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March 2003 - Vol. 1 No. 3

Filing Digital Photographs

Last month, we talked about taking a great photographs, finding it again can be the hard part!  We will focus this month's newsletter on filing photographs on the hard drive. You can find any photograph, if you use the same filing method. Doing the same thing the same way every time eliminates lost photographs.

1. Right click on the Start button. Select Explore to open Microsoft Explorer.

2. Click to open My Documents, click to open My Pictures. If you do not have a folder entitled My Pictures create one.

3. Click File, click New, click Folder, & type Window & Bedding Photographs to create a subfolder under My Pictures.

4. Double click to open new folder.

5. Click File, click New; create several new subfolders entitled Balloon Shades, Bedding, Cornices, Draperies, Fabric, Pillows & Shams, Misc., Roman Shades, Swags & Top Treatments as well as any others you find helpful to organize your photographs.

6. Also, create two other folders under My Pictures entitled Personal & Measured Windows. The Measured Windows folder will hold all photographs that are taken of a client's windows at the time the windows were measured. Occasionally go through and delete older clients to clean up space on your hard drive.

7. Add more subfolders for your specific needs to make filing even more efficient.

8. After subfolders have been setup just save your photographs to the appropriate folder.

9. Photographs are much easier to retrieve when filed in My Pictures rather than being filed in your camera's default folder.

10. Microsoft has also setup another folder entitled My Scanned Documents. Create similar subfolders in this directory.  Store scanned images of trims, rods, finals or magazine pictures of treatments.

11. Below is an example of how your folders in My Pictures should look:

            My Pictures
                 Measured Windows
                         Smith, Jane
                         Homemaker, Susie
                 Personal
                       Family
                       Friends
                 Window & Bedding Photographs
                       Balloon Shades

                               Pleated Butterfly Balloon
                       Bedding
                       Cornices
                       etc.

Q u i c k B o o k s T i p . . .

Sales Tax - Part Two

All Sales Tax Due When a Payment/Deposit is Received 

This month we will be discussing paying sales tax on an entire invoice when a deposit is received.  Some states declare that you are liable for all the sales tax when a deposit is received on an invoice.  You can offset the extra sales tax you must pay by requiring a 60% deposit, instead of a 50% deposit. 

This method is the easiest way for reporting & paying sales tax, of course the downside is having to pay all of the sales tax in the next tax period.  Remember, to check with your state regarding your tax liability.

1. First, set your preferences in QuickBooks correctly.

2. Click Edit, click Preferences, scroll down & select Sales Tax icon (on the left), click the Company Preferences tab, click the button "As of Invoice date" (Accrual Basis). Also, click the button to indicate the frequency you pay sales tax monthly, quarterly or yearly.

3. TIP: Make sure the box "Mark taxable amounts with "T" when printing" is UNCHECKED. Unless you want T's to the right of every row on the invoice.

4. After a deposit is received, open the estimate, click the Create Invoice button to turn the estimate into an invoice. At that moment the invoice is registered in your Accounts Receivable.

5. Next, open the Receive Payment window & record the payment. The payment will automatically apply to your invoice. When more than one invoice shows up in the payment window apply the payment to the correct invoice by single clicking on that invoice.

6. If an invoice is created on 2/18/2003, sales tax will be due the following tax period. QuickBooks will automatically calculate the correct sales tax.

7. When you receive a payment a few days before the end of your tax period, you can wait to deposit the check until the beginning of next tax period. Make sure the invoice is also dated at the beginning of the next tax period.

8. See last month's issue regarding which reports to print and adjusting amounts of sales tax. see General Tips for Calculating Sales Tax

TIP:  I found another good feature in QuickBooks 2003.  You can set QuickBooks to "Use today's date as default" instead of "Use the last entered date as default".  This corrects the date problem when you create historical transactions.  Go to Preferences & click the General icon.  I'm so glad they finally gave us this option.

View more QuickBooks Products

New Product . . .

Cascade Folding Template! Fold cascades in a fraction of the time with our Cascade Folding Template. Simply lay template on a finished cascade, mark the slots & fold. Doing things the same way every time saves you money. All directions are printed on the template; no extra manual is needed!. See the Cascade Folding Template!

D e s i g n S t y l e s . . .

Each month we will feature a company’s window or bed design in our newsletter. Each person will receive a $20 gift certificate good towards any Minutes Matter purchase. To have your treatment considered, please submit the picture & details of the treatment to treatment@minutesmatter.com.

Treatment Details . . .

• Euro Pleated Drapery with Tucks & Stationary Roman Shade.

• Draperies are installed on custom iron rods, rings and finials. Draperies are functional with custom made iron batons from Kelvin Johnson.

• Fabric was purchased from Norbar.  Fabric for the top section & stationary roman shade is pattern Wunda, color: Vanilla.  Fabric for the bottom section is pattern Wunda, color: Cocoa.

• Four 1½" tucks created this classic look.  Seams were covered by folding tucks ¼" past seams.  First seam line is exposed.  First tuck is only 1¼".  All tucks will have a finished look of 1¼".

• Tucks were stitched and then panels were interlined.

• The FL of the drapery is 103", the top cream section of the drapery measures 30".

• A stationary roman shade is mounted at the same height as the drapery panel. The stationary roman shade conceals extra drywall space above window.

• Treatments are lined & interlined.

• Draperies are installed ¼" off floor.

• This treatment was fabricated by Anna's Custom Creations, White House, TN.

Please e-mail suggestions@minutesmatter.com telling us what topics you would find interesting to read in the newsletter. We look forward to hearing from you!

Special Notice: Our fax number has changed to 615-826-0832.

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