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| In This Issue |
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March 28, 2009
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This issue of QB-Tech focuses on time clock software with checklists and case histories to help you begin your search for the right system to improve efficiency, cut costs and minimize errors.
We specialize in finding solutions to QuickBooks needs & problems:
Let us save you weeks, even months of research for solution software that teams up with QuickBooks. The result can save you important dollars.
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| Managerial Mentor |
In these difficult economic times, it is essential to keep costs low and track expenses. Payroll management is one area that deserves a close look.
Do your payroll and time clock systems involve a lot of manual bookkeeping? If so, this probably means they are also error-prone. All this may be costing you important dollars.
Investing in the right time clock system, integrated with QuickBooks, can cut hours, even days, off payroll processing.
Consider Shopping for a Time Clock System:
Here is a check list of important features you should consider when shopping for Time Clock software:
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Make certain it will run on your system, such as Windows 2000, XP & 32 bit Vista
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Will support all pay periods (weekly, biweekly, semi-month, month or one tailored to your needs)
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Delivers reports such as time card, tardy, attendance, labor & summary
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Delivers these reports to your screen, printer, MS Excel, MS Word, PDF, HTML or whatever format you are using
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Can be easily and seamlessly integrated with QuickBooks
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Will support daily & weekly overtime
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Designed to control unauthorized overtime
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Can be set to automatically deduct lunch periods
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Registers either the exact minute or rounds off time to the 10th, quarter hour or slant hour
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Permits you to assign off-site work, holidays & other non-worked hours by individual or group
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Archives your data and makes it easy to retrieve
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Supports all the time clocks in your system
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| Case Study # 1 - Dunkin' Donuts Upgrades Timecards with Count Me In, LLC |
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Problem:
With nearly a 3,000 employee payroll, Cafau Management Dunkin' Donut franchises needed to upgrade their electronic punch-clock timecard system. The objectives were:
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Improve management of employee time 
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Capture accurate employee time & attendance data
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Increase efficiency of payroll administration
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Reduce the time store managers devoted to pre-processing payroll
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Prevent employees from clocking in early
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Eliminate buddy-punching
- Enable more efficient scheduling
Solution:
Count Me In, LLC, installed their Timecard Monitor which features LightningID fingerprint identification. Employees provided fingerprint samples that were converted to algorithms and stored in a database. Two finger-taps on a digital sensor now authenticates an employee's identity.
The program also provided a seamless integration with QuickBooks for payroll and accounting benefits.
Benefits:
Tracking of time and attendance provided superior security, accuracy and efficiency. It also improved employee accountability and productivity while at the same time reducing payroll costs.
Installation took less than 10 minutes at each site. And, according to General Manager Guy Ruffo, it addressed all the challenges defined by on-site managers.
As Ruffo stated, "We've realized a diverse and broad range of benefits, including everything from reductions in overtime, simplification of social security payments, ease of access to management information and the ability to maintain our payroll budget."
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| Case Study # 2 - Virtual Software Revolutionizes Payroll for Employer Services Corporation |
Employer Services Corp., provides outsourced recruiting services to companies and government agencies looking for highly specialized technical candidates. At any given time, they have around 120 employees, including office staff and contract recruiters. 
Problem:
ESC was using a combination of paper, spreadsheets and outdated accounting software to manage the payroll and billing process. It was all manual and time consuming.
It was obvious that ESC's billing system was holding back their growth. As project manager, Celeste Jones, explained, "The meat and potatoes of our company is billing clients and paying employees." The system obviously had to be changed.
Solution:
After some investigation, ESC decided that Virtual Software provided the answer to their needs. It was easily combined with QuickBooks for more robust accounting and ADP for automated payroll.
The new software would also be able to automatically calculate the payroll based on approved timecards. And it would make the payroll quick and painless without any manual calculations or re-typing.
Benefits:
As Staff Accountant Michelle Evans commented, "I now have the security of knowing that all the hours are getting pulled into billing and payroll at the proper rates. No one's time gets missed. It's like magic."
Virtual Software has streamlined the accounting at ESC to the degree that over 100 timecards and paychecks can be processed every two weeks with only one staff accountant. The company has realized a significant savings in both time and labor costs. Plus the accuracy of billing has greatly improved.
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| Case Study # 3 - Dental Office Improves Efficiency by 75% with Icon Time Systems |
Arend Dental Office, Oregon 
Problem
The office was using a manual, Excel based timecard generating system. It was not only time consuming but error prone.
Solution
Icon Time Systems (Timevue), installed an automated timecard generation system. It was fully integrated with QuickBooks so that payroll hours and associated data were automatically exported to this program.
It also provided reports including time card, tardy, attendance, labor and summaries.
Benefits
Payroll processing efficiency was increased by more than 75%. It now takes under 20 minutes to generate payroll reports, create, print, sign and seal all paycheck envelopes.
It not only offers speed but minimizes errors which add integrity to the paychecks. As the Arend spokesperson commented, "It was worth every dollar of our investment."
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| Leaving You With A Little Humor |
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A computer programmer always stopped by a local watering hole every Friday night after work. He would sit down at the bar and order three glasses of beer. These he sipped, one at a time, until they were empty.
After several weeks of this, the bartender said, "You know, you don't have to order three beers at a time. I'll keep an eye on your glass and when it gets low I'll bring you a fresh one."
The programmer replied, "You don't understand. I have two brothers and we're all computer programmers. One is in Atlanta and the other is in Miami. So we made a promise to each other that every Friday night we would unwind from the week's stress by having a beer together. Right now, my brothers are also sitting in a bar having three beers and we're all drinking together."
The bartender thought this was a wonderful tradition which continued for many months. Then one Friday, the programmer came in and ordered only two beers.
The bartender put the glasses in front of him and said, "I know you have this tradition of drinking beer with your three brothers on Friday night. I'd just like to say that I'm sorry one of them has died."
"Oh no," the programmer replied. "My brothers are fine. It's me. I've quit drinking."
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FREE TIPS
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For our latest tips on setting up your chart of accounts so that you have the processing and reporting capabilities you need for these tough economic times, please refer to http://www.seeclearlyaccounting.com/22/index.html
While you are looking at the tips about your chart of accounts, if you are responsible for the accounting for an estate, you may want to read 22 of the Best Tips for Trust and Estate Accounting. This sets out how we do this work using QuickBooks, with a little help from Excel.
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