Business Management Hints

ESTIMATES
       Bidding with Uncertain Specs | Inexperienced Staff
       No Estimating Experience | Quick Rough Estimates

COSTS
       Avoid Duplicate Invoice Entry |

GENERAL BUSINESs Management
       Faster Paperwork Filing | Income Tax Filing

INCOME
       Speed up Time and Materials Billing |

PAYROLL
       Entering Previous Payroll |

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Avoid Duplicate Invoice Entry

PROBLEM-- Invoices are received in several forms (delivery tickets, faxes, by mail) so it's easy to accidentally enter the same purchase twice.

SOLUTION--  Try the following procedure to avoid duplicate entries:

1. Enter invoices early from fax or delivery tickets, if you have them.  It will speed up job costs and T&M billing.
2. When statement arrives, do a report-- Reports, Expenses, Material Purchases.  Enter last month or this month to date into the Date Range popup.  You can show all items and use a breakdown by vendor, or fill in the match field for just one vendor.
3. On the statement, mark anything that has already been entered.
4. Data enter the rest.

1. Choose Preferences from the Options menu, and choose Expenses from the submenu.
2. Turn on the Warn about Duplicate Invoices checkbox.
3. Click OK.

Bidding with Uncertain Specs

PROBLEM-- You need to give a firm price quote, but there are parts of the work that don't clearly specify materials or how work is done.

SOLUTION--  Use an Allowance.  To use allowances, follow these steps:

1. Choose Allowances from the Income menu.
2. Click the New button or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
3. Enter a price and description for your guess at how the item should be handled.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each item with uncertain specs.
5. Choose Estimates from the Income menu, and locate the estimate for this project.
6. If it doesn't already have a breakdown, enter Category or Items into the Breakdown popup.
7. Add a new breakdown line (click in the bottom row and hit the Return key).
8. Enter Allowance into the Cost Area column.
9. Enter a specific allowance into the Item column.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 for each allowance.

Entering Previous Payroll

PROBLEM-- You are entering previous payroll that you calculated from withholding tables.  When you use the Write Payroll command, Goldenseal fills in tax withholding amounts that are different from what you actually withheld.

SOLUTION--  Goldenseal uses the more accurate formula method to compute taxes, so it may not match with numbers you got from withholding tables.  To enter the actual withholding amounts, follow these steps:

1. Choose Preferences from the Options menu, and choose Expenses from the submenu.
2. Turn on the checkbox for Allow Payroll Deduction Changes.  Click OK.
3. When you use the Write Payroll command, double-click on the deduction column for each employee.  You can type in a different withholding amount.  You can also change deductions in the deduction breakdown portion of a Payroll Record.

Faster Paperwork Filing

PROBLEM-- It takes too long to file paperwork.  It takes too long to retrieve it.

SOLUTION--  Use the Document Log to speed up filing and retrieval.  This method works particularly well for "miscellaneous" documents that aren't easy to classify in a file cabinet.

To file paperwork, follow these steps:

1. Purchase document storage boxes (or fetch them from the liquor store).
2. When paperwork is ready to file, choose Document Log from the Income menu.
3. Create a new record, and fill in a brief description of the document.
4. Write the Document Log record number in large letters on the document.
5. Put it into the storage box in sequential order.
6. When a box is full, mark the date range and the document number range on the box.

To retrieve paperwork, follow these steps:

1. Choose Document Log from the Income menu.
2. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
3. Type in whatever information you remember about the document-- the date, account, or some key words about it.
4. Click the Find button.
5. Use the browser control to look through the found records, until you locate the one you need.
6. Find the storage box that includes that document number.
7. Leaf through the stored documents until you find the one you need.

Income Tax Filing

PROBLEM-- You need to get annual income and expenses for filing income tax.

SOLUTION-- Follow these steps:

1. Choose Banking from the Reports menu, and choose All Bank Transactions from the submenu.
2. Enter the date range for which you need to file taxes (e.g. last year).
3. Turn on the More Details checkbox, and enter Income Tax Class into the breakdown popup.
4. Click the Update button.
5. You'll see all your bank transactions for the time period, grouped by basic class.
6. Use the subtotals to fill in amounts on the tax form.  Some of the subtotals (transfers, void items, etc) will not apply to taxable income or taxable expenses.

NOTE-- You can allocate tax expenses in more details in your cost accounts.

Inexperienced Estimating Staff

PROBLEM-- You have employees without much estimating experience, and you'd like to set up Goldenseal so they can use it to prepare estimates.

SOLUTION-- Set up one or more estimating templates.  To do so, follow these steps:

1. Choose Estimates from the Income menu.
2. Click the New button.
3. Enter Items into the breakdown popup.
4. Enter the Cost Items and Assemblies that you usually include in this type of project.
5. When you are done, choose Template This Item from the Options menu.

1. Choose Estimates from the Income menu.
2. Click on the Template button (to the right of the New button) and choose a template.
3. Choose Estimate Dimensions from the Options menu, and choose a dimension layout.
4. Enter quantities for each dimension item.
5. When all dimensions are entered, choose Estimate Dimensions from the Options menu, and choose Specifications from the submenu.
6. Click the Update Quantities button.  Goldenseal will fill in quantities for each item.
7. Click the Update Prices button to get the most recent unit prices.
8. If the project is complex, an experienced estimator should check the numbers and make any adjustments.

No Estimating Experience

PROBLEM-- You are just starting out, so you don't know how much things cost.

SOLUTION-- It's always safest to work for time and materials, if you are starting out and don't know how to prepare accurate estimates.

If that is not possible, Goldenseal includes starter files for some business types, with unit costs that you can start out with.  Even if there isn't data for your specific type of business, you may be able to find unit costs that are similar to what you do.

You may be able to purchase estimating books that contain unit costs for your field.  Even experienced estimators often use estimating books to get prices for work they've never done before.

If you don't have unit costs, create a "sticks and bricks" estimate.  Enter estimated quantities of each type of material, including a waste factor.  Then enter an estimate of the amount of time it will take to do each task.

HINT-- A good rule of thumb is to double the amount of time that you first think something will take!

It's a good idea to include a contingency percentage of 5% to 25% for work that takes longer than expected, and for items you forget to include.

When you actually start work, be sure to enter all your expenses, and use job costs to see how well you did.   That way your estimates will be more accurate in the future!

Quick Rough Estimates

PROBLEM-- You need to make very quick "ballpark" estimates.

SOLUTION-- Set up one or more estimating templates.  To do so, follow these steps:

1. Choose Estimates from the Income menu.
2. Click the New button.
3. Enter Items into the breakdown popup.
4. Enter the Cost Items and Assemblies that you usually include in this type of project.
5. When you are done, choose Template This Item from the Options menu.

1. Choose Estimates from the Income menu.
2. Click on the Template button (to the right of the New button) and choose a template.
3. Choose Estimate Dimensions from the Options menu, and choose a dimension layout.
4. Enter dimensions.  If you are not sure of quantities, put in a guess.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each dimension layout.
6. When you are finished, choose Estimate Dimensions from the Options menu, and choose Specifications from the submenu..
7. Click the Update Quantities button.  Goldenseal will fill in quantities, based on the dimensions you entered.
8. Click the Update Prices button to get the most recent unit prices.
9. You're done!

HINT-- If you want to be more accurate, check the items in the breakdown, and adjust quantities or add other items that also belong in this particular project.

Speed Up Time and Materials Billing

PROBLEM-- Vendors mail out invoices along with the billing statement at the end of the month, but you want to speed your time and materials billing and get job cost info that is more current.

SOLUTION--  Try one of the following techniques:

• Enter from delivery tickets or sales slips.
• Ask the vendor to mail or fax invoices to you weekly, or several times a month.
• Enter a Material Purchase transaction and enter estimated prices (for job costs only).  Change it to the exact amount when the statement arrives.
• Use Bids or Purchase Orders to establish a price in advance.

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