June Meeting Minutes
   taken by Sandy Stites, Secretary

• Caron Garliepp opened the June 19 meeting at 12 noon. Nine new members and three guests introduced themselves.
• Bonna Hamilton made two job announcements. Caron G. made a job announcement. Sandy O’Meara made two job announcements – and was thanked by Caron for all the membership referrals she has made to the Association.
• Francesca Zak asked some questions regarding jury duty which generated a general discussion of serving on juries.
• Bonnie Pender won the free lunch for July.
• Mary Cathcart announced that this summer’s special event would be a picnic. (See insert enclosed with your mailed Newsletter.)
• Pam Allman initiated the discussion of this month’s table topics, and after lunch, each table summarized their discussion as follows:

• Bonna Hamilton’s table discussed conflicts with clients. Among the points made were 1) with experience one can pick and choose one'’ clients so avoid possible future conflict. 2) Remember to work with the client not for them 3) Establish boundaries with professional attitude. 4) Learn conflict resolution techniques.

• Kathy Leer’s table discussed the bookkeeper as personnel manager or human resources person. ) If chosen to perform this function, points to keep in mind include 1) bookkeeper is often chosen because of their stability. 2) Understand documentation required 3) attend workshops in human resource skills.

• Another topic discussed was having a life while being a bookkeeper. Among the points made were 1) learn to say no. 2) ease stress and learn to communicate. 3) Make time for oneself 4) don’t internalize clients’ problems.

• Brenda Richter’s table discussed prices and fees. Possible criteria include billing for cost plus expense; price and time versus value billing or fixed fee. Resources for determining the best method include discussion with one’s peers, and what the client can afford. Last year’s survey which Brenda prepared was mentioned as a resource, and this survey will be posted to the website.

• Rosemary Chidester’s table discussed computer software. There were complaints about Peachtree, and discussions on options in handling inventory items. One possibility mentioned was the development of in-house programs. Another was the use of software developed for specific industries, and the possibility of developing a list of those software products available.

• Julie Raffety’s table discussed contract workers vs. employees. Among areas discussed were the IRS 20-factor test and how it affects our industry and how you inform a client who has workers that they pay as outside contractors. Also discussed were types of insurance available to our industry. These include 1) errors and omissions 2) business continuation 3) self employed disability insurance 4) computer insurance. Cautions given included 1) are sure that errors and omissions insurance covers past work as well as the period of current coverage and 2) be sure that attorney fees are not subject to deductibility.

  ---

The summer picnic committee has planned our annual summer party! Please complete the flyer enclosed with your mailed newsletter, and return it with your check to Roxanne Russell at the July meeting, or by mail to her office address: 1690 First Court, Solvang, 93463.  Remember, the deadline for reservations is August 10. The date for the party is August 21, 2001, 11:30 a.m. The location will be Tucker’s Grove Area #3. We’ll be fairly close to the playground with the hopes that those with small children will bring them along. The committee has planned a special surprise lunch for the little ones, and for the adults . . . Fresco Café will be catering our picnic. And there will be door prizes!!!  So come relax and enjoy and have a good time eating and gabbing!  If you have any questions, call Mary Cathcart at 683-4568.

ELECTIONS ARE COMING UP

A new slate of officers will be elected at our September meeting.

Listed on our website (www.sbbaonline.org) you will find descriptions of the duties of each officer. If, after reading the descriptions, you’re ready to make the commitment to serve in one of these capacities for the next term, please give your name to our Nominating Committee (Caron Garliepp or Mary Cathcart) as soon as possible. Nominees will be announced at the August meeting.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Two of our SBBA members will be presenting classes at Santa Barbara City College this fall:

Brenda Richter, CPA will be teaching:

More info is available at www.sbcc.net

Sandra O’Meara, CPA will be teaching:

Accounting With QuickBooks (Accounting 160)
Review and application of accounting principles using QuickBooks.

Call Sandy for further information at 965-9907.

Among the topics mentioned at the July meeting were the needs for classes in stress reduction, conflict resolution and human resources training. Classes in these areas are offered through the SBCC Adult Education Program. See more in the Come and Learn section of this newsletter.

Bonna Hamilton has been a member of SBBA since its beginning. She serves on the board of directors, having been Treasurer of the organization for two years and President for four. She has also served on the special events committee several times.

Born in San Francisco, Bonna moved a great deal as a young person, since her father was in the military. She has lived in Santa Barbara since 1984. She has three cats, a dog, and a grown daughter, of whom she is very proud. An outdoor girl, Bonna’s hobbies include exercise, hiking, flower gardening and camping. She is looking forward to going on a cruise with her daughter in October.

Bonna has been an independent bookkeeper since 1986. She has more than forty active clients with various needs -–bookkeeping, accounting, support, and set-ups. Her favorite type of work is new set-up and training. She finds this rewarding when a client becomes enlightened and sees how easy it is to do their bookkeeping. Some clients require intermittent service, but she serves fifteen to seventeen clients each month. Bonna says she loves her clients and the varieties of businesses she deals with, and especially enjoys being liaison between the business owner and his or her CPA.

Bonna became independent because she knew she’d be more productive on her own. Except during tax season, she has free time and very flexible hours. Bonna says, "I’ve never regretted independence – not one single day!" Bonna does no advertising and receives all her new business by referral. She regards this as the greatest compliment she can receive.

She says the best training she received were six and a half years she spent working closely with her employer and his CPA in a rapidly growing business. The hands on experience she received brought her from zero accounting knowledge to being competent enough to not only handle her client’s accounting needs, but to run her own business as well. Other training resulted from her working for a computer service firm. She was sent by that firm to Fargo, ND and became a qualified installer for Great Plains software.

Bonna says her greatest challenge at this time is staying current on all varieties of hardware and software systems implementation. She recently worked with her personal computer consultant to design a unique new computer system for her business. Using state-of-the-art RAID technology, her new super fast system is also super safe. It uses dual; redundant mirrored hard disks so that if one hard drive fails, the other takes over with no loss of her client’s data and no downtime to rebuild her system. With the attached cable modem, her online experience is a breeze. She looks forward to further education regarding hardware and on-line accounting procedures.

Beware of any enterprise which requires the purchase of new clothes – Chinese Proverb

COME AND LEARN

July 2001 -- You can apply for SB City College fall 2001 classes

For information: Computer Applications Dept. SBCC 965-0581, Ext. 2260 or http://www.sbcc.net/academic/ instruct.htm

Financial and Managerial Accounting classes available online visit http://online.sbcc.net or call 965-0581 X7222 for information.

8/17- Deadline for application  to SBCC

8/20 - Classes begin - SBCC

8/26 - Schedule of Classes- SBCC Continuing Education – published SB News-Press (Available the previous week at the Schott Center).

9/11 - SBCC Continuing Education (Adult Ed) classes begin

Editor of this month’s Newsletter was Sandy Stites. Many thanks to Mary Cathcart for proofreading this issue! Next month’s Editor will be Julie Raffety.