“heart of the farm bookkeepers’ boot camp” trisha wagner jackson county uw-extension agent...
TRANSCRIPT
“Heart of the Farm
Bookkeepers’ Boot Camp”
Trisha Wagner Jackson County UW-Extension Agent
National Extension Risk Management Conference
April 2011
Heart of the Farm Women in Agriculture
Mission
Improving farm business decision-making through farm management and production education for women.
Goal
Address the needs of farm women by providing education on pertinent topics, connecting them with agricultural resources, and creating support networks.
Objectives… Help farmers understand what records to keep, how long
to keep them, and how to organize them for taxes and the lender.
Discuss the types of information and bookkeeping necessary for insurance and other government programs.
Make farmers aware of the reasons for keeping records for themselves and how the analysis of good records and resulting management decisions can improve the bottom line.
Provide information covering what a record system is, basic needs for record keeping systems, different formats and where to get more information. Both computer and ledger options discussed.
Why was the program developed… Increased need for sound farm business and financial
management is at this time.
Greater volatility in agriculture markets and higher input costs, lead to tighter profit margins.
Need for sound business management, with all the tools, information and resources available.
Many lending institutions and Farm Service Agencies requiring more financial records in order to extend lines of credit.
Program development and delivery
Collaboration with Badgerland Financial and Farm Service Agency.
Heart of the Farm format used as a guide.
Designed specifically for a women audience.
Included a segment from a local business women on gorilla marketing.
Program Topics: The How and Why of Managing Farm Records Record keeping basics:
Format (how to set up chart of accounts) Filing systems (ways: by month, vendor, sch. F, ) Retention (what to keep and how long)
Banking statements Accounting information Income and Expense receipts Payroll and tax returns Capital purchases
Program Topics:Insurance and FSA Bookkeeping Requirements What types of records are acceptable: Crop Insurance Production Records Measurement service by FSA Contemporaneous diaries Land lease information
8
Program Topics:What financial records can do for your bottom line Why keep farm records for yourself?
What you’ll need to do to benefit from record keeping.
Useful tools. AgFa benchmarking too: http://cdp.wisc.edu/AgFA
.htm
Wisconsin Dairy Benchmarking tool http://dairymgt.uwex.edu/
Program Topics Record keeping options
Introduction to various record keeping programs: AAIMs Redwing QuickBooks Others including ledger options
Pros/Cons More information
Participant evaluation…
Evaluation of topics
Usefulness of topic:1 = not very useful5= Very useful
1 2 3 4 5 How and Why of Managing Farm Records 2 20 Insurance and FSA Bookkeeping Requirements 2 4 5 12 What record keeping can do for your bottom line 2 3 3 15
Record Keeping Options 2 5 16
Evaluation Summaries
1 = very little5 = quite a lot
Knowledge before…
Knowledge after….
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
How and Why of Managing Farm Records 1 5 9 5 2 2 12 8
Isurance and FSA Bookkeeping Requirements 4 9 7 3 8 13 2
What reord keeping can do for your bottom line 3 5 10 2 3 1 6 11 5
Record Keeping Options 2 6 7 5 2 1 4 9 8
Evaluation Summaries
Follow-up meeting requests
Informal survey conducted in county Ag newsletter.
Participants request follow-up workshop for specific computer programs.
QuickBooks, AAIMS, other The follow up workshop scheduled for last
week in April. Hands-on, computer based, with farm
examples, small class size.
Where do we go from here or what is the future of this program? Follow-up workshop. Follow–up survey for participants
What are your goals? What steps have you taken to meet them? What resources do you need to meet them?
Thank You!
Trisha Wagner- Jackson County UW-Extension Agriculture Agent
Joy Kirkpatrick
UW Center for Dairy Profitability
Heart of the Farm coordinator