LedgersOnline blogs

LedgersOnline partnering with Clarity Accounting

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:13:23 -0800

LedgersOnline has recently partnered with Clarity Accounting to offer an additional integrated virtual bookkeeping solution.

Clarity Accounting is an online accounting software for Small Business and Self-Employed Professionals. The complexity and confusion that comes with learning a detailed accounting program is often the main reason why small business owners and self-employed workers allow their bookkeeping to fall behind. However, with Clarity, those struggles are non-existent. The package fully integrates with LedgersOnline and complements our virtual bookkeeping system.

Five Ways To Be More Approachable by Clients

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:05:45 -0700

Have you noticed that new clients have become a little harder to come by these days? Maybe your marketing efforts have hit a brick wall. Maybe the woes of the current economy have finally reached your company. Maybe prospective clients are having a hard time adjusting to change, as well as a new accounting or bookkeeping firm to manage their finances. Either way, business is down, the trust is not there and you need a new game plan.

I recently came across a great article written by Sandi Smith, CPA and President of Brainways Training & Development. Sandi is a well-known authority and respected member of the accounting and technology industries, respectively. Sandi understands human behavior when it comes to the fear of committing and the stress of change so she has developed five ways for your firm to win trust and retain clients. Click on the link below to see what they are...

LedgersOnline's Referrals

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:12:56 -0700

Much of LedgersOnline's success and growth is attributed to the word-of-mouth referrals from some of our great clients. We've been able to connect with and help many companies that were struggling with their financial reporting. Some of these companies had gone through bookkeeper after bookkeeper, struggled with unreliable financial reporting, or may even have even been on the brink of being insolvent. In many cases we've rescued these businesses from their suffering. A lot of these thanks to a simple referral from one of our clients.

It appears that now more then ever many businesses, big or small, are trying to cut unnecessary costs wherever they can. One of LedgersOnline's greatest benefits is our affordability. As our clients already know, our system couple with our people has resulted in savings of hundreds and thousands of dollars annually, while increasing the quality of their financial reporting. Using LedgersOnline means that our clients no longer have to pay for costs like overtime, holidays, benefits, the cost of staff turnover or the cost of providing workspace for their accounting department. LedgersOnline really is a great cost-saver!

The construction industry looks to the CORE for its labour woes

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:20:19 -0700

Even with the recent slump in Vancouver's housing market, the construction industry still appears to be quite content with the amount of projects on the go around our city. However, now that the Summer has come to an end many young labourers have dropped their hammers an tool belts for pencils and backpacks, thus leaving a major hole in the construction workforce.

Fortunately, members of the construction industry have developed a program known as CORE, Construction Orientation To Retain Employment. The purpose and goal of this program is to take residents of Vancouver's downtrodden Eastside and turn them into skilled and marketable labourers in just a matter of weeks. CORE educates these individuals with the neccessary skills and knowledge they need to be successful in this booming sector, as well as help to close the gap left in the construction job market.

Has the state of the US economy directly affected you?

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:20:59 -0700

It's no secret that the state of the American economy is in shambles. There hasn't been this much uncertainty and lack of confidence on Wall Street amongst global investors and the general public since "Black Monday" in 1987, or dare I say the infamous crash of 1929. There are a host of companies who we once thought of as financial pillars - Merrill Lynch, AIG, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and Lehman Brothers to name a few. However, recent events have proven that no one is ammuned to collapse and economical despair. To make matters worse, ongoing political and environmental issues are just as turbulant and volatile, and are adding to the series of unfortunate events. The race for the Presidency is a dead heat thanks to John McCain's contraversial running mate, Sarah Palin. Texans are cleaning up from the devastation caused by hurricane Ike, while the rest of the country is feeling the waves of the oil production disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico.

Is Vancouver on the verge of a housing crash?

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:45:45 -0700

It appears that old saying, "what goes up, must come down" is playing true for Vancouver's current housing market. For the past five years, the Lower Mainland has seen a very steady increase in home sales, coupled with very high selling prices. Back then a modest one-bedroom condo in Vancouver's trendy Yaletown District would fetch an average price of around $225K. Late last year that same property could be had for close to $375K and there was no shortage of punters, either.

However, since the beginning of this year that trend has been starting to drop, and drop drastically in some areas. Many analysts say the current state of the housing market has hit a financial ceiling, others reckon the drop in prices and sales have been caused by a classic case of supply versus demand. Either way, there are more and more listings out there, thus giving potential purchasers the upper hand in negotiation.

Move over Google, here comes... Cuil?

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:35:10 -0700

Well, I wouldn't call it a down-right blow to the search engine wars just yet, but it does appear that a few of ex-google wizards have developed their own internet search tool to overthrow the king.

Cuil, pronounced "cool", was officially launched today - July 28th , 2008. It is the brainchild of Anna Patterson, Tom Costello (her husband), Louis Monier and Russell Power. These engineering powers, each with very impressive accolades in their own right, have come together to create what appears to be a very viable option to the mainstream google empire. Though, as with any new product entering a cut-throat market such as this one, it remains to be seen whether or not Cuil will even come close to taking a bite out of google's share of the pie.

Canadian Home Builders Association presentation on April 9th

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:03:54 -0700

This Wednesday, April 9th LedgersOnline will be at the Earls restaurant in Whistler to present to members of the Canadian Home Builders Association Sea to Sky chapter.

In the last few months LedgersOnline has been able to help a number of firms in the contruction & development industry with their accounting and bookkeeping needs. We've been able to streamline all aspects of these firms financial systems whether it be implementing an accounts payable & receivable system, transfering employees to electronic payroll, or just producing cheques and invoices. LedgersOnline has helped these companies by minimizing their overall costs.

Vista friendly QuickBooks 2008 stresses usability

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:17:41 -0800

We wrote earlier this year about how users running older versions of QuickBooks would have to upgrade to the 2007 version if running Windows Vista.

Not only is QuickBooks 2008 Vista friendly, it is being called more robust and more user friendly than any of its predecessors. Intuit is calling it the biggest release in years.

This means the program needs higher system requirements. 1GB of disk space and at least a 1.2 GHz Pentium III with 1GB of RAM if running Vista - for XP or 2000, 500MHz Pentium II with recommended 512 MB RAM.

Whistler Labour Shortage

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:51:20 -0800

Whistler Labour Shortage For anyone who frequents one of North America’s premier ski destinations on a regular basis, it’s blatantly obvious there is something absent in Whistler. There is plenty of snow, plenty of scenery, plenty of tourists. So what’s missing?

Go into any local bar or restaurant and take a look around. Count the staff working, the service, or lack of. In the village and you will see signs up on many windows looking for help. There is a major labour shortage in Whistler and the problem is only getting worse. In fact, many employers are so desperate they are offering outrageous incentives to lure would-be employees to work for their establishment. Free season’s passes, free food, etc.

Playing around with Plugoo

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:12:53 -0800

Testing out Plugoo, a tool that allows your website visitors to chat with you live. Let's see if this works!

http://www.myPlugoo.com/XF6JG9HV4P4M2RX

Search engine marketing options

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:35:21 -0800

Yahoo! Search Marketing had a strong presence at the SOHO-SME Conference last week held in downtown Vancouver. Along with delivering the breakfast keynote, they had a large presence at the tradeshow along with delivering a short workshop on Search Engine Marketing 101.

Yahoo! Originally began offering the service after acquiring Overture Services Inc. (formerly Goto.com) for $1.7 billion, and now competes directly with Google Ad Words, a similar service which we have been using. While no one is disputing that Google is the #1 search engine (unofficial figures provided by Yahoo! cite that in Canada, Google owns 75% of internet searches while Yahoo! comes in at 15% followed by MSN at 10%). Yahoo!’s main point that they were trying to drive home was time spent. According to their reaserach, they find that users spend on average, 8 minutes on their search engine, while Google users spend 2 minutes on average. I’m not sure the exact parameters on which this is measured, but it would make sense if you consider that their home page is much more of a portal compared with Google’s homepage.

SOHO/SME Business Conference and Expo

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:40:01 -0700

The SOHO/SME Business Conference and Expo is an event that brings business professionals together to connect with the latest in technology, products & services, and customer generation. In essence, it is a venue where small and medium-size companies can learn techniques, as well as network (pitch) their ideas, to further their growth and market share amongst their respective industry.

I recently attended this event in Vancouver to see for myself what was out there for the little guys. The event was filled with a line up of speakers, tradeshow exhibitors, and professional consultants ready to answer your questions. Each medium brought a different take in terms of what is vital to success and sustainability. However, if there was one theme or tool they all had in common as part of their secret to success it was the ever expanding use of multimedia technology. I listened to speaker Mike Agerbo of Getconnected TV talk about all the latest in tech gadgets for networking. More business communication is made via the use of online and portable technology. From the Blackberry to USB Memory sticks, these are no longer luxury gadgets, but necessities to running all facets of your operation. Being able to connect with your client by means of a hand-held device allows you, the president, manager, associate, sales person, to be accessible outside the office, thus increasing your productivity while saving you money. Heck, who would have thought it would be possible to join in on a video conference while grabbing a cup of coffee at your local espresso hang-out? And gone are the non-intuitive devices that take hours of use, and a degree in computer science, to master. Even the least tech savvy folks like myself can figure out how to use many of these doodads in mere minutes. The intimidation factor might still be there, but the learning curve is gentle.

The future of the local housing market

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:21:38 -0700

I recently sat down with mortgage expert, Kathie Scott of Dominion Lending Centres to discuss the current situation in the real estate industry. Kathie gave me some great insight as to where the Canadian Housing Market is heading in the West, and what we can expect in terms of rates within the next year.

With the recent downturn in the US economy one can only presume our Canadian markets will follow. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, at least not yet. With our Loonie at its strongest in over 3 decades and the national unemployment rate at its lowest since 1974, what does that mean to the average Canadian consumer? And will our booming housing market follow the same demise as that our neighbours to the South? The Canadian housing market is still pulling strong, despite predictions from the experts that we’ve reached a saturation point. The Lower Mainland boosts some of the fastest growing housing markets in Canada. From the Tri-Cities to the North Shore, sellers are getting their asking prices and even more. As far as lending is concerned, no longer are we finding the bargain-basement rates of 4.5% (or lower) that were being offered about 4 years ago. The big banks are offering up a 5-year fixed rate on a residential mortgage at 7.44% posted.

Mesh conference and what is Web.2.0?

Wed, 30 May 2007 07:55:42 -0700

We are participating in the Mesh Conference in Toronto today and tomorrow (May 30 and 31st).

So what is Web2.0? For those who aren't familiar with the term, according to wikipedia, Web 2.0, refers to a perceived second generation of Web-based communities and hosted services such as social networking sites, wikis and folksonomies that facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. We are seeing the web dominated by sites such as YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, and Facebook, all of which fall into this definition. All of these sites are putting the power back into the hands of users, and away from big institutionalized sources. It allows us to all be "part of the conversation."