accounting software | QuickBooks for Contractors blog

26Apr 2012 by Nancy Smyth

How to Calculate & Display Retainage on an AIA G-702/G-703

Be A Better Bookkeeper, Customers & Accounts Receivable

Calculating and displaying retainage on an AIA G-702/G-703 form can be confusing - this short tutorial is designed to discuss different ways that retainage (or retention) can be held, calculated, and displayed. Retainage is a portion of the agreed upon contract price deliberately withheld until the work is substantially complete to assure that contractor or subcontractor will satisfy its obligations and complete a construction project. Retainage or retention can be: a fixed percentage of the contract - such as 10% of the value of the contract a variable rate - such as 10% of the contract until the contract is 50% complete; at which time it is then reduced to 5% a variable rate - such as retainage is held at 10% on labor and 0% on materials Retainage…

18Apr 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Messed Up QuickBooks file, Start a New File or Fix the Old One?

Be A Better Bookkeeper, Questions from our readers, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

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…

13Apr 2012 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks & Your Construction Business – What’s Your Gripe?

"Maad" Rants & Other Stuff, QuickBooks Corner

What's your biggest gripe, problem, or issue when it comes to using QuickBooks in your construction business? Is it the Myth of Do-It-Yourself Accounting? Is it the fact that there really isn't a lot of construction specific help or training available? Is it confusing terminology? QuickBooks is a powerful software program --- but the key to your success in using it depends on how well it's setup and then how well you utilize the features that are built in. QuickBooks® is a generic bookkeeping and accounting program, designed to be used by every type of business that you can imagine. If it was industry specific, well it would have the same big price tag! Sure Intuit makes a “Contractor” version, but even then it’s designed to meet the needs…

09Apr 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Learn To Use QuickBooks In Your Construction Business

Be A Better Bookkeeper, Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Webinars & Training

Learn to use Quickbooks® in your construction business - QuickBooks® for Contractors Bookkeeping Tips & Training is a new website that we launched over the weekend. We are very pleased to announce the launch of a brand new QuickBooks® training resource for contractors and the accounting professionals who support them, owned and developed by Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. - Learn to use QuickBooks® in your construction business. The new website will feature reasonably priced bookkeeping tips & training via: eBooks Live webinars Pre-recorded videos Specifically for commercial/government construction contractors who use QuickBooks® for their bookkeeping and accounting needs, their bookkeepers, and the accounting professionals who support them. This new support and training site provides answers and techniques that are not available in the QuickBooks® Help file or even even…

30Mar 2012 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip: How To Create a Summary Invoice for Customers

Customers & Accounts Receivable, Job Costing Tips, Questions from our readers, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

This QuickBooks tip discusses how to create a summary invoice for a customer when you need to track details for job costing purposes. This question was submitted by one of our readers. How can I print a summary invoice for an estimate that does not show all the details. Most of my jobs are Total Contract but I really have things broke down to examine my job costs. This break down is very confusing to customers who just want a basic contract description and price. Any suggestions? Thanks, Jim Hi Jim What you are experiencing is very common - a conflict between your need to good job costing an your customers need for something simple - all from the same Estimate in QuickBooks; and without having to duplicate the…

29Mar 2012 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks for Contractors Hangout on Goolge+

Be A Better Bookkeeper, Webinars & Training

QuickBooks for Contractors Hangout on Google+, join us today Thursday March 29, 2012 from 11-12 EST. Grab your coffee (or favorite beverage) and bring your QuickBooks for Contractors questions and join us for Google+ hangout. Google+ hangouts are a really cool way to meet and network with others; using nothing more than your computer with sound, a microphone and perhaps a webcam. The best part -- it's totally free! All you need is a gmail account and then you need to create a personal or business profile and page. Next, you'll want to either add my personal page or my business page to your circles - here are the links: Personal Page - https://plus.google.com/u/0/108080696417608977304/posts Business Page - https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/109284398428124037383/109284398428124037383/posts The hangout is something new that we are trying, if there…

28Mar 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Estimates vs. Purchase Orders: What’s the difference?

Be A Better Bookkeeper, Customers & Accounts Receivable, Job Costing Tips, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup, Vendors & Accounts Payable

Estimates and Purchase Orders can be created using QuickBooks. Many people want to know what the difference between the two are and when it is appropriate to use them. I often see a lot of confusion on the QuickBooks forums about Estimates and Purchase Orders, what the differences are, and when you should use each one. An Estimate, otherwise known as a Bid, Proposal, Quote or perhaps even a Schedule of Values in the construction industry, is a detailed breakdown of work or tasks that you will perform in order to complete a project for a specific customer or a specific job and what you will charge them to do it. A Purchase Order, on the other hand is normally something that you issue for materials or the services…

20Mar 2012 by Nancy Smyth

How To Setup a Scheduled Payment for a Payroll Liability

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers

Setting up Scheduled payments allows you to see all payroll related liability amounts that you owe for payroll taxes, health insurance, child support garnishments, etc. in the QuickBooks Payroll Center so that you can easily review the amounts and generate the payment. Finding where you setup the payment schedule can be confusing, if you are new to QuickBooks - see this question from a reader. I have created a Garnishment deduction item, following your instructions step by step, but I did not generate the check to send to the Agency that is collecting the money. Is there something else that I need to do to get this payroll Liability in the "Pay Schedule Liabilities" or "Custom Liability" box? Thanks, Luz Hi Luz Usually as soon as you finish creating…

14Mar 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Boy, It Sure Has Been BUSY Around Here!

"Maad" Rants & Other Stuff

Help! I've fallen into the "I'm just so busy" trap and I can't get out! What with certified payroll reporting requirement changes, taxes, support calls, blogging, and all the other things that I do; I find that I've fallen into that "I'm just so BUSY" trap that many people talk about. See what I'm doing about it. People often ask me how I manage to get everything done - it's easy! I work from 4 or 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, then I slack off on Saturday and Sunday cause I only work from 5 or 6 a.m. till noon! Seriously, that's how I manage and frankly I'm pretty burnt out! Urban Dictionary has some great definitions of the term busy, you'll have to visit Urban…

06Mar 2012 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip: Prior Amount Totals for Invoicing from Estimates

Customers & Accounts Receivable, Questions from our readers, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

A QuickBooks tip for getting prior amount billed totals to appear when creating Progress Invoices from an Estimate; when you've either had to start a new QuickBooks company file or you are switching from another accounting software. I'm trying to get my JTD beginning balances to appear in the "Prior Amount" totals prior to preparing my first invoice. I used your "To enter the JTD billing for each job" information to create JTD prior invoicing amounts. When I create a new invoice there were no prior amounts or percentages shown on my progress invoice. When I create an invoice stating the percent to bill, it calculates my percentage based on the estimate amount only--No JTD amounts show up. I did create an invoice with a dollar amount and saved…

28Feb 2012 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks 3rd Party Applications – How Integration Works

QuickBooks Add-Ons, The "Sunburst" Website

The integration between QuickBooks and a third-party application is transparent, the communication between the two programs takes place behind the scenes leaving very little to be seen - often only the end result of a report or task done outside of QuickBooks OR a transaction created in the 3rd party program that is posted into the data file. As the QuickBooks developer I'm asked, almost on a daily basis, how our software integrates with QuickBooks. Providing an explanation is not an easy task - integration was designed to be transparent with most of the actual communication between the programs going on behind the scenes - within the thousand of lines of software code written by the developer. Everyone says "I need to SEE how IT (the integration) works". It's…

27Feb 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Payroll Tip: Union Benefits Calculated Against Hours NOT Wages

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers

Union fringe benefits can be calculated in a number of ways; some are based on a percentage of gross wages while others are a fixed dollar amount per hours worked. Either way you look at it, it can become pretty complex. Take this question from a blog reader for example. I have union benefits that are calculated against the employee's hours, not gross wages. How do I do that in QuickBooks? A. In QuickBooks you want to set up your union benefits as Company Contribution Payroll Item types. I find it to be faster if you go to the Lists menu -> Payroll Item List -> click the Payroll Item button at the lower left -. choose New -> and Custom Setup -> and Company Contribution. When setting up…

15Feb 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Can One Certified Payroll Report Meet Requirements in all 50 States?

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, QuickBooks Add-Ons, QuickBooks Corner

Certified payroll reporting requirements are complex. There is no single certified payroll form that will meet the requirements in all 50 states. Don't be fooled! It's a common misconception that a single certified payroll report form will meet the prevailing wage requirements found in each of the 50 states. To be fair, at one time or another a contractor in any state will work on a federally funded construction project and submit the US Department of Labor WH-347 form (or an acceptable substitute). However, that would be the only time. 21 states follow the reporting requirements of the US Department of Labor and file a WH -347 form or an acceptable substitute for each government-funded construction project that they work on. 14 states have enacted state prevailing wage laws,…

14Feb 2012 by Shannon Tucker

How Well Does the New QuickBooks 2012 Condense Feature Work?

From Our Guest Bloggers, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

QuickBooks 2012 introduced a new approach to condensing large QuickBooks data files. How well does the new condense feature work? And how does it compare to the results given by third party data condensing services, like those of AccountingUsers, Inc.? We did some tests to find out. We used the new condense function in QuickBooks 2012 (using either QuickBooks 2012 Premier Accountant Edition, or Enterprise Accountant 12) and recorded the results. We then ‘supercondensed’ those same original files. We tested “apples to apples” for seven separate QBW files. Some files were QuickBooks Pro and some were Enterprise. Results? For 3 of the 7 files we tested, the QuickBooks condense function performed pretty well. Those files were reduced in size by 57%, 58% and 73%. When we supercondensed those same…

01Feb 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Certified Payroll Reports & Bi-Weekly Paychecks

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, Payroll Tips, The "Sunburst" Website

Generating weekly certified payroll reports when you issue bi-weekly paychecks to your employees can be difficult unless your accounting software will accurately accrue the wages for each week - QuickBooks doesn't have this ability and quite often this causes problems. Payroll is one of the largest expenses that a company will have. Most companies, when they start up, will find out what the minimum requirements for paycheck frequencies are for the state that their business resides in - earlier this week we discussed paycheck/payroll frequencies by state - and they will follow those rules. This will work fine unless you are a contractor who makes the move to Public Works/Government Construction projects and become subject to prevailing wage laws. This is when problems can occur. Under the Federal Davis-Bacon and…

Tag: accounting software