The Jackson Group
QUICKEN FINANCIAL SERVICES
Our years of experience enable us to use Quicken effectively and efficiently. Some of the most requested services include:
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Quicken Tutorials – First-Time and Current Users
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Personalize Quicken Files – Customize a File for Your Needs
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Analyze and Clean Up Quicken Files – Identify Issues, Fix Problems, and Recommend Solutions to Ensure Financial Information Is Complete and Accurate
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Maintain Quicken Files – Enter Data and Reconcile Accounts
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Create Budgets – Plan a Budget and Monitor its Implementation
QUICKEN TUTORIALS
We teach beginners how to use Quicken properly. We explain what Quicken can and cannot do and how to avoid potential issues. A two-hour lesson is the average length of time necessary for people to attain a working level of proficiency. The lessons can be given in person or electronically.
For current Quicken users, we show you how to take full advantage of Quicken's many capabilities. The length of time for these lessons varies depending on your proficiency level and the subject matters that are covered. Some clients take several short lessons and others favor one or two longer sessions. The lessons can be given in person or electronically.
Ten of the topics covered are:
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Determining which accounts to create in your file depends on the tasks that you want Quicken to perform and the type of financial, tax, and investment information you require. Optimally organizing your Quicken file is essential to obtain complete and accurate data.
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Entering transactions properly is key to an optimized file. Much time and effort will be saved and better information will be obtained if categories (along with subcategories and possibly tags) are selected with your particular needs in mind.
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We also explain the best manner for entering information and why maintaining consistency is so important.
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Understanding transfers and avoiding common mistakes that create big headaches.
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Using accounts rather than splits.
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Editing memorized transactions periodically to increase their usefulness and to prevent issues. Plus, scheduling transactions to automatically populate in Quicken.
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Creating a petty cash account for certain purposes, such as keeping track of tax related expenditures or for reimbursements.
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Reconciling and cleaning up accounts regularly so as to obtain accurate financial information.
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Understanding why your bank's checking account statement differs from Quicken's balance; when you can trust the ending balance of your accounts; and what needs to be done so that you can be assured that your Quicken account balances are accurate.
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Employing Quicken reports and spreadsheets to manage personal finances.
Tutorials are $180 an hour, billed in quarter hour segments. To sign up for a tutorial or for more information, please Contact us.
PERSONALIZE QUICKEN FILES
Quicken is personalized for individual users in order to optimize financial information. This entails creating needed accounts, including determining the opening balance for each account. Another personalized feature is to create scheduled transactions for recurring expenses, such as telephone and insurance expenditures. These scheduled transactions will appear automatically in your Quicken file on the appointed date.
Personalizing a file entails selecting categories (along with subcategories and possibly tags) with your particular needs in mind. Because the manner in which transactions are entered is a critical element in obtaining complete and accurate information, we provide instructions on entering data properly. Maintenance steps that should be done periodically to keep a file in prime order are also provided. Before personalizing a Quicken file, we will consult with you to determine the desired financial information that you need.
Since personal finances are a private matter, discretion and data security are of the utmost importance to us.
Charges are based on the time spent personalizing a file. The fee is $180 an hour, billed in quarter hour segments. To sign up for this service or for more information, please Contact us.
ANALYZE AND CLEAN UP QUICKEN FILES
Quicken files need to be cleaned up on a regular basis. Upon identifying issues, we will fix problems, which may include, but not limited to, the following tasks: reconcile accounts, deal with transactions that are either uncategorized or not categorized correctly, and resolve uncleared transactions even if it’s a matter of voiding or deleting them since they affect account balances and financial reports. Then, we will recommend solutions to ensure that going forward your data is complete and accurate.
The ability to access financial information is indispensable in managing personal finances. Your Quicken file is accessible to both you and your CPA.
Since personal finances are a private matter, discretion and data security are of the utmost importance to us.
Charges are based on the time spent analyzing and cleaning up a file. The fee is $120 an hour, billed in quarter hour segments. To sign up for this service or for more information, please Contact us.
MAINTAIN QUICKEN FILES
Accurate and complete financial information is readily available after all data are entered and accounts are reconciled. Once this is done, reports, such as the itemized category report, will be sent for your review. These reports will cover the period since the last reports were sent, for the year-to-date, for the past year, and, at your request, for any other period of time.
The ability to access financial information is indispensable in managing personal finances. Your Quicken file is accessible to both you and your CPA.
Since personal finances are a private matter, discretion and data security are of the utmost importance to us.
Charges are based on the time spent entering the financial data, reconciling the accounts, and creating the reports. The fee is $80 an hour, billed in quarter hour segments. To sign up for this service or for more information, please Contact us.
CREATE BUDGETS
We will work with you in planning a budget and monitoring its implementation.
During the development of a budget, we confer with you to ascertain your financial goals. Next, we’ll review your Quicken file to determine your spending pattern. Besides identifying fixed and variable expenses, we examine costs that may be decreased such as getting a lower interest rate. We may also recommend reorganizing your Quicken file in order to obtain more helpful budgetary information.
Once your budget is in place, we will provide monthly, quarterly, and annual budgetary analyses that will compare actual spending with your budget. Plus, we will show you how to create reports that illustrate if you’re meeting your budgetary targets.
Since personal finances are a private matter, discretion and data security are of the utmost importance to us.
Charges are based on the time spent. The fee is $120 an hour, billed in quarter hour segments. To sign up for this service or for more information, please Contact us.