Murph Mugshot
Last week we celebrated the ‘official end of Winter', the ‘Spring Equinox’ (First Day of Spring), Passover, Easter, and many other 'soon to be getting warmer' observances, like mowing the yard for the first time, and applying more ‘weed killer’, or cleaning the trash out of the flower beds, and maybe even ‘opening your pool’ (or at least getting ready to do that). Along with these joys, some of us who are teaching at Scaling New Heights in May have been scurrying around to finish our ‘draft’ PowerPoint presentations. As I told Carol, ‘good thing they are only drafts….', I have been working on no less than 5 PowerPoints over the past few months and during this time I have mentioned this to several people who were calling or emailing me for ‘file advice’, and then they would ask me 'what you teaching, Murph?' so I thought I might go ahead and share my class load.
By now you have already guessed that I will be participating in 5 sessions in one way or another. In reality I am teaching four sessions; three of those sessions deal with QuickBooks Desktop and one is an entirely new session covering aspects of QuickBooks Online. The fifth session I am participating in deals with ‘Finding your own Instructional Style’, in other words ‘why I teach the way I do.’ That session will be a contrast of teaching styles showing that despite the uniqueness of your style, there are still many things in common that all ‘good teachers’ share….”so the question is, what the heck am I doing teaching in that session?” Really though, I think everyone who participates will have a lot to share, and for everyone who attends you are 'in for an ear full’.
Regarding the 3 QuickBooks Desktop classes; I have somewhat revamped the QuickBooks Database Essentials course I taught last year, I believe Carol is now calling it QuickBooks Desktop Super Geek 101. It covers a lot of important content related to how QuickBooks works, and why it ‘messes up’, and what to do ‘when it does mess up’. We will cover some of the more common errors identified in the QBWin.log, and learn how to 'get help' when you have a database error you can't resolve.
Data Detective QBWin sm
I will also be teaching a streamlined version of last year’s Super Geek class that is now called QuickBooks Super Geek 201, content has been adjusted to better fit within the timeline. This class focuses on ‘differential diagnostics’ to help you learn exactly what is wrong with QuickBooks ranging from the file to the database server, from hard-drives to network components. We will look at even more complex ‘problem errors’ than outlined in the Super Geek 101 course. So put on your stethoscopes, and drag out your spy-glass, and come play some 'who dun it' game, you might just end up with a Data Detective badge.
I have also re-written the long-standing course on QuickBooks File Stability and Performance. For several years my friend Mario Nowogrodzki, CPA.CITP (winner of last year’s Insightful Accountant Top Integrator Award) has taught this class, and done so admirably, with a style all his own. His class has truly been the predecessor of the two Super Geek courses, but I was asked to restructure the course to bring it even more ‘in-line’ with the two Super Geek classes. In other words, you will see significant ‘overlap’ between this new class and Super Geek 101 which overlaps with Super Geek 201. Like the 3 legs of a ‘milking stool’ the three courses depend upon each other for support and stability. If you are just starting your QuickBooks ‘desktop’ career, or expanding your practice to cover more ‘unusual situations’ you will definitely want to participate in this new class before venturing into the Super Geek courses.
I also developed an entirely new course on QuickBooks Online Errors and Troubleshooting. We will summarize the various categories encompassing more than 200+ QBO errors that will be detailed in your course handout. In preparation for looking at the errors we will seek to gain a better understanding of what makes the QBO database unique from the QuickBooks desktop products, where they share common threads, and where they are distinctly different. As we tread our way through various types of errors we will learn the recommended steps for troubleshooting and resolving those errors as well as the source for more information on each. We will also look at ways to safeguard, import, export and manipulate QuickBooks Online data using tools from a few ‘old faithful’ QuickBooks utility providers as well as new developers who are making QuickBooks Online data their forte. If you actively support users of QuickBooks Online, including providing conversion services (to or from the product), configuration of bank feeds, integration of QuickBooks Online Payroll, and import/export via 3rd party data integration, this is a class you will want to attend.
It's NOT TOO LATE, if you haven't signed up for Scaling New Heights, registration is still open for this year's conference to be held at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas May 22 thru 25. For more information or to register, see the Conference Website.
Lastly let me say that I am truly honored to have been asked back to teach at Scaling New Heights, and given primary responsibility for development and instruction of so much content. I will strive to enlighten and entertain as we use this opportunity to help you achieve an Epic practice.