See the official press release here: http://eepurl.com/iBSL2
Z
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
QuickBooks Direct Deposit: Another price hike???!
I just got the following email:
And all I can say is, Seriously? Another price hike. And a full 20 cents per Direct Deposit? What's that, 16%? Are they trying to make the service not be cost-effective? Because at that price, I don't see how it can be. If I had twenty employees, I might seriously tell my employees that I can't offer Direct Deposit because this cost is too high. Printing and mailing a check is probably half that in terms of supplies and postage.
Perhaps Intuit has heard of a little thing called iTunes, where songs are 99 cents. Take a note, Intuit, if you want to have Direct Deposit make you millions and millions, then cut the price to 99 cents. You'll be overwhelmed by adopters. You will more than make up in volume what you lose in that price cut.
Z
We are writing to inform you of a pricing change for the Intuit
QuickBooks Payroll direct deposit service.
Beginning on March 1, 2012, the fee for
direct deposit will increase to $1.45 per paycheck. As
always, you will be charged for direct deposit only when you use it.
And all I can say is, Seriously? Another price hike. And a full 20 cents per Direct Deposit? What's that, 16%? Are they trying to make the service not be cost-effective? Because at that price, I don't see how it can be. If I had twenty employees, I might seriously tell my employees that I can't offer Direct Deposit because this cost is too high. Printing and mailing a check is probably half that in terms of supplies and postage.
Perhaps Intuit has heard of a little thing called iTunes, where songs are 99 cents. Take a note, Intuit, if you want to have Direct Deposit make you millions and millions, then cut the price to 99 cents. You'll be overwhelmed by adopters. You will more than make up in volume what you lose in that price cut.
Z
Inspiration
So I've been working on the year-end filing. This is a long process where I either actually file or scan everything that's been piling up. Then I take the 2011 files and put them in a box for six or seven years and hope I never need to look at them again, and I create 2012 files and start all over. This is just for business stuff like the phone bill, etc. But some of the filing needs to go in author files, so I was doing that also.
I occassionally chat about Express Review™, a service I created, essentially, for really impatient and frustrated authors. Or just the smart and eager ones. If you've ever been to one of the Disney parks, you are aware of the Fastpass, which essentially lets you not wait in line. Now, there may be another version that lets you just skip ahead entirely, and I recall such a version, but am not sure they still have it. Anyway...that's what Express Review is about. We request material (this is only for requested material) and ER provides a guaranteed response time.
Now, I've gotten my fair amount of grief over this service. People say I'm charging a reading fee (I'm not; the fee is just for a guaranteed response time; we read everything) or that while I may be honest about it all, others will not be and I'm just giving them ideas on new ways to scam writers (like they need my help?). And I've thought about doing away with it, but every now and then one of two things happens:
- An author gets all annoyed with me and demands to know why I'm taking so long to read his or her material. They act like I'm being paid a giant salary just to review their material and have nothing better to do. To these authors, I can say, "Well, we did request your material and we did offer you Express Review. Did you order it?" The answer, of course, is no. And none of them then order it, but they also stop bugging me.
- I sell an author's book and I have to refund the Express Review fee. Yes, I refund the fee. If I request your material and you pay the Express Review fee and I take your book on for representation and I sell it, then I refund the ER fee.
And the reason I'm writing about all this today is that as I was doing my filing, I came across the file for an author whose book I sold last year. I had completely forgotten that in December 2004, when he first submitted to me, he ordered Express Review, first of the sample chapter, and then of the manuscript when I requested it. And in 2011, I sold that book. Yes, it took far, far too many years, but at least you now know I never give up, and now he's going to be getting a refund check for his Express Review.
Now, this isn't the normal case, of course. Most of what I read, whether or not it was an Express Review, I reject. That's a fact of life. But twice now I have had clients who ordered Express Review of their manuscripts, I took them on, and I sold their books. And their fee was refunded. And for those who got rejection letters, well at least they didn't wait forever to find out their work wasn't for me, and hopefully they found my comments helpful (part of the ER service is that there are no form rejects; I provide feedback explaining my decision with every ER).
So to me, as I sign off on a check refunding this client's ER fee from many years ago, this says that I did something different and for this client, at least, it really worked. He got an agent and he got his book sold. And I find that inspiring.
Z
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
How Those Queries Coming Along?
Well, it's been an exciting Wednesday evening. I have just read all of the eQueries™ from October 2011. So I'm just a couple of months behind now. Here's what I'm about to do:
Decline 44 queries
Request sample chapters or proposals on 12 projects
If you queried me after October, then I still have to read your query.
Thank you for your patience!
Z
Decline 44 queries
Request sample chapters or proposals on 12 projects
If you queried me after October, then I still have to read your query.
Thank you for your patience!
Z
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
QuickBooks 1099 eFile: Don't Bother
I've been blogging about my experiences with QuickBooks 2012 and the myriad bugs and problems I've had. Today I had a fruitful call with Betsy from Intuit's Outbound Team, which interfaces with the Office of the President. Betsey was able to solve one major problem and get me to a place where I could actually sign up for and technically print and eFile my 1099s. My advice to the average user is, unless you have the 250 or more so that the IRS requires you to eFile, don't bother. Why? Because the service simply isn't that well thought-out or practical.
Weeks ago, I tried to find an example of what a 1099 printed via this service would look like. I couldn't find one, but I was told by someone in the Office of the President that it would look like the preview looks when you print your 1099s, i.e., two to a page. This worked for me, since I have a good supply of perforated, two-to-a-page blank paper on hand (I use it with Stamps.com Customs forms). However, the information I was given was incorrect. It prints one to a page, as you can see below.
Additionally, the PDF QuickBooks produces for you to print the 1099s includes instructions that would appear on the back of Copy B (For Recipient), but none on the back of Copy 2 (To Be Filed...). Thus, you will print three pages for each recipient, which you will then have to fold and insert in an envelope which will then have to be addressed. Or you could use a 9 x 12 envelope and not fold them, but you will still have to use address labels and you will pay extra postage to mail them. You cannot use the windowed 1099 envelopes you have probably been using for years. You could just fold them once and use a smaller 6 x 9 envelope and still pay regular postage, but you're still folding, stuffing, and labeling, rather than just dropping them into a 1099 envelope.
I did consider printing half of them, then flipping the paper around and printing the other half, so as not to waste half a sheet of paper on each. I considered trying to print them thus and double-sided, so as to eliminate a sheet of paper. But this doesn't quite work since the layout is three pages per recipient and no blank in between, so if you tried double-sided printing your Copy B for recipient #2 would end up on the back of the Copy 2 for recipient #1 (I bet this would be an easy fix for Intuit, but did they really need me to tell them about it?). And I realized, in the end, what a horrible waste of time this would all be. To me, this is another Intuit failure. And they charge you $25 for the privilege of using it. (Betsy was kind enough to inform me she was refunding me the $25 fee, which seems fair since I am not going to use the service after all.)
If I had 250 recipients, I would probably use the service to eFile, since the IRS requires it, but I would not use the service to print my own 1099s. I'd still buy the forms and print them on the forms. Why? Because (1) the forms use less paper in the long run and (2) they fit into the 1099 envelopes and mail quite nicely. When I did a test print using the PDF produced by QuickBooks, I found the 1099 does fit fine into a 1099 envelope (not purchased from Intuit), but sits low, so that the city, state and Zip Code are not completely visible. Not a good way to ensure that your 1099s get to their recipients.
I have also considered—since I have the right Adobe software—that I could break up the seventy-five page Adobe output and simply email the 1099s to the recipients as attachments. But, again, that seems like a lot of work to avoid buying the forms, envelopes and about $11 in postage. If you value your time even modestly, it's simply not worth it to use this service unless IRS regs force you to. And even then, you're probably better off buying the 1099 forms and envelopes through Costco and mailing them.
Now, if Intuit really wanted to knock their users' socks off, they could simply have created a system to email the 1099s to recipients. After all, the program already emails invoices, sales receipts, statements, and the like. Would it be that hard to email 1099 forms? No. But it would cut into the lucrative business of selling people 1099 forms and envelopes. I'm sure a lot of agonizing went into the decision to offer the eFile service and the print-your-own 1099 forms. And the pricing at $25 (before 1/15) or $39 (after 1/15) was probably designed to make up for that.
So unless you have to eFile your 1099s with the IRS, don't waste your money on Intuit QuickBooks 1099 eFile service. It's simply going to be more work than it is worth.
Z
Weeks ago, I tried to find an example of what a 1099 printed via this service would look like. I couldn't find one, but I was told by someone in the Office of the President that it would look like the preview looks when you print your 1099s, i.e., two to a page. This worked for me, since I have a good supply of perforated, two-to-a-page blank paper on hand (I use it with Stamps.com Customs forms). However, the information I was given was incorrect. It prints one to a page, as you can see below.
Additionally, the PDF QuickBooks produces for you to print the 1099s includes instructions that would appear on the back of Copy B (For Recipient), but none on the back of Copy 2 (To Be Filed...). Thus, you will print three pages for each recipient, which you will then have to fold and insert in an envelope which will then have to be addressed. Or you could use a 9 x 12 envelope and not fold them, but you will still have to use address labels and you will pay extra postage to mail them. You cannot use the windowed 1099 envelopes you have probably been using for years. You could just fold them once and use a smaller 6 x 9 envelope and still pay regular postage, but you're still folding, stuffing, and labeling, rather than just dropping them into a 1099 envelope.
I did consider printing half of them, then flipping the paper around and printing the other half, so as not to waste half a sheet of paper on each. I considered trying to print them thus and double-sided, so as to eliminate a sheet of paper. But this doesn't quite work since the layout is three pages per recipient and no blank in between, so if you tried double-sided printing your Copy B for recipient #2 would end up on the back of the Copy 2 for recipient #1 (I bet this would be an easy fix for Intuit, but did they really need me to tell them about it?). And I realized, in the end, what a horrible waste of time this would all be. To me, this is another Intuit failure. And they charge you $25 for the privilege of using it. (Betsy was kind enough to inform me she was refunding me the $25 fee, which seems fair since I am not going to use the service after all.)
If I had 250 recipients, I would probably use the service to eFile, since the IRS requires it, but I would not use the service to print my own 1099s. I'd still buy the forms and print them on the forms. Why? Because (1) the forms use less paper in the long run and (2) they fit into the 1099 envelopes and mail quite nicely. When I did a test print using the PDF produced by QuickBooks, I found the 1099 does fit fine into a 1099 envelope (not purchased from Intuit), but sits low, so that the city, state and Zip Code are not completely visible. Not a good way to ensure that your 1099s get to their recipients.
I have also considered—since I have the right Adobe software—that I could break up the seventy-five page Adobe output and simply email the 1099s to the recipients as attachments. But, again, that seems like a lot of work to avoid buying the forms, envelopes and about $11 in postage. If you value your time even modestly, it's simply not worth it to use this service unless IRS regs force you to. And even then, you're probably better off buying the 1099 forms and envelopes through Costco and mailing them.
Now, if Intuit really wanted to knock their users' socks off, they could simply have created a system to email the 1099s to recipients. After all, the program already emails invoices, sales receipts, statements, and the like. Would it be that hard to email 1099 forms? No. But it would cut into the lucrative business of selling people 1099 forms and envelopes. I'm sure a lot of agonizing went into the decision to offer the eFile service and the print-your-own 1099 forms. And the pricing at $25 (before 1/15) or $39 (after 1/15) was probably designed to make up for that.
So unless you have to eFile your 1099s with the IRS, don't waste your money on Intuit QuickBooks 1099 eFile service. It's simply going to be more work than it is worth.
Z
Friday, January 06, 2012
QuickBooks 2012: The 1099 Process from Hell
So yesterday I blogged about finding a bug in the online banking module for QuickBooks 2012. This sucked up about five hours of my life, minimum, over the course of several days (four just yesterday and the day before). Then I lost another two hours yesterday trying to figure out why the new 1099 "Wizard" returns entirely incorrect data compared to a 1099 Detail Report. But let's take a step back first.
As a small business owner, I don't have to issue a lot of people 1099s. Two to three dozen a year. It's not complicated, really, though it has often been annoying, since the forms are expensive, not always easy to find in stock, and you have to mess around with the alignment to get them to print right. So I was pretty excited by the idea of eFiling the 1099s and then being able to print them on plain paper. At $39, it seemed reasonable. At the "early bird" pricing of $25.00, it seemed very reasonable. Though, to be honest, you do still have to mail them. So you have to buy envelopes especially for 1099 forms. The motivator for me is that this year I have to mail exactly 25 of them and the forms are sold in batches of 25. If I mess one up or have to reprint at all, I'm going to need another batch. But if I pay for this eFile service, I can print them as needed on plain paper. So that's a bit of insurance for me, I guess.
In 2012, QuickBooks introduces a 1099 "Wizard." Alas, this is more like those stories where the wizard is a bumbling idiot than all-powerful. The wizard, according to Parvinder Makkar, the tech support rep I spent four hours on the phone with over two days, is still "a work in progress." I'd call it a kludge.
As mentioned in a prior post, the IRS will, apparently, now receive data from credit card companies and PayPal. So if you, the small business owner, pay a contractor (say a plumber) with a credit card, the IRS will be able to track that payment from you to the plumber. So you need not issue a 1099 to the plumber. Or let's say you hire a graphic artist and pay that graphic artist via PayPal. Again, no 1099 need be issued by you. Or least, this is how I understand it from QuickBooks. So QuickBooks needed a way to let you include or exclude which payments you made to contractors should be included in 1099s. Let's say you paid that graphic designer by check one job for $800 and by PayPal another job for $900. The 1099, as I understand it, should only reflect the $800 payment. But if you use PayPal and allow direct debit from your checking account, then you could, conceivably, use the Check form and your existing checking account to show that payment. This could screw up your 1099s. I, for one, have a separate account for PayPal in QuickBooks and I generally only make PayPal payments with my credit card. On the rare instance where I have a balance in my PayPal account, that gets used, but that's happened, literally, once. So if you put transactions via PayPal directly into your check register, you now need to use a "code" that QuickBooks will pick up so that it knows not to include that transaction in the 1099. Confused yet? Well, it gets better.
The wizard requires you to step through and ultimately review "included" and "excluded" transactions, after which you finally get the point where you can either print the 1099s or use the eFile service.
But the Wizard was returning completely erroneous data. It said I maybe owed two people 1099s, not 27 (and it did seem uncertain about those two) as per the 1099 Detail Report. And after two hours of letting "Vic" from Intuit review my transactions with his supervisor via connected support (meaning they took control of my computer and left me twiddling my thumbs), they decided that I had found bug #2 for the day. Yay! I'm not a lunatic. I didn't have a corrupt file. And I wasn't using a totally worthless piece-of crap software program. Oh, wait. Well, two of three ain't bad.
So, here's what they told me. I use a lot of "expense items" as shortcuts to include information on client checks, i.e., I created items for things and entered descriptions, so that the descriptions appear on the checks. An example might be "Bank Charge" as an item and the description might be "Bank Service Charge." Well, apparently the QuickBooks wizard doesn't see "through" those items to the underlying accounts. Had I used the account for Bank Charges under the Expenses tab, rather than an item on the Items tab, it would have worked fine. But it does not. However, I was reassured that my 1099s would print correctly because the 1099 Detail Report was correct. And I was assured they would send this whole mess off to the developers to address in a future release.
Alas, I am unable to find out, because when I tried to use the service, it insisted I sign in and then choose my company. Two "The Zack Company, Inc." files appeared to exist in their "App Center." One had a number next to it (presumably the one that was already syncing) and one did not. I tried to choose the one with the number. It insisted I had to be logged in as an Administrator to use it. Of course I was logged in as an Admin, so what was the issue? I have no idea. On a whim, I tried the other version next. This kicked me to a help screen that instructed me to "enable" the Sync Manager. Only problem? It was already running.
So I decided to try it all again, from scratch, but I had an email from Intuit thanking me for signing up. This had a link. I tried the link and it is stuck on directions to enable syncing, which is already enabled. Trying to go through the process from within QuickBooks just ends here:
If you can't read it, that's an error message saying "The page you have requested does not exist." This results from using a button from within QuickBooks and using its internal browser. I didn't input a URL; I just pushed the button.
So it appears, really, that I am three-for-three and have found yet another bug in QuickBooks.
As a small business owner, I don't have to issue a lot of people 1099s. Two to three dozen a year. It's not complicated, really, though it has often been annoying, since the forms are expensive, not always easy to find in stock, and you have to mess around with the alignment to get them to print right. So I was pretty excited by the idea of eFiling the 1099s and then being able to print them on plain paper. At $39, it seemed reasonable. At the "early bird" pricing of $25.00, it seemed very reasonable. Though, to be honest, you do still have to mail them. So you have to buy envelopes especially for 1099 forms. The motivator for me is that this year I have to mail exactly 25 of them and the forms are sold in batches of 25. If I mess one up or have to reprint at all, I'm going to need another batch. But if I pay for this eFile service, I can print them as needed on plain paper. So that's a bit of insurance for me, I guess.
In 2012, QuickBooks introduces a 1099 "Wizard." Alas, this is more like those stories where the wizard is a bumbling idiot than all-powerful. The wizard, according to Parvinder Makkar, the tech support rep I spent four hours on the phone with over two days, is still "a work in progress." I'd call it a kludge.
As mentioned in a prior post, the IRS will, apparently, now receive data from credit card companies and PayPal. So if you, the small business owner, pay a contractor (say a plumber) with a credit card, the IRS will be able to track that payment from you to the plumber. So you need not issue a 1099 to the plumber. Or let's say you hire a graphic artist and pay that graphic artist via PayPal. Again, no 1099 need be issued by you. Or least, this is how I understand it from QuickBooks. So QuickBooks needed a way to let you include or exclude which payments you made to contractors should be included in 1099s. Let's say you paid that graphic designer by check one job for $800 and by PayPal another job for $900. The 1099, as I understand it, should only reflect the $800 payment. But if you use PayPal and allow direct debit from your checking account, then you could, conceivably, use the Check form and your existing checking account to show that payment. This could screw up your 1099s. I, for one, have a separate account for PayPal in QuickBooks and I generally only make PayPal payments with my credit card. On the rare instance where I have a balance in my PayPal account, that gets used, but that's happened, literally, once. So if you put transactions via PayPal directly into your check register, you now need to use a "code" that QuickBooks will pick up so that it knows not to include that transaction in the 1099. Confused yet? Well, it gets better.
The wizard requires you to step through and ultimately review "included" and "excluded" transactions, after which you finally get the point where you can either print the 1099s or use the eFile service.
But the Wizard was returning completely erroneous data. It said I maybe owed two people 1099s, not 27 (and it did seem uncertain about those two) as per the 1099 Detail Report. And after two hours of letting "Vic" from Intuit review my transactions with his supervisor via connected support (meaning they took control of my computer and left me twiddling my thumbs), they decided that I had found bug #2 for the day. Yay! I'm not a lunatic. I didn't have a corrupt file. And I wasn't using a totally worthless piece-of crap software program. Oh, wait. Well, two of three ain't bad.
So, here's what they told me. I use a lot of "expense items" as shortcuts to include information on client checks, i.e., I created items for things and entered descriptions, so that the descriptions appear on the checks. An example might be "Bank Charge" as an item and the description might be "Bank Service Charge." Well, apparently the QuickBooks wizard doesn't see "through" those items to the underlying accounts. Had I used the account for Bank Charges under the Expenses tab, rather than an item on the Items tab, it would have worked fine. But it does not. However, I was reassured that my 1099s would print correctly because the 1099 Detail Report was correct. And I was assured they would send this whole mess off to the developers to address in a future release.
Alas, I am unable to find out, because when I tried to use the service, it insisted I sign in and then choose my company. Two "The Zack Company, Inc." files appeared to exist in their "App Center." One had a number next to it (presumably the one that was already syncing) and one did not. I tried to choose the one with the number. It insisted I had to be logged in as an Administrator to use it. Of course I was logged in as an Admin, so what was the issue? I have no idea. On a whim, I tried the other version next. This kicked me to a help screen that instructed me to "enable" the Sync Manager. Only problem? It was already running.
So I decided to try it all again, from scratch, but I had an email from Intuit thanking me for signing up. This had a link. I tried the link and it is stuck on directions to enable syncing, which is already enabled. Trying to go through the process from within QuickBooks just ends here:
If you can't read it, that's an error message saying "The page you have requested does not exist." This results from using a button from within QuickBooks and using its internal browser. I didn't input a URL; I just pushed the button.
So it appears, really, that I am three-for-three and have found yet another bug in QuickBooks.
I did try to call technical support. On the error page that resulted from the link I got in the email (https://workplace.intuit.com/AppDataSetup/AppDataSetup/bgu4ex5pp) there's a phone number. Now, let me be specific. The top of the page says, "You're almost ready to use Intuit 1099 E-File Service...". The bottom of the page says, "Got a question? Call our Intuit Customer Care (800)
450-8475." However, that phone number is not for 1099 support!
So I called my good friend Sonya at the Office of the President of Intuit. I say my good friend because I'm fairly certain she knows me by the sound of my voice by now. I emailed her the above picture. I could hear her frustration. She promised to have someone call me back. And while tech support would be nice, I honestly wish the actual president of Intuit would call me back, just to acknowledge that his software has wasted hours and hours and hours of my life since 1994 and maybe to throw a consulting job at me for a couple of hundred grand a year. 'Cause you know people there are making a pile of money, but it's literally all at our expense. And maybe if those jobs were in the US, I'd feel bitter, but since I know they are in the Philippines and India, I'm actually pissed off that I'm wasting hours and hours of my time because Intuit cut their costs, outsourced the jobs, and still doesn't have working software! I may, actually, go buy one share of Intuit stock so that I can attend the annual meeting and throw a pie in the face of the president of Intuit. Because if there is a guy who deserves to be "pie'd," it's him. Damn, did I just lose my consulting gig?
Z
Thursday, January 05, 2012
QuickBooks Bugger
So I've been posting here about my adventures with QuickBooks 2012 and documented an issue between QuickBooks and my bank, Chase, and the bizarre dates that were coming back when I tried to send transfers from QB to Chase.
Well, I've been working for what must be six hours over two days with Parvinder, a tech support guy from Intuit's Office of the President, and we were able to reproduce the error using a test file and using different accounts. It wasn't "just me," which is always reassuring!
So, today I heard what I knew was the case: I've found a bug. Yes, little old small-business owner me found a big, bad bug in QuickBooks 2012. So I'm actually on my second computer while the rep is doing his long-distance thing and grabbing log files off my computer. If I suddenly find all my money is gone and my credit cards are maxed out, I think I'll know who to blame. . . .
So, on the one hand, it's great that I was able to get action. It's great that they want to fix this problem. But should I have been the one to find this bug? And is anyone going to pay me for all my time in finding and trouble-shooting this? I mean, I certainly never volunteered to be a beta tester. I'm, at best, a reviewer and an unpaid one at that.
And where does a bug like this come from? The part of the program appears completely unchanged to me. Why would something that worked fine in the prior version and is apparently unchanged suddenly have a bug? A million to one shot based on my configuration? I guess I'll never know. But if Intuit suddenly decides to send me a fat check for my time, I certainly won't complain. (Hint, hint.)
Z
Well, I've been working for what must be six hours over two days with Parvinder, a tech support guy from Intuit's Office of the President, and we were able to reproduce the error using a test file and using different accounts. It wasn't "just me," which is always reassuring!
So, today I heard what I knew was the case: I've found a bug. Yes, little old small-business owner me found a big, bad bug in QuickBooks 2012. So I'm actually on my second computer while the rep is doing his long-distance thing and grabbing log files off my computer. If I suddenly find all my money is gone and my credit cards are maxed out, I think I'll know who to blame. . . .
So, on the one hand, it's great that I was able to get action. It's great that they want to fix this problem. But should I have been the one to find this bug? And is anyone going to pay me for all my time in finding and trouble-shooting this? I mean, I certainly never volunteered to be a beta tester. I'm, at best, a reviewer and an unpaid one at that.
And where does a bug like this come from? The part of the program appears completely unchanged to me. Why would something that worked fine in the prior version and is apparently unchanged suddenly have a bug? A million to one shot based on my configuration? I guess I'll never know. But if Intuit suddenly decides to send me a fat check for my time, I certainly won't complain. (Hint, hint.)
Z
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
If it ain't broke, why did Intuit break it?
Ah, the joys of working with QuickBooks 2012 continue! Call me overeager, but each year I try and knock out my client 1099s as early in the New Year as possible. So today I decided to take a crack at using Intuit's eFiling service for 1099s and printing to plain paper.
Problem #1 is that the interface to review your 1099 recipients has changed and I think it's terrible. Again, they seem to have employed Java or some other software to try and make the interface a bit more modern. But it's not flexible or accurate. For example on the first screen I see multiple vendors checked who will not be due 1099s. Why? Because I didn't pay them last year. Heck, one is deceased, so I'm not sure how he would have earned a payment from me.
So I hit "Continue" and find that in the Address field all that's listed is the full name of the recipient. This might make sense if there was anything after that, like a street address, but there is not.
On the next screen, I was warned that my filing thresholds are not in line with IRS regulations. This turned out to be true. But since I'm not paying out in any of the categories QuickBooks insisted on changing, it was irrelevant and a waste of my time to review and "fix."
On the next screen is the latest pain in the rear: "Review payments for exclusions". To quote from the help screen, Beginning with the 2011 tax year, the IRS requires you to exclude from Form 1099-MISC any payments you made by credit card, debit card, gift card, or third-party payment network such as PayPal. (These payments are being reported by the card issuers and third-party payment networks on Form 1099-K.)
When you use check payments (in either Pay Bills or Write Checks) to record a vendor payment made with a credit card, debit card, or gift card, or using a third-party payment network such as PayPal, you should note the payment method in the check number field. QuickBooks recognizes, and automatically excludes from Form 1099-MISC, any check payment containing one of the following notations in the check number field (limited to 8 characters).
Oy. Really? That's almost enough to make me want to pay everyone by check that I might ever have to send a 1099 to, just so I don't have to deal with this B.S. I understand the IRS is working hard to track every dollar made in the US, but having the credit-card companies report on us? Geez.
Okay, let's get back to QuickBooks and it's giant FAIL! On the next screen, "Confirm your 1099 entries," I get a total of TWO individuals that should get 1099s, but the total of what they were paid is zero. But if I run a "Detail Report," I get a couple of dozen vendors due 1099s and a total of what they were paid in the six figures. Oops!
On the next screen, I have the option of eFiling or printing the 1099s on pre-printed forms. When I clicked on eFile, it was unclear what could happen next, so first I'm going to try and chat with a specialist. Hum the theme from "Jeopardy" here.
I have now been waiting two minutes. My anticipated wait time was 0 minutes and I was first in line!
I am now chatting with Jessica. Jessica is such a cute name. I wonder what her real name is? I find that Customer Support personnel usually have a real name and a name they use when providing support. Alas, Jessica cannot help me, since the program locks up once you start a chat session. She referred me to telephone support, which I just called and found the wait for telephone payroll support is one hour!
The old 1099 printing method worked just fine. So why did Intuit change it and, it seems, break it? If I ever find out, I'll let you know.
Z
Problem #1 is that the interface to review your 1099 recipients has changed and I think it's terrible. Again, they seem to have employed Java or some other software to try and make the interface a bit more modern. But it's not flexible or accurate. For example on the first screen I see multiple vendors checked who will not be due 1099s. Why? Because I didn't pay them last year. Heck, one is deceased, so I'm not sure how he would have earned a payment from me.
So I hit "Continue" and find that in the Address field all that's listed is the full name of the recipient. This might make sense if there was anything after that, like a street address, but there is not.
On the next screen, I was warned that my filing thresholds are not in line with IRS regulations. This turned out to be true. But since I'm not paying out in any of the categories QuickBooks insisted on changing, it was irrelevant and a waste of my time to review and "fix."
On the next screen is the latest pain in the rear: "Review payments for exclusions". To quote from the help screen, Beginning with the 2011 tax year, the IRS requires you to exclude from Form 1099-MISC any payments you made by credit card, debit card, gift card, or third-party payment network such as PayPal. (These payments are being reported by the card issuers and third-party payment networks on Form 1099-K.)
When you use check payments (in either Pay Bills or Write Checks) to record a vendor payment made with a credit card, debit card, or gift card, or using a third-party payment network such as PayPal, you should note the payment method in the check number field. QuickBooks recognizes, and automatically excludes from Form 1099-MISC, any check payment containing one of the following notations in the check number field (limited to 8 characters).
Oy. Really? That's almost enough to make me want to pay everyone by check that I might ever have to send a 1099 to, just so I don't have to deal with this B.S. I understand the IRS is working hard to track every dollar made in the US, but having the credit-card companies report on us? Geez.
Okay, let's get back to QuickBooks and it's giant FAIL! On the next screen, "Confirm your 1099 entries," I get a total of TWO individuals that should get 1099s, but the total of what they were paid is zero. But if I run a "Detail Report," I get a couple of dozen vendors due 1099s and a total of what they were paid in the six figures. Oops!
On the next screen, I have the option of eFiling or printing the 1099s on pre-printed forms. When I clicked on eFile, it was unclear what could happen next, so first I'm going to try and chat with a specialist. Hum the theme from "Jeopardy" here.
I have now been waiting two minutes. My anticipated wait time was 0 minutes and I was first in line!
I am now chatting with Jessica. Jessica is such a cute name. I wonder what her real name is? I find that Customer Support personnel usually have a real name and a name they use when providing support. Alas, Jessica cannot help me, since the program locks up once you start a chat session. She referred me to telephone support, which I just called and found the wait for telephone payroll support is one hour!
The old 1099 printing method worked just fine. So why did Intuit change it and, it seems, break it? If I ever find out, I'll let you know.
Z
Monday, January 02, 2012
The December Monthly Round-up
Happy New Year! Here's the December monthly round-up. I know I set the goal of reading all of the eQueries™ by the end of the year, but am sorry to say it just didn't happen. We were lucky enough to have quite a bit of family come visit, but that does cut into work time, and no sooner did family leave than I got sick—twice! I'm currently battling my second cold of the month! But I did put a good dent in the number and I consider that a partial win.
Here's where December ended up:
- 54 queries received; 89 declined
- 1 sample chapter received; 1 declined
- 0 proposals received; 1 declined
- 0 manuscripts received; 2 declined
I did also review 3 full manuscripts and 1 proposal and had extensive conversations with the authors. Ideally, we'll be chatting again down the road about representation. I also reviewed 1 other full ms, but haven't yet reached out to the author. It's tricky. I'm still thinking about it.
Also in December, I requested 16 sample chapters and 3 proposals. So that's about 105 queries read and responded to, 4 full manuscripts reviewed, 2 proposals reviewed. Not bad, given all the family and illness, I'd say.
So, what am I waiting on? About 20 sample chapters and 3 proposals, plus revised versions of the manuscripts or proposals mentioned above.
Thanks, as always, for your patience.
Z
Thursday, December 22, 2011
MAJOR QuickBooks Suckage
A few days ago, I got a call from the Product Manager at Intuit for QuickBooks 2012. Nice guy. Wanted to know if it would be okay for him to email me some responses to some of my comments that I made in my prior reviews of QuickBooks. Hopefully, before he does that, he'll read this post.
I bank at JPMorgan Chase. It's a smallish bank with branches only in every state of our nation (well, not sure about Hawaii and Alaska, actually). They are also very technologically behind. I mean, sure, you can take a picture of a check with your iPhone and it counts as a deposit, but don't try that with a Blackberry! I jest, of course. Chase is huge and very on top of the technology for banking.
I have used QuickBooks to send transactions to Chase for years. I even used the BillPay feature for a while, but gave it up because I found it too unpredictable. I'd put in a date and then the software would tell me I was too late and change the date, etc. But for simple transfers, it was a breeze. Until recently. Recently, it's a car wreck, pure and simple. I've talked to Chase and they asked me to email my log files. Alas, the email address I was given did not work. Still, Chase insisted it was a problem with QuickBooks and I don't have reason to doubt them, especially since I'm scheduling transfers on 12/21/2011 and getting back messages saying "The transfer will be effective as of the end of 11/02/2010." Huh???!
And it really does put the transfer back in November 2010. The only way to fix it is to delete the transfer and then manually create a new one on the right date.
The other really fun thing that's been happening is that bank charges are not downloading into QuickBooks. For example, I received a wire of funds. Chase charges me $15.00 to receive that wire (yes, that sucks, but right now we're talking QuickBooks suckage not Chase suckage) and if I then turn around and wire the client his funds, Chase charges $25.00 to send that wire. Each of these charges shows as a "Misc. Debit" However, it seems that since I upgraded to 2012, these fees are not downloading. So only because I know they exist and I go look them up on the Chase site and manually enter them, do I know they took place. Things could get ugly without knowing about those charges, right?
So is this Intuit's problem or Chase's problem? I'd argue both. Though I've avoided the fees for years, Chase does charge a fee for the "privilege" to download transactions from their servers to QuickBooks. If it isn't working right, I think the response should be "Holy sh^t! Someone get Intuit on the phone." Not, "Well, have you called Intuit to tell them about the problem?"
I did call QuickBooks support today. I think the rep was in Manilla. And despite speaking pretty good English, he seemed to have no understanding at all that I'd found a bug in their program. I asked for a tier two rep and was put on hold for so long, I hung up. Tomorrow I'm going to call the Office of the President at Intuit again. And maybe I'll try the Office of the President at Chase. Maybe someone from one of those offices might be inclined to call the other and get some kind of investigation going.
Of course, it could just be my copy of QuickBooks. I could try and reinstall, but until someone tells me that's what I should do, I'm operating under the assumption that it's not my problem, it's QuickBooks'...or maybe Chase's.
Z
I bank at JPMorgan Chase. It's a smallish bank with branches only in every state of our nation (well, not sure about Hawaii and Alaska, actually). They are also very technologically behind. I mean, sure, you can take a picture of a check with your iPhone and it counts as a deposit, but don't try that with a Blackberry! I jest, of course. Chase is huge and very on top of the technology for banking.
I have used QuickBooks to send transactions to Chase for years. I even used the BillPay feature for a while, but gave it up because I found it too unpredictable. I'd put in a date and then the software would tell me I was too late and change the date, etc. But for simple transfers, it was a breeze. Until recently. Recently, it's a car wreck, pure and simple. I've talked to Chase and they asked me to email my log files. Alas, the email address I was given did not work. Still, Chase insisted it was a problem with QuickBooks and I don't have reason to doubt them, especially since I'm scheduling transfers on 12/21/2011 and getting back messages saying "The transfer will be effective as of the end of 11/02/2010." Huh???!
And it really does put the transfer back in November 2010. The only way to fix it is to delete the transfer and then manually create a new one on the right date.
The other really fun thing that's been happening is that bank charges are not downloading into QuickBooks. For example, I received a wire of funds. Chase charges me $15.00 to receive that wire (yes, that sucks, but right now we're talking QuickBooks suckage not Chase suckage) and if I then turn around and wire the client his funds, Chase charges $25.00 to send that wire. Each of these charges shows as a "Misc. Debit" However, it seems that since I upgraded to 2012, these fees are not downloading. So only because I know they exist and I go look them up on the Chase site and manually enter them, do I know they took place. Things could get ugly without knowing about those charges, right?
So is this Intuit's problem or Chase's problem? I'd argue both. Though I've avoided the fees for years, Chase does charge a fee for the "privilege" to download transactions from their servers to QuickBooks. If it isn't working right, I think the response should be "Holy sh^t! Someone get Intuit on the phone." Not, "Well, have you called Intuit to tell them about the problem?"
I did call QuickBooks support today. I think the rep was in Manilla. And despite speaking pretty good English, he seemed to have no understanding at all that I'd found a bug in their program. I asked for a tier two rep and was put on hold for so long, I hung up. Tomorrow I'm going to call the Office of the President at Intuit again. And maybe I'll try the Office of the President at Chase. Maybe someone from one of those offices might be inclined to call the other and get some kind of investigation going.
Of course, it could just be my copy of QuickBooks. I could try and reinstall, but until someone tells me that's what I should do, I'm operating under the assumption that it's not my problem, it's QuickBooks'...or maybe Chase's.
Z
Friday, December 02, 2011
The November Monthly Round-Up
As a literary agent, the truth is that I'm only going to be in business as long as I keep selling books, and to do that I need books to sell. Thus, submissions are actually an important thing in my life. But like everything in business, priorities often shift. But I do make an effort every month to both make progress on my submissions and also to report to you where I'm at. So here, without further delay, is...the November Monthly Round-up!
In November, we...
As of December 2nd, we have...
We are currently waiting on the following requested materials:
My goal is to get through all of the eQueries by the end of the year. I have two of those fourteen manuscripts out with a reader and hopefully I'll be able to look at a couple before the end of the year.
Thanks, as always, for your patience.
Z
In November, we...
- Received 68 queries; declined 9;
- Received 2 sample chapters; declined 12;
- Received 2 proposals; declined 0;
- Received 3 manuscripts; declined 1.
As of December 2nd, we have...
- 166 eQueries to read;
- 1 proposal to read;
- 14 full manuscripts to read.
We are currently waiting on the following requested materials:
- 5 sample chapters;
- 1 full manuscript.
My goal is to get through all of the eQueries by the end of the year. I have two of those fourteen manuscripts out with a reader and hopefully I'll be able to look at a couple before the end of the year.
Thanks, as always, for your patience.
Z
So What Do You Think of Self-Published Authors?
So, I'm curious then where you stand on authors who self-published (orig, not backlist) but are doing well? Not those pulling Amanda Hockings, but well. Do you see a way how agents could help them to do even better? Can an agent come in after the fact and open new arenas for them? Or is well not enough? Just curious.
The short answer is that even the Chia Pet sells millions every year. (This year, I'm getting Chia Obama! Okay, seriously, is that not just a bit disrespectful and even borderline racist that there is a Chia Obama?) How many crappy TV shows have stayed on the air season after season? Germans really like David Hasselhoff's singing???!
Okay, that's a bit snarky. I'm sure there are many excellent self-published novels. Alas, over the years, none of the ones that have been sent to me have been that great. I did take one on for representation in 1994 or so, the title of which I have completely forgotten. It didn't sell.
I remember reading a review of Amanda Hocking's works. It was not favorable. Then again, I know plenty of editors laughed at David Gernert when he was an editor at Doubleday and paid, I think, $250,000 to acquire THE FIRM. Now he's Grisham's agent and laughing all the way to the bank. Plenty of editors have told me over lunch that they would not have acquired THE DA VINCI CODE, because they didn't think it was that good a book.
Now I enjoyed THE FIRM and found it to be a perfect "popcorn read." Very good pacing. But I thought it was written at an eighth-grade reading level. I couldn't finish THE DA VINCI CODE, because I grew up reading Hardy Boys novels and then I moved onto more complex fiction. THE DA VINCI CODE, bestseller that it is, is not complex fiction and is, I feel, not much more than a Hardy Boys novel. I'm not even sure it's at an eighth-grade reading level.
So what's my point? Well, the market is the final decider, though it's a shame that what that often means is that works with lower common denominators succeed better than more complicated works of fiction.
Now, could an agent help those self-published novelists do better? Perhaps, but it depends on a few factors. For example, is the book truly well-written and not just selling? Because people who acquire books for foreign publishers or for movies or for audio tend to be "book people," meaning they may turn up their noses at anything that's just selling but isn't also well-written. I have shopped books by at least one New York Times bestselling author and editors turned them down because they didn't like the story or didn't find the jokes funny. C'mon! The guy sells. Put aside your personal opinion and make the house some money!
But if an author self-published and said to me, "I worked with Beth Lieberman or Ed Stackler [or another quality freelance editor I know], and then I had the book professionally copyedited by a copyeditor who has edited over one hundred novels for Random House, and I had it professionally proofread after conversion to ensure it was clean, and I've sold thousands of eBooks and really want a deal with a 'real' publisher,'" I'd certainly be interested. But if the author just wrote it, self-published it, and didn't go through a true editorial process, I would have less interest. Strong sales might be enough to get me to look, but in the end the person has to be a good writer, in my opinion, or I won't take him or her on.
Z
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Been Dying to Meet Me? Here's Your Chance!
Just a quick note to mention that I'll be attending the Southern California Writers' Conference in San Diego, Presidents' Day Weekend, February 17-20th.
Here's the link: http://www.writersconference.com/sd/.
Hope to see you there!
Z
Here's the link: http://www.writersconference.com/sd/.
Hope to see you there!
Z
Monday, November 28, 2011
The Merits of Small Publishers
"I would love to read your thoughts on the merits (or lack thereof) of publishing via small, boutique publishing companies. As a first time author, I get the feeling that I have a better chance of being published if I am able to make a deal directly with a small company, but I fear that I may lose out on potential earnings and exposure versus working to get connected with a major publisher. What are your thoughts."—Kevin Jackson
Small publishers play an important part in the industry, often nurturing newer authors who would otherwise not see print at larger houses. However, they often pay very small or even no advance. And authors need to beware of contracts that are grossly advantageous to the publisher. For example, such contracts may insist on World rights, including audio and even film and television rights. Larger NY publishers would be less likely to insist on such terms, especially if the author is represented by an agent.
Additionally, smaller publishers may not have the resources to actively promote and market your work. Even with larger publishers, much of the weight of promoting a first novel falls on the shoulders of the author. The publisher is not looking to make a bestseller; it is looking to make a profit.
I once heard a New York Times bestselling author complain about how her publisher promoted her work. It had hit the list around number eight. She asked her publisher, "How are we getting it to number one?" They informed her the marketing budget was already spent. She said, "I understand, but we hit the list. What can be done to move it up the list?" They replied, "The marketing and advertising budgets have already been spent." She ranted and raved about the stupidity of this publisher. I sat in the back shaking my head. She didn't get it. The publisher never expected the book to hit the list. When it did, it was like hitting a jackpot. Why keep pouring money onto the table if you are up really big? One could argue that you are now playing with the house's money, so why not? I would argue that that is a sucker's bet, as the odds always favor the house.
And perhaps there was more. Perhaps the titles already on the list were selling in such greater numbers that there was no way to move up the list. Perhaps the publisher already saw a trend in reorders that said sales were going to drop off, so it would be a losing bet to spend more on marketing. Either way, it seems petty of the author, whose book was made into a movie and undoubtedly sold hundreds of thousands more copies after that, to complain that her publisher got her onto the bestseller list, but didn't do enough to make it move up the list.
On the other hand, small publishers will do nothing. Fortunately, in this day and age of blogs and websites, the cost of promotion has come way, way down. Small publishers and authors can do far, far more for far less. Alas, we are all inundated with information from websites and Facebook postings, so you have to constantly barrage the end-user to penetrate the natural defenses against such promotions.
So, for many, smaller publishers can be a great opportunity to get into the business. But there are caveats and authors should given them close attention.
Z
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
QuickBooks 2012: The Adventure Continues!
Yesterday I reported on my starting up with QuickBooks 2012. Here are a few more observations. Today, when I launched the program I got an error message that presented me with a link to the support site. Always interesting that they know the error comes up and, rather than fixing the software, they send you to the support site where the advice is to "toggle your UAC" settings. Seems to me that QuickBooks should toggle something and fix the problem.
I did install the QuickBooks Contacts Sync add-in. My first reaction was surprise that it wanted me to import my QuickBooks contacts into Outlook. This seems completely bassackward. Obviously, contacts will first be in Outlook, not in QuickBooks. Additionally, I use many generic entries in QuickBooks, like "Gas Station" and "Restaurant." I won't need to sync those, so why would I want to import them?
My first step in using this is to create a specific QuickBooks Contacts folder in Outlook and then start the Sync add-in from Outlook. It wants me to map fields. I find some of these fields a bit strange. For example, it wants to put Contact from QB into the Manager's Name field in Outlook and the Alt Contact from QB into the Assistant's Name field in Outlook. To quote the kids, WTF?
Okay, so I did all that and then I get a "Contact Sync Error: Unsupported QuickBooks version | Contact Sync will only work with QuickBooks 2005 or later." Okay, seriously. I'm running 2012. Why am I getting this idiotic error?
On a second try, I don't mess with any of the mapped fields. I just let QB use the defaults. I have the sudden realization that I am syncing with an empty Contacts folder in Outlook and said that Outlook wins in any disagreements with Outlook and QuickBooks. I wonder if a ton of data will now be deleted from QuickBooks and am praying I backed everything up!
Looks like I am okay....
Looking at the data in Outlook, though, I have to say I'm not impressed. Addresses in the imported data are often missing line breaks, so the street address and city are running together. Additionally, do I really need the address for American Express or Citi Cards in Outlook? There are some addresses that need only be in Outlook and some that need only be in QuickBooks. Perhaps what we need is selective syncing or integration of the Outlook files with QuickBooks in a manner similar to how the Stamps.com software integrates with Outlook.
Right now, I'd say that the Outlook/QuickBooks Sync Add-On is not ready for Prime Time. It still feels clunky and not completely functional. I'll be uninstalling it.
Z
I did install the QuickBooks Contacts Sync add-in. My first reaction was surprise that it wanted me to import my QuickBooks contacts into Outlook. This seems completely bassackward. Obviously, contacts will first be in Outlook, not in QuickBooks. Additionally, I use many generic entries in QuickBooks, like "Gas Station" and "Restaurant." I won't need to sync those, so why would I want to import them?
My first step in using this is to create a specific QuickBooks Contacts folder in Outlook and then start the Sync add-in from Outlook. It wants me to map fields. I find some of these fields a bit strange. For example, it wants to put Contact from QB into the Manager's Name field in Outlook and the Alt Contact from QB into the Assistant's Name field in Outlook. To quote the kids, WTF?
Okay, so I did all that and then I get a "Contact Sync Error: Unsupported QuickBooks version | Contact Sync will only work with QuickBooks 2005 or later." Okay, seriously. I'm running 2012. Why am I getting this idiotic error?
On a second try, I don't mess with any of the mapped fields. I just let QB use the defaults. I have the sudden realization that I am syncing with an empty Contacts folder in Outlook and said that Outlook wins in any disagreements with Outlook and QuickBooks. I wonder if a ton of data will now be deleted from QuickBooks and am praying I backed everything up!
Looks like I am okay....
Looking at the data in Outlook, though, I have to say I'm not impressed. Addresses in the imported data are often missing line breaks, so the street address and city are running together. Additionally, do I really need the address for American Express or Citi Cards in Outlook? There are some addresses that need only be in Outlook and some that need only be in QuickBooks. Perhaps what we need is selective syncing or integration of the Outlook files with QuickBooks in a manner similar to how the Stamps.com software integrates with Outlook.
Right now, I'd say that the Outlook/QuickBooks Sync Add-On is not ready for Prime Time. It still feels clunky and not completely functional. I'll be uninstalling it.
Z
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
QuickBooks 2012: Worth it or skip it?
I just installed my review copy of QuickBooks 2012 and wanted to share my immediate impressions.
Install went relatively easily. I was asked if I wanted to replace my 2011 edition or put 2012 in its own directory. Since 2011 was in a directory labeled 2011, I opted for a new directory and can uninstall 2011 when I feel ready.
Of course, you have to register by logging into your existing QB account online or by creating one. I find this pesky, but standard.
QuickBooks 2012 did not automatically update and I can't say I understand why. There was a prompt about it and I said go ahead, but it did not seem to happen. So I did it manually. First attempt failed with an error. Second attempt worked.
In launching, I noticed that the Sync Manager was closed. 2012 doesn't use it the same way that 2011 did, which I consider an improvement.
Online Banking worked with two credit cards, but failed with my bank until the third attempt. After the first attempt, I got an error message telling me to call the bank. Fortunately I ignored it and kept trying.
QuickBooks 2012 includes a calendar on which you can enter To Do items and "Leads." I can't think of a more useless feature and waste of resources. Any business user has already got a To List process and probably a Leads process. Why would QuickBooks want to try and replace such systems, e.g., the Outlook calendar or a lead system like ACT! or Salesforce.com? There's no chance it will compete, so why waste the resources?
QuickBooks 2012 now includes a Documents Center, where you can store scanned bills, invoices, etc. You can then attach them to specific items, such a check. On the one hand, this makes sense; it allows you to attach everything related to a job to that job. Presumably you can then drill down and look at each item by opening something related to the job. My issue with this is stability. I simply don't imagine that storing a lot of attachments linked to QuickBooks items will increase the stability of the program. I presume it increases the chances of file corruption and makes the amount of work required to recover from a corrupt file that much greater. Geometrically greater. I won't be using it.
QuickBooks 2012 also includes a Leads Center. This aspect is presumably to compete with ACT! and other lead-tracking and sales-tracking programs and software. It's exceptionally simple: just an address book really, plus temperature-based tracking options (warm, hot, etc.), and the ability to "Convert to Customer" in one click. Again, to me this seems like it will only create a more bloated file and increase the odds of errors and corruption in mission-critical software.
A better use of Intuit's resources would have been to increase integration with Outlook. Seamless integration with Outlook would help users keep contacts' information in QuickBooks up-to-date. Or how about simply coming up with a system that let's one contact be both a vendor and a customer, instead of having to have two different lists? That would be far more useful than either a calendar or a lead-tracking option. QuickBooks does offer an add-on option involving Outlook but I have not yet tested it. I will report when I do.
Looking around the menus, I see that there is now a Condense Data function that replaces the Clean Up Company Data utility. It seems pretty aggressive and should be used with care. I would check with my accountant to determine the exact date before which I can condense all data.
QuickBooks 2012 works with both Intuit Payment Network and Intuit Payment Solutions and there are options for both within the program. Confused? I think Intuit maybe also. IPN allows you to transfer money from you to vendors or customers to you for only fifty cents per transaction. The party getting paid is charged the fifty cents. Intuit Payment Solutions lets you accept credit cards and eChecks and the like. It is essentially full-on merchant services and it all runs from within QuickBooks. A lot of what you do with IPN may require you to go to the IPN website. IPN also lets you accept credit cards and is less costly than IPS, but it's not as streamlined a solution. My suspicion, though I have no evidence to support this, is that IPS is really a third-party vendor and that Intuit is getting ready to transition that service in-house to IPN. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see that IPN is fully integrated by 2013 and that IPS as we know it is gone. But will this mean lower prices for QuickBooks users who want merchant services? Only time will tell.
Install went relatively easily. I was asked if I wanted to replace my 2011 edition or put 2012 in its own directory. Since 2011 was in a directory labeled 2011, I opted for a new directory and can uninstall 2011 when I feel ready.
Of course, you have to register by logging into your existing QB account online or by creating one. I find this pesky, but standard.
QuickBooks 2012 did not automatically update and I can't say I understand why. There was a prompt about it and I said go ahead, but it did not seem to happen. So I did it manually. First attempt failed with an error. Second attempt worked.
In launching, I noticed that the Sync Manager was closed. 2012 doesn't use it the same way that 2011 did, which I consider an improvement.
Online Banking worked with two credit cards, but failed with my bank until the third attempt. After the first attempt, I got an error message telling me to call the bank. Fortunately I ignored it and kept trying.
QuickBooks 2012 includes a calendar on which you can enter To Do items and "Leads." I can't think of a more useless feature and waste of resources. Any business user has already got a To List process and probably a Leads process. Why would QuickBooks want to try and replace such systems, e.g., the Outlook calendar or a lead system like ACT! or Salesforce.com? There's no chance it will compete, so why waste the resources?
QuickBooks 2012 now includes a Documents Center, where you can store scanned bills, invoices, etc. You can then attach them to specific items, such a check. On the one hand, this makes sense; it allows you to attach everything related to a job to that job. Presumably you can then drill down and look at each item by opening something related to the job. My issue with this is stability. I simply don't imagine that storing a lot of attachments linked to QuickBooks items will increase the stability of the program. I presume it increases the chances of file corruption and makes the amount of work required to recover from a corrupt file that much greater. Geometrically greater. I won't be using it.
QuickBooks 2012 also includes a Leads Center. This aspect is presumably to compete with ACT! and other lead-tracking and sales-tracking programs and software. It's exceptionally simple: just an address book really, plus temperature-based tracking options (warm, hot, etc.), and the ability to "Convert to Customer" in one click. Again, to me this seems like it will only create a more bloated file and increase the odds of errors and corruption in mission-critical software.
A better use of Intuit's resources would have been to increase integration with Outlook. Seamless integration with Outlook would help users keep contacts' information in QuickBooks up-to-date. Or how about simply coming up with a system that let's one contact be both a vendor and a customer, instead of having to have two different lists? That would be far more useful than either a calendar or a lead-tracking option. QuickBooks does offer an add-on option involving Outlook but I have not yet tested it. I will report when I do.
Looking around the menus, I see that there is now a Condense Data function that replaces the Clean Up Company Data utility. It seems pretty aggressive and should be used with care. I would check with my accountant to determine the exact date before which I can condense all data.
QuickBooks 2012 works with both Intuit Payment Network and Intuit Payment Solutions and there are options for both within the program. Confused? I think Intuit maybe also. IPN allows you to transfer money from you to vendors or customers to you for only fifty cents per transaction. The party getting paid is charged the fifty cents. Intuit Payment Solutions lets you accept credit cards and eChecks and the like. It is essentially full-on merchant services and it all runs from within QuickBooks. A lot of what you do with IPN may require you to go to the IPN website. IPN also lets you accept credit cards and is less costly than IPS, but it's not as streamlined a solution. My suspicion, though I have no evidence to support this, is that IPS is really a third-party vendor and that Intuit is getting ready to transition that service in-house to IPN. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see that IPN is fully integrated by 2013 and that IPS as we know it is gone. But will this mean lower prices for QuickBooks users who want merchant services? Only time will tell.
Looking through the rest of the menus, I see the standard and annoying options to order checks and supplies that Intuit still puts in there. Unfortunately, Intuit is still massively overpriced compared to other check-printing services and I've never had a problem using the checks I've gotten from Costco Check Printing or Checks-in-the-Mail. If you really want to overpay, you can go through Intuit or Deluxe, but why would you?
Now Intuit has added some new features to QuickBooks over the years, including major improvements in the ability to file tax forms and pay taxes online. Also Direct Deposit for Vendors (and a menu item to send those Direct Deposits; previously you had to know to use the menu item under the employees menu). I can't tell if they yet allow Direct Deposit from two different accounts (say you have one for paying vendors and one for payroll), but I hope so. I still think it's a must.
And I'm looking forward to processing my 1099s electronically this year, rather than using pre-printed forms. Will it save me money? I'm not sure, but I'm hopeful. In playing with the process to see how it might go, I was confused by one Vendor item that did not seem to be showing up. However, when I went to Preferences and 1099 Payments and opened the mapping window from there, it did show up. Now, opening up the Print/File 1099 window includes it.
Mapping 1099 fields is entirely different in 2012, so be sure to double-check all of your fields. Printing also appears to be different and likely going to present a headache for some. For example, I have clients outside of the US. I can't issue them a 1099, but I do need that 1099 figure to print out the form they get. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get that via QuickBooks now, since it didn't like the foreign address in one field. Actually, looking at it, it appears QuickBook has a major bug! It won't accept a non-US address in the 1099 Vendor list! So even if you have US citizens living abroad, you won't be able to send them a 1099! As Scooby Do would say, "Ruh roh!"
After going through the 1099 wizard, if you select print, you get back to the interface you'll recognize and you can preview your 1099s. However, if you select "Go to Intuit E-File Service," it launches Intuit's Sync Manager and opens a screen that tells you you cannot file until January 2012. You can print your 1099s on plain paper, it says, and you won't need a 1096. There is no pricing information on the site, though, which is annoying. If you are like me and trying to figure out which way to go, it would help to know what it would cost you.
Additionally, there's no sample form to show you what it would look like if you printed your own forms. As I said to the rep when I called, using the pre-printed forms is pretty painless. But if I have to print my own forms and those forms then have to be folded and put in envelopes that then have to be labeled, that's more of a pain than using the pre-printed forms.
Having now spent more than an hour and having spoken with several departments at QuickBooks, I could not find anyone to help me with this. Thus, once again, I'm going to have to call the Office of the President at Intuit and see if someone there can actually get me an answer. I've got Chad on the line now and we'll see what he has to say....
More to come!
Z
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
The October Monthly Round-up
Better late than never, here's the October monthly round-up. I have to say, October and November have been crazy busy here. First, there's been a top-secret negotiation and contract done that I could tell you about, but then I'd have to kill you...or at least be prepared to get my butt kicked for violating an NDA. Next, my son, Sam, turned one, and so we had family in town. Oh, and we were all sick. And, last but not least, I never did find a fall intern, so I currently have no first reader.
Now, I have on-hand...
I will let you in on a little clue: I read paper queries faster. eQueries™ are easy to let pile up. They don't take space on my desk. But paper queries do take up space, so I try to get rid of them one way or another quickly. The downside, of course, is that if I request something, it's just getting added to the pile. Then again, I'm only waiting on 5 requested sample chapters.
So let me be frank. I'm behind. In fact, I'm quite behind. And that situation is unlikely to improve until the holiday break. So please be patient and remember that with everything we request, we offer the opportunity to order Express Review™ (so if you are really tired of waiting for me to read something, that's always an option).
Okay, here's where I currently stand:
In October, I received...
- 79 queries and declined 5
- 3 manuscripts and declined 2
- 1 sample chapter that I declined.
Now, I have on-hand...
- 118 queries that I have yet to read
- 19 sample chapters to read
- 2 proposals to read
- 16 full manuscripts, of which three are from current clients
I will let you in on a little clue: I read paper queries faster. eQueries™ are easy to let pile up. They don't take space on my desk. But paper queries do take up space, so I try to get rid of them one way or another quickly. The downside, of course, is that if I request something, it's just getting added to the pile. Then again, I'm only waiting on 5 requested sample chapters.
There's a temptation to close to new queries, but where's the logic in that? The reality is that I need to get more reading done. This, of course, is highly dependent on my kids sleeping through the night, so that I'm compos mentis enough to get reading done. So if you know any tricks to get a three-year-old to stay in bed the whole night (and perhaps a way to increase the size of his bladder), I'd love to hear them.
In the meantime, your patience is, as always, appreciated. And if you know anyone who wants to intern for me (preferably locally; a "virtual intern" isn't really accountable enough), I'd love to hear from him or her. Just send him or her to my website's Internships page.
Z
Monday, October 31, 2011
Intuit Payment Network Adds Credit Card Processing
If you've never heard of the Intuit Payment Network, I don't blame you. I can't say that I feel they are marketing it much, since I rarely see mention of it online anywhere. But if you are, or you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I've written about the major weakness of IPN: it didn't process credit cards. Well, now it does.
I've previously written that IPN appears to be competing with PayPay, but that it didn't want to compete with QuickBooks' built-in credit-card processing, so it wasn't an option. They seem to have "cut the baby in half," so to speak at Intuit. There now is credit-card processing via IPN, but it's not within QuickBooks and requires more steps than the built-in processing does. Still, at least it's offered and there are no monthly fees, as there are with the built-in feature. However, the processing fees are higher with IPN than with PayPal, at least if my math is correct. So how can they expect to compete with PayPal?
I posted a comment on the IPN blog at http://ipnteam.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/coming-soon-donate-buttons-for-non-profits-credit-card-on-payment-requests-and-a-slick-new-home-page/, but they apparently didn't approve the comment or don't moderate comments very often.
My other peeve is that IPN is supposed to "sync" with QuickBooks, at least if you have Intuit Sync Manager running. This is to save you the double-entry that you have to do with PayPal. If it worked, it would be one advantage IPN has over PayPal. Except it doesn't work. And when I called Support there for assistance, they said the issue would be escalated and that was the last I heard.
Ironically, I just completed one of those online questionnaires from Intuit, asking me what I thought of their customer service. The last question was, "On a scale of 1 to 10...I think QuickBooks values me as a customer." I answered zero.
QuickBooks continues to be that kid that you know that you sense wants to do right, wants to be good, yet can't stop sticking his foot in his mouth or acting out. The lack of coordination and planning is apparent. As always, I keep wanting QuickBooks to be better, to do better. But the waiting continues.
If you've cracked open QuickBooks 2012, I'd love to hear your comments on what works or doesn't work. I'm still waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for my review copy, but once I get it, I'll be sure to share my thoughts.
Z
I've previously written that IPN appears to be competing with PayPay, but that it didn't want to compete with QuickBooks' built-in credit-card processing, so it wasn't an option. They seem to have "cut the baby in half," so to speak at Intuit. There now is credit-card processing via IPN, but it's not within QuickBooks and requires more steps than the built-in processing does. Still, at least it's offered and there are no monthly fees, as there are with the built-in feature. However, the processing fees are higher with IPN than with PayPal, at least if my math is correct. So how can they expect to compete with PayPal?
I posted a comment on the IPN blog at http://ipnteam.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/coming-soon-donate-buttons-for-non-profits-credit-card-on-payment-requests-and-a-slick-new-home-page/, but they apparently didn't approve the comment or don't moderate comments very often.
My other peeve is that IPN is supposed to "sync" with QuickBooks, at least if you have Intuit Sync Manager running. This is to save you the double-entry that you have to do with PayPal. If it worked, it would be one advantage IPN has over PayPal. Except it doesn't work. And when I called Support there for assistance, they said the issue would be escalated and that was the last I heard.
Ironically, I just completed one of those online questionnaires from Intuit, asking me what I thought of their customer service. The last question was, "On a scale of 1 to 10...I think QuickBooks values me as a customer." I answered zero.
QuickBooks continues to be that kid that you know that you sense wants to do right, wants to be good, yet can't stop sticking his foot in his mouth or acting out. The lack of coordination and planning is apparent. As always, I keep wanting QuickBooks to be better, to do better. But the waiting continues.
If you've cracked open QuickBooks 2012, I'd love to hear your comments on what works or doesn't work. I'm still waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for my review copy, but once I get it, I'll be sure to share my thoughts.
Z
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Sort of Mid-October Monthly Round-up
A very happy New Year to all of my Jewish friends, family, and colleagues. I hope you all had good holidays and easy fasts.
Life here at The Zack Company has been moving slowly, as I have no current intern and the entire family has gotten an early start to the winter cold season. Don't worry. I do great sleeping no more than thirty minutes at a shot before being woken up by a crying one-year-old or a crying three-year-old. At least I got my flu shot. Of course, for about two days after, I felt a bit like I had the flu.
Funny story. Every year, my wife makes big plans for the Jewish holidays. Often I'm a bit resistant. I'm not a great Jew. I'm a proud Jew, but not very religious. This year, I tried to get on-board with the program. I went out and bought two new suits and we joined a shul and everything. We were all set. Then I got sick. So I missed Rosh Hashanah services because I was sick. No worries, there's still Yom Kippur. Except then our one-year-old got sick. So I stayed home with him. So, two new suits in the closet, never worn. I better get invited to a couple of weddings soon, dammit.
So, the monthly round-up.... Here's the story. I stayed up until eleven last night, trying to reconcile what we had electronically and what we had in physical format and where I am with all of it. Lacking an intern, the reading has really slowed down. I did, however, read a new novel by a new client that I took on not that long ago, and it's awesome. A few tweaks here and there, and I'll be headed out to publishers with it.
So, here's what's been going on submission wise:
In September:
...we received 45 queries and declined 4;
...we received 3 sample chapters and declined 1;
...we received 1 manuscript and declined 1.
In October, so far:
...we received 19 queries and declined 3;
...we received 1 manuscript.
We currently have on-hand (give or take one or two):
...18 sample chapters;
...3 proposals;
...12 full manuscripts, including 2 from current clients;
...52 queries I have yet to go through.
I also discarded a number of queries that we'd answered with requests for more material, but never received. We followed-up on most if not all of these at least once. For the life of me, I can't say why someone would query me and then not submit when asked to. Maybe I need to add a "confirm email" requirement on the web form, so that people don't give me bad addresses?
Obviously, as I am currently without a first reader, things are going to be going a bit slowly in the reading department. I looks like we are currently reading material that came in in July.
As always, your patience is appreciated.
Z
Life here at The Zack Company has been moving slowly, as I have no current intern and the entire family has gotten an early start to the winter cold season. Don't worry. I do great sleeping no more than thirty minutes at a shot before being woken up by a crying one-year-old or a crying three-year-old. At least I got my flu shot. Of course, for about two days after, I felt a bit like I had the flu.
Funny story. Every year, my wife makes big plans for the Jewish holidays. Often I'm a bit resistant. I'm not a great Jew. I'm a proud Jew, but not very religious. This year, I tried to get on-board with the program. I went out and bought two new suits and we joined a shul and everything. We were all set. Then I got sick. So I missed Rosh Hashanah services because I was sick. No worries, there's still Yom Kippur. Except then our one-year-old got sick. So I stayed home with him. So, two new suits in the closet, never worn. I better get invited to a couple of weddings soon, dammit.
So, the monthly round-up.... Here's the story. I stayed up until eleven last night, trying to reconcile what we had electronically and what we had in physical format and where I am with all of it. Lacking an intern, the reading has really slowed down. I did, however, read a new novel by a new client that I took on not that long ago, and it's awesome. A few tweaks here and there, and I'll be headed out to publishers with it.
So, here's what's been going on submission wise:
In September:
...we received 45 queries and declined 4;
...we received 3 sample chapters and declined 1;
...we received 1 manuscript and declined 1.
In October, so far:
...we received 19 queries and declined 3;
...we received 1 manuscript.
We currently have on-hand (give or take one or two):
...18 sample chapters;
...3 proposals;
...12 full manuscripts, including 2 from current clients;
...52 queries I have yet to go through.
I also discarded a number of queries that we'd answered with requests for more material, but never received. We followed-up on most if not all of these at least once. For the life of me, I can't say why someone would query me and then not submit when asked to. Maybe I need to add a "confirm email" requirement on the web form, so that people don't give me bad addresses?
Obviously, as I am currently without a first reader, things are going to be going a bit slowly in the reading department. I looks like we are currently reading material that came in in July.
As always, your patience is appreciated.
Z
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Where's the Monthly Round-up?
Regular readers of this blog know that I try and post every month with a round-up of where we are with submissions. Alas, I never did the September round-up as I'm currently without an intern and life has been extra busy. I'll post one at the end of this month.
I will offer that I actually have been reading current clients' works and haven't responded to a lot of new submissions, just a few queries here and there.
I also want to share a tale that might make a few of you tear some hair out. It certainly frustrated me. I just had a client terminate representation because she decided she wanted to self-publish. That's her right, of course. However, I only signed her in July! That's right. July. This client was so impatient and apparently so unprofessional and immature that she signed with me and, roughly six weeks later, quit me. And that's after two readings of her MS by my office, and editorial notes. Practically wants me to add some kind of termination penalty clause to the representation agreement!
Now, this client complained that she originally queried me over a year ago. That it took a while for us to read her sample chapter and her full MS. But, in the end, we did offer representation. And clearly no one else had, since she waited on us to respond to her work and accepted representation. And then she quit us.
So if you've been waiting for an answer from us, one reason you haven't heard back is that we've been reading and providing editorial notes to this client who clearly wasn't committed. I wish I could get back all the time we wasted on her, but we can't.
Folks, if you are going to submit to TZC, please be ready and willing and able to be represented by us. We offer an immense amount of information on our website and our turnaround times should be clear by the month updates we've provided. If we take you on, we will work tirelessly to get your work published. But if you're just going to bail six or eight weeks after you sign with us, you're just wasting our time and yours.
Thanks.
Z
I will offer that I actually have been reading current clients' works and haven't responded to a lot of new submissions, just a few queries here and there.
I also want to share a tale that might make a few of you tear some hair out. It certainly frustrated me. I just had a client terminate representation because she decided she wanted to self-publish. That's her right, of course. However, I only signed her in July! That's right. July. This client was so impatient and apparently so unprofessional and immature that she signed with me and, roughly six weeks later, quit me. And that's after two readings of her MS by my office, and editorial notes. Practically wants me to add some kind of termination penalty clause to the representation agreement!
Now, this client complained that she originally queried me over a year ago. That it took a while for us to read her sample chapter and her full MS. But, in the end, we did offer representation. And clearly no one else had, since she waited on us to respond to her work and accepted representation. And then she quit us.
So if you've been waiting for an answer from us, one reason you haven't heard back is that we've been reading and providing editorial notes to this client who clearly wasn't committed. I wish I could get back all the time we wasted on her, but we can't.
Folks, if you are going to submit to TZC, please be ready and willing and able to be represented by us. We offer an immense amount of information on our website and our turnaround times should be clear by the month updates we've provided. If we take you on, we will work tirelessly to get your work published. But if you're just going to bail six or eight weeks after you sign with us, you're just wasting our time and yours.
Thanks.
Z
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