QuickBooks-Blog

Intuit Stock Dives, Xero Stock Soars

When Intuit stock dives back to where it was TWO years ago (not even keeping pace with the Dow), while Xero stock soars almost 500%, the market is telling us what to expect in company product excellence and related growth.

That is why even QuickBooks insiders like me have been dumping Intuit products for Xero and Drake Software (pro tax). It also is why you should consider doing this.

When Intuit stock dives and Xero stock soars, the market is reflecting a 120% a year increase in Xero customers, while QuickBooks Desktop keeps losing users. When Xero soares this fast, a QuickBooks and Xero user like me can get $300 for a one-hour discussion of the companies with an investment advisor. When Xero stock soars this fast the company must try to explain the increase. It could not do so, so Xero stock soars still more. When Xero stock soars 250%, in ONE YEAR, compared to Intuit, you really should explain why you are not using or investing in Xero:

Intuit stock recently had the biggest one-day drop since March 2003, due to a drop in expected consumer tax returns received. It fell 12.5% in a day, after dropping up to 13.5%. Three analysts cut ratings, after returns received through April 12 fell 2% this year. Intuit expects this to increase 4% for the year, but previously said this division (which creates about 45% of operating income) would grow 10%. In the fiscal third quarter, when Intuit earns about half its annual revenue. It now expects about $2.80 a share, down from $2.88 a share. CEO Brad Smith said, "This was a tough tax season overall."

Yes, it was tough, but not for everyone. I recently saw this when we had our free monthly South Florida QuickBooks Meetup. I co-founded the oldest and second largest QuickBooks Meetup, with Brad's help. However, I learned that none of us still used Intuit pro tax products (Lacerte and ProSeries/Proline) and few still use TurboTax. After hearing that soe Intuit tax support calls took more than an hour on hold, vs 15 minutes for UltraTax, I strongly suggested Drake Software. Their far better support, with no second person referrals, takes less than 9 seconds on hold ALL YEAR. They even did this on the Saturday evening before April 15 and at noon on April 15.

For $1,500, ($1095 in May, 2013) Drake has the fastest program, unlimited support, unlimited e-filing and unlimited users, with document management, multiple computers, networking and much more. They even have links from your website, to a $10 and $20 consumer tax programs, which pay 80% commission. Compare that to these approximate costs:

    Intuit ProSeries – Proline $4,500 (several years ago)
    UltraTax $6,000
    Intuit Lacerte $7,500

That is why the 2012 CPA Advisor Reader's Choice Awards gave Drake a 42% rating, vs 13% and 12% ratings for Lacerte and ProSeries. It also means Brad should have many more tough seasons.

 

Xero Multi Entity Bank Rules with CSV / Excel imports and exports

Xero can easily give us Multi Entity Bank Rules with CSV / Excel imports and exports. Excel will let you quickly find and correct many hidden rule errors, so there would be increased accuracy and spectacular time savings.

I got very terrific support for this last September (Let an API link Xero bank rules to Excel), but Xero wanted it as a main program (non-API) function. Getting this could soon mean many national and regional generic and custom rules, with author, review and download data. New or experienced users could get 50+ such multi-condition rules in minutes. These rules would radically change the new user experience by generally showing Xero best practices. Of course, each such rule should have an Apply Automatically option.

So please, click here and vote for Allow Bank Rules to be used at te Practice Level.

Fastest and Easiest Xero Entries

I was glad to see the new Introducing Xero Business Essentials videos. They are excellent for new users. However, Xero also has the fastest and easiest video for assigning entries to accounts: Cash Coding - really fast.

Cash Coding is much more than the fastest and easiest way to record Xero entries. It is, by far, the fastest and easiest way to record entries in any accounting program I ever saw. I have been a heavy QuickBooks and Quicken user since inception, due to how fast they let me work. However, one look at the Xero Cash Coding video shows that they are now obsolete.

As the video shows, you can click on the Cash Coding column labels (Date, Payee, Reference…) to sort entries instantly. However, the video does not emphasize starting with entries that repeat often, so you can assign several entries at once. Once you do that, by Cash Coding or Rule change, click Save and Reconcile All. This misnamed button (minor Xero bug) posts only entries assigned to accounts. You may need to click it more than once if you have many entries assigned (Xero bug), but this still gives you the fastest and easiest Xero entries.

Here are other things not in the Cash Coding video. For the fastest and easiest Xero entries in Cash Coding (or Bank Reconciliations), keep the Bank Rules and Chart of Accounts screens open in different windows. You can do this fast by right clicking a menu choice and opening it in a new window. Where menu choices have submenus, you must click the menu and right click the submenu. You actually can do this in many programs and browsers.

Hit the F5 (refresh key) in one window, so Xero recognizes changes you make in other simultaneously open windows. That is, if you add or change a Rule, the Cash Coding screen will not use that change until you hit the F5 key in Cash Coding (or logoff and on).

Use generic Bank Rules, not Cash Coding alone, if items will repeat often. Only Rules automatically assign future entries. Generic rules use words like office, with any text field contains conditions. This can automatically assign future Office Depot, Office Max and other office expenses to an Office Expense account. Once we add and customize our many generic rules, we automatically assign up to 98% of future entries with one click.

Name rules by purpose, not payee, and keep them in alpha order. It also is important that you add to old rules instead of adding many new ones. However, do not use more than about 14 conditions per rule. Xero does not number conditions (bug). If you enter more conditions, check the rule before checking Cash Coding. Extra conditions may not save (Xero bug – no warning). Simply add 2 or 3 to the end of new rules when this happens.

Xero lets you enter account numbers or names when you assign entries, so you need not keep the chart of accounts in alpha order within sections (like Expenses). However, this helps if you forget account numbers.

Unfortunately, Cash Coding does not yet help us create generic Bank Rules. It also is only available to Financial Advisors (Partners) like us. That is why we work so much faster than most Xero users. We also work very inexpensively, since we have been heavily using international CPAs and bookkeepers since 1999.

Josh Farmer at Xero, who created the Business Essential videos, should probably update the Cash Coding video for the items mentioned here. Do you have any other ways to make Xero faster?

 

Introducing Xero Business Essentials - Banking Video Quickly Corrected

I was very glad to see the new Introducing Xero Business Essentials videos. An initial Banking video error showed that this video was not made with the actual Xero program, but Xero fixed that very quickly.

The video expertly used a generic word (parking) in a Rule (Bank Rule), with an "any text field" contains condition. However, it then assigned the Payee to Viaduct Parking. As the initial video showed, this generic rule affected many different parking locations. Therefore, the Payee should have been Parking or simply Payee. However, the initial video made the payee Viaduct Parking. It then showed a screen that ignored the Viaduct Parking payee designation (at 2:39), in favor of three different filled in payees.

Rules are very important, because every condition in every Rules makes it so you never again have to manually post entries. Xero progessionals can easily create more than 75 Rules, with an average of 10 conditions each. Some of these Rules can make all deposits post to sales, so thousands of items post automatically. In accounts that do not write manual checks, we often see 98% of entries accounted for automatically.

Equally important, the Cash Coding screen (available to Financial Advisors from the Bank Reconciliation screen) is far faster and more effective that the old Bank Reconciliation screen. Xero already had an amazing video on properly using Cash Coding - really fast. It shows that Cash Coding is far better than many users think, which is why I will mention many more Xero issues in my next post, The Fastest and Easiest Xero Entries.

Before doing that, however, I must let Joshua Farmer, an Online Learning Specialist at Xero, make an amazing comment. Joshua is responsible for creating video training and self paced online learning content at Xero. I published the initial version of this post at 3:52 PM Eastern U.S. time, on 4/17/13. Joshua actually fixed the video and posted his comment less than 9 hours later (my approval delayed the posting of his response).

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Make Sales Tax Easy

Here is how you can make sales tax easy, though there are more than 7,500 sales tax jurisdictions and 15,000 rates. You can make sales tax easy even though tax locations often ignore cities or zip codes and you may soon have to pay tax on out of state sales.

You cannot make sales tax easy by charging average tax rates, because you must pay the larger of tax collected or due for each jurisdiction. For example, say you charge everyone 7% with these sales:

  Rate     Sales         Tax
    6%    10,000        600
    7%    10,000        700
    8%    10,000        800
    Tax due             2,100

You will owe $2,200, not $2,100, plus interest and penalties, because you must pay the extra $100 collected in the 6% jurisdiction and get no credit for the $100 not charged in the 8% location.

To avoid this, you must charge according to exact customer location. Fortunately, you can make that fast and easy. You can use a web store that charges the right sales tax on every invoice. Ideally, your web company will file collect all the tax and file all the tax returns for you.

You also can make sales tax easy by getting help from Avalara. Here is a free AvaRates link. It will let you get the city, county and state tax rate for any customer, based on their exact location. This link includes my account, so you do not have to register until we all use this link more than 50 times a month.

If you have too many customers for the above free link, Avalara has rather inexpensive programs that link to QuickBooks, Xero and many web stores. 

Please contact Mike Block CPA for any Avalara, sales tax, QuickBooks or Xero questions, especially if you have a sales tax or other tax exam.

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