The live, weekly online classes will build on enhance your existing knowledge and experiences to help you make a greater impact on the viability of your farmers and clients. You don’t need to be a bookkeeper or a QuickBooks expert to guide your clients toward better financial decisions. This class is designed for business advisors who want to understand the mechanics of QuickBooks—so you can confidently interpret reports, troubleshoot common issues, and help your clients get the most out of their numbers. Gain the knowledge to bridge the gap between financial data and strategic business decisions, without getting lost in the weeds of bookkeeping..Enhance Your Advising with QuickBooks Know-How
New session begins April 8, 2025
“I'd been looking for courses like this aimed at a service provider audience, and the content and the connections made the course very worthwhile.”
Reserve your spot today!
Register before March 15, 2025 and receive a $75 discount. Just enter the code: QBO-EARLY
Scholarships are available for organizations that are led by and/or work with BIPOC farmers.
Course Topics
Basic Accounting and Bookkeeping Principles
Become familiar with basic accounting principles and how they impact bookkeeping systems.
Data Validation
When your clients gives you a report from QuickBooks (either the profit and loss or the balance sheet), you want to know that the numbers are accurate and trustworthy before you do any sort of analysis or strategy development. We will learn how to recognize common mistakes that show up on the financial statements, what they mean, and how to support your clients to fix them.
Setting Up Systems
We will teach you a framework for setting up (and editing) a chart of accounts so that reports in QuickBooks give you (the business advisor) and the farmer the data they need to understand their financials and make decisions to improve profits.
We’ll cover basic set-up, including how to set up and edit the chart of accounts. We will also discuss products and services and how these seemly simple classifications can have a powerful impact on how a farmer sees their numbers.
Problem Solving
We identified common mistakes that farmers make using QuickBooks, and we will discuss how to resolve some of the more common challenges:
- how to best use the bank feed
- how to handle credit card sales
- how to track grant related expenses
We will also have time to address your specific questions.
Running Reports
With a solid bookkeeping system and numbers we can trust, we can now talk about how to analyze the numbers. We will review some of my favorite QuickBooks reports, how to customize them, and how to get the information you need from QuickBooks to make data-driven decisions.
At the end of the program participants will:
- Know how to run and read reports in QuickBooks
- Understand how to spot errors in QuickBooks from reading reports
- Be able to suggest improvements for their client working with QuickBooks
- Be able to help their clients problems solve issues in QuickBooks.
- Build your peer network
In other words, you will have the skills to better support your clients!
“Julia delivers pertinent information in a very accessible way! The class is well structured, the content is relevant, and the easy access to Julia for questions is a powerful package.”
Ellen Polishuk, Plant to Profit
Reserve your spot today!
Register before March 15, 2025 and receive a $75 discount. Just enter the code: QBO-EARLY
Scholarships are available for organizations that are led by and/or work with BIPOC farmers.
Class Schedule
Classes meet for 1.5 hours weekly, for 4 weeks.
Session 1: Data Validation
How to look at reports from QuickBooks and know if the numbers can be assured to be accurate. What are some steps to resolve numbers that aren't quite right. Session 2: The Chart of Accounts (and how to get the reports organized in a meaningful way)
We'll talk about a framework for organize a chart of accounts. Review the mechanics for updating a chart of accounts. What are products & services and how do they integrate with the Chart of Accounts and reports. Session 3: The Bank Feed and Problem Solving
In the first session, we talked about how to identify problems in QuickBooks; and in this session we'll talk about how to solve some of them. We'll go through the bank feed, see how it works, how it can cause problems; and how to resolve the potential problems. We'll also discuss other sticky transactions like managing credit cards sales, and tracking expenses associated with grants. Week 4: Reports
Now that you've supported your clients in getting their QuickBooks in order, we can start running reports. In this section, we'll talk about some of my favorite reports and how to customize them to get the information you need to best support your clients. Throughout each session, we will share tips for getting the most out of QuickBooks.
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:
- Julia is always available by email for questions.
- Julia hosts regular speed coaching sessions, so you can pop in and ask questions.
- If you need more support, you can always schedule a one-on-one coaching call.
A base familiarity of QuickBooks is helpful. The course assumes that you understand the basic principles of bookkeeping, financial statements, and QuickBooks. This course will give you the a deeper understanding of QuickBooks so you can better support your clients who use the bookkeeping software.
We will be working with a real farm company file in QuickBooks Online.
There are several options to catch up on missed material:
- All sessions will be recorded, so you can rewatch them at your convenience.
- The slides will be posted to the class portal hosted on The Farmer’s Office.
- You can visit Julia during speed-coaching sessions to ask questions.
Full refunds are offered within 1 week of registration for the class. After that refunds will be available if we are able to fill the spot.
Testimonials
Testimonials for QuickBooks for Business Advisors
“It was just good to learn to navigate the backend of QB”
“This was a very helpful overview of QB online”
“Julia is a great presenter – thoughtful, clear and well prepared!”
“I found it valuable, thank you.”
Testimonials for The Farmer’s Edge – A Coach’s Primer
“I found each week was interesting and full of good learning (a great value!)”
~ Paige Phinney, Kitchen Table Advisors
“Julia delivers pertinent information in a very accessible way! The class is well structured, the content is relevant, and the easy access to Julia for questions is a powerful package.”
~ Ellen Polushik, Plant to Profit
“As a marketing consultant for farms and food-related businesses, I often need to advise clients about their other business and financial challenges. Before I took The Farmer’s Edge, I could read a balance sheet, but didn’t necessarily know what I should be looking for. Since I use Julia Shanks’ book, The Farmer’s Office, as a reference, I was excited about taking her online class. The live sessions were great, because I could ask Julia questions as she was going over the concepts. Plus, I could go back and review the sessions and other materials as often as needed. I also liked hearing questions from other participants. After taking the class, I feel more confident about advising clients about their overall business issues.”
~ Myrna Greenfield, Good Egg Marketing
“The Farmer’s Edge – A Coach’s Primer course not only provides a comprehensive overview of farm accounting and finance, but offers a supportive team environment to foster real learning. It was wonderful to have a place to get all my farm financial questions answered. This course made me a better consultant. Thank you Julia!”
Register before March 15, 2025 and receive a $75 discount. Just enter the code: QBO-EARLY
Scholarships are available for organizations that are led by and/or work with BIPOC farmers.
Reserve your spot today!
Start your journey to financially sustainable farming with courses designed specifically for farmers.
The Farmer’s Office Online courses use real-farm examples to teach you exactly what you need to know to run a profitable farm business.
View our open enrollment courses
Join our free class: How to Grow Your Farm Business: More Profits (Not More Production). Click here to register
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.
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.
