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Quicken 2008 for Farm Financial Records and New Educational Resources

Damona Doye

Summary

All farm families need records to facilitate tax preparation and many are seeking a low cost, easy-to-use system to better sort and summarize information for management purposes. In many households, women are the primary record-keepers. For 15 years, the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service has been offering “hands on” computer workshops teaching people how to use Quicken for farm financial record-keeping. We demonstrate how to adopt Quicken, a popular and inexpensive personal financial record keeping package, for farm and ranch use.

Resource materials were recently featured in Beef magazine. On our website, http://www.agecon.okstate.edu/quicken, a step-by-step manual is posted along with answers to Frequently Asked Questions and quarterly newsletters. Short video and audio components allow viewers to see software applications just as they might in a “hands on” workshop. The content is segmented to allow viewers to focus on items relevant to them. Through the website, users can access a full complement of timely educational resources 24/7 regardless of where they are in the world. In addition, users can access content at their convenience and review them as many times as desired.

Having computerized financial records simplifies tax preparation and allows producers to more easily sort and summarize information to support decisions. Producers who have participated in workshops indicate that they gain new skills as well as confidence in using the computer in their business, that they have improved farm financial records, make better farm management decisions, and generate tax reports more easily. Some indicated a substantial savings in tax preparation costs.

Details

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