**THE FEBRUARY SESSION IS FILLED! CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES ON WHEN WE'LL OFFER ANOTHER SESSION**

Dig Deep into Your Farm Financials

You have questions about your business – whether its understanding how to be more profitable or knowing whether you can afford a piece of new equipment. Most answers to these questions can be found in your bookkeeping system.

In this 4 week workshop, we’ll dig deep into QuickBooks helping you get the answers you need to improve profitability and cash flow; and maintain financial sustainability.

Live classes begin Monday, February 22, 2021, and meet online 2 hours each week. In four weeks, you will learn how to:

  • Set up your QuickBooks
  • Enter in basic and complex transactions
  • Manage cash flow
  • Run (and read!) reports

In other words, get the answers you need to better manage your business!


This workshop is open to farmers and service providers (business advisors). Farmers will have the opportunity to partner with a business advisor as they put into practice these new skills. Service Providers will have the opportunity to practice their QuickBooks coaching skills with farmers.
This workshop is open to farmers and service providers (business advisors). Farmers will have the opportunity to partner with a business advisor as they put into practice these new skills. Service Providers will have the opportunity to practice their QuickBooks coaching skills with farmers.

Reserve your spot today!

The next session begins Monday, February 22nd at 3pm ET.

Tuition is offered on a sliding scale to increase equity and accessibility, especially for BIPOC farmers.  We rely on your honesty to determine which level is appropriate for you. We have a limited number of spaces available at the subsidized levels; please keep this in mind as you choose the level most appropriate for you.

If you find that the tuition is still beyond your means, please contact us. We do not want financial inaccessibility to be a barrier for potential participants.

"Julia’s QuickBooks course taught me fundamental accounting principles and how to apply them in QuickBooks, and to set up a system that provides me with key information I need.  This includes the ability to assess market channel profitability, enterprise profitability, and use of financial statements to examine financial health."

Seth Wilner, Agricultural Business Management Field Specialist



Course Topics

Basic Accounting

Become familiar with all the terms used in bookkeeping and accounting so that you can better develop your systems and utilize your financials.

QuickBooks Overview

Understand the differences between online and desktop version; and evaluate which one is best for you.

QuickBooks Set Up

With a base understanding of accounting principles and QuickBooks, we will talk about how to customize your chart of accounts to suit your business needs. We will also discuss how to link your bank accounts to download transactions.

Data Entry

We will walk through step-by-step how to:

  • Enter expenses
  • Create invoices
  • Enter sales
  • Enter credit card charges and payments
  • All other transactions that don’t fit neatly into the above categories.

Advanced Features

  • Using classes and items
  • Tracking time
  • Using Journal Entries

Running Reports

We will go through the different reports – how to run them and customize them to get the information you need about your business:

  • Profit and Loss
  • Balance Sheet
  • Sales By Item
  • A/R Aging Summary

Troubleshooting

  • Even the best systems run into problems sometimes and we’ll talk about how to spot the mistakes and learn how to fix them.

At the end of the program participants will have:

  • Comprehensive bookkeeping systems designed to help them manage their business
  • Systems for making managerial decisions

In other words, you will have a system to answer your questions!

Reserve your spot today!

Sessions begin Monday, February 22, 2021 at 3pm ET



Class Schedule

The group meets once a week for 2 hours each week; the next session begins Monday, February 22, 2021.
  • Session 1: Accounting Basics; QuickBooks Overview; Setting up your Chart of Accounts
  • Session 2: Basic Transactions and Data Entry, including how to use classes and items
  • Session 3: Advanced Transactions including Journal Entries
  • Session 4: Running Reports and Troubleshooting

“This class is a soup to nuts guide to setting up farm finances, tracking them, and planning for the future. I feel very prepared to tackle our farm’s financial present and future, using the tools Julia taught us to stay caught up on bookkeeping tasks and to make financial decisions in a systematic way”

Susan Peters, Deer Ridge Farm, VT



FAQ's

Each week, you will be given activities to help reinforce your learning. This may include reviewing the videos from the previous week, taking a quiz, or working through a problem set.

While the homework isn’t required, it’s a great way to reinforce the learning. It gives you a chance to practice the skills learned. You can expect to spend 1 – 2 hours per week outside of class-time reviewing the content and doing the homework.

There are several options for getting additional support:

This class will walk you through how to set-up and use QuickBooks. If you don’t already have QuickBooks, be ready to get started on day 1. If you do have Quickbooks, you will learn how to refine and better utilize your system.

There are several options to catch up on missed material:

  • All sessions will be recorded, so you can watch them at your convenience.
  • The slides will be posted to the website.
  • You can visit Julia during office hours to ask questions.

This class is hands-on, and having a current business is the best way to learn and apply the concepts instantly.

I applaud participants who want to get ahead in their business planning so they can get a running start when they launch. But some of the concepts may be harder to practice without an active business.

We offer several QuickBooks courses through The Farmers Office – Online – covering much of the content is the live class. Register for All-Access membership to watch these online tutorials.

While the principles and basic functionality of the online version and the desktop version are the same, there are some key differences in how transactions get entered. We will cover the differences between the two formats, so you can decide which version is right for you. Where there’s a marked difference between the two versions, we will review both the desktop functionality and the online functionality.

Reserve your spot today!

Sessions begin Monday, February 22, 2021; and meet from 3pm – 5pm  ET.

Tuition is offered on a sliding scale to increase equity and accessibility, especially for BIPOC farmers.  We rely on your honesty to determine which level is appropriate for you. We have a limited number of spaces available at the subsidized levels; please keep this in mind as you choose the level most appropriate for you.

If you find that the tuition is still beyond your means, please contact us. We do not want financial inaccessibility to be a barrier for potential participants.

What WeOffer You

Whether you’re just starting out, or expanding your business to the next phase of growth, Julia Shanks Food Consulting can help you succeed. Click below to find out more about our services.
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Tips, Toolsand Templates

Writing a business plan? Looking for investors? Getting set up in QuickBooks? We’ve got the tools and templates you need, from planning a startup to growing your business.
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Have Julia SpeakAt Your Conference

Julia speaks about small business accounting, business planning and sustainability. Recent conferences include NY Veterans in Agriculture and Women in Sustainable Agriculture.
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