share experience, knowledge and support. PLEASE COME JOIN US! We will be reviewing and discussing QuickBooks 2006 and other topics of interest to the group.

For further information, please email: Bonna Hamilton at Bonna@silcom.com

Delivering “WOW” Service

By:  Brenda Richter, CPA
A Member of the Principal Alliance

Tom Peters said it best in his book In Search of Excellence: “The best kept secret in the global economy is this:  When your service is awesome, you get so stinking rich that you have to keep buying new bags to carry all the money home.”  

Notice he didn’t say that your service should be good, or great, or mediocre.  Or that your customers should be satisfied.  He said, “When your service is AWESOME.”  The kind of service that makes people sit up and take notice.  The kind of service that makes people talk about you.  

Look at the businesses and companies that have achieved truly great things.  Businesses like Disneyland, McDonald’s and Virgin have made big names for themselves by delivering the type of service that qualifies as awesome.  

That’s easy for them, you say?  Well, it’s easy for you too.  

Many small businesses have carved a niche for themselves by delivering more than expected to their customers and delighting them in the process.  

Notice again I didn’t say “satisfy them” - I said “delight”.  Why?  Because delighted customers talk.  Oftentimes about your business.

If you doubt the value of delivering awesome service, think about how much business is obtained through word of mouth.  Many business owners, when asked where their business comes from, answer with “word of mouth.”  If that’s the case, how can you capitalize on that to get more people referring business to you?

The easiest way, by far, is to impress your customers so much that they become advocates for you.  

The way to do this?  Give them WOW service!  

Service that gets your business talked about.  It’s a way to create absolutely free publicity for you—and the good news is that it doesn’t cost you a penny more to give ‘WOW’ service than it costs to give ‘satisfactory’ service.  

Brenda Richter, CPA is not your average advisory firm. Far from it.  This firm does so much more than just “keep the score.”  The firm will work with businesses to identify areas in the business that are not realizing their full potential and help improve them to build a stronger and more profitable future.  The firm’s membership in the Principa Alliance means that customers have access to the collective knowledge and expertise of an international network made up of hundreds of professionals who specialize in consulting to small and medium-sized businesses by providing services such as the Team Advisory Board (TAB).  Everyday team members are on the front line of customer service.  The TAB workshop is a facilitated interactive session designed to tap into a team’s collective experience and develop a business strategy to create WOW service.

EDD Labor Market Web Site:

Bookkeeping, Accounting and Auditing Clerks

California Occupational Guide Number 26
Interest Area 7

THE JOB

Bookkeeping, Accounting and Auditing Clerks count and arrange numbers to keep accurate financial records.

BOOKKEEPERS keep complete, up-to-date, and accurate records of accounts and financial arrangements.  Bookkeepers verify and enter information into journals and ledgers or into a computer.  

They periodically balance the books and compile reports and financial statements.  Bookkeepers also receive, record, bank and pay out cash.  They balance checkbooks with monthly bank statements.  

They may calculate employee wages from plant records or time cards and issue payroll checks.

ACCOUNTING CLERKS calculate, post and verify basic financial information used to produce and maintain financial and statistical documents.  These type of jobs are found in every industry and may have various 

job titles, such as accounts payable clerk, accounts receivable clerk or assistant bookkeeper.

Some of the work they may do includes posting accounts receivable and payable, prepare and make bank deposits, record payrolls, maintain inventory records, purchase supplies, prepare purchase orders and do 

expense reports. Accounting Clerks may also make schedules, sort documents, and file bills.

AUDITING CLERKS review records to determine if the figures and calculations by other workers are accurate.  They examine documents such as expense accounts, commissions payments, cash receipts, bank records, 

and inventory records.  They compute percentages and totals and compare results to financial records.  They also correct errors or note mistakes that need to be corrected.

Bookkeeping, Accounting and Auditing Clerks operate 10-key calculators, typewriters, and copy machines.  With more experience they operate computers programmed with accounting methods to record, 

store and analyze information. The work usually involves many common clerical responsibilities. 

http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/occguide/CLERKACC.HTM

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: