How to start your new business with QuickBooks®
QuickBooks® is the most valuable tool you’ll purchase to help you build a successful business. As a business owner, you must know how your business is performing on a daily business. Managing cash flow is the major challenge of a new business; and QuickBooks® will help you stay on top of it and make smart decisions to keep you in business and grow sensibly.
For a very small investment, you’ll have a very robust accounting system that can handle all your business needs. Managing accounts receivable and accounts payable, reconciling bank and credit card statements, managing inventory, paying employees and handling payroll tax deposits and reporting, tracking and paying sales tax correctly, job costing, managing programs and funds if you’re a nonprofit, using a Point of Sale system, manufacturing products, or managing field services – QuickBooks® can do it all!
QuickBooks® was designed for the non-accountant. It’s easy to learn and use and there are local experts to help you set up, learn and maintain your accounting system and bookkeeping. While this is absolutely true, we do recommend that you call on a QuickBooks® ProAdvisor right at the beginning to help you:
- Select the right version of QuickBooks® software for your business or nonprofit
- Customize your Chart of Accounts to ensure your financial reports give you the information you need
- Set up sales tax tracking. Mistakes in this setup will be costly. It must be set up correctly, and then it will be easy to report and pay your taxes on time. No penalties or interest!
- Set up payroll accounts, payroll items, and employee records. This is another area in which you cannot afford mistakes. The secret to success is proper setup by someone who understands the applicable taxes, the rules for paying and reporting taxes, the tax implications of various benefit programs, how to handle child support and other garnishments, and who can train you to process your payroll or suggest how best to handle it.
- Set up inventory items, assemblies, builds, or group items if applicable to your business.
- Customize QuickBooks® preferences and Icon Bar to your efficiency. (Accounting is critically important, but it doesn’t produce sales; so while you must do it, it shouldn’t take more time than necessary.
- Customize reports for maximum information about your business and one-click accessibility
- Show you how to enter all your transactions correctly.
With this personalized support, your new business will be off and running toward success! AND you’ll feel in control of your business and free of the stress that comes from the worry and uncertainty. Whenever you encounter a problem or have a question, your ProAdvisor will be familiar with your business and can provide you quick answers or onsite help if you need it!
As soon as you’ve decided to start your new business, call us at 651-324-2273. Jen will answer your questions or connect you with a ProAdvisor from our staff who can! NO CHARGE FOR THIS CALL! We’ll help you make the right choices!
How Long Should I Keep Paper Documents?
Just because you have entered your data into QuickBooks, doesn’t mean you can throw away the paper copies. You are obligated to keep them. It’s important to know how long you should keep your paper documents. Here’s a great website with a complete list of documents and how long they should be kept. http://www.skocpa.com/document_retention_recommendation.htm
What you should know about IT Support and QuickBooks
Our recommendations for common problems you may experience!
Illogical or erratic behavior in QuickBooks®
The good news about QuickBooks is that it is a very reliable software that rarely has technical problems which it cannot repair itself. If you experience any illogical or erratic behavior in your software, immediately click on the File menu – Utilities – Verify Data. If QuickBooks finds any problem in the data file, it will instruct you to rebuild the data. Again, click on the File menu – Utilities – Rebuild Data. It will ask you to back up your data. Then the rebuild will start automatically and fix the problem. I occasionally find this happens after I’ve made numerous changes to a major list, such as the Chart of Accounts or Items List, when reworking a QuickBooks file that was not set up correctly in the beginning.
File grows too large
You may experience performance problems if after years of being in business, your file approaches the maximum size the software is designed to handle. Periodically check the size of your file though Windows Explorer. QuickBooks Pro and Premier can handle a file up to 150-200 MB. If you’re experiencing problems and you’ve confirmed your file is approaching the size limit, the simplest solution is to upgrade to QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions which has a maximum size of 1 GB or more. Enterprise Solutions is optimized for larger data files and network usage. Of course, it is more expensive than Pro or Premier, but has additional features appreciated by larger, more complex businesses. Enterprise Solutions supports up to 30 users and even handles complex manufacturing and distribution concerns. Your file will open right up in Enterprise Solutions and you can proceed with your work!
Another option that may buy you a little time is to condense your file, thus reducing its size, by removing detail from past years’ transactions. The procedure for doing this is:
* Back up your data file. Rename the original file to include the time frame of transactions included, i.e. Fiscal Foundations, LLC (2007-2010).qbw. All the past years’ transaction detail will remain available to you in this file.
* Restore the back-up file you just created, naming it with your company name, i.e. Fiscal Foundations, LLC.qbw. This is the file you will work in now. You’ll be able to find past year’s transactions in your old file, but we are going to remove the past years’ detail in this new file by condensing the data. The totals in your accounts will remain to be available for historical reports, but the details of individual transactions like checks, bills, invoices, and sales receipts will be deleted. Each month’s transactions will be converted into journal entries only recording the total of the transactions posted to each account.
* Click on the File menu – Utilities – Clean Up Company Data. Follow the instructions. It will also give you the option of removing unused list items.
* Recheck the size of your new file to see how much capacity you’ve gained.
My experience has been that only a small amount of capacity is gained through this file cleanup. I’m sure it depends on how many years of data you have in your file—the larger your file, the greater your gain.
Your computer crashes or is stolen, or your house/office is destroyed
Failure to back up routinely is one of the most painful and costly mistakes you can make. Clients often ask how often they should back up. My answer is another question, “How much data would you like to reenter or pay to have reentered?” My first recommendation is to make sure your general liability insurance covers data recovery. Have multiple backups including on a flash drive or external hard drive and an offsite backup as well. I recommend daily backups. Automatic offsite backups make your life simpler and your data secure. This service is inexpensive, particularly when compared to the costs of losing your data.
Occasionally, a file will be damaged but not destroyed. This happened to one of my clients a few years ago. As a QuickBooksTM ProAdvisor, I was able to recover most of the lists. Of particular concern and value were the Chart of Accounts, Customer List, and Items List. This company produced and sold hundreds of stationery items to stores all over the United States. Reentering all this data would have cost thousands of dollars and virtually have paralyzed their business for weeks. This company had implemented the routine backup procedures I had recommended years before, but had been sold to new owners just a year before the computer crash. The new owner had not continued the backup procedure. The saving grace was that we had just sent the first year’s financial reports off to the CPA for tax preparation. So even though I was not able to recover any transaction data, we at least had a beginning Balance Sheet for the year. With the recovered lists and a paper trail of the last few month’s transactions, recovery time was short and the backup procedure was reinstated.
Your QuickBooks file needs to be available to 2-30 users on a network
ProAdvisors are QuickBooksTM experts, but not necessarily IT consultants. We collaborate with IT consultants to make sure networks are set up and secured properly, and QuickBooks is configured on the network with individual User ID’s, passwords, and appropriate permissions to facilitate work being done and your financial security assured.
A virus infects your computer or network
Protection against viruses invading your computer or network is critically important. We’re all on the internet every day. The risk is real. What’s more important to protect than your financial data? Your QuickBooks file may contain your passwords, bank account information, employee and vendor social security numbers, and key information about your products, customers and business performance. That’s information you don’t want in the hands of crooks or competitors. Keyloggers are extremely dangerous invader in that they can record your every keystroke you make including passwords to your bank accounts and accounting files. Call a professional immediately if your computer system is compromised! We have a great referral for you! Call That Girl!, owned by Lisa Hendrickson, is a wonderful resource for us for hosting our off-site backup and protecting our client and company data. Their IT professionals work remotely so your location is not a limiting factor.
If you are experiencing any of these situations, call us for help! We can assist you remotely, virtually anywhere, and onsite in Minnesota, western Wisconsin, or in the Denton and Dallas/Fort Worth areas in Texas.
For any of these IT issues:
* Virus removals
* Online back up
* General troubleshooting, printers, networking, file sharing
* Outlook support
* Server support
* Pretty much everything!
Contact:
Call That Girl
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Call That Girl!
http://www.callthatgirl.biz
Twin Cities: 952-681-7969
Rochester: 507-923-4042
Winona: 507-474-7272
Does QuickBooks have a good Cash Flow Report?
QuickBooks does not have a one-click report that will show “Good” Cash Flow.
QuickBooks does have reports that will show if the next month will be a month of POSITIVE or NEGATIVE Cash Flow.
In a month of POSITIVE Cash Flow, QuickBooks reports can be used assure all bills are paid when due and to prepare for a month of NEGATIVE Cash Flow.
In a month of NEGATIVE Cash Flow, QuickBooks reports can be used to determine if bills can be paid when due, and when there will be a return to a month of POSITIVE Cash Flow.
REMEMBER – “Good” Cash Flow can continue in months of NEGATIVE Cash Flow.
The 2 QuickBooks reports to determine “Good” Cash Flow are:
• The Accounts Receivable Aging
• The Accounts Payable Aging
Using these reports effectively guides the company thru months of POSITIVE and NEGATIVE Cash Flow – and will demonstrate “Good” CASH FLOW.
“Good” CASH FLOW is the goal of every business. Use QuickBooks to reach the goal!
“Good” CASH FLOW IS THE GOAL
The goal of every business is to have “Good” CASH FLOW. “Good” Cash Flow is having the ability to pay all bills when due – thru periods of POSITIVE or NEGATIVE Cash Flow.
We look at a specific time period when a company has POSITIVE Cash Flow or NEGATIVE Cash Flow. The time period to use is a calendar month. POSITIVE or NEGATIVE Cash Flow may occur for one month, or for several months.
Let’s define it further:
A period of POSITIVE CASH FLOW: a MONTH when a company collects more money from its customers than it pays out to its vendors or lenders.
A period of NEGATIVE CASH FLOW: a MONTH when a company collects less money from its customers than it pays out its vendors or lenders.
The business reality is that companies do not have POSITIVE Cash Flow every month. Consider your company to very fortunate if it has POSITIVE Cash Flow every month.
However, a company can always have “Good’ Cash Flow.
The key to having “Good” Cash Flow is to use QuickBooks effectively to determine if the current month is POSITIVE or NEGATIVE – and ALSO determine if next month will POSITIVE or NEGATIVE.
“Good” Cash Flow can continue in months of NEGATIVE Cash Flow.
Blog #3 – coming soon – “Good” Cash Flow and QuickBooks reports.
Cash Flow
Have “Good” CASH FLOW.
“Knowing more about QuickBooks will help us with CASH FLOW”
“QuickBooks will help us understand our CASH FLOW”
“Running our QuickBooks better will help us have good CASH FLOW”
At our QuickBooks workshops we ask attendees why they are attending the workshop. Nearly 50% of all attendees express that they are looking to QuickBooks to help them with their CASH FLOW. We take their comments to mean that they have a sense they can improve their CASH FLOW – and have “Good” CASH FLOW.
How can QuickBooks help a company have “Good” Cash Flow?
Having “Good” CASH FLOW means having sufficient money in the company bank account to pay all bills when due – ALL THE TIME.
QuickBooks is there to help – by providing reports that determine “Good” Cash Flow.
Blog #2 – coming soon – More on “Good” Cash Flow.
Does Your Website Integrate with QuickBooks?
While most E-Commerce website hosting companies claim that they fully integrate with QuickBooks, many of these same companies provide very limited help regarding the proper setup and mapping of your sales information to make sure that it is recorded accurately in QuickBooks. In fact, just recently I worked with a client who imported his QuickBooks export from his company’s E-Commerce website, and all of his item descriptions on his invoices were shown in HTML code, not text. When the E-Commerce company was asked why it worked this way, they just said “Well, that’s just the way that it is”, and offered no help to change it so that it exported correctly. Fortunately, I was able to work with my client to find an acceptable 3rd Party solution that would eliminate this particular problem.
Although this may be an extreme example, I have found that even though most website hosting companies have taken great care to make sure that their QuickBooks exports capture all of your sales and financial information, most small business owners need the assistance of an expert who can make certain that this information imports correctly into QuickBooks. I have been working with small business owners and their website/QuickBooks integrations for over 7 years now, and if you have a website and use QuickBooks, chances are I can help to get that information imported accurately into QuickBooks!
The Cheat Sheet for Debits and Credits
The “Cheat Sheet” for Debits and Credits by Linda Logan, Partner/President/Founder of Fiscal Foundations LLC
Asset accounts have debit balances.
Debits increase Asset accounts.
Credits decrease Asset accounts.
Liability accounts have credit balances.
Credits increase Liability Accounts.
Debits decrease Liability Accounts.
Equity accounts have credit balances.
Credits increase Equity Accounts.
Debits decrease Equity Accounts.
Income accounts have credit balances.
Credits increase Income Accounts.
Debits decrease Income Accounts.
Cost of Goods Sold accounts have debit balances.
Debits increase Cost of Goods Sold accounts.
Credits decrease Cost of Goods Sold accounts.
Expense accounts have debit balances.
Debits increase Expense accounts.
Credits decrease Expense accounts.
Your bank account is an asset. It is something of value that you own. When you deposit money into your account, you are increasing that Asset account. What increases an Asset account? A debit.
CHALLENGE QUESTION – If a bank deposit is a debit to your bank account, why does your bank statement call it a credit?
ANSWER – Because the bank statement is stated from the bank’s point of view. The money deposited into your checking account is a debit to you (an increase in an asset), but it is a credit to the bank because it is not their money. It is your money and the bank owes it back to you, so on their books, it is a liability. An increase in a Liability account is a credit.
What you OWN – What you OWE = What you’re WORTH
ASSETS – LIABILITIES = EQUITY
This is the basic formula on which double-entry bookkeeping is based. Even if you have not had any training, I believe you can understand these principles. This is a common-sense formula. If you were to determine what your business was worth if you wanted to sell it, you would look at what the business owns that is of value (Assets), you would subtract your debt (Liabilities), and the result would represent your net worth (Equity). These are the types of accounts that are shown on the Balance Sheet.
For the next logical step, I’ll ask you to recall a little Algebra from high school. Remember that if you add or subtract an amount from one side of an equation, you must do the same to the other side in order to keep the equation equal. So we can do the following:
ASSETS – LIABILITIES + LIABILITIES = EQUITY + LIABILITIES
Now the formula can be stated as:
ASSETS = LIABILITIES + EQUITY
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While Assets, Liabilities and Equity are types of accounts, debits and credits are the increases and decreases made to the various accounts whenever a financial transaction occurs.
The cardinal rule of bookkeeping is that DEBITS must equal CREDITS.
There is no limitation on the number of debits or credits in a transaction, but the total dollars of each must be equal. Let’s take an example:
You go to Office Max and write a check for $2,605 to purchase a computer, paper and ink cartridges.
What accounts would be affected?
Office Equipment + Office Supplies = Checking Account
$2500 + $105 = $2605
DEBITS = CREDITS
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
ASSETS = LIABILITIES + EQUITY
DEBITS = CREDITS
Asset accounts normally have DEBIT balances. When you deposit money in your bank account you are increasing or debiting your Checking Account. When you write a check, you are decreasing or crediting your Checking Account.
Liability and Equity accounts normally have CREDIT balances. If you borrow money from a bank and deposit it in your Checking Account, you increase or credit a Liability account, Bank Loan Payable, and increase or debit an Asset account, Checking Account.
Schedule a Free QuickBooks Workshop for Your Clients or Members
Banks, Payroll Services, CPA Firms, Chambers of Commerce, Professional Organizations, Meetup Groups, Networking Groups, other small business service providers…
- SCORE QuickBooks Workshop
IF YOU THINK YOUR GROUP OF CLIENTS/MEMBERS WOULD BENEFIT FROM AN INTRODUCTION TO QUICKBOOKS AND LEARNING HOW IT CAN HELP THEM GROW THEIR BUSINESSES, READ ABOUT THE DETAILS BELOW AND CONTACT US TO SCHEDULE YOUR
FREE QUICKBOOKS WORKSHOP®!
Fiscal Foundations is committed to helping small businesses build a firm fiscal foundation for success. We not only believe, we KNOW small business is the heart of our American economy and democracy, employing 58% of the workforce and producing 40% of the gross national product. Entrepreneurs are men and women of courage, commitment, ingenuity and initiative. They don’t sit back waiting for politicians or others to create their destinies or solve their problems. They know that making dreams happen is not the result of magic, but of putting their ideas, perseverance and resources on the line to bring their vision into reality. Small business is most likely to be the hero when it comes to getting the economy back on its feet and creating the job security we all so desperately need. Our company is committed to supporting that effort by providing the tools, training and services for setting up and maintaining the accounting systems that support small businesses in managing and growing their companies. Accounting is the “language of business”. The bottom line is—to succeed in business, you MUST understand accounting—thus our mission!
We offer three ways of helping:
1. Training, set up and customized bookkeeping services to client companies –
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New company set up with QuickBooks
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One-on-one or staff training in QuickBooks
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Training in small business accounting
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Customized bookkeeping support
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On-call remote or on-site support for QuickBooks problems/questions
2. On line training programs (in development) – ADD YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO OUR LIST to receive announcements of our complete online curriculum for small business accounting coming soon!
http://fiscalfoundations.com/contact-us/signup-for-email-notifications/
3. Our QuickBooks ProAdvisors volunteer their time to offer FREE QUICKBOOKS WORKSHOPS (TEXAS) through our own meetup.com group, http://www.meetup.com/Free-QuickBooks-Workshops/ and on behalf of other organizations and groups. In Minnesota, the meetup group address is http://www.meetup.com/Free-QuickBooks-Workshop/.
READ ON TO SEE IF THIS WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR GROUP…
AIMS OF THE WORKSHOP (Vary with topic and length of session)
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To reinforce how understanding accounting and setting up a good accounting system is critically important to small business success.
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To give small business owners (and nonprofit managers) a preview of how QuickBooks works and demonstrate its completeness of features to address all their accounting needs, and its user friendliness even for non-accountants.
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To acquaint business owners with areas of special concern and requirements, i.e. payroll tax deposit/reporting requirements/deadlines; sales tax reporting/paying (optional by state); year-end closing/readying books for CPA/tax preparation; 1099 preparation for subcontractors. Demonstrate how QuickBooks handles this tracking, report preparation, and reminders for deadlines.
GROUPS WHO HAVE SPONSORED OUR WORKSHOPS/TELENARS
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SCORE (Dallas, Minneapolis, St. Paul)
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Texas Business Centers – Denton, TX
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Women Venture – St. Paul, MN
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Minnesota Coaches Association – Twin Cities, Minnesota
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Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Minnesota, Inc. – Upper Midwest
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SBA Resource Fair – Minneapolis, MN
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Science Museum of Minnesota’s Computer Education Center – St Paul, MN
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Messerli & Schadow PLLP (CPA Firm) – Minneapolis, MN
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Women in Small Business Fair – Minneapolis, MN
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Private Bank Minnesota – QuickBooks for Nonprofits, Minneapolis, MN
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ADP – Minneapolis, MN
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Press Gold Group (Payroll Services) – Minneapolis, MN
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Insperity (a Houston company formerly known as Administaff) – Minneapolis, MN
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Intelligent Office – Denver, CO
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Roper Insurance & Financial Services – Denver, CO
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Saint Paul College – St. Paul, MN
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African Economic Development Solutions – St. Paul, MN
SUGGESTED LENGTH OF WORKSHOP
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2 Hours (have done up to 3 hours)
WORKSHOP FORMAT
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Informal, conversational style inviting participation and questions
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PowerPoint Slides as introduction and conclusion
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Live QuickBooks Demo with customized sample database if audience represents single industry
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Question and Answer session
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Recommendations for resources available to small businesses
SAMPLE WORKSHOP TITLES
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QuickBooks 101 – Managing and Growing Your Business with QuickBooks
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What You Need To Know To Start a New Business!
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Payroll Made Easy
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QuickBooks – An Essential Tool for Small Business Success
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Wrap It Up! – Closing Your Books at Year-End
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Collecting the Money You’re Owed – Effectively Managing Your Accounts Receivable
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Keeping It Simple and Achieving Results! – QuickBooks and Business Planning
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Managing Your Coaching Business with QuickBooks
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Know Your Numbers! – Understanding Your Financial Reports
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Managing Your Automotive Service Business with QuickBooks
FACILITIES
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Workshop Sponsor (That’s you!) provides room, handouts if desired, and refreshments. We provide complete presentation, handout masters for photocopying, slide projector, screen. (We can use Sponsor’s projector and screen if room is designed for audio visual presentations)
PROMOTION
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You send special invitations to your clients
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You publicize in any media you have available
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We publish the event on our website calendar and on our meetup.com website (unless a private workshop)
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We promote through social media including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook (unless a private workshop)\
LOCATIONS AVAILABLE
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Dallas and surrounding area
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Minneapolis St Paul and surrounding area
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Western Wisconsin
We also welcome opportunities to participate in webinars and telenars. Our clients often ask us for referrals to other small business service providers. We enjoy opportunities to develop cross-referral relationships that can benefit all our clients and further serve to support the small business community.
