The new shoe box

[veritas]

Used to be the client would dump all the business records into a box and proudly present them to you at year end. It was always fun to sort it out pulling out stale french fries and what have you.

Now days the client comes in with the electronic version. Maybe the laptop or a thumb drive. Go ahead plug the device in and enter a new world of wonder. Balance sheets with absolutely nothing on it since the client posted both sides to the bank account. Negative assets, positive liabilities no equity accounts whatsoever. Negative sales, an expense category labeled credit card payments. Don't forget the catchall account, miscellaneous. Grossing up wages? What's that? Liability, disability, life and health insurance all under what else...insurance. Car payments go under auto expense don't they? And what the heck why not 15 accounts for supplies of various types and another 10 or so for maintenance.

Looking back now with sadness and feeling forlorn, if only we could go back to Buster Brown and it's sides bulging with something tangible.

[taxxcpa]

Do you want fries with that?

I've seen some good examples of client versions of Peachtree and Quickbooks.
One had huge negative cash amounts. One of them had credited Tax payable, but when the tax was paid they credited tax expense. Negative inventories are also a feature of some versions of double-entry accounting.

Obviously they sold more merchandise than they purchased, spent more than they deposited and had unlimited overdraft privileges at the bank.

[Jiggers]

Client's electronic information

All my clients that use QB for their bookkeeping use the GIGO method of accounting.

"Garbage In, Garbage Out".

I have one large corporation that absolutely refuses to send their son, who does the posting, to any type of accounting classes.

Each year they have about $1,000 added to their fee for my time to "fix" their records to something that I can sign as a paid preparer.

[RitaB]

So true

Looking back now with sadness and feeling forlorn, if only we could go back to Buster Brown and it's sides bulging with something tangible.

I want to read people the riot act everytime somebody wants my opinion about what software to use: Are you kidding me? You can't even put all your electric bills in a stack or use a spreadsheet. Software is not going to help YOU.

Yes, let's go back to Buster Brown 101.

[outwest]

I fear plastic grocery sacks..

which seem to have replaced shoe boxes today.

[DaveO]

I'm still laughing after reading the other posts. This is just so true. Had a client bring a QB backup in last season. They couldn't figure out how to set up a bank account so they posted everything against Retained Earnings.

[outwest]

My classic..

was a Quicken file with a perfectly reconciled bank account. Only problem was everthing was posted to two (2) accounts: "Income" & "Expense"

[DTS]

Haven't gone away

Shoeboxes are alive and well. I'm looking at one right now on the other desk...all meals and entertainment, all business meals and entertainment.

[BOB W]

Shoeboxes are alive and well. I'm looking at one right now on the other desk...all meals and entertainment, all business meals and entertainment.

Dennis> I send those clients away...............I'm am not going to spend my free time on that kind of work. I'm a one man show.............Not for me at any price.

[Burke]

That is exactly what I brought in the office the other day to do my own return. What a convenient device. Sits on the shelf all year, and as things come in (tax documents) and items are paid (real estate taxes, contributions, est tax, etc.) it goes in too. At time to do return, all is right there. (All the business stuff is in QB and documents in other files.) Loved the other comments.

[joanmcq]

Mine goes into a folder. I use Simply Accounting. while doing data entry, I do match up all the charged receipts to the credit card statements and put a little red check mark on cash reciepts I've entered. And then do the checkbook register and put little check marks next to those expenses and deposits and also on the corresponding receipts.

And all my deposit slips are in an envelope marked '2010 deposits'. If I remember, I write the name(s) of the clients on the deposits.

Small biz, no problem.

I tell anyone new, that if they bring in a shoebox, I'll charge $125 an hour to sort through the stuff. Some want to pay me that. Others, I will set up a spreadsheet or give another one of my simple bookkeeping methods depending on the type of biz.

I NEVER recommend they buy QB.

[Uncle Sam]

The New Shoe Box

About 10 years ago I got a referral from a fellow Rotarian - a stock broker - one of his clients

The guy comes in about 1/2 hour late - had about 4 brokerage accounts-each titled differently, 8 bank accounts, a few K-1s from what looked like dormant S corps - without even looking through W-2s or any itemized deduction detail.

The problem was - I had another appointment coming up after the hour I allocated - and this guy expected me to open up 25 envelopes of tax stuff.

He apparently thought I had the whole day to spend with just him.

I told him to very frankly wrap up his stuff and when he has it organized - come back.

Never heard from him again.

[JohnH]

You did the right thing, but sometimes I still enjoy opening up the brokerage statements and rapidly cramming all the boilerplate stuff into the shredder while they sit there. It's fun to watch the expression on their face as they wonder whether I've stuck something important in there as it grinds & slices away. A loud, noisy shredder makes it all the more entertaining.

[DTS]

Dennis> I send those clients away...............I'm am not going to spend my free time on that kind of work. I'm a one man show.............Not for me at any price.

I'm a one-man show, as well, and that's why I'll do almost anything for $135 per hour.

[BOB W]

I'm a one-man show, as well, and that's why I'll do almost anything for $135 per hour.

If you can get it...go for it....................