quickbooks tips | QuickBooks for Contractors blog

04Jan 2011 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips – Year End Tasks for Filing Taxes

Be A Better Bookkeeper, General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

The end of the year always adds even more tasks to your already busy schedule, and sometimes it is simply overwhelming and I’ve often been asked – “What do I need to do?” Intuit has built a very good “QuickBooks Year-End Guide/Checklist” and it’s included right in your QuickBooks program by going to the Help Menu and choosing Year-End Guide. Over the next few days, we’ll cover each topic listed in the Year-End Guide, and offer some additional tips on each of the three sections: Tasks to prepare for filing taxes, Tasks to do if you use subcontractors, Tasks to do if you have employees and some Tips for the upcoming year. Tasks to prepare for filing taxes: Reconcile all bank and credit card accounts – now really you should…

16Dec 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip: User Permissions & Third Party Applications

"Stuff" that drives me insane, General QuickBooks News, New Technology, QuickBooks Add-Ons, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

User permissions issues can occur especially when dealing with third party QuickBooks integrated applications and the Enterprise edition where user permissions can be highly customized. In some cases, it appears that all users need to have the same administrative rights when they sign into QuickBooks as when the software was installed. Better understanding of the process may help reduce some of the frustration and allow you to assist your clients in installing the third party application satisfactorily. When a QuickBooks third party integrated application is initially installed, and sends its first request for data, the person who is the QuickBooks Administrator must be logged into the company data file in single-user mode to grant the application permission to access the company data file. Example: Larry is the QuickBooks Administrator and…

30Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Understanding Your Chart of Accounts

QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

The QuickBooks Chart of Accounts is the backbone of your entire accounting system, and it’s important that you understand how it works. Think of your Chart of Accounts as a filing cabinet with individual files for each type of accounting information that you wish to track. For example, if you need to know how much money you spend on small tools that cost under $50.00, you would create a file (Expense account in the Chart of Accounts) for Tools Under $50 and post (file) all your purchase receipts (checks, cash expenses, credit card receipts, etc.) to that account. [caption id="attachment_1306" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Right click on the image to enlarge it."][/caption] The Chart of Accounts is a complete list of a businesses accounts and their balances. You will use it to…

29Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks and the Myth of Do-It-Yourself Accounting

QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

The "myth" of do-it-yourself accounting is a popular myth that is associated with QuickBooks and one that is presented to you from various sources. For example, you walk into the local Staples, Office Max, or what have you, and go to the software section - there they patiently sit on the shelf, those popular accounting packages (QuickBooks, Peachtree, Microsoft), just waiting for you. You look, you consider, you may even touch - can't you hear them whispering to you? They all seem to say, "You need me. You don't need a bookkeeper or accountant to use me. Just think about how much time and money I'll save you. I'm so much easier to use than (competitor)." You feel the lure of those seductive little marketing messages that they whisper to…

23Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Correcting a Job Assigned to Wrong Customer

Customers & Accounts Receivable

A common conundrum for some bookkeepers is to create a job prior to receiving the contract paperwork, so that materials could be ordered - and then finding when the actual contract arrives that the job was assigned to the wrong customer in the QuickBooks Customer List. While this may not be an every day occurrence, it does leave one wondering if there is a "correct procedure" for moving the job to the correct parent customer, if it can be done at all, or if you just have to start deleting things and starting from scratch. In most cases, this situation can be correct easily, however, the smaller the amount of transactions associated with the job that you need to move the better. Follow these instructions carefully: Make a BACKUP of…

15Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Merging Duplicate Items and/or Accounts

QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

Merging duplicate items and/or accounts in QuickBooks is preferable to making journal entries. It is a common occurrence over time, especially if you have had numerous bookkeepers; to discover that you have duplicate items in your QuickBooks Item List or accounts in your Chart of Accounts. Rather than performing journal entries to move the money all into one account and then making the duplicate account inactive - it's easy to merge the two accounts together. BEFORE you attempt this procedure - make a backup of your QuickBooks company data file and run any necessary year to date reports for comparison after the merge. Let's say, for example, in your Chart of Accounts you have an account called Delivery and another one called Postage & Delivery; you've decided that you want…

01Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip-Turning Off Pop-up Ads, Live Community & more

General QuickBooks News, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

Every year when Intuit puts out a new version of QuickBooks, we are overwhelmed by new ads for Intuit services that seem to pop-up at the most inappropriate times. Many QuickBooks users (myself included) find this to be very annoying. Over the last several weeks, since people have been upgrading to QuickBooks 2011, I've seen a lot of posts on forums and user groups from people asking "How Do I turn off QuickBooks pop-up ads, Live Community, etc." This article will answer that question. You can turn off the pop-up advertisements (messages) for Intuit services by going to the Edit menu -> Preferences -> click on General Preferences -> and in the My Preferences tab check the option to "Turn off pop-up messages for products and services" and then save…

27Aug 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip-Chart of Accounts, Your CPA & Your Tax Return

QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

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…

26Aug 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Modifying & Working with your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts

QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

Setting up or modifying an existing Chart of Accounts is not an overwhelming task in QuickBooks. If you are new to QuickBooks, when you create your company file (File menu -> New Company), the EasyStep Interview provides you with a “wizard”, industry specific templates, and example accounts are even suggested. If you need a starting point, grab your tax return or financial statement compiled by your outside accountant, and enter the accounts you find there, turning summary accounts from the financial statements into subaccounts in QuickBooks. If you have already started using QuickBooks you can easily add, edit, or merge accounts in your Chart of Accounts for your business with a matter of a few clicks of your mouse by selecting the Lists menu -> Chart of Accounts OR Company…

25Aug 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – The Chart of Accounts, What It Is & It’s Many Uses In Your Business

QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup

The Chart of Accounts is the most important QuickBooks list. It is the backbone for a company to track how much money it has, how much money it owes, how much money is coming in, and how much money it is spending. [caption id="attachment_510" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Right click on the image to enlarge it."][/caption] It is not necessary to have a chart of accounts that provides for every conceivable transaction. Instead, the chart of accounts should include the minimum number of accounts necessary to capture the appropriate financial information and be flexible enough to allow for future growth. The chart of accounts should be designed to include the accounts necessary for both financial and income tax reporting. QuickBooks makes it easy for you to set up a chart of accounts.…

13Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips – Four (4) Ways to Add Long Disclaimers on Forms

Customers & Accounts Receivable

As a business owner there can be several different situations that you encounter where you might need to include a long legal disclaimer or explanation when you sell a specific item, offer special discounts, provide warranty disclaimers and information or explain your payment requirements when bidding on a job or even invoicing a customer. There are four different methods for addressing this issue; the one that you choose will depend on what makes the most sense for your business: ItemsTemplateLetters FunctionOutside of QuickBooks Using Items to add long disclaimers – If the additional information needs to be included when a specific product is sold, that information can be included in the description OR you can create a new item with a zero sales cost for the purpose of adding…

09Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Handling Retainage

Customers & Accounts Receivable, The "Sunburst" Website

Retention or retainage is usually a specific percentage, for example 10%, of the total contract that is held back by the project owner in reserve to protect the owners interest. Retention is not held in a lump sum, but rather held at the stated percentage for the amount requested on each application for payment. Your contract should set the terms, including the percentage and when the hold-back will be paid. Contractors using QuickBooks often run into difficulties when handling retainage/retention; simply because the software doesn't have a means to automatically deal with it. Because QuickBooks doesn't have a built-in retention function, like many of the more expensive construction specific software program, QuickBooks users must initiate work-arounds and make QuickBooks track retainage that is held on each progress invoice. Over the…

07Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Paying Employees Using Different Frequencies

Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers

A reader asked the following question regarding paying employees using different frequencies: We are new to QuickBooks payroll and would like to set up different pay frequencies for our employees, as follows: Company officers - monthly salary Clerical staff - hourly basis, bi-weekly Field Workers - hourly basis, weekly How do we accomplish this when using QuickBooks? _______________________________________________________ Answer: Yes, you can accomplish this when using QuickBooks Basic, Enhanced, or Assisted Payroll. QuickBooks allows you to create a "Pay Frequency" and a "Payroll Schedule" to meet your various payroll needs. Begin by going to the QuickBooks Employee Center and clicking on the Employees tab. Pick an employee and choose the Edit Employee button, switch to the Payroll & Compensation Info tab. In the upper right corn you will see a…

30Jun 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips – Posting Transactions – Date Sensitivity

Be A Better Bookkeeper

QuickBooks automatically prefills the date field in every transaction you create (Enter Bill, Write Checks, Create Estimate, etc.) and report that you generate. You should always verify that the date specified by QuickBooks is the correct date for the particular transaction or report. In many cases, the date that QuickBooks provides you with is not the correct date that you need. Additionally, you should verify that you are not posting transactions to a date in a period that has been "closed". Unfortunately, QuickBooks allows users to post new transactions to a prior period if they have access to change or delete transactions recorded before the closing date. Report Dates Every QuickBooks report automatically specifies a default date range each time the report is created. You should always verify that the…

29Jun 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Construction A/P – Tracking Subcontractor Insurance

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Questions from our readers, Vendors & Accounts Payable

A reader wrote to ask the following question: I have a vendor (subcontractor) whose general liability insurance expired. In QuickBooks I was able to produce a check for them. How do I QuickBooks to notify me that their insurance has expired? Answer: Unlike some of the more costly construction specific software programs out there, QuickBooks wasn't designed to prevent us from generating a check to a Vendor/Subcontractor whose General Liability or Worker's Compensation insurance has expired. The QuickBooks Premier (or Enterprise) Contractor edition does have a "section" in the Additional Info tab of the Vendor Record where you can enter an expiration date for both Worker's Comp and General Liability insurance - and if you enter dates in these fields you will get a warning when using a vendor whose…

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