The QuickBooks Farm Accounting Cookbook
Publisher: Flagship Technologies
Published: May 1, 1999
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 380
ISBN-13: 9780967308302
Subjects: Accounting - General; Accounting; Farms; QuickBooks; Business / Economics / Finance; Business/Economics
Description: General Description

The QuickBooks Farm Accounting Cookbook™ (ISBN 0-9673083-0-5), by Mark Wilsdorf, is a step-by-step guide and quick reference to setting up and using the QuickBooks and QuickBooks Pro accounting programs in agriculture.

The first 92 pages are devoted to the basics of setting up and getting started with QuickBooks in a farm business, including ideas and approaches for setting up the Chart of Accounts and enterprise Classes, details about QuickBooks' EasyStep interview, discussions highlighting QuickBooks features most farm businesses should use and features most farm businesses should avoid! Here are some of the Cookbook's topics specifically for QuickBooks newcomers:
  	Setting up QuickBooks for a farm business
  	QuickBooks features you should use...and features to avoid!
  	Planning and setting up your Chart of Accounts
  	Deciding which account types to use
  	Setting up Classes (enterprise codes) to meet your information goals
  	Setting up QuickBooks Items
  	Managing farm business bills effectively
  	How to keep your records current
  	Reconciling your checkbook and credit card accounts
  	Why you should let QuickBooks print your checks
  	How to get real work done: using QuickBooks effectively

Pages 93 - 360 are devoted mostly to farm business transaction examples and explanations. This section reveals the reason for the books "Cookbook" name: it is loaded with a detailed, step-by-step "recipes" for entering farm business transactions. Topics include everything from basic income and expense entries, to details on handling farm-specific types of transactions--like how to deduct commissions and hauling from a milk check or livestock sale receipts, how to work with grain and livestock inventories in the QuickBooks inventory system, how to get reports with quantity information like average price received per bushel, and more. Here are some of the Cookbook's topics:
  	Recording cash income
  	Deducting expenses (hauling, commissions, etc.) from a deposit
  	Withholding cash from a deposit
  	Recording milk checks, capital retains, and revolvements
  	Accounting for resale livestock
  	Recording patronage dividends
  	Tracking quantities of things you sell (bushels, pounds, etc.)
  	Handling grain inventories
  	Recording cash discounts
  	Handling credits on account at the farm supply dealer
  	Recording refunds of expenses
  	The best way to enter farm & personal cash spending & income
  	Tracking quantities of things you buy (gallons, tons, etc.)
  	Tracking family living expenses using equity accounts
  	Farm asset and liability basics
  	Tracking depreciable asset purchases and sales
  	Setting up accounts for loans and notes
  	Recording loan and mortgage payments
  	Borrowing/paying on a line of credit
  	Backing up and storing your QuickBooks records

Most topics occupy just a few pages and include plenty of QuickBooks screen shots, examples, and step-by-step procedures. More important, the Cookbook's topics are "compartmentalized" to make it a handy quick reference: each example is a self-contained description of what you need to know about entering a certain type of transaction, without the need to read several chapters for background information first. If your goal is to set up farm loan accounts or to enter a grain sale or milk check, for example, you only need to read the short section devoted to that topic.
Who this Book is Written For...
The QuickBooks Farm Accounting Cookbook™ was written specifically for farmers and ranchers. It was designed from the ground up to help with setup, learning, and effective use of QuickBooks in a farm business. And as a QuickBooks reference, the Cookbook provides quick answers to farm accounting questions, with a minimum amount of reading.

Though written for farmers and ranchers, the Cookbook also appeals to other audiences. Accountants working with farmers and ranchers who use QuickBooks find the Cookbook a valuable reference for helping their clients with QuickBooks setup and operation. The same is true of other professionals such as Extension agents and agricultural lenders.

Teachers in vocational agriculture and community education programs find the Cookbook useful in the classroom as a source of examples and ideas. Some QuickBooks trainers are even using it as a student text in QuickBooks-based farm accounting classes.
How Much QuickBooks Experience Do I Need?

The Cookbook is meant for beginning- to intermediate-level QuickBooks users. However, advanced users also find it valuable as a reference.

Beginners usually suffer from information overload: there are so many features in QuickBooks, it's hard to know which ones to use! This book helps smooth out the "bumps in the road" to getting started by recommending QuickBooks features most farm businesses should use, and features most farm businesses should avoid! It shows how to set up QuickBooks for a farm or ranch, including tips on the EasyStep Interview and how to set up the Chart of Accounts, Classes, Items, and other QuickBooks lists.

There are also tips and ideas on managing bill payments, keeping records current even during busy seasons of the year, printing checks and deposit slips, and bookkeeping habits that will make using QuickBooks more effective and enjoyable.

Intermediate users will appreciate the quick-reference design of the Cookbook: short to-the-point topics are indexed by commodity, problem type, and example. Need to know how to deduct expenses from a cash sale? Don't remember how to enter a transaction you only use once a year? A quick check will give you the answer--without reading more than a few pages!

Advanced users will appreciate the special sections and "sidebar" discussions of advanced techniques and QuickBooks operating details, that show how to go beyond the basics to accomplish specific record keeping goals.
About the Author

Mark Wilsdorf has worked with agricultural software and accounting since 1981, as editor of AgriComp Magazine, as a farm accounting columnist for Doane's Agricultural Computing newsletter, as a developer of software and training materials for the Extension Service with the University of Missouri, and currently as president of Flagship Technologies, Inc. where he remains involved with agricultural software development and training.
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