I have tried all kinds of marketing techniques and am not getting any bites. Not sure what more can be done.

I currently define clean books as transactions categorized, accounts reconciled, accruals posted, and the reports are reliable for the owner to make sound business decisions and investors can make ethical loaning decisions. One area I feel unsure about is working with company accounts consisting of a parent account and employee accounts with just one statement and one or more monthly payments. After this course, my standard will be to continue learning more and sharing with others what I have learned to make this world a better place.

Thanks for sharing about Portali....looking forward to checking that out.

I'm still trying to get clients so I started experimenting with several different software packages because I initially thought QBO was too clunky----and then all the changes they made. I've experimented with Xero (love that they own HubDoc, which I love for importing documents and for storing them). I tried ZipBooks (simpler but effective as it's only $10/month per client (free for bookkeepers with two paying clients). Manager.io (a free program for desktop use that is easy to use but because it comes from Turkey, their way of setting up bank/credit card accounts is different....there's an online version which is the exact set-up as the free desktop version so no new ways to navigate....you only need to turn on items in settings that you want to use but can go back to settings to turn on more as you grow...the online portion is $59/month....for both free & paid, you're limited to 100 customers/clients so it's really cost effective when you grow larger...what's also unique is that the bookkeeper is the owner of the files but can through a portal set anyone in the client business up as a user and you can limit which aspects of the program they have access to----a different take on who owns the books. The final company I've been working with is Ambrook. Originally designed for farmers/ranchers and construction, they were an alternative to the enterprise features that QuickBooks either couldn't provide or you have to pay an arm & a leg for. The lower package (non-inventory) is $49/month and the inventory features portion is $99/month. They have monthly trainings and it's free to train & take a certification exam to get the free bookkeeper account (it took me 2 hours to get access). They're American-based and are really working hard with users to fix any problems and are adding constantly to their features. I'm kind of a computer software nerd so I like to try things out and see how I can break it (LOLOL) for the betterment of the software.

I believe accrual is, or should be, the most trusted format as it records the actual history of the transaction. If items are sold in December but the business doesn't take ownership of the cash until January, the history tells us that something happened in the business in December and that the business "loans" the money as an account receivable as they wait for it to arrive. To me, this is a more accurate portrayal of what's happening.

@Joel Bradshaw I agree, Joel. Reports are not just for the owner but for potential buyers or investors, too.