So how do you find a “good” bookkeeper and test their knowledge before hiring them? Or, perhaps you are ready to hire a CPA to help you with your business and your books. Congratulations! We all know what a struggle it is to “try to do everything” yourself, and it almost goes without saying that as a busy contractor, we also know that time is best spent on the job and not in the office handling paperwork.
Welcome to Tuesday Training!
Tuesday Training is a new feature here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog. While everyday focuses on training of one sort or another, Tuesday’s are dedicated to more in-depth training.
We’ll teach you the things you need to know about using QuickBooks, that you won’t find in the QuickBooks Help file, in order to successfully run your construction business and obtain accurate job costing reports; from eBooks, live webinars, and recorded training sessions.
You’ll find high-quality (budget friendly) training without having to leave the comfort of your home or office.
Construction Bookkeeper Test – $25.00
So how do you find a “good” bookkeeper and test their knowledge before hiring them? Well, we have scoured the internet searching for a “good” QuickBooks and Construction Bookkeeping Test, and while we have found some that would test an applicant’s basic knowledge of QuickBooks as well as some basic accounting knowledge, none have addressed any construction related functions. Being disappointed in what we have found, we’ve designed our own – somewhat based on issues that we deal with on a day to day basis supporting our own software which integrates with QuickBooks – and we are happy to offer you a copy {complete with the answers}.
Our Bookkeepers test asks applicants to answer a total of 145 questions, covering 5 different areas of knowledge.
Purchase your copy today for $25.00.
Hiring a Bookkeeper or CPA
We all know what a struggle it is to “try to do everything” yourself, and it almost goes without saying that as a busy contractor, we also know that time is best spent on the job and not in the office handling paperwork.
Before you hire someone to handle your books or your taxes, check their skills and lay the ground rules to make sure that you are getting the right person for your business and never make the big mistake of just “turning” it all over to someone (no matter how enticing that idea may be). Always keep an eye on what is going on.
FREE eBook – click here to download.
Additional Resources from the IRS
Even the IRS feels that this is an important subject, and the IRS urges you to choose that preparer wisely. Most return preparers are professional, honest and provide excellent service to their clients. But it is the taxpayer who is legally responsible for what’s on his or her tax return even if it is prepared by someone else.
We hope that you’ve found today’s Tuesday Training items to be helpful to your business – if so please take a moment to leave a comment or share this with others on your favorite social media network using the buttons below.
Current and future tax law changes will make the role of your construction company’s CPA more important – not less.
This weeks Freebie Friday is an article from the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) about what your construction company should look for in a CPA.
Download the article by clicking here.
I hope you enjoy this article - I did!
Have a great weekend 
Many companies fail to set up their charts of accounts correctly in QuickBooks. Over the years I have seen charts of accountants that look like a collage of accounts in helter skelter format without any logical order, containing duplicate if not triplicate accounts, inconsistent protocols, and even inappropriate, if not undecipherable, names.
At tax time, when their CPA receives either a backup or Accountants copy of the file like OR reports that have been created from the file, it becomes an even bigger mess. The trial balance that must be created by the tax preparer requires countless hours of reclassifications and groupings to mesh and coordinate the amounts within the file to the classifications required on tax returns and financial statements. Business owners then bear the costs of needless and expensive clean ups, often tacking on an additional $500 to $1000 per year to their annual accounting bills.
There is no excuse for not having a QuickBooks chart of accounts set up in a format compatible with what is reported on a company’s tax return as well as their financial statement. Once set up, a simple click in QuickBooks prints a readable and well-organized financial report for internal management, bankers, other creditors, bonding companies, shareholders, etc. In addition, with some mapping to an Intuit tax software program, the client’s trial balance amounts can be exported to the company’s tax return by the tax preparer with another click of the mouse.
In order to minimize the costs associated with having their tax returns prepared, as well as interim and year-end financial reports, businesses owners would be well advised to adopt account names, groupings, and an overall format required by their tax returns. A good chart of accounts can accommodate the requirements of both internal and external financial reporting, since subaccounts would provide any necessary detail required by management and interested outside parties – while a simple click of the Modify Report button in QuickBooks re-arranges the expense accounts in alphabetical order – often the desired presentation for banks.
Many Certified Public Accountants (CPA’s) and Certified Public Bookkeepers (CPB) prefer to have their clients set up the chart of accounts using account numbers. Many clients do not want to use numbers because they find them cumbersome.
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A compromise is to turn on the “Use account numbers” preference (Edit menu -> Preferences -> Accounting -> Company Preferences tab -> Use Account Numbers) when setting up the chart of accounts. Then, turn off the account numbers preference. When the preference is off, account numbers are not eliminated, simply hidden from view. At the end of the year, the CPA can turn the preference back on and add account numbers to any accounts created by the client during the year.
When the “Use account numbers” and “Reports-Show accounts by Name only” preferences (Edit menu -> Preferences -> Reports & Graphs -> Company Preferences tab -> Reports – Show Accounts by: Name Only option) are activated, account numbers appear next to the account name in QuickBooks financial reports.
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Many users prefer not to have account numbers display on financial reports. If, instead, the preference “Reports-Show accounts by Description only” is activated, the account description entered when the account was setup is used. Therefore, when using account numbers, enter an account description. (This description can be identical to the account name.)
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