Simply From the Corner Office

The 2009 TD1 Personal Tax Credits forms are available for viewing and download on the CRA website at this link.

Both federal and provncial forms are available here.  The claim amounts are required for the first payroll of 2009. Don't forget that Simply calculates the EI and CPP for you as long as you have are part of the SimplyCare with payroll support.

One of the most important responsibilities of the accounting department is controlling costs. It is no coincidence that many of us are quite careful with expenditures for own employers, clients as well as ourselves.

In the days ahead, we could be witnessing some of the toughest economic times that most of us have ever encountered. We all have ways that we save money in the office and I'd like to start a list of money-saving ideas that I have witnessed and some of which we practice. 

  - reuse mailing envelopes

  - turn calculator rolls over

  - for filing year-end documents, use 9 x 13 envelopes (new or used) for achiving in bankers boxes - much cheaper than file folders

  - shake toner cartridges for laser printers - gets you a couple of hundred more copies; some of the newer cartridges won't allow you to do this though

  - combine many errands which involve driving into one trip

  - connect remotely to clients or to the office from home

Please feel free to post your own ideas here so that everyone can benefit.

I'd like to talk about a program that I just cannot live without - Microsoft Outlook^®.  I'm not referring to Outlook Express^® but the full version of Outlook^® that comes with Microsoft Office^®.

For those of you who are not familiar with it, Outlook^® is not just an email program, its a Personal Information Manager.  It can serve as your calendar, contact and task manager as well as a speed dialer.  Simply Accounting will synchronize basic contact info with Outlook^® so you can set up a vendor or customer contact once in Simply and check off the Synchronize  with Microsoft Outlook^® box in the Option tab.  When you open Outlook^® you can add other notes and details to the contact info.

 If you have a Smartphone or a Blackberry, you can synch it with your Outlook^®.  When you're away from the office and a client gives you new number or address change, you can enter it into your mobile device and it will eventually find its way back to Simply when you synch back at the office.

My favourite feature in Outlook is the ability to journalize phone calls and conversations. Install a fax modem ($30) on your computer and you can use Outlook^® as the ultimate speed dialer.  At your fingertips you have the hundreds of numbers that are in your contact list - this is much better that a typical phone with a hundred numbers.  When you dial out to a contact, Outlook^® will prompt you to open a Journal. You can then make permanent notes about the conversation.

The most important use that I make of Outlook^® is its abiltiy to help me stay organized.  I use the Calendar to organize all appointments as well as all working and personal time.  Details of meetings, what you plan to say, what was said, work completed, etc. can all be stored in the Calendar appointments.  Months later, you can recall notes by doing a search by keyword.  The Calendar can also synch with your Smartphone or Blackberry. Another great management tool for professionals that want to monitor their percentage of billable time is the ability to colour code Calendar items. Use the coloured Label option and set all billable time to one colour - at a quick glance of a 'weekly' view, you can see just how productive that you really were.

I still see lots of people still shuffling paper to stay organize d while this great organizer resides on their desktops. So if you're looking for an easy-to-use tool that will help you structure your life both at work and home I suggest that you take a look at Outlook^®.

If you would like to share ways that you use Outlook^® or other personal information managers, let's hear about it.

Billing has always been a dreaded process in our office. Don’t get me wrong, I love sending out invoices and getting paid! It’s just that it is time consuming to actually prep the invoices showing the time and details of work completed.  We usually try to send our invoices out at the end of the month. Some months, it’s a day’s work of unbillable time – ouch – even when most of the details have been recorded digitally. The same applies to any type of business – if you are doing it yourself or paying someone else – it costs you time and money to invoice.

Many of us live and work in smaller urban centres and often our clients are in the next town or city making travel costs a notable expenditure. Today we'll take a look remote access which allows us to use the power of the Internet to enable us to remotely control our desktop, or a client's, as if we were working right in front of the remote machine. Higher fuel prices are forcing everyone to find ways to be more cost effective while delivering the same level of work or service.  All of us still need to get to work and/or service our clients competitively.  This technology is proving to be a great tool in helping us accomplish this.

A couple of years ago when our clients began to upgrade their internet connections to higher speeds we saw an opportunity to save both them and ourselves time and money.  We started to remotely access their computers to help them with various support services and month-ends.  This process provided a win-win for everyone. The clients saw an immediate savings in billings that included travel time as well as receiving faster service as they did not have to wait until I was ‘in their area the next time'.  We realized savings in vehicle operating expenses as well as having more productive time available. Other uses of remote access can include accessing your files at the office from home or while you are at a client's site, helping a client install Simply or retrieving some contact info, to mention a few.

There are a few different ways to access your computer or your clients' systems.  These include options that are free such as Windows XP Remote Desktop to paid services such as GoToMyPC by Citrix. This link on cnet has reviews for various remote products.

If you need to have file transfer to get copies of large Simply databases from your client's machine to yours and remote printing capabilities, you generally have to buy a program like LogMeIn Pro rather than using the free version. The better offerings will (and should) have 128 bit encryption so that your connection is secure. I personally use GoToMyPC Pro because I need the file transfer and remote printing capabilities.

When using a remote connection there is some lag time although this is barely noticeable when both the host and guest are on high-speed. I have connected to dialups and it is painfully slow, it is usually better to ‘just drive there' if you are trying to resolve an issue that take more than a few keystrokes and screen updates.  Depending on the distance and frequency of service that is required, it can be more economical to have the host site upgrade to a higher internet speed if possible.

There are many useful applications of this technology that can benefit our clients, co-workers and ourselves.  I would invite you to share your thoughts and ideas on this subject.

When Simply Accounting asked if I was interested in blogging on their site, I immediately said ‘Yes’. I have a hard time saying ‘No’.  I enjoy helping people and passing on knowledge – that is the central philosophy of the bookkeeping practice and Simply Accounting consulting business that my business partner (and spouse) and I operate in Paris, Ontario.

Helping clients, our employers and co-workers solve their business challenges should give each of us in the accounting community a great sense of satisfaction.  We may set their accounting system up, help someone improve a process, discover a better method to complete a task or find a way to increase the bottom line. These are just a few examples of ways that we all collectively help others and pass on our knowledge.

A few weeks ago, I was at a client’s site when their son came into the office to ask if I could help him with a computer problem.  The billing clock stopped and assistance was given – the big smile and a genuine thank you was all the compensation that was required.  This week I helped a client ‘unravel’ a difficult Receipt posting that they had been struggling with for hours.  Later that evening, an email note of appreciation confirmed again why I love this business!

Helping others, that in a nutshell is what I find most gratifying about this community and that is why I said ‘Yes’.

If you’d like to share a ‘helping’ story I love to hear about it.