Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Helping real people win the tax game.

Archive for March 18th, 2006

QuickBooks Icons

Posted by taxguru on March 18, 2006

Q:

Subject: In regards to something you wrote…..

“The most confusing thing about running so many versions of QuickBooks at the same time is that the icons that show up on your desktop and QuickLaunch bar look exactly the same for each year. I have to float the cursor arrow over them to find which is which, and even then I occasionally open the wrong program.”

I am not sure if you are referring to your desktop icon, but if you are, you can change the icon by right-clicking it. Go to properties, and then select “change icon” Maybe that will help with the minor frustration of running multiple Quickbooks programs on your desktop.

A:

I had tried that years ago and was disappointed to find the icons that come with the program all look almost exactly the same, with nothing to distinguish their year. I’m sure it’s because most people only have one version of QB installed, so have no need to worry about identifying different ones.

I launch most of my programs from the Quick-Launch tool-bar at the bottom of my screen, where I currently have over 80 tiny icons in alpha order.

I guess I could design my own icon for each version of QB; but that sounds too time consuming.

The icons that come with my Lacerte tax prep programs each have the last two digits of the year very prominently displayed in their tiny quick-launch bar icons; so I don’t even need to float my cursor over them to know which is which, as I need to do for the QB programs.

Thanks for writing.

Kerry Kerstetter

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Automating QuickBooks Payments

Posted by taxguru on March 18, 2006

Q:

Subject: quickbooks tips

Hi Kerry,

I see you’re a quickbooks expert, so here’s a quick question for you. Is there an easy way to enter monthly recurring bills once so that they show up in the unpaid bills (or checks to print) automatically? I’m thinking of stuff like my monthly rental payment.
It’s a total pain to have to enter the bill every month when it never changes.

A:

It’s quite simple. When you memorize the payment, you are given a choice to have it entered automatically on a variety of time schedules, including monthly.

Kerry Kerstetter

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Posted by taxguru on March 18, 2006

Many Americans Don’t Take Steps To Minimize Income-Tax Liability – This is what I have always been saying when so many people make the assumption that everyone tries to cheat on their taxes.  More often than not, people are too lazy, ignorant, naive or trusting to do things to reduce their taxes.  Many even intentionally overpay in attempts to keep IRS out of their hair.

 

Buy or Build A Business — Which Is Better for Beginners? – There are enough pros and cons to each approach to fill several books.  Neither should be attempted without competent professional tax counsel.

 

Weighing Independence And Big-Firm Advantages – There are obviously some benefits to working for a large company,.  However, every time I see a story about another big company reneging on its retirement or health care programs, I’m more confident that the only way to ensure our future is by doing it ourselves.  Relying on any company or government program to take care of our future can lead to nothing but disappointment.

 

Is There Still Profit to Be Made From Buying Fixer-Upper Homes?

 

Mortgage Muddle Puts U.S. Consumers at Risk – Not surprising that people sign up for mortgages without understanding the terms.  Too much fine print to be bothered with, which is why lenders toss in all kinds of sneaky provisions.

 

Claiming Parent As a Dependent

 

Phony IRS Refund Notification – Snopes.com looks at this phishing scam that has been circulating for the past few months.  If the IRS really wants some good PR, they’ll track down the scum-suckers behind these scams and publicly hang them by their short and curlies. It’s not too hard to track down celebrities at the Oscars.  Let’s see the IRS show off their investigative skills and  locate the scoundrels behind these phony emails.

 

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Posted by taxguru on March 18, 2006

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