A QuickBooks tip for entering Job-to-data costs and billing data at the item level when converting or archiving.
Use this procedure to enter Job-to-date (“JTD”) costs and JTD billing so the Job Profitability Detail Report is accurate at the Item level after converting your existing Quickbooks file to a new database file, or after archiving old QuickBooks transactions. In both cases, you are bringing over beginning balances as of the conversion date into your new data file, and this procedure will prove useful for reporting on jobs that are in progress as of the conversion date.
From your old data file:
Run your Job Profitability Detail Reports for each job in progress to obtain the JTD cost and revenue figures as of the conversion date. In the date fields, leave the first field blank, enter the conversion date in the second date field. You will use the figures on this report for your data entry in the new data file.
In the new data file:
- Create a fake Vendor called “Opening Balance”. You will make this inactive after completing this procedure.
- Create an Other Expense account in the Chart of Accounts called “9999-Conversions-JTD Costs”. You will make this inactive after completing this procedure.
- Create an Other Income account in the Chart of Accounts called “9998 · Conversion – JTD billing”. You will make this inactive after completing this procedure.
- Create a Service Item called “Opening balance JTD Costs” and link it to “9999 · Conversion – JTD Costs”. You will make this inactive after completing this procedure.
- Print your Item List. (Reports>List>Item Listing) Modify the report to display columns for Account and COGS Account; remove price, cost, tax code, etc.
- Look at your Item list and determine which Service Items appear on your Job Profitability Detail Reports. These are the items to edit in step 9. These are active items.
- In the Item List window, make all other Service Items temporarily inactive. Making them inactive will keep them from appearing in the Add/Edit Multiple Items screen allowing you to quickly copy down the account edits you will perform in step 9.
- Create a backup before performing step 9!
- Using the Add/Edit Multiple Items screen (available in QB 2010 and later) ,edit “all active service items” and point the COGS/Expense account to account 9999 and point the Account/Income account to 9998. Change the top item, and quickly copy down the account edits to the other items. Click Save. Do not update existing transactions. You will have to answer No repeatedly by pressing N until it scrolls through all your changes.
- When you are done with the following procedures, you will edit these same Items again, and change the COGS/Expense and Account/Income accounts back to what they were. Do not update existing transactions. You will have to answer No repeatedly by pressing N until it scrolls through all your changes.
To enter the JTD Costs for each item on each job:
Enter a zero dollar Bill to the “Opening Balance” vendor for the JTD cost. On the item tab enter each Item and the costs on the job profitability detail report and the appropriate Customer/Job. Keep the Billable box checked. On the last line, enter a negative number to the “Opening balance JTD Costs” Item with no customer:job.
This results in no AP balance, leaves no effect on GL, but leaves the correct JTD cost by Item in your Job Cost reports.
Create a new zero-dollar Bill for each active job as of the conversion date.
To enter the JTD Billing for each job:
Enter an Invoice for the Customer:Job for the total Billing-to-date on the job. The Add Time/Costs box will pop up, select the Item tab and bring over all Items to the invoice. You now only have to edit the dollar amounts to agree with your JTD Billing on your Job Profitability Detail report.
Enter a Journal Entry for the total amount of the JTD Billing on the job. The debit is to the “9998 · Conversion – JTD billing” account, leave the Name field blank. The credit is to Accounts Receivable. Select the Customer/Job name in the Name field.
In Receive Payments, enter the Customer/Job, and you will find the above Journal Entry is available as a credit against the Invoice you created above. Apply the Journal Entry to the Invoice.
The net effect on GL is zero, the invoice is paid, and the correct Job-To-Date Billing as of the conversion date will be reflected in your Job Cost reports.
Create a new Invoice, Journal Entry and Receive Payment entry for each active job as of the conversion date.
Run your Job Profitability Detail Reports on the new data file and compare with the same report on the old data file. They should agree. If not, you’ll need to double check your data entry.
I hope you find this QuickBooks tip to be helpful. If so, please leave a comment or share it on your favorite social media platform by using the buttons below.
QuickBooks 2012 release announced by Intuit. Learn about new features and functionality. Last year we published a 142 page eBook on the features found in QuickBooks 2011; see what we have in store for the 2012 version.
Well folks, it’s that time of year again. Intuit announced the launch of QuickBooks 2012 on Twitter early this morning with a link off to an official Press Release indicating that it would be available to purchase beginning September 26 directly from Intuit websites.
As an Intuit Beta Tester I’ve been working with the QuickBooks 2012 Premier Accountant version since the middle of July.
Below is a list of just some of the new features and functionality that Intuit is saying that you can expect to find in QuickBooks 2012, per their announcement – plus some other things that I thought were important for you to know about; this list does NOT include everything that is new and/or improved. We’ll be releasing more information in the upcoming days.
Features found in QuickBooks Pro, Premier & Enterprise 2012
- Batch Invoice for Time and Expenses – select multiple customers with unbilled time, items, expenses and mileage and create invoices for all of them in a couple of clicks.
- Batch Timesheet Creation – enter the same timesheet information for multiple employees or vendors.
- Integrated Help – a simple, single interface to help QuickBooks users with questions find the right answer or get to someone who can help.
- Inventory Center – the new Inventory Center looks and feels like existing Customer, Vendor and Employee Centers. A list of inventory items are displayed on the left, with details and transactions relating to the item on the right.
- Lead Center - the new Lead Center is a feature that allows users to manage their leads/prospects in QuickBooks BEFORE they become customers. It allows you to assign statuses to your leads and you can easily convert them to customers when the time is right.
- Memorized Transactions Improvements – you can now select specific memorized transactions to be entered, as well as additional frequency choices.
- Purchasing Center – a new QuickBooks 2012 Purchasing Center is an ecommerce site that leverages the purchasing power of all QuickBooks users to enable purchases at discounts you would not otherwise be able to obtain. There is a “matching engine” that will search your purchases and make recommendations if there is an item available at a lower price.
- QuickBooks Calendar – provides a calendar view of important transactions for your business; overdue transactions, and tasks that need to be completed. Displays the dates that invoices/bills were created or are due. Displays To Do items that must be acted upon.
- Shared Report Templates – allows users to share their own reports with other QuickBooks users as well as provide the opportunity to consume report templates from the cloud. You will also have the ability to provide reviews and ratings on the reports template and search the right template from the cloud.
- Simplified Excel Integration – provides better integration with Microsoft Excel. You can already export reports to Excel, but with this new feature, you also have the option to update data in existing Excel worksheets, preserving formulas and format changes.
- Improved Condense Feature – allows you to remove transactions before a specified date OR remove ALL transactions from a data file while keeping your Lists, Preference settings., or subscription settings.
- Improved New Company Setup – target at users who are brand new to QuickBooks and makes the creation of a company data file easier and faster.
- Create a Credit Memo from an Invoice – allows you to create a Credit Memo based on an existing invoice to save you time from having to retype everything.
Features found in the QuickBooks Premier Account & Enterprise Account Versions ONLY
- New Accountant Center – includes easy access to all accountant functions, making it easier to find things and provides Quick Access to accounting tools.
- Create a New Company File from an existing Company File – designed to help accounting professionals speed up the process of setting up a company file for a new client, for example if you already have an existing client data file that has all of the preferences, chart of account items, etc. that are a match for your new client; the Create from Existing Company File Feature lets you use another data file as a “starter copy” to create the new file.
- Period Copy – is a new option in the Condense Data feature that allows you to make a copy of a company data file for a specific date range.
- Improved Accountant’s Copy – more customer and vendor credits will import back to the client.
Features found in QuickBooks Enterprise 12.0 ONLY
- Automatic Price Markup – choose whether to have QuickBooks change any sales price automatically when the cost of an item changes. QuickBooks will calculate and show your existing percent markup based on your existing cost and price and price for each item. You can edit the markup percent, cost, or price at any time.
- Enhanced Inventory Receiving – the QuickBooks item receipt and bill have been split into two transactions. This solves the following three issues that QuickBooks users deal with today:
- You sometimes need to pay for inventory before you receive it
- You want to preserve your item receipt date even after you get a bill
- You need to receive inventory from one order on multiple item receipts and/or pay for them with multiple bills.
- FIFO Inventory (First In->First Out) – will now be available as an alternative to Average Cost Inventory costing. You can choose between the two methods, choose a date to start using FIFO, and even return to average cost at any time.
- Find & Select Items – “Faster Forms Completion” is a new feature that makes it significantly easier to find and enter items into sales forms using information in any item field – including custom fields. This feature is available in Invoices, Sales Receipts, and Sales Orders.
- Serial Number/Lot Tracking – this is an Advanced Inventory – ONLY feature that lets users track individual instances of an Inventory or Assembly Item by assigning a serial number or lot to it. The QuickBooks User will be able to track the purchase, assembly, transfer, sale, and return of a Serial Number or Lot. For recall or warranty purposes, users can find the location(s) of an item with a specific Serial Number or Lot, whether its on their own shelves or already in a customers’ hands.
Download a QuickBooks Pro/Premier 2012 QuickBooks Pro/Premier 2012 Fact Sheet.
Last year, I put together a 142-page eBook on the new features and functionality of QuickBooks 2011. Expect to see the same type of in-depth overview this year. Sign up for email or RSS feed updates by using the options in the “follow” toolbar on the right.
Based on the information above, are you looking forward to getting your hands on the new version?
This QuickBooks Tip provides instructions for how to rebuild your QuickBooks data file. The rebuild function will help maintain the overall health of your file.
Is your QuickBooks file very large? Is it running slow? Are you in a multi-user environment where 2 or more people are inputting a lot of information on a daily basis? If you answered yes to any of these questions you would probably benefit from rebuilding your data file on a regular basis.
The QuickBooks Rebuild Data function is like a cleaning lady. When you access the rebuild function it looks at all of the information in your file and makes sure that it has been filed correctly. Think of your desk, covered in piles of papers that need to be filed. Before you actually put all of the papers in the filing cabinet, you sort and separate the various piles into organized files. The rebuild function performs the same task.
How to Rebuild Your Data File:
You’ll need to be logged into QuickBooks as the Administrator. If you have a large file, this could take quite awhile – so plan to run this process at lunch time, or gear it up just before you leave for the day.
- From the File menu
- Choose Utilities
- Rebuild Data
The first thing that the Rebuild will require you to do is to make a backup of your data file, go ahead and do that.
As soon as the backup has completed, the rebuild function will automatically start. This tool will take two passes through your file, looking for problems, organizing your data, and trying to fix any problems with your data that it finds. If you sit an watch the process, don’t be concerned if QuickBooks seems to stop responding or stop working at 99% on the first pass and 50% on the second. This just means that it’s found things that are wrong, is attempting to fix them, and then going back to check that everything it found on the first pass has been fixed.
There are times when the Rebuild function will fail, this usually means that there is data damage within your file that the rebuild cannot fix (it does have limited abilities). In a situation like this, you’ll need additional assistance to fix the issues. If you run into this situation, I would recommend that you investigate the services of Accounting Users, Inc., QB or Not QB, or The Bottom Line.
Our own QuickBooks file contains 11 years of data and I rebuild it on a monthly basis and have for many years.
If you found this article helpful, please leave a comment or share it with others.
Smoking and overall tobacco use is on the decline in the U.S., but enough adults still smoke that your business should have a policy addressing this issue. Find out below the two types of state laws that regulate workplace smoking and the three most common smoking policies employers implement.
According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control (from 2009), over 20% of the U.S. adult population smokes. Although the percentage of smokers has declined steadily since 1965 (when 42% of the adult population smoked), the fact remains that one-fifth of adults still smoke, so you need to address this issue in your organization’s workplace policies.
In addition, smoking is a topic that many employees are passionate, and sharply divided, about. Employees’ emotional reactions can make it more difficult to establish a smoking policy that pleases, or at least satisfies, both smokers and nonsmokers. In addition, you have to comply with a myriad of state and local regulations that limit smoking in public places and even in private workplaces. This article addresses state laws limiting smoking and smoking policies that balance the concerns of smokers, nonsmokers, and your organization.
First Consideration: State and Local Laws Restricting (and Protecting) Smoking
When drafting a workplace smoking policy, you first should consider any state or local restrictions protecting the rights of nonsmokers and smokers. (Federal law does not address smoking in the workplace except in government workplaces.) A majority of states have passed laws restricting or limiting smoking in workplaces or public places, a term that typically includes private workplaces. While some states try to balance smokers and nonsmokers rights by allowing employers to designate smoking areas, the trend in state regulations is to ban smoking entirely, even in private workplaces. At least twenty-one states (including Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington) and the District of Columbia have banned smoking in nearly every workplace, including bars and restaurants. In addition to state laws, you may have to comply with local ordinances, which often are more restrictive and impose greater fines.
You also should be aware of smokers rights laws in over half of the states that may limit your ability to prohibit off-duty smoking, including in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. These laws prohibit employers from taking any adverse employment action against employees or job applicants who smoke away from the employer’s premises during nonworking hours. These laws typically prevent employers from hiring only nonsmokers or from disciplining or terminating employees solely because they smoke. Accordingly, you should check state law before implementing any smoking ban that goes beyond the workplace.
Three Options for Smoking Policies
You have several options for a workplace smoking policy, each with advantages and disadvantages. When developing a smoking policy, you should consider the following issues: any state or local regulations governing smoking in the workplace (see above); any union contract provisions requiring the employer to bargain over smoking policies; any state laws protecting smokers from discrimination for off-duty smoking (see above); what policy provisions will protect both employees and the work environment; how the policy will be enforced; and disciplinary action for employee noncompliance. Employers commonly adopt one of three types of smoking policies: restricted indoor smoking, smoke-free building, or smoke-free workplace.
Restricted indoor smoking.
Some employers try to accommodate both their smokers and nonsmokers by allowing smoking only in specific areas. These employers typically designate certain areas as nonsmoking (such as open or common areas) and allow smoking in other areas (such as private offices and meeting rooms). Some employers restrict smoking to specially ventilated smoking lounges. Most employers restrict smoking to rest and meal breaks. In addition, employees who do not have private offices typically must smoke in designated areas away from their workstations.
Even so, nonsmoking employees may complain about secondhand smoke if the smoking lounge is near work areas or not adequately ventilated. Further, frequent employee visits to the lounge can distract and annoy nonsmoking workers. Finally, employers may have to comply with specific requirements imposed under state or local law related to ventilation, location, and physical barriers for designated smoking areas.
Smoke-free building
An increasing number of employers have adopted the “smoke-free building” approach which allows smoking only outside the building during rest and meal breaks. This approach eliminates concerns about the adequacy of the ventilation system and the need to reconfigure workspace.
However, smokers may complain about being relegated to the outdoors in bad weather, while nonsmokers may resent passing through smokers’ litter and smoke to get to the building. To address these complaints, some organizations construct an outside smoking shelter away from building entrances and make smokers responsible for the cleanliness of these areas. (The Model Policy Comment (2) can be revised easily to ban indoor smoking by stating “Smoking is prohibited inside all Company facilities.”)
Smoke-free workplace
Another approach bans all smoking from the workplace, including outside the building and in employee cars. This approach eliminates the litter and break abuses but may cause qualified applicants and employees who smoke to look for work elsewhere. (The Model Policy Comment (2) can be easily revised to ban indoor smoking by stating “Smoking is prohibited both inside and outside all Company facilities.”)
A few organizations have taken the very restrictive approach of prohibiting employees from smoking even off of the employers’ premises and during personal time. These restrictions on smoking away from work have prompted the passage of state “smokers’ rights” laws and thus are unlawful in several states (see above).
Of these three options, many employers favor the second one, the smoke-free building policy. First, it balances the needs of both smokers and nonsmokers. In addition, it eliminates secondhand smoke in the workplace and, therefore, may reduce the employer’s potential liability to nonsmokers. Further, the employer does not have to make any expensive interior structural renovations to accommodate an indoor smoking lounge.
This article is from the HR Matters E-Tips provided by Personnel Policy Services, Inc., 159 St. Matthews Ave., Suite 5, Louisville, KY 40207. Download a free Smoking model policy including HR best practices and legal background by signing up for a free access account.
Do you have employee’s who smoke? How are you handling a company smoking policy?
