Wm. Bruce Clevenger, OSU Extension Educator, Defiance County
Pencil and paper is still the way most farmers keep records. As farm size, income or debt increases, many farmers and lenders look for computer programs that allow fast data entry, have internal checks for accuracy and allow summarizing of data. Most farmers begin their search by asking “Is there a simple computer program that will keep my records like the farm account books?”
Ohio State University Extension and other land grant colleges have recognized the computer software Quicken® as a computerized farm recordkeeping system. Users can record transactions of both the farm and family and categorize them based on farm enterprises income and expenses as well as family living expenses. Its popularity is due to the ease of data entry and to its low price of $60 to $100. This single-entry system is essentially an electronic checkbook. It allows users to track loans, write checks, reconcile the checkbook with the bank statement and quickly create reports for the farm business, family, and tax purposes.
OSU Extension is offering a Computerized Farm Recordkeeping Workshop with Quicken® that will focus on setting up accounts, categorizing income and expenses, hands-on data entry, running tax reports, and preparing farm production reports. Workshop will utilize a computer laboratory with Quicken® software installed to be used by participants during the workshop.
Workshops will be held:
January 30 & February 6 at OSU Extension Van Wert Co. (1:00pm—3:30pm)
January 31 & February 7 at OSU Extension Defiance Co. (6:30pm—9:00pm)
February 3 & February 10 at OSU Extension Hancock Co. (9:30am—12 noon)
Pre-Registration $35.00 per farm business (2 people) is required and includes two-sessions and a workshop training manual. Please RSVP by January 18th. Space is limited.
For more information on the meeting, contact your OSU Extension office or OSU Extension Defiance County at (800) 745-4771, clevenger.10@osu.edu, or log on to http://defiance.osu.edu