ORLANDO, Fla. — Farmers can improve their financial record keeping and generate reports and data required by government agencies and many lenders with a low-cost computer software program called Quicken, said two Texas Agricultural Extension Service economists at the Beltwide Cotton Conference.
“Farmers need accurate production and financial records to make sound management decisions,” said Dr. Jason Johnson, Extension economist-management based in Weslaco. “The days of keeping records in a pocket notebook or on a piece of paper in the pickup are rapidly disappearing.”
Johnson and Dr. Jackie Smith, Extension risk management economist based in Lubbock, gave two seminars here on using Quicken in farm financial management.
“Quicken is a low-cost, record-keeping solution. It also is user-friendly. Producers with basic computer knowledge and a checkbook register can get started in about two or three hours,” Smith said. “Quicken isnt the only product available, but it is a good one. I encourage producers to get some form of financial software and get started.
“Computer software won’t reduce the cost of obtaining production and management data, but it can greatly increase your ability to summarize and analyze that data. That advantage more than offsets the time required for learning and using this type of software.”
Quicken is capable of handling more information than most farmers want to record, the economists said. But by learning how to use the program’s categories, subcategories and data classes, producers can quickly learn to tailor raw information into useful records and reports.
Most producers start out using only the most basic features of Quicken, such as checking account reconciliation, but soon learn to appreciate the program’s advanced options, the economists noted.
“With Quicken, you can print checks, generate enterprise budgets and budget reports, and track current actual expenses against budgeted expenses,” Johnson said. “You also can produce customized transaction reports, summary reports and graphs with this software.”
“I encourage you to take a basic and advanced Quicken class after you first start using this software,” Smith said. “Quicken classes are available in most states through the Extension Service or local computer retail outlets. But before you jump into computerized farm record-keeping, you should realize that owning a computer and software won’t immediately make you a better record-keeper, manager or business person.
“Like any other farm implement, producers must use a computer wisely if it is going to contribute to their profitability. Computer hardware and software tools require hard work, but over the long-haul you can, in turn, make them work hard for you.”
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