New Business Direction LLCPart of QuickBooks’ popularity comes from its flexibility. Here’s a look at how custom fields contribute to that element.
The beauty of QuickBooks is that it can be used for so many different kinds of businesses. Its smart design lets realtors and retail shops, plumbers and plastic surgeons use it to track income and expenses, pay bills and invoice customers, and to run those all-important reports.
But Intuit knows that QuickBooks can’t – and shouldn’t – tailor itself to individual business types (except in the industry-specific versions). So its structure and tools are somewhat generic and as universal as possible.
That’s where custom fields come in. You can simply use them for your own informational purposes, but QuickBooks also lets you create and add fields to your existing customer, vendor, employee and item records and forms, and use them as filters in reports.
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A Common Application
Let’s say you want to search for your best customers to create a targeted marketing mailing. Start by opening the Customer Center and opening any customer’s record there. Click on the Additional Info tab. In the lower right corner of this dialog box, click on Define Fields. This box (with some fields already defined in this example) opens: Figure 1: You can create custom fields for your lists of names in this dialog box. You want to send mailings to customers who order frequently, or who regularly purchase big-ticket items. You can call them your “Frequent Buyers.” Click in the first field that’s available in the Label column and type that phrase, then tab over to the Cust column and click in it to enter a checkmark. Click OK. The Edit Customer dialog box opens with the new custom field included. This field will now appear in all of your existing customer records as well as any new ones you create. You’ll need to open the record for each Frequent Buyer, click on the Additional Info tab and enter “Yes” on the corresponding line.
Figure 2: Custom fields appear in this box in your customer records. |
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Using Custom Fields in Items
If you sell physical inventory, custom fields will probably be needed in your item records. You might want to use them for t-shirt colors or sizes, for example, or to store serial or model numbers. They can be employed for all items types except subtotals, sales tax items and sales tax group items. The process is similar to the one you used to define custom fields in your contact records. Open the Lists menu and select Item List (or Fixed Asset Item List where appropriate). Click Custom Fields in the dialog box that opens. Tip: The Custom Fields tool is also available in the New Item dialog box. So you can move directly to that step as you create an item record if you’d like. Click Define Fields and add your field(s). Be sure to put a checkmark in the Use column, and click OK. Figure 3: QuickBooks also lets you define and use custom fields in your item records.
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Custom fields can be invaluable when it comes to using them in forms and reports. Your fields will automatically appear at the bottom of the Filter list within your reports’ customization tools, but you’ll have to add them manually to any forms where they should appear.
Warning: You should probably enlist our help before you customize forms. QuickBooks provides tools to help you through this process, but you will encounter some potentially confusing messages as you add fields to forms, and you may have to use the Layout Designer, which can present quite a challenge.
Let’s say you wanted to find out how many blue coffee mugs Suzanne Jenkins sold in November. You’d proceed like you normally do when you’re customizing a report, but you’d have to scroll down to the end of the Filter list to find the Color custom field that you created. You’d enter the word “Blue” in the field supplied. Your Sales by Item Summary report setup would look something like this:
Figure 4: Filtering a report using a custom field.
This report will only run properly if you’ve added your Color field to your sales forms. Again, we’d be happy to help you with this, and to explore other uses for QuickBooks custom fields.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2013 version of QuickBooks.
Greetings!
When your goods come rolling in, be sure to document them correctly.
You’re probably happy to see couriers delivering inventory items you’ve ordered since it means you can ship to customers, but recording the new stock means yet another repetitive task.
QuickBooks’ tools can help with this, but you need to be sure you’re using the right forms. There are two different ones that you’ll use, depending on whether or not you’ve received a bill.
Bill in Hand
Either way, you’ll get started by opening the Vendors menu (or clicking the arrow next to Receive Inventory on the home page). If you do have a bill, select Receive Items and Enter Bill (Receive Inventory with Bill on the home page). The Enter Bills screen opens; select your vendor from the drop-down list. If you had entered a purchase order, you’ll see something like this:
Now the PO item information has been entered in the window. Check the form for accuracy, then save it.
Of course, if there was no purchase order, you’ll enter the information about the items you received (descriptions, prices, etc.) in the Enter Bills screen.
If you receive items without a bill, you still need to document the shipment. Open the Vendors menu and select Receive Items (or click the arrow next to the Receive Inventory icon on the home page and select Receive Inventory without Bill).
The Create Item Receipts window opens. Select the vendor by clicking the down arrow next to that field. If a message about existing purchase orders for that vendor appears, click Yes or No, and either select the appropriate POs or enter the information about what you received.
If the items were already earmarked for a specific customer on the purchase order, the Customer column will have an entry in it, and there will be a check mark in the Billable column. If there was no purchase order and you’re entering the information, you can complete those two fields manually
Figure 2: If a purchase order was already assigned to a customer and is billable, that information should appear in this windowEnter a reference number if you’d like. The Memo field should already be filled in with Received items (bill to follow), and the Bill Received box should not be checked.Warning: Be sure that the Items tab is highlighted when you’re recording physical inventory. If there are related costs like freight charges or sales tax, click the Expenses tab and enter them there.
When the bill comes in for merchandise that you’ve already recorded on an Item Receipt, you’ll use this procedure to pay it:
* Click Vendors | Enter Bill for Received Items, which opens the Select Item Receipt window.
* Select the vendor, then the correct Item Receipt.
Note: If the bill corresponds to more than one Item Receipt, you’ll need to convert each into a bill separately. You can create a new bill if some items received were not accounted for on Item Receipts.
* Click the box next to Use the item receipt date for the bill date if you want to match it to the inventory availability date.
* Click OK. The Enter Bills screen opens, which can be processed like you’d handle any bill.
Though it may seem like extra work, this last procedure is important, since it prevents you from recording the same inventory items twice.
It’s easy to get tangled up on these procedures. We hope you’ll consult us when you begin implementing inventory management in QuickBooks, or when you’re taking on a new task there. It’s a lot easier to prevent errors than to go back and fix them.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2013 version of QuickBooks.
Not using progress invoices? Maybe you should be.
Greetings!
The U.S. economy may be picking up, but your customers are probably still being very careful with expenditures. If your company’s finances will allow it, you can help them out on sizable jobs by using progress invoicing, also known as partial billing or progress billing.
You could, of course, simply create invoices for smaller chunks of the job as they come. A smarter way is to build estimates for the entire job or sequential phases so your customer can see the big picture. You can still use progress invoicing to start collecting funds one segment at a time.
How to Proceed
First, be sure you have progress invoicing turned on. Go to Edit | Preferences | Jobs & Estimates | Company Preferences and make sure the Yes button is filled in next to the questions about estimates and progress invoicing.
Now create your estimate (these instructions are for QuickBooks Premier 2013; your steps may vary slightly). Go to Customers | Create Estimates. When you’ve entered all of the items you want to include in this phase of your project, click the Create Invoice button. This window will open:
By clicking one of these buttons, you can bill the customer 100 percent of what’s due on the invoice or just a percentage. But let’s say you and your customer have agreed that payment will be due in pre-defined stages, so click the third button and select one or more of the line items. Click OK. QuickBooks will display a new window that lets you select items and/or percentages of amounts due.
In our example here, we’re going to invoice the customer for two items, the blueprints and floor plans. So we selected the button next to Show Quantity and Rate and entered the full estimated quantity for each item in the QTY columns (if you chose Show Percentage, new columns would appear). It would look like this:
Click OK. QuickBooks will return to your progress invoice, which you can save and print or email to your customer. Your original estimate will remain unchanged.
Tip: If you don’t want any of the zero amounts to appear on the progress invoice, go to Edit | Preferences | Jobs & Estimates | Company Preferences and make sure there’s a check mark in the box next to Don’t print items that have zero amount.
Following Up
When you want to bill for another set of items on this estimate, simply repeat these steps.
Here’s an easy way to determine how much (if any) of the estimate has been invoiced. Go to the Customer Center and select the customer. Click the arrow next to the Show field and select Estimates. Any estimate that has a zero in the OPEN BALANCE column has been completely billed.
QuickBooks provides a report that tells you where you are with all of your progress invoices. Go to Reports | Jobs, Time & Mileage | Job Progress Invoices vs. Estimates. Your report will include the progress invoice you just created:
More Options
What if you determine that you won’t have one or more of the items on the estimate? QuickBooks lets you quickly generate a purchase order. With your estimate open, click Create Purchase Order to select the item(s) needed and generate the form. You can also click Create Sales Order if one is necessary.
Estimates provide a useful way to fine-tune your bookkeeping and inform your customers about impending costs. They can also be confusing if you don’t keep up with them. We can help you determine when they’re a good idea and how to keep them organized. QuickBooks provides good tools here, but they require some administrative control.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2013 version of QuickBooks.
If you used small business accounting products in the early days, you know how frustrating it was to print checks correctly from your software. Pre-printed checks weren’t cheap, and you probably printed at least a few that didn’t line up right or were otherwise unusable.
Figure 1: The Write Checks window in QuickBooks 2013.
Printing checks from QuickBooks has gotten easier, and online banking has made this task less of a necessity for many businesses. But when you do print checks, precision is still required.
So to minimize frustration, save time and money, and ensure that everything will be in order when your checks are processed at the bank, it’s important that you use the tools that QuickBooks offers appropriately. If you’ve been having trouble with check-printing or you’re considering attempting it, keep these tips in mind:
- First, be sure you are creating standard checks, not paychecks. Go to Banking | Write Checks or click the Write Checks icon on the home page.
- QuickBooks offers a few options for check creation. Click Edit | Preferences | Checking | My Preferences. Here, you can specify a default account for the Write Checks function. Click Company Preferences for additional options.
Figure 2: Check the boxes here to activate options.
3. You can customize the appearance of your checks. Click File | Printer Setup |Check/PayCheck. Specify printer options and check style, change the fonts in some fields, designate a partial page printing style (using the envelope feed) and add your company’s name and address, logo and a signature image.
Figure 3: The Printer Setup window provides access to your output options.
4. Be sure that your printer has enough toner before you begin a job.
5. If you print a lot of checks, consider dedicating one printer to that task. But secure your blank checks. Don’t leave them in the printer.
6. Does your printer process pages in reverse order, last page first? This can cause problems when you’re printing multiple checks. You have several options here. You can:
- Modify your printer’s property settings in Windows and/or consult your printer documentation
- Load the paper to accommodate reverse printing or
- Alter the check numbers in QuickBooks. Go to Lists | Chart of Accounts and open the correct checkbook register to change them. (This option is the least elegant and most risky, and not something you want to do on a regular basis. Let us help you with your printer setup if you can’t resolve the problem.)
7. QuickBooks supports batch printing. If you’re writing multiple checks that you’ll want to print later, click the Print Later or To be printed link (depending on yourversion of QuickBooks). When you’re ready, you can either select File | Print Forms | Checks or click the Print Checks link on the home page. Both will open this window:
Figure 4: Uncheck any items you don’t want printed to remove them from the batch job.
- Printing a batch of checks and realize that you’ve set something up wrong? Hit the
Esc key to halt it.
- Double-check to make sure that your numbers match before you launch a print job. Compare the number in the First Check Number field to the number of thefirst check queued up in the printer.
- Ruin a check or an entire page of them? If your accounting protocol allows you toskip check numbers, just start over by changing the First Check Number so thatit corresponds with the starting number on a fresh batch of check blanks. If not, you’ll have to create a check for each one that was ruined, choosing a name and account and an amount of $0.00. Then void the check(s). (Click Banking | Use Register and select the account. Highlight the transaction(s), select the editoption and void. Do not delete them.
Check-printing can be tricky, but it must absolutely follow the rules. Let us know if you get stuck or want some guidance upfront – or if you want to switch to online banking and bill-pay.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2013 version of QuickBooks.
Modifying the default template makes tracking easier, more accurate.
Part of the reason for QuickBooks’ success is its exceptional flexibility. By allowing users to turn features and preferences on and off, the same software can be used by a wide variety of business types and sizes.
In some cases, the default settings that QuickBooks supplies will work fine for your company. This is not necessarily true in the case of purchase orders, since the whole inventory procurement process is so complex, and users can have such a diverse range of needs.
Figure 1: QuickBooks® 2013’s default Create Purchase Orders screen. You can see that formatting options are available when you click the Formatting tab.
So before you order your first widget, make sure that your purchase order form is designed to accommodate all of the information you want to record and track, with no unnecessary data fields to confuse staff.
Working With Templates
There aren’t many program preferences to check. If you can open a purchase order, you’re set. If not, go to Edit | Preferences | Items & Inventory | Company Preferences and be sure that the box next to Inventory and purchase orders are active is checked.
What you want to find first is the Additional Customization screen for the Custom Purchase Order Template. This is easily accessed from the Create Purchase Order screen itself in QuickBooks 2013, simply choose the Formatting tab and select Customize Data Layout.
If you’re using an earlier edition of QuickBooks, go to Lists | Templates | Custom Purchase Order Template. Double-click on it to open the Basic Customization page. Here, you can add a logo, change fonts and colors, etc. Then go ahead and click on the Additional Customization button at the bottom of the screen. This window opens:
Figure 2: The left pane of the Additional Customization window contains additional fields that you might want on your purchase orders, like Ship Via and Terms.
(Tip: If you want to design multiple purchase order templates, click Manage Templates on the Basic Customization screen, then Copy on the Manage Templates page. In QuickBooks® 2013, the Manage Templates option is also on the Formatting tab of the Purchase Order screen. Rename the form and make your modifications. This new version will be available as an option when you create purchase orders.)
Making It Yours
Each of this window’s four tabs opens a new screen that gives you customization control over a different element of the purchase order form: the top, bottom and midsection, and printing options. You simply check the boxes next to the fields that you want to add to the current form (be sure to check both columns if you want the fields to appear both onscreen and in your printed versions; sometimes, one is not an option) and uncheck any you want to delete.
In the right pane of this window, a dynamic preview changes to reflect each addition or deletion. And when you’ve finished altering the set of fields, you can see an actual print preview. Close that and keep clicking OK until you get back to the Templates window.
This simplicity and ease carries over into the more cosmetic elements of your purchase order. Make sure the template you want to redesign is highlighted and click Templates | Create Form Design, at the bottom of the screen. QuickBooks® walks you through the process of adding a logo and background, colors and fonts, and a grid style, and it lets you apply this same theme automatically to all of your forms. (You can modify your design similarly on the Basic Customization page, minus the wizard-like approach and the background options.)
Simple But Complicated
One more comment about the QuickBooks 2013 purchase order screen. Beyond making your formatting options available in the “ribbon,” it also moves you through purchasing to the receiving process. With the appropriate purchase order open, click Create Item Receipts in the ribbon. This window opens, with the correct vendor name selected. When you click in the Item field, this small window appears:
Figure 3: Click Yes here and select the correct PO, and QuickBooks® fills in the data. If you check the Bill Received box, the Enter Bills window opens.
QuickBooks’ purchasing and receiving tools makes your inventory-tracking job easier, but you still need to understand the workflow. We encourage you to let us work with you as you begin managing inventory – or to contact us if you’re tangled up in what can be a very challenging element of QuickBooks.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2013 version of QuickBooks.
There are different ways to reset a lost password. In QuickBooks there are three different password types. In this article we will outline the purpose of different password types and the ways in which to reset them if they are lost.
Administrator Password:
This allows unlimited privileges. When logged on as Administrator you can add, change, and delete users of the file. If the Administrator Password is lost, you will need help to recover it by using the Automated Password Removal and Reset Service.*
*This service is not available for Point of Sale or any version on QuickBooks for Macintosh – you will be directed to the assisted password removal option if using these products.
User Password:
This is required to log in as a User of a QuickBooks® file. Users can change their assigned password, but cannot change their user name or level of access to the QuickBooks® file data. When a User Password is lost, the Administrator can reset it by logging in and modifying the User Record in the Set Up Users window.
Closing Date Password:
This locks the file so users cannot add, edit, void or delete any transaction dated on or before a specific date – unless they enter this password. Only the Administrator has permission to enter this password to make a change to a closed period. If the Closing Date Password is lost, the Administrator can reset it in the Accounting Company Preferences window.
Troubleshoot Passwords:
Passwords can be rejected for any of the following reasons:
- Passwords are case-sensitive – check your Caps Lock
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Are you in the correct version of QuickBooks®?
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Are you in the correct Company File?
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Could a space have been recorded inadvertently when you created or entered the password?
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Make sure the Numbers Lock is not interfering with numerical characters.
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The keyboard might not be functioning properly
- Enter the password in a text editor program such as Notepad to be sure the keyboard works properly.
- An incorrect login screen appears
- A login screen that asks for a password but not a user name is the Administrator’s login access. If the Administrator’s login screen appears, close QuickBooks® and reopen it.
Automated Password Removal & Reset System:
To reset the Administrator Password by using the Automated Password Removal Service, you must have the product license number and the phone number and zip code you registered the product with. Note: The version of QuickBooks® you last opened your company file with must be on the computer you are using to remove and reset the password.
After completing the Automated Password Removal Service, proceed to use the Automated Password Reset Tool which will reset your Administrator password in any version of QuickBooks® for Windows. All information must match exactly what was used to register the product. The email with the new Access Token will only be sent to the original email on file. The Automated Password Reset Tool will guide you through the remainder of the process.
Important Tips:
- Keep a record of your clients’ Administrator passwords
- It is best that no one, not even the owner, uses the file as Administrator. Set up a username and password for the owner and give the owner full access to the file, except for the ability to affect closed periods. This will add another layer of protection to the closed financial periods.
For more information on this matter, please call us or visit Intuit’s support page on Password Removal here: http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/passwordremoval.aspx
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2012 version of QuickBooks.
At New Business Directions we are always looking for ways to improve our efficiency. By pressing different combinations of keys on your keyboard, you can quickly perform common tasks within QuickBooks®.
Here are just a few of the things that you can do when editing a transaction:
| Tab | Move the cursor to the next field |
| Shift + Tab | Move the cursor to the previous editable field |
| Return (Enter) | Record the transaction (when highlighted) |
| Esc (Escape) | Cancel editing and close the current window |
| Ctrl + A | Open the Chart of Accounts |
| Ctrl + D | Delete selected transaction or list item |
| Ctrl + E | Edit transaction or list item |
| Ctrl + F | Find a transaction |
| Ctrl + G | Go to the other account register affected by this transaction |
| Ctrl + H | Get the history (A/R or A/P) for the currently selected transaction |
| Ctrl + I | Create Invoice |
| Ctrl + J | Display Customer Center |
| Ctrl + M | Memorize a transaction |
| Ctrl + N | New transaction (Bill, Check, Deposit, List Item, Invoice) |
| Ctrl + R | Go to the register associated with the current transaction |
| Ctrl + T | Display memorized transaction list |
| Ctrl + Y | Display transaction journal |
| Ctrl + W | Display write check window |
As always, if you have questions or would like more information about QuickBooks® Keyboard Shortcuts or any other QuickBooks® feature, please call us, we would be happy to help.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2012 version of QuickBooks.
QuickBooks® provides an Audit Trail feature that allows you to see every change that is made to each transaction in the file.
Each time you edit, void or delete a transaction, QuickBooks® posts the previous condition of the transaction to this report. As a result, QuickBooks® retains both the old data and the new data for the transaction.
In QuickBooks® 2005 and prior, this feature was optional and was available to be turned on and/or off in the Accounting: Company Preferences window. It also caused QuickBooks® to run much slower, especially in a multi-user environment and caused the data file to grow faster.
In QuickBooks® 2006 and beyond, the Audit Trail is always on and there is a much more powerful database that supports much larger files and allows you to track information on the Audit Trail without significant loss of performance.
To view the Audit Trail report, select the Reports menu, select Accountant & Taxes and then select Audit Trail.
As the consultant/accountant, it is best to create a user name for yourself so that QuickBooks® will tag all of your entries and edits with your name. After you work on the client’s data, export the Audit Trail report to Excel and save the details in your files. This allows you to refer back to the work you do at any time in the future.
The Audit Trail tracks transaction data only. It does not track changes to transactions that do not impact their accounting integrity. Specifically, it does not track edits to list items, edits to memorized reports, changes to memorized transaction or edits to user access privileges.
The Audit Trail allows you to determine which transactions the user changed or deleted, which user entered the change or deletion and when the user made the change or deletion. It does NOT tell you why.
Any information about the transaction that has been changed is highlighted in Bold Italic type in the report. If there are multiple versions of a transaction, the earliest version will have no highlighting, but subsequent versions will highlight each value that differs from the previous version’s value in that field by displaying the value in bold italics. If a line item was added to the transaction, that entire line of the report will be highlighted.
If the Audit Trail Report displays “Unknown User” under the Last modified by column, the user has been deleted.
The Num column displays the user-specified number for each modified or deleted transaction. This field will be blank if a transaction is ready for printing and has not yet been assigned a transaction number.
The State column identifies whether you are looking at the most recent version of a transaction (the Latest) or an earlier version of the same transaction (a Prior). Transactions may have multiple Prior entries listed, but only one Latest.
This Status (Latest or Prior) is automatically assigned by QuickBooks as transactions are added, deleted, or modified. To view the most current version of the transaction, double-click any field in the Latest entry in the report.
By default, the Audit Trail report is sorted by the user who created or last modified the transaction, the transaction type, and the date the transaction was created or last modified.
To make this report easier to use, you may want to filter it. It is feasible to do this from within QuickBooks® by choosing a different date range from the drop-down list. This presents limited results and may not provide the information you need. For best results, you can Export the Audit Trail report to Excel and use the Find command to locate the specific information.
As always, if you have questions or would like more information about the QuickBooks® Audit Trail or any other QuickBooks® feature, please call us, we would be happy to help.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2012 version of QuickBooks.
Backup, Backup, Backup!
I cannot stress enough the importance of a good solid backup for your QuickBooks files. If your computer stops working, your hard disk crashes or you find a corruption in your data file, you will be glad that you have a backup of your data. It will save you many long hours and an enormous amount of frustration.
Media Options
You can use any number of media to store your Backups – you can use a CD-R or a DVD-R or an external hard drive. If you use one of these methods you will need to make arrangements to move these media off-site and make it part of routine that you will stick with. Do not leave your backup media in the same location as your live data file.
Do not use a flash/thumb drive or an RW type of CD or DVD – these allow you to overwrite previous backups and that means you may not have the one you need in the event that you have to restore your data. Data corruption can happen at any time and may not be evident until a much later date. You may need to restore back to before the corruption happened and you need to find that backup file. If you have overwritten previous backups you may not have a clean backup file.
Frequency
You should backup every time you use your QuickBooks file. If it’s daily, backup daily, if it’s once a week, backup once a week, if it’s monthly…you get the idea.
Restoring Backup Files
The proc
ess of turning a backup file (QBB) into a company file (QBW) is called restoring. When data is lost or damaged, restoring a recent backup file created before the data loss recovers most of the information in the company files.
What’s Included in a QuickBooks Backup
A QuickBooks Backup includes the QuickBooks data file (QBW) and most of the supporting files. It includes the Business Planner (BPW), Cash Flow Projector (CFP), Loan Manager (LMR), QuickBooks Letters and Templates, Logos and Images, Printer Settings and the Spell Checker. These additional supporting files are restored into a separate folder and need to be copied to the directory where the QBW file is stored in order to use them.
What’s Not Included in a QuickBooks® Backup
Not all supporting files are backed up using the QuickBooks® backup feature.The QuickBooks® Statement Writer (QSM), Fixed Asset manager (FAM), Financial Statement Designer (FSR), certain payroll forms and the attached documents folder are not included in a QuickBooks® backup. These files need to be backed up separately.
Portable Company Files
A Portable Company file (QBM) is not the same thing as a QuickBooks backup (QBB). It is a highly compressed version of the data file that contains only the raw data from the QBW file without the database indexing and without any supporting files. It allows for faster transfers of data over the internet, but it does not contain the Transaction Log File (TLG).
Transaction Log File
The Transaction Log File (TLG) keeps track of any transactions that were entered after the most recent backup was made and helps with recreating the transactions and changes to the files since the backup. The TLG is re-set each time a backup is performed using the QuickBooks® backup process. It is not re-set when backed up to on off-site location or copying and pasting files outside of QuickBooks.
Test Your Backups
There is nothing worse than finding out that your backup method was not working when your computer crashes and you go to restore a lost data file and it’s not there. You can test a backup by restoring the data file to your computer or to another computer that has the QuickBooks® software. DO NOT OVERWRITE an existing company file. There is no way to recover a file that has been overwritten.
Off Site Options
You can use the Internet to backup your data off site automatically to a secure, remote location. You select the files to be backed up, you select the frequency and set a schedule for these backups to happen automatically.
There are several good and inexpensive options for offsite backups. QuickBooks® offers an Online Backup Service as do Acronis®, AVG®, Backup Solutions®, Carbonite®, Comodo®, Crash Plan® and IBackup®. What’s important is that it works and that your data is secure.
If you need help choosing a backup method that works for you or if you would like us to test your backup to make sure that it’s working, please contact us. We would be happy to help.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2012 version of QuickBooks.
Ah, the Opening Balance Equity account – as accounting professionals it’s one of the first things we look for when someone hands us a QuickBooks® file at year end. It tells us a great deal about the clients’ skill level with QuickBooks® and is an early indicator of how much time we will have to spend cleaning up the QuickBooks® file before we can rely on the numbers to prepare a tax return or financial statements.
Opening Balance Equity is a very useful account, when used properly. Although you may be tempted to delete this account, it’s much better if you use it as it was intended. It will really help if you ever need to go back and look at the original setup.
Proper Use of Opening Balance Equity
The Opening Balance Equity account is a special clearing account, which allows you to start using QuickBooks® before you have finished setting up the entire Balance Sheet.
The proper use of the Opening Balance Equity account is for the original setup of an existing company. When you start a new QuickBooks® company file with a start date later than the actual start date of the company, you will need to enter opening balances for the various general ledger accounts.
Opening balances can be entered into the company file in the form of a General Journal Entry for most Balance Sheet accounts using Opening Balance Equity as the offset account. Once all of the beginning balances are entered, the remaining balance in Opening Balance Equity can be apportioned between the proper equity accounts using another journal entry.
Once your QuickBooks data file is completely set up, Opening Balance Equity should be zero. This is because the account is only used to “park” the offsets for anything you are setting up opening balances for. If it is not zero, go back to the original Trial Balance and locate the discrepancies before moving on.
Automatic Posting to Opening Balance Equity
In some instances, QuickBooks® automatically posts to the Opening Balance Equity account.
QuickBooks® uses the Opening Balance Equity account automatically as the offset when entering a new Customer, a new Vendor or a new Account balance. This often occurs when clients set up their own QuickBooks® files. Entering beginning balances in the screen for setting up a new Customer, Vendor or Account is not the proper method of setting up beginning balances.
Do not enter beginning balances in the opening balance field.
Leave this field blank when entering Customers, Vendors and Accounts.
How to Correct Postings to Opening Balance Equity
Unlike the Retained Earnings account, the Opening Balance Equity account does have an account register. If you find that your client has inadvertently or unknowingly made postings directly to the Opening Balance Equity account during the year, you can open the register by going to Lists – Chart of Accounts and double clicking the account. Then double click each posting and make the corrections here.
For more information on how to properly set up beginning balances for Customers, Vendors and/or Accounts or for help in troubleshooting your clients’ Opening Balance Equity account, please call us.
This article of QuickBooks Tips and Tricks was based on the 2012 version of QuickBooks.
