Week 1 – Accounts Receivable/Payable

This is my first week interning at Double J Trailer Sales. Double J Trailers is one of the largest horse trailer dealerships on the west coast and has the largest bumper pull trailer selection in the Northwest. This first week I decided to write about accounts payable and receivable.
For accounts payable, payable are managed by being entered when the bill comes in, and then bills are paid twice a month, the 15th and 30th. Receivables are entered when trailers or parts are sold and money is deposited daily.
This week I used QuickBooks to create invoices for sold trailers. Invoices are created to bill the customer for the product and service they receive and also for Double J’s records. When the customer pays the invoice, I also use QuickBooks to receive and record the payment. I’ve learned how to use QuickBooks a little throughout my internship, but I wish there was a class at Western that could teach me more about it.
QuickBooks is a great way for Double J to stay organized and seems like a great program. The only problem is that there is too much work for one person and the only improvement Tammy suggested was to hire another employee.

Week 2 – Bookkeeping

QuickBooks is used for bookkeeping and record keeping. This week Tammy showed me a lot about QuickBooks and had me reconcile the Double J credit card for her. She taught me that reconciling credit cards is important for keeping accurate records and tax returns. It can also help track where the money is being spent by putting each transaction into different accounts such as: supplies, meals and entertainment, tools, and auto expenses. The technique for keeping important documents safe is by filing them in a fire safe drawer. An example of a document that is kept in one of these drawers is the ‘bill of sale’ for a trailer. This week I learned how to write up a bill of sale. I wrote one for a customer who was buying a used trailer with a rotten floor and one of the important things I had to do was write a disclosure saying that the customer knew he was buying a trailer with a rotten floor and then I had him sign it.
Backups of the bookkeeper’s computer are done on a zip drive every night. The system using QuickBooks works well because it is always updated to the latest version. According to Tammy, no improvements are needed. I would agree with that statement except I think Tammy has too big of a work load at Double J so the only improvement would to maybe hire a part time bookkeeper just to take some of the stress off of Tammy.
Week 3 - Customer Service
Double J Trailers is a small family ran business. Because of its size, I think people are very happy with the customer service they receive when they come into the store. Wayne and Tammy are very friendly people so they usually make good relationships with their customers. This is a very good thing because if customers are happy with the product and service they receive from Double J, then they may tell their friends about the company, generating more business for Double J. Since Double J is a small business and hires only a few employees, there is no real training of customer service; it’s more of a watch and learn kind of thing. But the boss does have high expectations for customer service so you better watch and learn well. I actually received many compliments from customers and my boss for how well I took care of customers over the phone.
At Double J, there aren’t many complaints or conflicts with customers. However, I have received complaints over the phone about Wayne not responding to customers over phone or email in a timely matter. Since Wayne is the boss and usually very busy, the only way I deal with these complaints is assuring the customer that I will have Wayne call/email them as quickly as possible. I then pass the message to Wayne that he may lose business if he does not call that certain customer back soon. Besides that, the