Services Available from Quest Business and Accounting Services

QUEST BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES
SERVICES AVAILABLE
Here is a complete outline of most of the services Quest Business and Accounting Services provides. At the highest level, the services are divided into three categories, which correspond to three different rates. All rates are lower than virtually all competitors. Rates for start-ups and new businesses less than three years old located in Michigan counties that border Lake Superior are heavily discounted, extremely low, and guaranteed to be much lower than all competitors. See the “Rates and Discounts” page for complete details.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
--Business Consulting
     --Business consulting and planning for start-ups and for existing businesses
          --Business plan showing you the economic feasibility of your proposal
          --Pro forma or projected income statements and balance sheets
          --Pro forma or projected cash flow statements
          --Pro forma or projected investor performance: IRR, ROI, NPV, etc.
          --Exactly how much business you need to break even
          --Strategy, Tactics, and everyday tips for your new or existing business
          --Strategic partnership formation

     --Financial consulting and planning
          --Business plan customized for a bank or any other potential investor
          --Personal financial consulting and planning for the small business owner
               --For example, a specific acquisition of financing plan
                    --Whether, when, and how to correctly apply for sources of funds
                         --From community banks
                         --From regional banks
                         --From mega banks
                         --From SBIC / SBA loans
                         --From angel investors
                         --From venture capital companies
                         --From sources of grants
                    --In general, how to best attract venture capital
                    --Custom business plan for any of the above sources
          --Compare and contrast pros and cons of various sources of funds
          --Grant proposals for businesses that might qualify for a grant
          --Direct financial arrangements with vendors
          --Economies of scale
          --Business valuation
          --Insurance and risk management consulting
          --Advice on how to manage cash shortages and financial difficulties

     --Accounting consulting
          --Consulting and training on how to use Quick books, Turbo Tax or, at
               our option, another accounting and/or tax software

     --Compliance with regulations
          --Find out exactly what regulations you need to be concerned with
               --Owners sometimes overestimate how restrictive a regulation is
               --Owners sometimes imagine regulations that don’t really exist
          --We will assist you wherever possible with complying
          --Business plans for special permits

     --Operations consulting and planning
          --Your strategic and optimized line of products and services
          --Pricing based on sound economics, marketing, and competitive analysis
          --Location analysis including detailed demographics
          --Scheduling of services
          --Establishing maximum possible value for the clients and customers
          --Property and equipment management including storage

     --Buying or selling your business
          --Merger and acquisition consulting for small and very small businesses
          --Selling all or part of a small or very small business
          --Buying all or part of a small or very small business

--Basic Accounting and Bookkeeping
     --Chart of Accounts—complete and correct
     --Traditional and important bookkeeping for all accounts
     --Income Statements and Balance Sheets
          --Income accounts correct and complete
          --Expense accounts correct and complete
          --Asset accounts
               --Accounts Receivable
                    --All accounts receivable correctly maintained and valued
                    --Statements (Invoices) for your clients and customers
                    --Collection assistance
          --Liability accounts
               --Accounts Payable
                    --All accounts payable correctly maintained and valued
                    --Bill pay service (we make sure all your bills are paid on time)
          --Owners’ Equity accounts - all properly valued

--Cost Accounting and Budgeting
     --Custom income statements to better show true income
     --Cash Flow Statements and cash flow planning
     --Multi-year financial plans and/or annual budgets
     --Expense reduction plans
     --Multi-year business investment planning (for the expected business life)

--Personal and Business Tax Accounting
     --Personal income tax return preparation and consulting
     --Review of prior years’ tax returns
     --Business income tax return preparation and consulting
          --For example, S-Corporation tax returns preparation and tax consulting
     --Returns are prepared using software of your choice or you can let us choose the software used
     --Quarterly estimated personal income tax payments and filings
     --Business entity recommendations, for example, should you incorporate?
     --A complete state / federal tax calendar is maintained for all clients
     --Tax planning including projections of what you will owe
     --Depreciation and all other records for use in the unlikely event of an audit
     --Business payroll service including all payroll tax filings and payments
          --Note, since payroll is a semi-professional service; rates are even lower

--Recordkeeping—General
     --Any recordkeeping (not mentioned elsewhere) required for any reason

--Economics Consulting
     --Economics consulting and research to your specifications. The owner-operator of Quest Services is
          both an accountant and an economist.

--Computer and Internet Consulting
     --Hardware Consulting
          --Limited to basic consulting; we do not fix hardware
          --For example, how to correctly use portable hard drives
     --Software Consulting
          --How to use Accounting and spreadsheet programs
          --Operating system maintenance and repair - keep your computer running fast
     --Malware prevention and malware removal
     --Internet Consulting
          --General Internet consulting, for example, what are the best sites to use?
          --Website consulting
               --We recommend changes in and new features for your website
               --We can design, deploy, and heavily promote a free website for you
               --We do not, however, design and deploy traditional sites hosted fee charging web hosts

--Real Estate Consulting
     --Limited to consulting regarding how to buy very or extremely low cost residential or commercial real
          estate in Big Snow Country
     --Consulting about low cost property will often be free to existing clients
     --We do not do consulting for real estate in general

SEMI-PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
--Promotion
     --Internet Promotion
     --Traditional Promotion

--Payroll Tax Accounting
     --All payroll tax filings and payments

--Copyright Defense
     --Removal of files from the Internet that violate your copyright rights
     --Reduction of the future incidence of copyright violations
     --We are extremely good at this despite the fact there are very few enterprises offering this service at all;
          please ask for details.

PROCESSING SERVICES
--Order Processing
     --Internet orders
     --Orders via email
     --Phone orders

--Customer Service
     --Via the Internet
     --Via email
     --Via the telephone

THE QUEST BUSINESS SERVICES "LIBRARY SERVICE"
Quest produces some and has at its disposal vast informational resources and tools useful for small businesses. All clients are welcome to ask for and receive resources for free or for nominal (token) charges. The “library service” will be especially useful if you wish to participate in and/or assist Quest in the economic and/or the financial management of your business. We can research and report back on specific questions or in some cases we can simply send the whole resource to you in an email attachment.

For example, you could request a custom spreadsheet that will remind you about how many clients or customers you will get by hour, by day, by month, and by year.

As another example, you could request detailed information from a Lasser tax guide book, or from the corresponding IRS instructions book.

There are thousands of other possibilities; we have information resources for probably every possible question related to small business, personal finance, small business computing, personal computing, and related subjects.

QUEST BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES
● Is a US business service company serving especially New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan
● Specializing in and offering huge discounts for start-ups and existing businesses in Michigan counties along the shores of Lake Superior
● Try Quest services for free and see for yourself whether the extremely low rates yet high quality service are too good to be true

To get started, email Quest at bigsnowbusiness@gmail.com

You can ask questions about services and/or begin services via email, via phone, or both; it’s your choice. If you want to be called, include your phone number and the best time to reach you in your email.

OR you can start by calling 646-350-6612 and leaving a very short message. Note that this is an Internet phone service number and, due to phone service limitations, the area code does not match the area code for the location of the business, which is 906.

You will be called back soon after. Since we don’t bother with a toll-free number, we like to call you so that in most cases you won’t pay toll charges except for whatever you paid for the very short call where you left a very short message. Consulting conversations sometimes run over an hour long and we don’t want clients to pay for telephone long distance toll charges so we call them back.

Qualifications and Experience of Your Quest Services Provider

I AM MORE THAN QUALIFIED FOR EVERYTHING OFFERED HERE
Like the vast majority of people who live in Big Snow Country I am not a "corporate man". That is, I am not the type of person who has a lot of experience with dealing with and/or accounting for millions of dollars. What I am though is sort of the small money version of a "corporate man". In other words, I chose to employ my economics, business, and accounting skills and knowledge to small and very small enterprises, often my own.

Here is a quick summary of my primary qualifications:

Economics and Business Skills and Knowledge Qualified
I hold a Summa Cum Laude Degree at a near Ivy League School

Accounting and Business Skills and Knowledge Qualified
I hold a Summa Cum Laude Masters Degree in Accounting at a major State University

Business Experience Qualified
I successfully ran a small (or very small would perhaps be more accurate) retail business located in a city with a population of almost a quarter million people and located in a metro area of a million people with essentially no assistance from anyone for 7.5 years, performing every task from a to z myself. Work weeks were in the 70 to 90 hours a week range. What I just described is literally true, as strange as it might sound to you.

Also, I successfully managed (with some limited assistance) another very small retail business for seven years prior to that.

In the most recent years I have been "recession dodging" and at the same time producing Internet resources including Big Snow Country. Just prior to coming to Big Snow Country I fixed up, cleaned up, and sold a relatively neglected property in an extremely remote spot in the Midwest at a small gain in the middle of the biggest real estate price decline in history. (No, when I bought that property I wasn't trying to get in on the easy money that could be made years ago in "flipping" properties; that property was simply a residence I chose to live in. But then when the real estate depression struck I was challenged to prevent a very large loss on the resale of the property. I succeeded at preventing that loss.)

As of now my plan to dodge the recession in Big Snow Country has partially fallen through because the recession is so severe that even Big Snow Country, which for decades was one of the best areas of the Midwest economically and still is, actually, has succumbed to recessionary conditions. The fact that even Big Snow Country has dropped into recession is one of the reasons, as you may already know, that I am selling business services for ridiculously low prices.

Internet and Computing Qualified
I have developed over 100 interesting web sites that are gradually growing in traffic, including Big Snow Country. I have especially high proficiency in Excel, Quicken, Quick Books, Turbo Tax, HTML, and malware/computer security. I am not, however, a "geek programmer" and in fact I try to avoid outright programming as much as possible, preferring to rely on coding done by others. (Call me a code hyena if you insist).

Rates and Discounts for Quest Business and Accounting Services

QUEST BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES
RATES, AND DISCOUNTS
Effective 2010 AND 2011

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
The first two hours of my work are free to you. You can try a service for free, evaluate the results, and then decide whether to continue at cost. Calling and asking questions and/or ordering service is not only free but does not count toward the free two hours of actual service that you can get if you try Quest Services. In fact, you are never charged for simply asking questions about services or for the time spent ordering services.

Also, if you quit services at any time after paying for service, the last one hour of my work is free to you. The last two hours are free if your business is not operating at the time you quit services.

RATE CATEGORIES
There are three categories of rates and three categories of clients. So in total there are nine hourly rates but virtually all clients will have just one or two hourly rates that apply to them. The three categories of rates correspond to these categories of services:

--Professional services
--Semi-professional services
--Processing services

The three categories of clients are:

--Big Snow Country start-up business owners
--Big Snow Country existing business owners
--Business owners outside Big Snow Country

Start-up businesses are any business that has not started revenue making operations and any business that has started but is less than three years old. Big Snow Country consists of the following counties along the south shore of Lake Superior:

-Gogebic
-Ontonagon
-Houghton
-Keweenaw
-Baraga
-Marquette
-Alger
-Luce

BIG SNOW COUNTRY START-UPS BUSINESS HOURLY RATES
These are rates for businesses not yet up and running and for businesses up and running but less than three years old located in any of the counties shown just above. Along with new operating businesses these rates are for businesses that are planned some of which, unfortunately, will never actually begin day to day operations.

These rates apply to both the planning phase and the early operations phase. For example, if it takes two years to plan a business and you hired Quest for all of this time to help you start it, you would get these rates for a total of five years (two years before and three years after day to day operations begin). There is no limit on the number of years you can get these extremely low rates while we are planning the start of actual operations for your business.

The rates for Big Snow Country start-ups are:

-Professional Services $10 per hour
-Semi-Professional Services $8 per hour
-Processing Services $7 per hour.

As you can see, if you are a start-up business in one of the targeted counties, you will get high quality, exacting, professional services at "ridiculously low rates". You won't find lower rates than ours at any quality, yet our quality level is at least as high as that of the big, traditional, expensive business service companies. The service you get from Quest Services will be the same high quality you would get if you paid twice or three times as much from the traditional companies.

And satisfaction is always guaranteed so you can see for yourself at very little or no risk that these claims are true; see the "Satisfaction Guaranteed" section above for details.

BIG SNOW COUNTRY EXISTING BUSINESS HOURLY RATES
These are rates for businesses that have been up and running for more than
three years old located in any of the counties above.

The rates are:
-Professional Services $14 per hour
-Semi-Professional Services $11.50 per hour
-Processing Services $9.50 per hour.

STANDARD HOURLY RATES
These are rates for businesses that do not fit in the two categories above. These rates are still roughly 20% less than average rates charged around the country. The same satisfaction guarantee with the no risk opportunity to try one or more services at little or no cost applies.

The standard rates are:
-Professional Services $20 per hour
-Semi-Professional Services $17 per hour
-Processing Services $14 per hour.

RATE CHANGES
Rates for existing clients can never increase by more than 10% in a year but rates for new clients are subject to change beginning for 2012. How much rates change for new clients in 2012 and beyond will depend on to what extent our work load capabilities are reached by customers who start out in 2010 and 2011. In other words, it will be sort of a first come first serve basis for the extremely low Big Snow Country rates.

We can and definitely will also simply shut the door on new clients once existing clients use up most or all of our work load capabilities.

Existing clients will never be subject to big price increases. If we increase rates for existing clients at all, we won't increase them by more than 10% a year. If you think the very, very low rates shown above are some kind of "bait and switch," that will quickly rise by large amounts, you are completely mistaken.

Moreover, all clients are guaranteed the exact rate schedule they started with for two full years plus for the year they started. Clients new in 2010 will have the 2010 rates shown above until at least the end of 2012. Then in each successive year beginning in 2013, clients starting in 2010 will pay no more than 10% more per hour than they did the year before.

Since 2011 rates will be the same as 2010 rates, clients new in 2011 will also have the extremely low rates shown above until at least the end of 2013. Then in each successive year beginning in 2014, clients starting in 2011 will pay no more than 10% more per hour than they did the year before.

WHY NOT "NAME YOUR OWN PRICE" AND BREAK OUT OF THE FLAT FEE OR RATE PRISON YOU MAY BE IN?
Most business service companies charge flat fees for particular projects and/or they charge flat monthly rates. Quest Business and Accounting Services, as a deep discount business service enterprise custom designed for the troubled economy, allows you to "name your own price". Before each new project and/or on a bimonthly basis, a quick little negotiation between you and Quest Services establishes how many hours of work will be put into your project and, using the rates that apply to your business (that for Big Snow Country businesses are heavily discounted) the amount that you will owe when the month is over is known by both sides in advance.

This scheme is heavily in favor of the customer which of course is why most other business service companies don't do it this way. Unlike with other companies you are not in effect being charged for work that is never actually done. Rather, each month you get exactly the work that you and Quest agreed upon at the exact cost that was agreed upon.

Moreover, if it takes longer than Quest thought it would to produce the end
product(s) of the project(s), then the extra time that was needed is provided free to you. You read that correctly; cost overruns are "eaten" by Quest Accounting and Business Services!

THE MAXIMUM YOU WILL PAY IS WHATEVER YOU SAY IT WILL BE IN ADVANCE
For each service for each statement period the maximum you will be charged will be whatever you say it should be in advance. Based on what you want done Quest will give you my best estimate of the minimum number of hours needed to do that work. If that minimum number of hours multiplied by the applicable rate is acceptable to you, then we are good to go.

If on the other hand the minimum Quest needs for the job exceeds the maximum you want to pay for, there are three possibilities:

--Quest can agree to reduce what it would really want to do down to the
maximum you are willing to pay for. There is much more flexibility to do this with some services than with others. For example, there is very little flexibility to cut work time that goes into tax accounting, but much more flexibility to cut work time that goes into promotion or to business planning.

--You can agree to increase the maximum that you are willing to pay.

--You can quit services and try to find someone else who will meet your
requirements.

If and when your maximum is less than the Quest minimum, one of these three
resolutions is necessary for Quest to proceed. I will help you decide between them in any way I can.

Remember, by focusing on hours of service, Quest gives you a much "better deal" than you would get from another company that simply quotes and charges you a flat fee for service(s). For one thing, you know exactly how many hours of work you are getting from Quest, whereas with other companies that charge a flat amount you are left in the dark about how much or how little work is actually being done for you.

LONG TERM CLIENTS
If and when a "steady state" is reached, where the amount of work needed for your business doesn't vary much from month to month, there will be no need for a bimonthly agreement about what you will get and pay for; a long term agreement (which will usually be informal and unwritten) will be in effect where the amount you owe stays the same month after month. In this case there is little difference on the surface between how Quest does business and how other companies that have flat cookie cutter rates do business. But under the surface, unlike with the other business service companies, the amount of actual work provided for your business is guaranteed to stay the same month after month.

WHAT YOU GET IS CAREFULLY TRACKED AND DOCUMENTED
Quest has a uses "time accounting" worksheets to carefully keep track of how much work is being done for you and we don't cheat because, for one thing, since everything is agreed to in advance and also since unlike other businesses we are not out to make every dollar possible, we have no motivation to cheat.

LOYAL CUSTOMER DISCOUNT
This is an additiional 5% discount on top of all other discounts.

If and when your total all-time paid charges exceed $1,000, you get $50 in
services for free. And for each additional $1,000, you get another $50 in
services for free. This means for example:

--If you get and pay for $1,000 in services you will actually receive $1,050 in services.

--If you get and pay for $5,000 in services you will actually receive $5,250 in services.

--If you get and pay for $10,000 in services you will actually receive $10,500 in services.

And so on. Each free $50 is given at whatever your usual rate is. For example, if you are charged the Big Snow Country start-up rate of just $10 per hour, you get five hours of free services for each one hundred hours or $1,000 of services you get and pay for.

Contact Quest Services

QUEST BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES
● A US business Service Company especially serving New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan
● Specializing in and offering huge discounts for start-ups and existing businesses in Michigan counties along the shores of Lake Superior
● Try Quest services for free and see for yourself whether the extremely low rates yet high quality service are too good to be true

TO GET STARTED, CHOOSE A CONTACT OPTION:
You can ask questions about services, try services for free, and/or begin services after your free trial via email, via phone, or both. You choose the way and you also choose which of those ways you prefer Quest to contact you.

EMAIL OPTION
To get started, email Quest at bigsnowbusiness at gmail .com . If you are an existing accounting only client, you can alternatively use the dedicated accounting email address: questaccountingservices at gmail. com . Replace "at" with the symbol @ and remove spaces for both email addresses. (The addresses are shown this way to prevent these emails from being picked up by automatic email harvesters used by junk email senders; this prevents thousands of garbage emails from being sent to these addresses.)

Please indicate in your email whether you want Quest to return your email message with an email or a phone call. If you want to be called, please include your phone number and optionally the best time to reach you.

TELEPHONE OPTION
Or you can start by calling 646-350-6612 and leaving a very short message. Don't forget to include your phone number and please include the best time to call if it matters to you. Or else you can leave an email address in your phone message and we'll contact you back via email.

Note: The area code in the phone number reflects another area, but please be aware that Quest Accounting and Business is physically located fully in Houghton County, Michigan and has no physical or legal location in that other area code area. The reason for this is that the phone number is an Internet number and the service used can not yet supply to Quest a 906 area code number which is what we really want to have.

You can use this number 24 hours a day to leave a message. It is usually actively monitored during most regular business hours so if you call during business hours you are likely to get a call back within about three hours of your call. If you leave a message outside of regular business hours you will probably get a call back sometime on the next business day, subject also to your "best time to call" instructions.

Since we don’t bother with a toll-free number, we like to call you not only the first time but every time, so that in most cases you won’t pay toll charges except for whatever you pay when you call Quest to leave very short messages with requests for call backs. Consulting conversations sometimes run over an hour long and we don’t want clients to pay for telephone long distance toll charges for consulting.

Incidentally, only formal consulting conversations are subject to charge. Requests for service are always free and questions and discussions regarding completed service are generally free.

WHEN TO CALL IF YOU WANT IMMEDIATE CONTACT WITH NO WAITING FOR A CALL BACK
If you prefer you can call during the following hours and we will often be able to pick up the call and talk with you immediately. Your ordinary toll charges will apply.
The times Quest Services tries to pick up calls directly are between 2 PM and 5 PM eastern time, Wednesdays and Thursdays only. The phone number is the same one you can use at any time day or night: 646-350-6612

By time zone the hours to call for immediate contact and service are:

Eastern 2 PM to 5 PM Wednesdays and Thursdays only
Central 1 PM to 4 PM Wednesdays and Thursdays only
Mountain Noon to 3 PM Wednesdays and Thursdays only
Pacific 11 AM to 2 PM Wednesdays and Thursdays only

Remember, you must call within these hours to get live assistance. At all other times, you can leave a voice message, and/or you can send an email to:

bigsnowbusiness at gmail .  com