Project Management Consulting for a 1099

April 15th is bearing down on us. If you are a Project Management consultant who bills time gross as I do, then get a form 1099 from your client at year-end there are expense categories you should be tracking to make your business return easier to finally file. Here's the short list (I use an Excel spreadsheet with the same column headings):

Home Office - and associated mortgage interest, rent, utilities

Car mileage

Depreciation on computers and other office equipment or furniture

Supplies

Telecommunication services

Business Travel

Advertising

Legal and Professional Fees (*your Project Management Institute membership is expensed here)

Taxes and Licenses

Meals and Entertainment

Health Insurance

Commissions

Project Support Labor

Interest Payments

Rental Payments

Repairs and Maintenance

Utilities

Other Miscellaneous
*Aha, so you are a Project Manager who consults, but not yet a Project Management Professional? With experience, study of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK), and a Project Management Professional Exam simulator you can pass (and deduct your study costs, test fee, and then professional association fees. My PMP exam simulator is not an Internet web app, but a Windows software (all versions) rich client, that is diagnostic and revolutionary as an exam readiness tool (see the latest Star Trek remake and how Vulcans learn). You can use it on a train or plane, or when the staff meeting droning gets to you and the WI-FI is weak. As an additional benefit, the sim's content may inspire you with an idea for spicing up that dull project meeting or help get that wayward project back on track.

And oh, BTW, if you are a tax maven like me and my compatriots, we also offer, several other professional and technical exam sims that include one for the Enrolled Agent Exam.

War Room Paperhanging

As a consulting PM for an accounting/ERP system conversion, the artist/architect/engineer in me loves to diagram and hand print, then plaster walls of the "war room" with these neat sheets from a 34" x 27" easel pad that list and diagram the following:
-System Diagrams
-To Do Lists
-Highlights of Project Plan Changes
-Issues
-Objectives
-Important Notices and Developments

These project artifacts help me keep my users and stakeholders up to date and well informed with some 80s archival impact. I like a nice black wide tip marker and 32 point or so (approximate) font, hand printed, of course, with bright colors for emphasis of exceptional conditions or issues. I hang these sheets (like wallpaper) in a "war room", which in our project's case is a room of half a dozen workstations used for training and testing of the new system. My office also gets it's share of similar sheets. My client, project stakeholders and future system users can't help but notice and learn "the big picture".

If you are a project manager seeking the big picture for Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, get my PMP Exam Simulator for MS Windows rich client software to diagnose your readiness and progress as you study and practice over 1000 typical PMP Exam questions. But if you prefer some artistic hand-penned war room wallpaper study guides for the PMP exam or other certs, contact me and I will be glad to oblige for a reasonable fee.

Studying for Test Center Professional Exams

Be it a Project Management Professional(PMP), Enrolled Agent (EA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), or some other hot professional certification exam - you sit for each one in a computerized, proctored, test center. The grueling hours you spend answering the hundreds of multiple choice questions during that crucial professional turning point should not have gone unrehearsed. Ask anyone who passed a certification exam on their first sitting. Did they practice questions? The answer will certainly be affirmative. The more questions you practice, particularly practice in a simulated test center environment - will greatly increase both your comfort level with the material and answering in the pressure of the test center. My PMP Exam Sim is a diagnostic, Windows rich client application that does not require Internet to get you up to speed answering over one thousand typical exam questions. Pass on your first sitting when you use my exam simulator.

Other exam simulators are available:

Certified Information Systems Security Professional - CISSP

Enrolled Agent - EA

PHP Zend Engineer

Java Developer

Business Objects/Crystal Reports

Oracle Developer/Admin

Network/IT Tech