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Payment Deposited to Wrong Account? Here’s How to Fix it in QuickBooks

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Even the most experienced QuickBooks users make mistakes occasionally, but one of the great things about QuickBooks is that almost every posting can be easily edited and corrected. However, some postings do take more steps to correct, due to the fact that the transaction is somehow linked to another transaction that has already been reconciled. A common example of this is a wrong posting of a payment received to the wrong customer account.

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Tips for Creating Successful Budgets

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Keeping your business’s budget in QuickBooks is the easiest way to access this crucial information whenever you need it. It’s a cinch to track budgets by department or project and print reports to gauge performance throughout the year. A budget that is simple to access and generate reports will serve you well, and you won’t find one that’s as simple to use as QuickBooks.

In fact, you could be taking advantage of QuickBooks’ budget accessibility by looking at it and revising it more often. Your business’s forecast will change throughout the years as the factors that affect it change – factors like salaries, staffing levels, projected sales. Make sure to keep your budget updated in QuickBooks.

Here are a few more tips for getting the most out of QuickBooks budgeting tools.

Start With the Right Budget Data

QuickBooks lets you build a new budget based on the previous year’s actual numbers, and it’s easy to do. But there’s a catch.

  • The “previous year” might not be the year you intend to use. For instance, if you’re creating a 2014 budget this year, in 2013, and want to base it on 2013 data, selecting “create budget from previous year” will pull in 2012’s data.
  • The way around this obstacle is to change your computer’s clock. Before you build that 2014 budget, tell your computer that the current year is 2014. When you create a budget from the previous year’s data, it will pull 2013 actuals (up through the current month).
  • Change the clock back to 2013 when you’re finished.

Create a Budget for Every Department

Use QuickBook’s Class feature to establish and track budgets by department (or project, or any organizational principle you choose).

  • Create a budget for each department instead of one overall budget. You might choose to set up one for accounting, sales, marketing, and so on. Or by the projects you anticipate throughout the year.
  • QuickBooks will combine them into one overall budget.
  • Assign transactions by Class. Whenever you perform a transaction, you can tag it as one of your Class categories. In Account Preferences, make sure to turn on class tracking. This adds the Class field to transaction windows.
  • Run reports every month or so to see how you’re doing. Under Reports, then Budgets and Forecasts, you can choose several types of report formats, including Budget vs. Actual.

Export Budgets to Make Copies & Run Numbers

Revising your budget throughout the year is a smart habit to form. Just because you set an annual budget doesn’t mean you should only attend to it once a year. To forecast different scenarios, it’s helpful to copy a budget and change some numbers around before saving the final revision.

  • You can’t copy a budget in QuickBooks and play around with different scenarios. But you can export a budget to Excel, make copies there, change things around, and then re-import a final version into QuickBooks.
  • QuickBooks exports only accounts that contain one value. Make sure to fill in a value for every account before exporting. Do this under Company, Planning and Budgeting, Set Up Budgets.
  • Export via File, Utilities, and Export. In the first Export box, check the Budgets box. Follow the rest of the instructions to save the file to your hard drive.

Keep your budget in user-friendly QuickBooks and you should find yourself paying more attention to it on a continual basis. That’s a smart move for any business owner, and one that will help you stay on top of your business’s financial picture. Make sure you start with the correct year’s data, break up the budget using the Class tool, track expenses by Class, and run reports.

2 Time-Savers in QuickBooks

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1377963_hand_over_keyboardIt’s easy to fall into a routine with QuickBooks and approach familiar tasks the same way every time. But chances are there are faster ways to accomplish your QuickBooks functions.

Learning popular QuickBooks shortcuts can save minutes here and there and help you view QuickBooks tasks as easy ones to cross off your to-do list. Some shortcuts can even take things off your list permanently by telling QuickBooks to handle work for you.

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Should My Business Use QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions?

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QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is a software program from Intuit designed to handle the large-volume need of medium and large businesses. This includes those with multiple locations, or those that have otherwise outgrown QuickBooks Pro and Premier. Most small businesses will not need the QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, but there are some situations in which it may be useful. Medium-sized businesses should base their decision on how well their current setup is working for them and at the same time, review their individual needs.

What QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Does

Like QuickBooks Pro and Premier, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is a Planning>Business Management program designed to simplify the financial side of things. It shares basic essential features with the other QuickBooks programs, such as:

  • Sales and expense tracking
  • Invoice creation
  • Bill and check printing
  • Credit and debit card acceptance
  • Expenses>Payroll Management

QuickBooks Premier offers the ability to add up to three users and create customized invoices as well as additional features. QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions offers all of these features but also has the ability to add up to 30 users plus more data overall. These are some of the features of QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions that are not available on the other editions:

  • Batched invoices
  • Batched timesheets
  • Serial number tracking
  • Inventory center
  • Advanced inventory receiving
  • Automatic price adjustment

What Type of Business Might Benefit from QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions

For businesses that have outgrown QuickBooks Pro and Premier, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is a good option. It is obvious that when a business outgrows one of the editions and if they need a feature that is not available in the current one, they’ll look for the latest and the advanced version. However, it can be more difficult to determine when to upgrade in other circumstances. Some signs that it might be time to upgrade include:

  • Current QuickBooks edition running slowly, crashing or freezing
  • Needing or wanting more than 3 users
  • Needing to track data for more than one business location

Many businesses assume that since they don’t need 30 users, the additional expense is not worth the upgrade. For this reason, Intuit has made a tiered licensing system available with options for five to 30 users. Businesses can choose from the 5-user, 10-user or the 30-user versions.

What If My Business Doesn’t Already Use QuickBooks?

Businesses that are switching from another financial management system to QuickBooks may find that there is a bit of a learning curve to it. However, to handle this problem, Intuit has made several guides for QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions available on CDs. Beginners as well as the advanced users can learn how to use the program or access more complicated features through these training guides.

A business that already uses QuickBooks is in good shape to start using Enterprise Solutions. QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is a lot like QuickBooks Pro and Premier, with some of the additional features. The training guides from Intuit can help more advanced users understand these additional features, as well.

Additional Information about QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is available to try through the Intuit website. This way, businesses can test the software and see if it is appropriate for their needs. Businesses that are already using a QuickBooks program should be aware that if they decide to purchase Enterprise Solutions, the “upgrade” option would be a little cheaper than the full price.

Intuit offers full support for the program for the first year. Support is customizable after the first year, which allows businesses to determine their own need for outside help. There is also a 60-day money-back policy for new users who decide otherwise if they are not satisfied with the program.

4 Tips for QuickBooks Payroll Users

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Image Credit : http://www.sxc.hu/photo/911431

QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting tools for business owners. Payroll is important since you have to comply with your local, state and federal employment laws when calculating earnings and withholding money for taxes and preparing tax returns. Since there are so many options with QuickBooks payroll, it is possible to get confused about what to do next.

Here are some simple steps that help you become more efficient when calculating the payroll for your business.

1. Verify you have the correct tax information for your employees.

First you need to make sure that you have the right information about your employees. Ask them to verify their full name, social security number, date of birth, marital status, address and the number of dependents they claim.

It is possible that they could have legally changed their name due to a recent marriage or divorce. If you still have doubts that you have the incorrect social security number for an employee, ask the Social Security Administration to compare their name and numbers to see if they match. Are you limited on time or don’t want to physically go to their office? Use their online Social Security business services.

2. Carefully evaluate which QuickBooks payroll option is right for your business.

QuickBooks payroll comes with a range of options that are suitable for different types of businesses. Depending on the type of business that you have, and the number of people you employ, you should choose the best payroll method that makes sense for your company.

    • Do you prefer to do your payroll entirely online? You can use the Intuit Online Payroll to manage your financial data completely online without using your QuickBooks software on your desktop.
    • You would also be able to easily pay your federal and state taxes electronically. If you choose to use the QuickBooks basic payroll, you have to manage all your financial data in your QuickBooks software.
    • Another option is using QuickBooks assisted payroll which integrates your accounting information with your payroll data.

3. Keep an accurate record of your payroll items.

Next you need to organize the different payroll item categories for your business. Normally you can complete this when you are registering your QuickBooks software and entering your company’s information.

    • You should include items for hourly and salary wages, bonuses, state and local taxes, commissions, Medicare, social security and miscellaneous fees.
    • Once you have these categories set up, remember to update the information periodically so that you will not be overwhelmed during tax season.

4. Create a list of accounts for your business.

Now that you have your payroll items correctly categorized, you will have to create accounts in QuickBooks for any entity that receives compensation or taxes on your employees’ wages and other compensation.

    • Identify which local, state and federal government agencies need to be listed as an account for your business.
    • Identify the percentage or amount that they should be paid. Remember, your business may be fined and penalized for late payments or if you miss the payments entirely. If you are a business owner it is your responsibility to accurately report payroll data to authorities.

While you are preparing your payroll with QuickBooks you should review the Internal Revenue Service codes to make sure that you are complying with their employment tax requirements. Make sure that you understand which federal taxes apply to your business or industry, and that the correct amount is withheld from employment taxes. If you do not have a background in accounting and are concerned about making an error, consider hiring an accountant that has extensive experience with documenting and calculating business payroll.

Generating Income Tax Reports in QuickBooks

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April 15 is getting uncomfortably close.

QuickBooks, of course, can’t do your taxes for you. But it helps you lay some of the groundwork. Let’s take a look at QuickBooks’ tax-related reports and its powerful report-filtering options. But first, you’ll need to make sure that this output will be accurate.

Describe your company accurately

Your tax entity setting should have been established when you first set up QuickBooks, but verify that you’ve specified the correct one. Go to Company | Company Information. Your Report Information is in the lower left corner. Click the arrow next to Income Tax Form Used to see what’s active.

 

Company Setup will affect your Income Planning><figcaption id="caption-attachment-1671" class="wp-caption-text">Tax Reporting in QuickBooks’ width=”411″ height=”231″ /></a> Figure 1: Make sure that QuickBooks is set up for the correct tax entity.</figcaption></figure> <p>  </p> <p> QuickBooks automatically assigns some of your accounts to their matching lines on the 1040 and assorted forms and schedules; this is called tax line mapping. So when you create tax reports, related transactions will be grouped by these designations.</p> <p> This can be a real time-saver – as long as you’ve specified the correct entity. If “Other / None” was selected, if the setting is incorrect, or if you’re starting a business and don’t know which to choose, please contact us. If you switch entities midstream, your existing tax line mappingwill disappear and will have to be reassigned.</p> <h2><strong>Dedicated tax reports</strong></h2> <p> Many of QuickBooks’ general financial reports provide tax-related information. But there are some that specifically relate to the numbers that will go on your return. Go to Reports | Accounting & Taxes | Income Tax Preparation. Here’s an excerpt of what you’ll see:</p> <p>  </p> <figure id="attachment_1672" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1672" style="width: 549px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/figure-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-1672" title="figure 2" src="/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/figure-2.jpg" alt=
Figure 2: QuickBooks automatically assigns many accounts to the appropriate tax form lines, based on your specified tax entity.

 

Here, QuickBooks shows you which tax lines have been pre-assigned to your accounts. You can specify a tax form line for unassigned accounts, but this is something you should not attempt on your own. This report, though, will give you an idea of how useful your report output will be and where you’ll need our assistance.

Other reports provide tax-related data. You can access them by going again to Reports | Accountant & Taxes and clicking:

  • Income Tax Summary. This displays totals for each tax line that’s relevant to your particular tax entity. Double-click on any number, and the Tax Line By Account report appears, detailing every transaction related to every tax-related account (you could add a column for Tax Line in Display options and make this quite a useful report).
  • Income Tax Detail. This lists all individual transactions by tax form/schedule line assignment.

Paring it down

Some tax reports can be very lengthy; you may want to filter them to look at various “slices.”

Click Customize Report | Filters:

 

Modify Report / Report Filtering Options in QuickBooks
Figure 3: This window displays a powerful set of filtering options.

 

The options listed under Choose Filter are available on other reports; they help you set up incredibly complex searches using multiple filters.

Let’s say you want a report that displays your installation labor costs on new residential construction from the last year (you could also throw other variables in). You’d simply choose the filters from the left pane and then select related options in the next pane (usually a list). You’d want to also click on the Display tab to make sure that the appropriate columns appear.

 

Applying multiple filters to customize your QuickBooks reports.

 

QuickBooks reports can shave time off of tax preparation, and filtered views help you scrutinize your data in quite creative – and very useful – ways. The program’s boilerplate reports have their place in simple examinations of your financial status, but filters are potent tools. And custom QuickBooks reports can be even more useful. They can facilitate the kind of deep analysis that helps you make critical business decisions.

If you have questions on this or any other QuickBooks feature, call us at (203) 227-9475 or submit a question via our Contact form. MISSION is your partner and we’re here to make your business better!

What to Do When QuickBooks Won’t Open

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QuickBooks is at the heart of your business’ accounting function. When it’s not working, your business is not working. While QuickBooks is usually a highly stable application, there are times it can experience trouble. One of the most common of these situations is when QuickBooks won’t open.

When that happens, your business can slow to a crawl while you try to get things up and running again.

Fortunately, most QuickBooks errors like this are resolved quickly and easily. Here are the steps you should take, in order, if you can’t get QuickBooks to start:

  1. Reboot. If you’ve ever had to talk to a tech support person, you know that the first thing you do when your computer is acting up is to reboot. You’ve probably already done that, but it’s worth mentioning just in case.
  2. Make sure it’s not already open. Sometimes, you get click-happy. If you click the QuickBooks icon several times, it can try to open several instances of the program and get hung up. To see if this is the case, open the Task Manager and look for a QBW32.exe task. If it’s there, select it and click “End Task.”
  3. Bypass potential shortcut problems. Sometimes, the shortcut file can become corrupted. To get past this, click Start => All Programs => QuickBooks. From there, right-click on QuickBooks. Press CTRL and click on “Open.”
  4. Log in as an administrator. Restart your computer and log in via an account with administrator privileges in Windows. If QuickBooks runs as an administrator, consider changing permissions on your existing account or creating a new account with admin privileges.
  5. Run Reboot.bat. QuickBooks has a built-in utility to re-register QuickBooks in Windows. To run Reboot.bat, navigate to your QuickBooks folder and double-click the reboot.bat folder.
  6. Talk to your QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Proadvisors have specialized knowledge that can help you through some of these issues. Before you decide to simply wipe your QuickBooks installation and start over, check with your ProAdvisor to see if there are other solutions you can try.

The vast majority of QuickBooks errors can be recovered. Just make sure you have a regular backup of your company file in case you wind up having to reinstall and restore.

Setting-Up Chart of Accounts in QuickBooks

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Setting-Up Chart of Accounts in QuickBooks

The Chart of Accounts is the heart of your QuickBooks installation. Your chart of accounts indicates the expense and income category accounts you’re using, it identifies assets and debts, and sets the framework for your business going forward. Setting up your Chart of Accounts correctly is key to getting the most from QuickBooks.

Using the Industry-specific Chart of Accounts

You have two options when you first install QuickBooks: You can create your own Chart of Accounts or use an industry-specific chart of accounts. The vast majority of small and even medium-sized businesses will be better off going with the industry-specific option. Once it’s installed, you can add or delete specific accounts as needed.

Here are some of the basic categories that you’ll need:

Income and Expense accounts. These accounts are at the center of your bookkeeping. Choose the ones you’re likely to use, and delete the ones you won’t. Most of the time, a small business will have at least a single income account; typically, they have many expense accounts. Income accounts include Sales and the like, while expense accounts might include Advertising, Insurance, Utilities, and more.

Cost of Goods Sold. This account is for costs that are incurred as a direct result of producing your goods or services. The raw ingredients that go into your widget fall into this category. So, if you sell cabinets, the cost of the wood used in the cabinets is a Cost of Goods Sold. If you have a service-based business, labor falls into a similar category: Cost of Services Sold.

Assets. This account allows you to put in real assets that your business has. Depending on whether or not you use depreciation, you can turn on an annual depreciation tracking feature here.

Liabilities. There’s also a space in your QuickBooks setup to enter debts that your business has incurred up to the point where you set up QuickBooks.

There are other components to QuickBooks setup and installation that indirectly affect the chart of accounts, such as Equity and your bank accounts. Be prepared to enter that information during the setup process.