Finance & Accounting

Make up your mind on Equifax!

You list Equifax in your list of sites that are "not the place to go," then later you say the opposite: "Because Equifax is the only CRA providing FICO scores directly to the public and their Credit Watch Gold product has an excellent reputation, that would be a wise choice for keeping tabs on your credit."

So why should we trust your list of bad sites?

You also say "The scores sold by Experian and TransUnion are commonly referred to as FAKO scores because they are frequently inflated and these are not the scores that businesses use to decide whether to extend credit to you," but this is not true. When applying for a loan, lenders in my experience are interested either in the middle score or the low score.

These two problems with your article make me skeptical of the entire thing.

Also, you're off base in saying ...

This Christmas Is Do or Die ...

In interviewing retailers and small business people this week, there is a lot riding on the upcoming Christmas season. One 37-year veteran of retailing told me that his business credit lines had all but disappeared but that he has been able to refinance his home and take an additional $100,000 out of it. He will plow that into his business. He said in a doomsday scenario, it will keep his doors open until January. He said that he had been through numerous recessions and at them end of them there is great pent up demand and then people start to spend. Let's hope this recovery is well underway by Christmas for the sake of this retailers and all of the other small busines people who have put so much of their being into their work.

Ron Derven
http://www.start-a-business-faq.com ...

Handling Overinvoicing - Quickbooks and Coupa ...

We generally see our customers want to avoid extra work because the vendor overinvoiced the company. The bill should reflect the items delivered / work performed.

Readers might want to check out Coupa (www.coupa.com) for a more advanced purchase order, receipt and bill capture system that is pre-integrated to Quickbooks (http://marketplace.intuit.com/AppID-3209-Overview.aspx and http://www.coupa.com/e-procurement/innovations/quickstart/). As one solution, you may want to do 3-way matching (PO, Receipt, Bill). The application knows that the overinvoice has occurred and pings the right user to confirm receipt of the items / work. If the user confirms that the vendor has satisfied what they've issued a bill for, then the invoice can be approved and sync'ed to Quickbooks. There are some other ways in Coupa to do this too, so we invite people to learn more and even try it out.

Do NOT Give Your Business to Trader Joe's!

Lynette, if something seems "too good to be true," it usually is. Trader Joe's remains the largest U.S. grocer operating on a nationwide scale that refuses to substantively respond to Greenpeace inquiries regarding its seafood sustainability policies and practices. Check out the site Traitor Joe's, which details the company's environmentally destructive business practices: http://www.traitorjoe.com/

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Soft Skills Yield Hard Results ...

Great article. You're right. Soft skills are critical whether we're in a recession or not. Many people regard soft skills as the touchy feely and unnecessary skills in business. However, the research is clear. High performing employees provide a better return on investment for companies than even average performing employees. When you look at what makes an employee high performing, you'll often find excellent interpersonal skills, solid teamwork skills, high levels of motivation and engagement and sometimes even effective leadership skills.

Whether you're looking for a job or you have the perfect job, don't underestimate the value and power of effective soft skills.

Jim Connolly
Organizational Behavior Consultant
www.orgresults.net/newsblog ...