I have been a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor for the past 11 years, and I am certified for both the QuickBooks Desktop and Online versions.

I recently became a Certified QuickBooks Level 1 and Level 2 ProAdvisor. 

To get certified, one must pass a difficult QuickBooks exam. I spent many hours before taking the exam, looking at the QuickBooks instructional videos and reviewing the written material that QuickBooks provides to their ProAdvisors.

As an Elite Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, I have telephone access to the highest level technical support team at QuickBooks . This is a service that I have used with some of my clients when I needed help with very difficult QuickBooks issues.  The QuickBooks technical support personnel are United States based, and they really know “their stuff.”  They will spend whatever amount of time is needed to solve a problem.

When deciding who you want to work with to teach you to use QuickBooks, I suggest that you find out whether they are a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Most bookkeepers and accountants are not QuickBooks ProAdvisors, and of those who are ProAdvisors, most are not certified. They may be good bookkeepers and accountants, but they may not know the ins and outs of using QuickBooks.

The post Ben Shor is a Certified QuickBooks Level 1 and 2 ProAdvisor appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

Shor Solutions is now officially a Silver level Certified Sustainable Business, as certified by the Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization.

Launched in 2017 by the Sustainability Alliance, the Sustainable Business Certification is based on four scientific principles of a sustainable society:

• Reduce non-renewable energy and materials
• Minimize pollution and waste
• Protect ecosystems
• Meet human needs

There are four levels of performance that recognize continuous improvement:

• Bronze: Reduces negative impacts by conserving resources and provides a safety net for employees.
• Silver: Creates positive impacts beyond basics.
• Gold: Actively encourages other stakeholders to get involved in sustainability efforts.
• Platinum: Operates as a restorative business, with zero negative impacts and is a leader with a highly empowered workforce.

This is what the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau posted on their website about Shor Solutions sustainable business certification.

Ben Shor’s business, Shor Solutions, is an important part of the Sedona and Verde Valley communities. He has had successful careers in marketing, social work and is now a QuickBooks consultant and teacher. Ben’s experiences have led him to creating a sustainable business. Ben is reducing waste, protecting resources and increasing efficiencies. He has a home-based business, and he owns solar panels which provide all of his electricity. Ben encourages clients and community members to recycle and reduce printing.

Here are some of the steps he has taken so far:

Energy Conservation: Ben replaces bulbs with LED. He received credit for excess solar production and covered west facing windows with UV barrier.

Waste: He recycles electronics and printer cartridges at Staples.

Water: Ben has a drip irrigation and checks it regularly. If plants die, they are replaced with drought tolerant options. He does not use disposable water bottles and has low flow toilets.

Stakeholder Engagement: Ben offers workshops through SBDC, OLLI and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce.

Ben’s leadership is advancing sustainability in the Verde Valley. Connect with Ben Shor at 928.451.4370 or email ben@shorsolutions.com to meet an asset to the area and get inspired to make your future sustainable.

Get Certified for Free and see who else is Certified.

The post Shor Solutions is a Certified Sustainable Business appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

The beginning of each year is always very busy for me as I run year-end financial reports for many of my clients in order to check for any bookkeeping errors they may have made.  In addition, if needed, I assist my clients in preparing 1099s to send to all service providers that are not incorporated and were paid at least $600 in total for the year.  1099s must be sent out by January 31^st.

This past year I had my busiest year ever.  I worked with 128 clients this past year – 56 new clients and 72 clients who I worked with previously. 

As my specialty is training individuals and small businesses to effectively use QuickBooks, once they are trained, many of my clients no longer need my services.  However, some clients have me come monthly or every few months to help them reconcile their accounts and help them with bookkeeping issues.  Other clients only have me come once a year to review their financial reports for the previous year before they send these reports to their accountant to file their taxes.  And some clients hire me to work with them to clean up their bookkeeping for the past year or more, and then show them how to use QuickBooks properly so that their bookkeeping  stays in good order.  I work with clients in their home or office, in my home office, or virtually using Zoom.

As I work primarily with QuickBooks, I do want to mention that every year QuickBooks Online continues to improve, and I now recommend clients use this software instead of using one of the QuickBooks Desktop applications.  Most of my clients can use the least expensive online version of QuickBooks, which is called QuickBooks Online Simple Start, and costs $30 a month.  But for clients with a more complicated business, they will need to use QuickBooks Online Essentials, which costs $55 a month, or QuickBooks Online Plus, which costs $85 a month.  The price for the Pro Desktop version of QuickBooks was raised substantially this year so that it now costs $550 to purchase.  And you need to update your subscription every year so that you are able to continue downloading transactions into QuickBooks from your bank and credit card accounts. 

Many of my clients, who have been using QuickBooks for years, are still using the desktop version.  They hadn’t wanted to convert to the online version because it was more expensive, and they would have to learn how to use the Online version, which is quite different from the Desktop version.  Now that QuickBooks requires you to update the Desktop version yearly so that you are able to continue downloading transactions, the cost of updating the Desktop version is almost $200 more than the cost of the Simple Start online subscription.  Because of this, and because the Online version works more efficiently than the Desktop version, my clients are now converting to an Online version.  Here is a link to a comparison chart that lists many of the differences between QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online.

For individuals that have never used QuickBooks, and are ready to purchase it, I explain the differences between the Online and Desktop versions, and most of them choose to use the Online version.  As I am a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and I have passed the certification exams for both the online and desktop version of QuickBooks, I feel equally comfortable teaching my clients to effectively use either of these programs.  I have trained over 300 individuals to use QuickBooks effectively.

Up until a couple of years ago, I would occasionally recommend that a client use Quicken to manage their business finances.  But I stopped recommending Quicken a few years ago because Quicken does not do a good job creating rules for downloaded transactions.   But with the price of QuickBooks escalating substantially this past year, I recommended to a couple of my new clients with very simple bookkeeping needs, that they purchase Quicken.  I then trained them to use Quicken. 

The post The Year in Review: 2022 appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

The beginning of each year is always very busy for me as I run year-end financial reports for many of my clients in order to check for any bookkeeping errors they may have made.  In addition, if needed, I assist my clients in preparing 1099s to send to all service providers that are not incorporated and were paid at least $600 in total for the year.  1099s must be sent out by January 31^st.

This past year I had my best year ever.  I worked with 103 clients this past year – 44 new clients and 59 clients who I worked with previously. 

As my specialty is training individuals and small businesses to effectively use QuickBooks, once they are trained, many of my clients no longer need my services.  However, some clients have me come monthly or every few months to help them reconcile their accounts and help them with bookkeeping issues.  Other clients only have me come once a year to review their financial reports for the previous year before they send these reports to their accountant to file their taxes.  And some clients I work with on a continuing basis doing their bookkeeping.  I work with clients in their home or office, in my home office, or virtually using Zoom.

As I work primarily with QuickBooks, I do want to mention that every year QuickBooks Online continues to improve, and I now recommend clients use this software instead of using one of the QuickBooks Desktop applications.  Most of my clients can use the least expensive online version of QuickBooks, which is called QuickBooks Online Simple Start, and costs $25 a month.  But for clients with a more complicated business, they will need to use QuickBooks Online Essentials, which costs $50 a month, or QuickBooks Online Plus, which costs $80 a month.  The Pro Desktop version of QuickBooks costs around $350 to purchase, and you now need to update your subscription every year so that you are able to continue downloading transactions into QuickBooks from your bank and credit card accounts. 

Many of my clients, who have been using QuickBooks for years, are still using the desktop version.  They haven’t wanted to convert to the online version because it was more expensive, and they would have to learn how to use the Online version, which is quite different from the Desktop version.  Now that QuickBooks requires you to update the Desktop version yearly so that you are able to continue downloading transactions, the cost of updating the Desktop version is more than the cost of the Simple Start online subscription.  Because of this, I think that many of my Desktop clients will convert to an Online version because of the many advantages the Online versions offers.

For individuals that have never used QuickBooks, and are ready to purchase it, I explain the differences between the Online and Desktop versions, and most of them choose to use the Online version.  As I am a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and I have passed the certification exams for both the online and desktop version of QuickBooks, I feel equally comfortable teaching my clients to effectively use either of these programs. 

Up until a couple of years ago, I would occasionally recommend that a client use Quicken to manage their business finances.  But I stopped recommending Quicken a few years ago because my Quicken clients were having a lot of problems with this program.  I used to use Quicken to track my personal finances, and I have always used QuickBooks for my business finances.  But I stopped using Quicken, and switched my personal financial record keeping to QuickBooks because of problems I was having with Quicken.  In the past year, I helped a few clients move from Quicken to QuickBooks. 

In late 2019 I expanded my services to include helping individuals and small businesses get more organized.  In early 2020, I presented seminars at the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau’s administrative office and at Yavapai College.  These seminars were: Using Gmail Effectively, Using Google Contacts and Calendar Effectively, Using Google Chrome Effectively.  The seminars were well attended, but I stopped offering them once the pandemic started.  Helping individuals and small businesses get more organized is a small part of my business (Shor Solutions), but I hope to do more of that kind of work this year.

The post The Year in Review: 2021 appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

To get certified, one must pass a difficult QuickBooks exam. I spent many hours looking at the QuickBooks instructional videos and reviewing the written material that QuickBooks provides to their ProAdvisors, before taking the exam.

As a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, I have telephone access to the QuickBooks technical support team. This is a service that I have used with some of my clients when I needed help with a QuickBooks issue.  The QuickBooks technical support personnel are United States based, and they really know “their stuff.”  They will spend whatever amount of time is needed to solve a problem.

When deciding who you want to work with to teach you to use QuickBooks, I suggest that you find out whether they are a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Most bookkeepers and accountants are not QuickBooks ProAdvisors, and of those who are ProAdvisors, most are not certified. They may be good bookkeepers and accountants, but they may not know the ins and outs of using QuickBooks.  I have been training individuals and small businesses to use QuickBooks for 20 years, and I have successfully taught over 200 individuals to use this program more effectively.

The post Certified for QuickBooks Online appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

The year 2020 started out on a positive note for me, as, I had recently received the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau’s “2019 Customer Service Excellence Award.” 

The beginning of each year is always busy for me as I run year-end financial reports for many of my clients in order to check for any bookkeeping errors they may have made.  In addition, if needed, I assist my clients in preparing 1099s to send to all service providers that are not incorporated and were paid at least $600 in total for the year.  For 2021 the IRS made a change, and they now require the use of a 1099 NEC form instead of a 1099 MISC form to send to independent contractors.

After helping many of my clients get their year-end bookkeeping in order, business usually slows down for me once April has passed.  This past year, even with the pandemic causing havoc for many businesses, my business continued to flourish all year long, and I had my best year ever.  I worked with 96 clients this past year – 43 new clients and 53 clients who I worked with previously. 

As my specialty is training individuals and small businesses to effectively use QuickBooks, once they are trained, many of my clients no longer need my services.  However, some clients have me come monthly or every few months to help them reconcile their accounts and help them with bookkeeping issues.  Other clients only have me come once a year to review their financial reports for the previous year before they send these reports to their accountant to file their taxes.  And some clients I work with on a continuing basis doing their bookkeeping.  I work with clients in their home or office, in my home office, or virtually using Zoom.

As I work primarily with QuickBooks, I do want to mention that every year QuickBooks Online continues to improve, and I now recommend clients use this software instead of using one of the QuickBooks Desktop applications.  Most of my clients can use the least expensive online version of QuickBooks, which is called QuickBooks Online Simple Start, and costs $25 a month.  But for clients with a more complicated business, they need to use QuickBooks Online Plus, which costs $70 a month.  The QuickBooks Pro desktop version of QuickBooks costs around $200 to purchase, and you will need to purchase a new version every three years so that you are able to continue downloading transactions into QuickBooks from your online bank and credit card accounts. 

Most of my clients, who have been using QuickBooks for years, are using the desktop version.  For individuals that have never used QuickBooks, and want to learn how to use this program, I explain the differences between the online and desktop versions, and most of them choose to use the online version.  I am a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and I have passed the certification exams for both the online and desktop version of QuickBooks, so I feel equally comfortable teaching my clients to effectively use either of these programs. 

Up until a couple of years ago, I would very occasionally recommend that a client use Quicken to manage their business finances.  I only recommended this for very simple businesses, such as real estate agents.  But I stopped recommending Quicken a few years ago because my Quicken clients were having a lot of problems with this program.  I used to use Quicken to track my personal finances, and I have always used QuickBooks for my business finances.  But I stopped using Quicken, and switched my personal financial record keeping to QuickBooks because of problems I was having with Quicken.  In the past year, I helped a few clients move from Quicken to QuickBooks.  Some Quicken clients started the new year using QuickBooks, and kept their old data from previous years in Quicken.  Other clients had me export their Quicken data to QuickBooks so that all of their financial data is all in one place.

In late 2019 I expanded my services to include helping individuals and small businesses get more organized.  In early 2020, I presented seminars at the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau’s administrative office and at Yavapai College.  These seminars were: Using Gmail Effectively, Using Google Contacts Effectively, Using Google Chrome Effectively.  The seminars were well attended, but I stopped offering them once the pandemic started.  Helping individuals and small businesses get more organized is a small part of my business (Shor Solutions), but I hope to do more of that kind of work this year.

The post The Year in Review: 2020 appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

To get certified, one must pass a difficult QuickBooks exam. I spent many hours looking at the QuickBooks instructional videos and reviewing the written material that QuickBooks provides to their ProAdvisors, before taking the exam.

As a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, I have telephone access to the QuickBooks technical support team. This is a service that I have used with some of my clients when I needed help with a QuickBooks issue.  The QuickBooks technical support personnel are United States based, and they really know “their stuff.”  They will spend whatever amount of time is needed to solve a problem.

When deciding who you want to work with to teach you to use QuickBooks, I suggest that you find out whether they are a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Most bookkeepers and accountants are not QuickBooks ProAdvisors, and of those who are ProAdvisors, most are not certified. They may be good bookkeepers and accountants, but they may not know the ins and outs of using QuickBooks.

The post Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor 2021 appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

In his acceptance speech before the hundreds of attendees, Ben thanked all of his clients and business contacts who voted for him.  He shared that at one point in his life, he was a social worker, and he helped clients.  And now that he is a business consultant, he helps a different kind of client.  Ben said that all of the business people in this room help their clients.  We all work in a helping profession.

Ben helps his clients be more organized in many different ways.  He helps them organize financial records by teaching them to use QuickBooks effectively.  He teaches them how to manage their time better, and how to store their paper and digital records so that they can easily be accessed.  Ben works with his clients to organize their office spaces so that they can work efficiently .  He helps them with projects, and creates procedure manuals and job descriptions.  Ben also helps his clients with email management, and teaches them to use Google Contacts, Calendar, and Chrome effectively.

The post Ben Shor Wins Award appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.