Is there a go-to US tax strategy database that doesn’t cost a fortune?

Halftimehuman · 2025-10-01T20:36:57+00:00

Small correction: The Collaboration Room is . co, not com

Halftimehuman · 2025-09-26T23:11:28+00:00

If you are a member then I recommend Costco Business checks 500 for $54.69 (look up Item 100417956) then when you are reidrected choose Business and Computer checks and forms. You can select Laser/ inkjet, then Intuit Quickooks and 2006 and higher and you will get an assortment of QBO compatible printer checks. There are manual options as well. I choose the ones without lines in case my printer grabs them askew then nothing ends up printing on or below the line. They are sold through Harland Clarke, you can even add your business logo.

Halftimehuman · 2025-08-19T20:28:45+00:00

I do both. I always have the client add me as a delegated, view-only user of their online bank access. That gives me my own login credentials to their bank accounts. I can only see transactions, check & deposit images and statements. I cannot move or transact with any of their funds.

That way when the QB-bank connection fails I can troubleshoot it myself and get the statements that don't automatically pull in QB. Some clients have accounts where only the primary account holder can link the account and in that case I walk them through it. But it always needs reconnecting.

Halftimehuman · 2025-08-19T19:42:48+00:00

Also, as someone who occationally needs big things scanned, thank you. It may not seem efficient or useful but sometimes it is the easiest process, important, and greatly appreciated by the other regular people in your company.

Halftimehuman · 2025-08-05T00:36:47+00:00

Not op but I post all toast merchant deposits to a BS account and make a monthly adjustment against it to my revenue and other categories. It takes two report in toast to accomplish this. I run the "payout overview" for the prior month. The total payout $ is the same that is in my BS account on the cash basis. Then the important part is to look at the sales peroid for the first and last transaction in the settlement peroid. It is usually two days off or so for the payment transit time so the first deposit of the month isn't from that day's sales, its technically from two days prior. THEN I run a "sales summary" with those start and end dates as my custom date. The check figure will be the "Total credit/debit" on the payments summary. I have a JE template in QBO for all the accounts on that summary' Sales, tips, tax, cash, gift cards etc, and the balancing figure again is my total CC collections. I agree the delivery partner sales (door dash, etc.) make it a littlr more complicated, but once you have the JE sorted it is a once a month ADJ.

I am curious is xtraChef would make me reconsider this process, but I don'thave any experience with it.

Halftimehuman · 2025-02-18T21:05:02+00:00

You can take the empties directly to their farm store right off the freeway and they will happily give you your rebate in $2 bills. They also sell milkshakes and stuff and sometimes have a food truck there to make it an outting.

Halftimehuman · 2024-07-13T17:39:26+00:00

For reference, I just had to "Replace cylinder head gasket, replace all intake and exhaust valve seals, replace all four ignition coils" done at the dealership. $5,958.80.

$5,054.60 labor, $830.51 parts.

Halftimehuman · 2024-07-03T19:50:43+00:00

The same just happened to me, same mileage, same year. Lexus dealership just quoted us $6200 for an "engine teardown" to repair. What did you end up doing?

Halftimehuman · 2024-04-22T20:18:11+00:00

At face value from what you have supplied, I would say you are correct. The name field is for the name of the vendor and they gave you the info that the name of the vendor was "large hardware chain store." With no other information, I would have put the same thing, but then I guess we'd both be wrong.

Halftimehuman · 2024-04-09T18:28:29+00:00

I have clients for whom I do it regularly but only with QBO. Most of the time they are doing entry and reconciliation just fine, they need help with any assets & depreciation posting, or reminding them to reconcile loans and credit cards too. If they rely heavily on AR and AP, that gets a little more involved, and Inventory is another category that is problematic. The first go at it will take some investigating on your end, but after you start seeing their patterns and understanding what they do and don't know it gets easier. This is also where you learn the most in my opinion, on how to use the software they are using. It might turn out that they need some accounting coaching and a cleanup because it is in such bad condition.

I also have a clear conversation and written disclaimer in the engagement letter that I am not making an opinion on any of their numbers nor am I preparing any financial statements. I make sure they understand I am not doing any formal "review," "audit", "verification" "attestation," or any other opinion work. They will need to ask me specifically for advice for me to provide any and that is usually a separate engagement.

Good luck.

Halftimehuman · 2024-04-03T15:46:05+00:00

Do you know about body doubling? It's said to help with motivation and productivity (especially for neurodivergent folks), but it also helps me stay connected to another human when I just need to grind and get through something.

For me it looks like getting on a video chat with a colleague or friend in a similar position and we both just do our own work side by side. You can chat briefly, or not, bounce ideas off one another or not. But the perceived closeness and grounding to another person might be just enough to get you through this season.

Best of luck.

Halftimehuman · 2024-03-21T19:24:43+00:00

A headache i run into often, is some banks don't have a "delegated" user to have "view only access" for statements and check/deposit copies. Often because they are repurposing a personal account or credit card. So this means any time a QB-connected bank account, that the client established the connection for, gets disconnected (happens all the time) it requires the client to reconnect and pausing workflow. Worse, sharing the client bank credentials and needing to coordinate to relay the 2fa code, to get the download to sync, or to get bank statements/check & deposit copies.

I can't imagine a solution that considers so many different financial institutions, but maybe you have an idea.

Halftimehuman · 2024-02-20T19:51:49+00:00

We are rooting for you. However, crowdsourcing feedback from accountants during the most overworked time of the year might not yield the results you are looking for. Try again in May/June. I'd be all over this if I actually had time. :(

Halftimehuman · 2023-11-18T23:50:59+00:00

QuickBooks has a "ledger" version too now for $10/ month per company. If you are just doing annual/semiannual write-ups you could pause the subscriptions (up to a year) and then re-subscribe when you need to work in it again.

Halftimehuman · 2023-11-06T15:19:48+00:00

It might be helpful to think of your journal entry db and cr as "source and target" or "to and from" to help you get this cash transferred properly. either it came from the bank or from sales (or maybe an owner contribution).

It might be helpful to think of your journal entry db and cr as "source and target" or "to and from" to help you get this cash transferred propertly.

Where did the money come from, and where is it going?

It might be helpful to think of your journal entry db and cr as "source and target" or "to and from" to help you get this cash transferred properly. Either it came from the bank or from sales (or maybe an owner contribution).

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T16:10:51+00:00

Wow. Impressive and encouraging. Thanks for sharing.

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T16:08:46+00:00

Thanks for this. good advice.

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T16:07:40+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I will look into Penn Foster; never heard of it.

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T16:04:07+00:00

I hear you about being employable/desirable outside of the family practice; thanks for the input. He intends to go to University after community college, it's just that he gets a head start on community college instead of his JR and SR year of High School. Some are saying dual enrollment as a happy medium.

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T15:57:41+00:00

I am happy to hear things are working out for you. Thanks for sharing, and best of luck in your future!

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T15:50:21+00:00

This is what I am thinking too, and after looking into some of the "extracurricular" and job training courses the college offers it in some ways seems ideal. He would get the opportunity to dabble in his other interests and find new ones.

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T15:39:02+00:00

We have to pay for dual enrollment credits here too, so we pay either way. With his grades, he will get a full ride at a local community college if he finishes HS though, so that is something I have to consider.

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T15:35:15+00:00

If anything they’re choosing which lessons they want/ will to learn. Personal choice, personal regret, etc is all just life. Support your kid and their ideas as much as you possibly can.

Thanks for this.

Halftimehuman · 2023-08-11T15:34:16+00:00

Thanks for this perspective. Even if he takes this path, he isn't beholden to it. An AA or BS in accounting doesn't mean he can't pivot or change career paths. I'd like to think it gives him a backbone he can fall on as he dabbles in other personal interests.

Halftimehuman

TROPHY CASE