A messed up QuickBooks file can often leave people wondering, should I start a new file or try to fix the old one? This question was submitted by a reader.
I work for a subcontractor who uses Quickbooks Premier Contractor. He started the business about 2 years ago, and his previous bookkeeping is rather messed up mainly because he wasn’t utilizing all the features and he had his personal and business accounts combined.
I am new coming in to his office and am trying to “fix” and reorganize his account.
I am wondering if there is a way to in a sense “start over” and then try and clean up his previous errors. I have found many resources on setting up a fresh account but not fixing an existing account.
I hope this made sense, thank you. Ashley
Hi Ashley
I agree, there are a lot of resources for setting up a fresh or new QuickBooks company data file on the web.
One of the reasons that there aren’t a lot of resources for fixing a file, is that there are just too many things that have to be taken into consideration.
You indicated that this subcontractor started his business about two years ago (so that puts us in 2010 I’m guessing) this means that it’s quite likely that he has filed business tax returns for 2010 and 2011 based on the information that the file contained.
Another important factor is does he use a calendar year or some other fiscal year accounting method.
It’s never a good idea to “fix” a file that was used to prepare a tax return, even if the information in the file isn’t correct.
I would suggest that you speak with his tax preparer and see how they want you to handle the “old” file and see how they and he feel about filing any amended tax returns.
What I would most likely do (if I were in your situation), is start a new file for 2012 and make sure that everything is right from this point forward.
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