• Keeping Your 941 Report Accurate
• Recording of Barter Exchanges
• Recording Infrequent Transactions in QuickBooks
• 5 Ways To Audit Your QuickBooks™ Activity
• Minimize Your Exposure to Fraud
• 16 Bank Reconciliation Tips and Tricks
• Ten Overlooked QuickBooks™ Reports That You Should Use
• 10 Tips to Perfect Check-Printing in QuickBooks
• 25 Accounting Terms You Should Know
• Using Statements in QuickBooks: The Basics
• QuickBooks™ Reminders Prevent Problems
• Receiving Customer Payments: What are your Options?
• Tracking Jobs in QuickBooks: Part 1
• Tracking Jobs in QuickBooks: Part 2

Keeping Your 941 Report Accurate

Do not pay your payroll liabilities from the "Write Checks" window. If you use this window, QuickBooks™ will warn you to use the "Pay Liabilities" window, but will let you write the check. However when you print the 941, it will not reflect any payments that you made using the "Write Checks" window.

Use the "Pay Liabilities" window to create checks for all tax liabilities. Using this window will ensure that the payments are reflected accurately on the 941 report and that your liability accounts are properly reduced.

Recording of Barter Exchanges

If you have customers who are also vendors you may decide to trade some or all of your services / products in exchange for payment.

To record such a barter transaction, invoice the customer for the goods provided or services performed as you normally would. To record the "payment" use the "Receive Payment" function to apply the barter amount against the invoice the same as you would when receiving cash or a check as follows:

Go to Customers: Receive Payment. Payment Amount will be the barter amount (the amount of the invoice you received from your vendor). Pmt. Method will be Barter. Check the radio button for "Group with other undeposited funds". Save this transaction.

Go to Banking: Make Deposits. The payment you just received will come up in the Payments to Deposit screen. If there are also other payments to deposit, make sure you select only the payment(s) being recorded for the barter exchange. When you hit OK the Make Deposits screen will come up with the barter deposit(s) showing. Before recording the deposit make a negative deposit entry on the next blank line below the barter deposit for the amount of the barter as follows:

Deposit To is your normal operating checking account. Date is the date you would have normally paid your vendors invoice. Memo should be changed from Deposit to Barter.

If you have entered the vendors invoice as a bill for payment, Received From is the vendor name and From Account is Accounts Payable.

If you have not entered the vendors invoice as a bill for payment, leave Received From blank. In the From Account column select the expense account you would charge the vendors invoice to, the same as if you were entering it for payment. In the Memo column note the vendors invoice number.

In the Amount column enter the vendors invoice amount with a negative sign first. This negative amount should exactly offset the deposit amount above, resulting in a "Zero" deposit transaction. Save the "deposit" and the transaction is complete.

Recording Infrequent Transactions in QuickBooks

Day-to-day transactions like receiving payments from customers or paying vendors occur so frequently that most QuickBooks™ users do them automatically. However, from time to time you may encounter an infrequent transaction that will stop you in your tracks. In this article we'll discuss several common tricky transactions and offer advice on how to handle them.

Security Deposits

Security deposits, such as for a rental space or to a utility company, require special tracking so that you can be sure to get the money back later. It's best to maintain a separate account for each security deposit so that you can track each individually. If you have numerous security deposits, consider creating individual subaccounts for each deposit:

1. Choose Lists, and then Chart of Accounts (or press Ctrl-A).

2. Click the Account button, and then choose New (or press Ctrl-N).

3. As shown in Figure 1, choose Other Account Type, Other Current Asset, and then click Continue.

4. Assign an Account Name such as Contributions from Owner, (and account number if applicable). If necessary, click Subaccount Of, and specify the Deposits account. Click Save and Close to save the new account.

Refunds from utility companies, insurance companies, or other sources

Choose Banking, and then Make Deposits. Specify the vendor, and then choose the account. In the case of deposit refunds, you should have an asset account that you'll apply the money against, as shown in Figure 2. For other types of refunds, use the expense account from which you originally paid the money.

Owner Contributions

This is a situation where an owner of the company invests money into the firm. The owner does so in hopes of making a return on their investment, but does not have a specific timetable in mind for repayment of the loan. If you don't already have a Contributions from Owner account, follow these steps described previously for creating a new account, but choose Equity and name the account Contributions from Owner.

Distributions to Owner

Distributions allow an owner to take profits out of the company on a non-salary basis. Distributions can be paid through payroll or on a separate check. Your chart of accounts should already include a Distributions to Owner account, but if it doesn't, you can establish this new Equity account, which you can then use in either of these types of transactions.

• Payroll: Distributions require special treatment in payroll because they're not subject to income or payroll taxes in QuickBooks. The owner settles the income tax due when filing their annual return. Before you can pay distributions through payroll you must establish a payroll item. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Choose Employees, Manage Payroll Items, and then New Payroll Item.

2. Choose Custom Setup, and then click Next.

3. Choose Addition, and then click Next.

4. Enter the word Distribution and then click Next.

5. Choose the Distributions to Owner account from your chart of accounts, and then click Next.

6. Choose None for the Tax Tracking type, and then click Next.

7. Leave all of the taxes unselected, and then click Next.

8. Choose Calculate This Item Based on Quantity and then click Next when the Calculate Based on Quantity screen appears.

9. Accept the default choice of Gross Pay and then click Next.

10. Leave the Default Rate and Limit fields at zero and then click Finish.

Next, select the employee in the Employee Center, and then choose Edit Employee. Choose Payroll and Compensation Info from the Change Tabs list, and then add Distributions to the Additions, Deductions, and Company Contributions list, as shown in Figure 3. You can fill in the distribution amount now if you know the ongoing amount, or you can fill it in on the fly during the payroll process. Simply display the Paycheck Detail during the payroll process to access this field and enter the distribution amount.

• Separate check: A much simpler approach is to write a separate check to the owner. To do so, choose Banking, and then Write Checks. Choose the Distributions to Owner account and fill in the amount.

Loans to the Company

From time to time the owner may need to make a loan to the company. If the owner expects this money to be repaid, establish a Loan account on the chart of accounts and record the deposit of the loan to this new account.

Company Loans Money to Others

Sometimes your company may make a salary advance to an employee, or the firm may loan money to an affiliate. In such cases it's important to always establish a separate Current Asset account for such transactions so that you can easily track the outstanding balance. Such accounts can be a subaccount of a general Loans Receivable account, as shown in Figure 4. As shown in Figure 5, you'll code the check to that subaccount.

Loan Payments

Many users struggle with loan payments because there are usually three different scenarios:

• Interest only payment: In this case there's only one account to charge, which will be Interest Expense, as shown in Figure 6.

• Interest and principal payment: If you're amortizing the loan over time - your payments include principal and interest - then you'll have to charge two accounts on the transaction, both the Interest Expense and the Loan account itself, as shown in Figure 7. These amounts will be different each month. Your lender can provide an amortization table, or you can search for one for free on the Internet. Simply use the search term "amortization table" to uncover a variety of free resources, or use this search term to locate an Excel-based solution: "amortization table site:microsoft.com"

• Extra principal payment: Extra principal payments being submitted on a separate check should be applied directly to the Loan account.

Expert tip: You can use the QuickBooks Account Reconciliation feature to reconcile your loan balance with the periodic statement that you receive from your lender. This ensures that your financial statements are correct, and helps you confirm that the lender is applying your principal payments correctly.

Petty Cash

Many offices keep a small amount of cash on hand to simply accounting for activities like running to the post office to buy stamps or make small purchases for the office. To establish a petty cash fund, you first write a check to Cash, which you then exchange for money at your bank. Let's say that you establish a $100 petty cash account, and need to replenish it to cover three purchases:

• Lunch for the office: $24.72

• Postage stamps: $44.00

• Office supplies: $23.18

In QuickBooks, you would choose Banking, Write Checks, and then write another check to Cash, and code it to the corresponding expense accounts for the three purchases.

Expert tip: Petty cash is easily subjected to abuse, so be sure to require receipts for all petty cash transactions.

5 Ways To Audit Your QuickBooks™ Activity

In the past QuickBooks™ had an optional Audit Trail feature that you could choose whether or not to enable. However, recent versions of the program automatically enable Audit Trail, so every change made to a transaction in QuickBooks™ is logged automatically.

Although this may seem Orwellian, you may find that you sometimes need to carry out forensic research on a particular QuickBooks™ transaction. In layman's terms, this means looking into who changed or deleted a transaction, determining what date the transaction changed, and how the transaction looked before it changed.

In this article we'll discuss five different audit reports that QuickBooks™ provides, as well as show you some easier ways to mine the data within these reports.

Expert tip: It's best to assign a separate user ID to each QuickBooks™ user. To do so, choose Company, Set up Users and Passwords, and then follow the onscreen prompts. Once you set it up, you'll be able to have accountability for every transaction entered or modified in QuickBooks.

Audit Trail Report

As previously discussed, the Audit Trail is automatically enabled in QuickBooks, and it cannot be disabled. To view the audit trail, choose Reports, Accountant & Taxes, and then Audit Trail. As shown in Figure 1, the audit trail report will appear onscreen.

Although the Audit Trail report defaults to today's date, you can easily change the date range at the top of the screen. As you might expect, this report may contain a lot of data, so you may need to trim down the data shown:

• Click the Modify Report button.
• Click on the Filters tab.
• Choose Transaction Type from the Filter List, and then choose Multiple Transaction Types from the Transaction Type list. As shown in Figure 2, you can then select one or more transaction types to display.
• Click OK twice to display the report.

Even with changing the filters and date range, you may still have a tough time navigating the report. Unfortunately QuickBooks™ does not allow you to search the report onscreen, however, you can easily export the report to Excel or another program so that you can carry out your research:

• To export to Excel: Click the Export button at the top of the Audit Trail report screen, choose A New Excel Workbook, and then click Export.
• To export to another program: The Export button also allows you to export the report to a CSV file, which means a comma-separated value format. This type of report is best viewed in a spreadsheet such as Excel.
• If you don't have Excel available, choose File, Save As PDF, and then save the report to a PDF file. You should then be able to copy and paste the resulting report into the program of your choice or use the search feature within your PDF viewer - the free Adobe Acrobat Reader is a common choice.

If you choose to export the report to Excel, you'll have some advanced filtering capabilities at your disposal:

• Excel 2007: Click on cell A1, and then press Shift-End-Home. This will select the entire workbook. You can then choose Sort & Filter from the Filtering section of the Home ribbon, and then choose Filter. As shown in Figure 3, you can then click the arrow in cell J1 and choose to which transactions to display:
• • La means the most recent version of the transaction.
  • Prior means the transaction has been edited. The Audit Trail shows both the la and previous versions of the transaction.
  • Deleted means that the transaction has been deleted and must be manually reentered in QuickBooks™ if necessary.
• Earlier versions of Excel: Click on cell A1, press Shift-End-Home, and then choose Data, Filter, and then AutoFilter. You can then click any of the arrows in row 1 to filter the list to meet specific criteria.

Alternatively you can press Ctrl-F and search for the words Prior or Deleted. Click the Find Next button to move to the next transaction as you carry out your review, as shown in Figure 4.

Fraud alert: Perpetrators often generate checks or invoices under one vendor or customer ID, and then modify the accounting records to obfuscate their deed. Always review transactions with a Prior label carefully.

Voided/Deleted Transactions Summary and Detail Reports

Deleted transactions often appear as a discrepancy when you attempt to reconcile a bank or credit card account. Typically the starting balance that QuickBooks™ displays will differ from the ending balance on your bank statement. In such instances, it's a good practice to first check the Voided/Deleted Transaction Reports:

• Choose Reports, and then Accountant & Taxes.
• Select either the Voided/Deleted Transactions Summary or Detail reports. Both provide basically the same information, but the Detail report includes the entire transaction, rather than just the top level information shown in Figure 5.

You can use this report to determine if anyone has made changes to transactions subsequent to you specifying a closing date in the QuickBooks™ preferences. To do so, choose Edit, and then Preferences. Next, choose Accounting, and then Company Preferences.

Finally, click the Set Date/Password button, and then follow the onscreen prompts. Going forward you can choose Reports, Accountant & Taxes, and then Closing Date Exception Report to monitor any chances to closed periods in QuickBooks.

Customer Credit Card Audit Log

QuickBooks™ offers additional protection if you store customer credit card data in QuickBooks. The Customer Credit Card Audit Log report, shown in Figure 6, records all activity related to customer credit cards:

• When credit card numbers are entered
• Whenever credit card numbers are displayed onscreen
• When credit card numbers are edited or deleted

To enable logging of customer credit card activity in QuickBooks, choose Company and then Customer Credit Card Protection. Follow the onscreen prompts once you click the Enable button.

Minimize Your Exposure to Fraud

Do you know how to detect and protect yourself from fraud? Most of us want to naively believe it will never happen to us. In reality, fraud impacts small and mid-size businesses far more often than large corporations. Why? Smaller businesses tend to take fewer precautionary measures to prevent fraudulent behavior.

Also, fraud is often perpetrated by a family member, long time employee, or friend that's been given too much freedom with too few controls. However, you must not be naïve when it comes to your business. Fraud is very much a reality that can happen in your business.

In this article we'll discuss how fraud happens, how to identify if fraud is happening, and what to do if you discover fraud has happened. We'll also discuss some measures that you can take within QuickBooks™ to limit your exposure.

Why does fraud happen?

A combination of three aspects usually set the stage for fraud:

Opportunity: Companies often unknowingly present opportunities for fraud. In particular, small businesses are more prone to these because it's harder to separate duties when you have a small staff.

Pressure: Personal pressures can put people over the edge and cause irrational thinking. Someone you know may be under duress due to medical and/or financial issues, or any of a number of other personal situations that influence their judgment.

Rationalization: The perpetrator believes they can rationalize their behavior, i.e. they need the money more then the company, the company won't ever notice, or other insidious thoughts. Indeed, fraud often starts as a "loan", with the perpetrator fully intending to "pay it back".

Fraudsters will go to extreme measures to cover their tracks. Many small business owners believe it could never happen to them, as their employees are like family.

However, it is critical that you separate your thoughts with regard to what happens at work versus what happens outside the four walls of your business. No business is 100% safe.

What are five popular types of fraud?

1. Claiming additional payroll hours or falsifying an employee.
2. Stealing merchandise or cash.
3. Giving unauthorized discounts to friends and family.
4. Selling private business information to outsiders.
5. Exaggerating on expense reports.

Although it's often enticing to delegate tasks to subordinates, you should keep a hand in as many of your business practices as you can, even if it's on a random basis. Fortunately there are some simple ways you can do so:

Payroll: Hand-deliver the paychecks, and use this as an opportunity to thank your employees for their work. This will help identify any "false" employees, as well as foster good will among your team.

Further, a process for tracking hours will help to minimize extra hours appearing on anyone's time card. You might have a manager sign off on subordinate's time sheets, or install a modern time clock that uses swipe cards or biometric identification.

Theft of cash or merchandise: Separate duties to the extent possible. Ideally those who receive money should be different than those who that generate invoices.

You should also try to separate inventory duties, and implement checks and balances for purchase orders, receiving and invoicing. Don't rule out video surveillance of warehouse areas, even if it feels like "Big Brother."

Unauthorized discounts: Track discounts given to customers. In QuickBooks:

1. Choose Reports, Sales, and then Sales By Item Detail.
2. Click the Modify Report button, and then click the Filters tab.
3. As shown in Figure 1, choose Items from the Choose Filter List.
4. Select Multiple Items from the Item list, and then choose all discount and bad debt items.
5. Click OK twice to view your report. If you find this report helpful, click the Memorize button and assign a benign name, such as Accounting Review.

Figure 2 demonstrates another filtering technique for the Sales by Item report. Clear the Item filter, and specify Amount, and then >=0. This will display any negative or zero amounts listed on a customer invoice, as well as credit memo items.

It may seem counterintuitive to look for amounts that are greater than or equal to zero, but in accounting jargon, invoice amounts should always be credits to an account, which means they'll be less than zero.

Negative items or discounts on an invoice post to your books post as debits, or positive amounts, which will be greater than zero.

Selling private information: This is particularly difficult to guard against. One level of defense to require employees to sign confidentiality agreements at the time of hire that discuss what the company considers confidential and the consequences of violating said agreement.

Computer systems and paper work should also be protected with passwords, lock and key and whatever other measures may be warranted to minimize unnecessary access.

In QuickBooks, choose Company, Users, and then Set Up Users and Roles to assign unique log in names and passwords. As shown in Figure 3, QuickBooks™ offers predefined roles that automatically limit access to specified areas, but you can easily tweak a user's role to meet their exact needs.

You should also require users to change their passwords periodically, and whenever possible, have your IT specialist restrict access to the folder where your QuickBooks™ data resides. However, do be aware that anyone can purchase a password recovery tool for $45 from www.lostpassword.com.

Expense Reports: Always require receipts on all reports for reimbursement with no exceptions. You should also establish guidelines so that employees know when to seek approval so that they avoid the risk of unreimbursed expenses.

Unfortunately there's no magic cloak that you can place over your business to protect it from fraud. Your best defense is to limit opportunities and remain vigilant. Fraud perpetrators have seemingly limitless imagination, so be sure that you're always keeping a hand on the tiller of your business.

16 Bank Reconciliation Tips and Tricks

Although it may seem like drudgery, reconciling your bank account is a critical accounting task that you should carry out each month. Doing so helps ensure the integrity of your financial reports, since most of your accounting transactions ultimately affect cash in some fashion.

Further, QuickBooks™ is a much more powerful tool for your business if you use it to its fullest extent. Most likely you've been reconciling your bank account all along, so in this article we'll discuss the tricks and techniques you need to know to streamline the process.

If you're new to QuickBooks, you start the bank reconciliation process by having your bank statement in hand, and then choose Banking, and then Reconcile. The Reconciliation screen shown in Figure 1 appears. In most cases, you enter the ending balance from your bank statement, add any interest or fees, and then click Continue.

You mark transactions as cleared, as shown in Figure 2, and then click Reconcile Now. However, it's not always that simple, so read on to learn how to sail over any hurdles that may appear.

1. Locate discrepancies As shown in Figure 1, click the Locate Discrepancies button to display the Locate Discrepancies window shown in Figure 3.

From there, click the Discrepancy Report button to display the report, as shown in Figure 4. This identifies any edited or deleted transactions that may affect your reconciliation.

2. Confirm your beginning balance Your beginning balance should always tie to your bank statement, but if it doesn't, click the Undo Last Reconciliation button until you reach a point where the beginning balance matches your bank statement. You must then redo the reconciliations to bring your books current and resolve the discrepancy.

3. Don't forget interest and fees Be sure to record any interest and fees in the window shown in Figure 1. Alternatively you can record deposit and check transactions to record interest and fees, or the very savvy can use journal entries.

If you go this route, be sure to debit cash and credit interest income for interest earnings or credit cash and debit bank charges for any fees incurred.

4. Double-check your ending balance Always double-check your ending balance input when you start the reconciliation. A simple transposition or other error here can make it appear that you've missed a transaction.

5. Look for transpositions Sometimes you'll mark all transactions as cleared, but still have a difference. In such cases, divide the difference by 9. If it divides out evenly, then there's a good chance that you transposed a number on a transaction.

For instance, a $63 dollar difference divided by 9 returns 7 could mean that a transaction was entered incorrectly. As shown in Figure 5, you can right-click on an amount, and then choose Edit Transaction to fix the error.

6. Pick a side, any side Don't mix and match deposits and withdrawals. Reconcile your Deposits and Other Credits first, and then confirm that the total items you marked cleared ties to the amount shown on the Reconcile window.

Then reconcile Checks and Payments - doing one side a time limits your search area for missing or misposted transactions.

7. Clear the decks If you get tangled up in a reconciliation, click the Unmark All button shown in Figure 2 to start over. 8. Enter missing transactions You can add missing transactions without closing the reconciliation window. Simply choose a command from the menu across the top or from the Home screen. Saved transactions will instantly appear in the reconciliation window.

9. Check undeposited funds Choose Banking, and then Make Deposits. If the window shown in Figure 6 appears, you must complete the deposit process for these transactions.

10. Hide unnecessary transactions Click the Hide Transactions after the Statement's End Date check box shown in Figure 2 to have fewer transactions to sift through.

11. Void old transactions Old, uncleared transactions can linger on forever - locate such transactions within your register, choose Edit, and then Void. The banking system generally considers checks to be stale after six months.

Such lingering transactions are often duplicates of a transaction that cleared.

12. Clear voided transactions Always clear transactions with a zero balance as these won't affect your reconciliation, but do clutter up the Reconcile window.

13. Bank online Some institutions allow you to synchronize your records with your online statement. This involves a matching process that automatically clears transactions that match, and makes it easy to quickly post new transactions.

14. Use your keyboard Rather than using your mouse to click on each transaction that you wish to clear, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move up and down. Press the spacebar to toggle a transaction as cleared or uncleared.

15. Walk away and come back later If you just can't seem to get the unreconciled difference down to zero, the best thing to do is click the Leave button shown in Figure 2, and then resume the reconciliation tomorrow. A fresh eye can do wonders.

16. Reconcile More Frequently If you can access your bank account online, you can reconcile your bank statement as often as you wish. Consider reconciling accounts with heavy volume weekly or twice a month.

Ten Overlooked QuickBooks™ Reports That You Should Use

Just about every QuickBooks™ user relies on the Report Center and Reports menu, but if you're like most, you have a small handful of reports that you tend to rely on. In this article we'll go off the beaten path and explore ten reports that many users overlook. Even if you are using some of these reports, we're sure you'll find a few more to add to your repertoire.

1. Profit & Loss Summary Prev Year Comparison: To access this report, choose Reports, Company and Financial, and then Profit & Loss Summary Prev Year Comparison. Most business owners rely on the Profit & Loss Summary report, but comparing your results to last year can provide quick insight into whether your revenue is growing or contracting-as well as how fast expenses are rising.

2. Balance Sheet Prev Year Comparison: You'll find this report also within the Company and Financial section of the Reports menu. As with your income statement, it's important to compare where certain balances stand now versus last year:

1. Cash
2. Accounts Receivable
3. Inventory
4. Accounts Payable
5. Other Liabilities, such as lines of credit or short term loans

3. Statement of Cash Flows: As with the two preceding reports, you'll find the Statement of Cash Flows in the Company & Financial section of the Reports menu. Profit & Loss reports enable you to see what you earned, while Balance Sheet reports help you determine what you have-as well as what you owe. However, neither report necessarily provides a clear picture of where cash is coming from, or going to. As shown in Figure 1, you'll be able to see:

6. How much cash you've taken in from sales and spent on expenses
7. Cash inflows or outflows from borrowing, repayment, or investing activities

In short, this report shows you exactly what caused your bank balance to increase or decrease during a given report period.

4. Collections Report: Tricky economic times mean it is more important than ever to keep track of your collections. Fortunately QuickBooks™ makes it easy to contact customers with overdue invoices: choose Reports, Customers & Receivables, and then Collections Report. As shown in Figure 2, the report provides a phone list and shows all overdue invoices. However, you can also use this report to quickly e-mail copies of overdue invoices to your customers. To do so, double-click on a transaction within the Collections report to view the invoice, and then click the Send button at the top of the invoice form to display the Send Invoice form shown in Figure 3. You can modify the wording shown to be more direct, such as a subject line of "Overdue Invoice" or perhaps e-mail text along the lines of "I've attached a copy of your overdue invoice. If there's a problem with our products or services, please let me know immediately, otherwise I trust that you'll remit payment promptly." To change the default e-mail text, choose Edit, Preferences, and then choose Send Forms. Select Invoice from the Change Default For list, make your changes, and then click OK.

5. A/P Aging Summary: Although it's key to make sure that your customers are paying in a timely fashion, it's just as important to pay your vendors, too. Unpaid bills can result in phone calls, e-mails, and other unnecessary interruptions. Choose Reports, Vendors & Payables, and then A/P Aging Summary to display the report shown in Figure 4. As with most reports in QuickBooks, you double-click on amounts to ultimately drill down to the original transaction.

6. Trial Balance: Many business owners overlook the Trial Balance report, since it's one of the few reports in QuickBooks™ that uses the terms Debit and Credit. However, it's a helpful report, as it shows you all account balances in a concise format. If anything looks out of order, simply double-click on the amount to view the underlying detail. Choose Reports, Accountant & Taxes, and then Trial Balance to view this report.

7. Voided/Deleted Transactions Summary: It's no surprise that small businesses are much more prone to fraud than large businesses. Small business employees usually wear multiple hats, so it's often impossible to separate financial duties (bigger businesses can do this with ease). Fortunately QuickBooks™ makes it hard for perpetrators to cover their tracks: choose Reports, Accountant & Taxes, and then Voided/Deleted Transactions Summary. As shown in Figure 5, you'll be able quickly identify any transactions that have been deleted from QuickBooks. Granted, this isn't an end-all solution by any means, but it is a helpful management tool. Plus, if a transaction ends up "vanishing" from QuickBooks, you can use this report to see who deleted it!

8. Audit Trail: The audit trail was an optional feature in earlier versions of QuickBooks, but is permanently enabled in recent versions of QuickBooks. This provides a complete record of every entry made in QuickBooks, as shown in Figure 6. The downside to that is that you can end up with a massive report. Don't worry, as it's easy to filter this report and narrow your search. To do so, choose Reports, Accountant & Taxes, and then Audit Trail. Once the report appears, click the Modify button, and then click on the Filters tab. You can filter by date range, amount, or dozens more fields.

9. Previous Reconciliation: It's a good practice to always print at least the summary report once you've reconciled a bank or credit card account. Someone else could edit a reconciled transaction, which could cause the reconciliation to be out of balance. A printed copy of the report shows that the account reconciled as of the report date, although you will still have to untangle the edited transaction. However, if you close out the reconciliation screen, you have a second chance to print your report: choose Reports, Banking, and then Previous Reconciliation. As shown in Figure 7, you can choose from multiple reports.

10. Transaction History: Think of this as a "report within a report", as you can only run it in certain circumstances. As shown in Figure 6, you must have a transaction open on the screen or single-click on a transaction within a report. You can then choose Reports, and then Transaction History. As shown in Figure 8, QuickBooks™ will display a report that shows the entire history for a given transaction.

Did You Know?

The Microsoft web site offers hundreds of free spreadsheet and word processing templates. Options range from timesheets to analysis tools to contract documents. Visit http://office.microsoft.com/templates, and then search for a template by use (home, office, school), collection (real estate, small business, wedding), or keyword. Indeed, if you've created a template that you rely on, you can submit it to the site and share your work with others!

It's not just a catchy ad slogan: It's true. Unless you have dozens of employees or numerous exceptions each payday, you can literally process a payroll run in just a few minutes using the employee compensation tools in QuickBooks.

No matter which version of desktop QuickBooks™ you're using, payday chores are similar. Even if you've subscribed to Full Service Payroll and are having most of the work done by Intuit, you still have to enter the number and type of hours worked for each pay period.

If you're doing payroll manually or through a payroll service, you might be surprised at how quickly and easily your payroll tasks can be completed once you've finished entering information about your company and its employees, taxes and deductions.

A Simple Process

When you get a reminder that it's time to run payroll, go to Employees | Pay Employees and choose Scheduled Payroll to get to this window:

When you click Start Scheduled Payroll, a new screen displays your employee list in a spreadsheet grid. By default, QuickBooks™ displays several columns, including Employee, Regular Pay and Sick Hourly; you can opt to include others, like Employee Number. If you hide columns that contain information, that data will still be used in paycheck calculation. Then:

• Verify that the information at the top of the screen is correct (Payroll Schedule, Bank Account, etc.).
• Make sure that all employees to be paid have check marks next to their names.
• Enter the number of hours worked for each hourly employee, placing them in the correct pay type column.

Select one and click Open Paycheck Detail to see a complete breakdown of compensation and withholding -- all calculated automatically by QuickBooks™ based on your setup data -- within the Preview Paycheck screen. Close the window when finished.

Checking Your Work

If you're satisfied that everything is correct, click Continue. In the next screen, you'll verify Payroll Information again and check a box to indicate whether checks will be printed or handwritten (you can assign a starting check number to the latter). QuickBooks™ displays a grid containing each employee's total gross pay, total taxes and deductions, net pay, employer taxes, contributions and total hours. The Direct Deposit field will be checked if the individual is signed up.

If you're not sure that your payroll information is correct, you can click Finish Later, otherwise, select Create Paychecks.

The Final Step

QuickBooks™ will then display your results:

Check the box at the bottom of this window next to Do not advance the dates of this payroll schedule in the Payroll Center if you still have employees to process for this run. If the box isn't checked, QuickBooks™ will change the dates in the Pay Employees window to reflect your next pay period.

When you select Print Paychecks or Print Pay Stubs, the selection window opens. You can toggle among views of Paychecks, Direct Deposit or Both. Select the ones you want to dispatch and click Print or E-Mail. You'll have the option to reprint any checks if you need to; otherwise, click OK.

No Room for Errors

Sounds simple, and it is -- as long as your setup was error-free. As you well know, you can't make mistakes running payroll or you'll initiate a whole series of incorrect numbers, making employees, benefits providers and government agencies unhappy.

So do not proceed if something doesn't look right; QuickBooks™ always gives you an out. And let us know how we can help with setup, taxes or payroll runs -- or anything in between.

It's not just a catchy ad slogan: It's true. Unless you have dozens of employees or numerous exceptions each payday, you can literally process a payroll run in just a few minutes using the employee compensation tools in QuickBooks.

No matter which version of desktop QuickBooks™ you're using, payday chores are similar. Even if you've subscribed to Full Service Payroll and are having most of the work done by Intuit, you still have to enter the number and type of hours worked for each pay period.

If you're doing payroll manually or through a payroll service, you might be surprised at how quickly and easily your payroll tasks can be completed once you've finished entering information about your company and its employees, taxes and deductions.

A Simple Process

When you get a reminder that it's time to run payroll, go to Employees | Pay Employees and choose Scheduled Payroll to get to this window:

When you click Start Scheduled Payroll, a new screen displays your employee list in a spreadsheet grid. By default, QuickBooks™ displays several columns, including Employee, Regular Pay and Sick Hourly; you can opt to include others, like Employee Number. If you hide columns that contain information, that data will still be used in paycheck calculation. Then:

• Verify that the information at the top of the screen is correct (Payroll Schedule, Bank Account, etc.).
• Make sure that all employees to be paid have check marks next to their names.
• Enter the number of hours worked for each hourly employee, placing them in the correct pay type column.

Select one and click Open Paycheck Detail to see a complete breakdown of compensation and withholding -- all calculated automatically by QuickBooks™ based on your setup data -- within the Preview Paycheck screen. Close the window when finished.

Checking Your Work

If you're satisfied that everything is correct, click Continue. In the next screen, you'll verify Payroll Information again and check a box to indicate whether checks will be printed or handwritten (you can assign a starting check number to the latter). QuickBooks™ displays a grid containing each employee's total gross pay, total taxes and deductions, net pay, employer taxes, contributions and total hours. The Direct Deposit field will be checked if the individual is signed up.

If you're not sure that your payroll information is correct, you can click Finish Later, otherwise, select Create Paychecks.

The Final Step

QuickBooks™ will then display your results:

Check the box at the bottom of this window next to Do not advance the dates of this payroll schedule in the Payroll Center if you still have employees to process for this run. If the box isn't checked, QuickBooks™ will change the dates in the Pay Employees window to reflect your next pay period.

When you select Print Paychecks or Print Pay Stubs, the selection window opens. You can toggle among views of Paychecks, Direct Deposit or Both. Select the ones you want to dispatch and click Print or E-Mail. You'll have the option to reprint any checks if you need to; otherwise, click OK.

in the print selection window to customize paycheck vouchers and pay stubs.

No Room for Errors

Sounds simple, and it is -- as long as your setup was error-free. As you well know, you can't make mistakes running payroll or you'll initiate a whole series of incorrect numbers, making employees, benefits providers and government agencies unhappy.

So do not proceed if something doesn't look right; QuickBooks™ always gives you an out. And let us know how we can help with setup, taxes or payroll runs -- or anything in between.

10 Tips to Perfect Check-Printing in 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.

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 accurate 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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

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.

4. Be sure that your printer has enough ink or 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 your version 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:

Printing a batch of checks and realize that you've set something up wrong? Hit the Esc key to halt it.

9. 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 the first check queued up in the printer.

10. Ruin a check or an entire page of them? If your accounting protocol allows you to skip check numbers, just start over by changing the First Check Number so that it 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 edit option 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.

25 Accounting Terms You Should Know

QuickBooks™ is intuitive, easy to use, and flexible, but it is not an accounting manual or class or tutorial.

If your business is not particularly complicated, you might get by without knowing a lot about the principles of bookkeeping. Still, it helps to understand the basics, so let's take a look at some terms and phrases that are helpful for you to understand.

Account. You set up financial accounts like checking and savings in QuickBooks, but in accounting terms, these are referred to as the accounts in your Chart of Accounts: asset, liability, owners' equity, income and expense.

Accounts Payable (A/P). Everything that you owe to vendors, contractors, consultants, etc. is tracked in this account.

Accounts Receivable (A/R). This account tracks income that hasn't been realized yet, like outstanding invoices.

Accrual Basis. This is one of two basic accounting methods. Using it, you record income as it is invoiced, not when it's actually received, and you records expenses like bills when you receive them. Using the other method, Cash Basis, you would report income when you receive it and expenses when you pay the bills.

Asset. What physical items do you own that have value? This could be cash, office equipment and real estate. In QuickBooks™ you'll be managing two types. Current Assets are generally used within 12 months (or you could convert them to cash in that length of time). Fixed Assets refers to belongings like vehicles, furniture and land, property that you probably won't use up in a year and which usually depreciates in value. Depreciation is very complex; you may need our help with that.

Average Cost. This is the inventory costing method that programs like QuickBooks™ Pro and Premier use to calculate the value of your stock.

Cash Flow. This refers to the relationship between incoming and outgoing funds during a specific time period.

Double-Entry Accounting. This is the system that QuickBooks™ uses--that all legitimate small business accounting software uses. Every transaction must show where the funds came from and where they went. Each has a Credit (decreases asset and expense accounts) and Debit (decreases liability and income accounts) which must balance out (other types of accounts can be affected).

Equity. This refers to your company's net worth and is the difference between your assets and liabilities.

General Journal. QuickBooks™ handles this in the background, so it's unlikely you'll ever be exposed to it. We sometimes have to create General Journal Entries, transactions required for various reasons (errors, depreciation, etc.) that contain debits and credits. Please leave that to us.

Item Receipt. You'll create these when you receive inventory from a vendor without a bill.

Job. QuickBooks™ often associates customers with multi-part projects that you've taken on, like a kitchen remodel.

Net income. This is your revenue minus expenses.

Non-Inventory Part. When you purchase an item but don't sell it or you buy something and resell it immediately to a customer, this is what it's called. It's merchandise that isn't stored by you for future sales.

Payroll Liabilities Account. QuickBooks™ tracks federal, state and local withholding taxes, as well as Social Security and Medicare obligations, that you've deducted from employees' paychecks and will remit to the appropriate agencies.

Post. You won't run into this term in QuickBooks. It simply refers to recording a transaction within one of your accounts.

Reconcile. QuickBooks™ helps you with this. It's the process of making sure your records and those of your financial institutions agree.

Sales Receipt. This is how you record a sale when payment is made in full during the transaction.

Statement. You'll generally use invoices to bill customers in QuickBooks, but you can also send statements, which contain transaction information for a given date range.

Trial Balance. This standard financial report tells you whether your debits and credits are in balance. Should you run this report and find a problem, let us know right away.

Vendor. With the exception of employees, QuickBooks™ uses this term to refer to anyone who you pay as a part of your business operations.

These are just a few of the terms you should recognize and understand. We hope you'll contact us when you need help understanding how the accounting process fits into your workflow.

Using Statements in QuickBooks: The Basics

Sending invoices to your customers to bill for products and/or services is probably one of the more enjoyable parts of your job--second only to recording payments received. And thanks to the company file you've built in QuickBooks, creating invoices is generally a very simple process that requires no duplicate data entry.

QuickBooks™ also includes easy-to-use templates for another kind of customer form: the statement. These forms are generally not used nearly as frequently as invoices. However, you may find them more appropriate if you:

• Want to create a form that lists all of a customer's open charges
• Have a customer who accrues multiple charges before being billed
• Receive advance--or regular--payments, or
• Need a historical accounting of a customer's activity, including charges, payments, and balance.

Limitations of Statements

QuickBooks™ places some restrictions on statements. For example if you have a number of related charges for which you want to create a subtotal for, you'll have to use an invoice. Statements also cannot include sales tax, percentage discounts, or payment items. Products or services requiring descriptions that run more than a paragraph can't go on a statement. Customization options, too, are limited: you can't add custom fields to the statement form, nor can you include a message to your customers, like, "We appreciate your business."

The "Reminder Statement"

There may be occasions when you want to create a form that lists invoices received, payments made, and any credits given for one or more customers. This may be necessary when, for example, a customer disputes a charge. You may also want to send out these statements to remind customers of delinquent payments.

You do not have to enter any new data for these statements. Instead QuickBooks™ will pull the existing activity that you ask for in the Create Statements window, shown below. To get there, either click on the Statements icon on the home page, or open the Customers menu and select Create Statements.

As you can see, QuickBooks™ offers a lot of flexibility in the creation of statements. You can specify:

• The active date range. Under SELECT STATEMENT OPTIONS, you can either enter a date range or request a statement for every customer who has open transactions as of the Statement Date (be sure that this date is correct before proceeding). You can also ask to include only transactions that are past due by a specified number of days.
• The customers to include. Do you want to use the conditions you just outlined to apply to All Customers? If so, click on the button in front of that options. If you choose Multiple Customers, a small button labeled Choose... will appear. Click on it, and a window displaying your customer list opens. One Customer also opens your list of customers. If you've assigned types to your customers and want to include only those in one category (like Residential or Commercial), click Customers of Type. And Preferred Send Method lets you limit your statement output to customers who receive either emailed or printed forms.
• The template to use. Click the down arrow to see the statement templates available. If you have not customized QuickBooks' standard form and want to do so, let us help.
• Whether QuickBooks™ prepares one statement per customer or per job. This is a very important distinction, so choose carefully.
• Miscellaneous attributes of your statement run. Click on the box in front of any that should apply.

If you assess finance charges, you can do so here. This is an advanced activity in QuickBooks, and we'd be happy to provide guidance in this area.

When you're done, you can Preview your statements, Print, or E-Mail them by clicking those buttons.

Entering Individual Charges

If you need to enter individual charges, you'll have to work with QuickBooks' customer registers. You'll find these by either opening the Customers menu and selecting Enter Statement Charges or highlighting a customer in the Customer Center, then clicking the down arrow next to New Transactions and selecting Statement Charges.

We highly recommend that you let us help you get started if individual charges are necessary. Like many of QuickBooks' functions, this isn't a difficult activity once you understand it. But it's much easier and economical for you to get upfront guidance than for us to come in and untangle your company file.

QuickBooks™ Reminders Prevent Problems

How many calendars do you maintain? Many businesspeople have more than one. Maybe you use a web-based or desktop application like Google Calendar or Outlook for meetings, task deadlines, travel dates, etc. Your Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) might have another. Perhaps you still have a paper calendar as back-up.

But where do you keep track of bills that need to be paid, invoices that have to be sent, inventory items that must be ordered, etc.? Do you include that information in your general business calendar(s) and hope they don't get lost in the shuffle?

QuickBooks™ has a better solution. The software contains a dedicated set of tools that automates the process of setting up and displaying reminders. Once you've created them, they can be the first thing you see when you open QuickBooks™ in the morning.

Warning: If you do not launch QuickBooks™ frequently, consider tracking your critical accounting tasks using a different method.

Getting a Head Start

QuickBooks™ lets you specify exactly when you want to receive reminders of upcoming activities. To set this up, open the Edit menu, click Preferences, and then click Reminders | Company Preferences.

Note: If you want QuickBooks™ to display your reminders every time you launch the software, click on the My Preferences tab and make sure that the box in front of Show Reminders List when opening a Company file is checked. If it isn't, click in the box.

As you can see, QuickBooks™ offers three options for every activity type. It can either display a summary of the tasks that need to be completed, or it can actually list all of them in the Reminders window. And you'll be able to tell QuickBooks™ how many days prior to the deadline your reminders should appear. You can also opt not to be reminded.

Making modifications in this window is easy; just click in the appropriate circle next to each task to indicate your preference, and change any numbers in the Remind Me column to tell QuickBooks™ when it should start showing the reminder.

If you didn't indicate that you wanted the Reminders window to open every time you launch QuickBooks, you can always access it by opening the Company menu and selecting Reminders.

Using the List

The Reminders list displays items in two columns. Tasks that need to be done on the current day appear on the left (overdue tasks appear in red). The list in the right column consists of upcoming transactions that will need to be processed soon. Each type of activity has a number in parentheses after it; this tells you how many individual tasks are pending. Click on the arrow to see the list, and double-click on any entry to open the actual transaction form.

You can add generic to-do items to either column by clicking on the plus sign in the upper right. These will appear along with your other reminders. If you want to modify anything related to your reminders, click on the gear icon in the upper right. This opens the Preferences window again.

Recurring Reminders

Transactions that repeat on a regular basis (bills, invoices, etc.) can be memorized. If the amount is always the same, create the transaction and enter the amount; if not, just leave that field blank. Click Memorize to open the Memorize Transaction window and click on the button in front of Add to my Reminders List. Open the drop-down list to the right of How Often and select the desired frequency. Make sure that the Next Date is correct, and then click OK.

Reminders can help prevent serious accounting problems such as cash flow irregularities. Let us know if you're experiencing these. We can help you determine whether poor task management is contributing to your shortfall, or if there are deeper issues that we can work with you to resolve.

Receiving Customer Payments: What are your Options?

QuickBooks™ was designed to make your daily accounting tasks easier, faster, and more accurate. If you've been using the software for a while, you've probably found that to be true. Some chores, of course, aren't so enjoyable, like paying bills or reconciling your bank account...Or anything else that has the potential to reduce the balance in your checking accounts.

The process of receiving customer payments is one of your more enjoyable responsibilities. You supplied a product or service that someone liked and purchased, and you're getting the money due you.

Depending on the situation, you'll use one of multiple methods to record customer payments. Here's a look at some of your options.

A Familiar Screen

If you're like many businesses, you send invoices to customers to let them know what they owe and when their payment is due. One of the most commonly used ways to record payments is by using the Receive Payments window by clicking on the Receive Payments icon on the home page or clicking on Customers | Receive Payments.

The first thing you will do, of course, is choose the correct customer by clicking the down arrow in the field to the right of RECEIVED FROM. The outstanding balance from that customer will appear in the upper right corner, and invoice information will be displayed in the table below. Enter the PAYMENT AMOUNT and make sure the DATE is correct. (The next field, REFERENCE #, changes to CHECK # only if the CHECK option is selected.)

Next, you will need to ensure that the payment is applied to the right invoices. If it covers the whole amount due, there will be a check mark in every row in the first column of the table. If not, QuickBooks will use the money received to pay off the oldest invoices first. To change this, click Un-Apply Payment in the icon bar and click in front of the correct rows to create checkmarks.

Four Options to choose from

Next, you will then want to tell QuickBooks™ what payment method the customer is using. Four options are displayed:

• CASH
• CHECK
• CREDIT DEBIT (A specific card type may be shown here if you've indicated the customer's preferred payment method in his or her record.)
• e-CHECK

If the desired payment method isn't included in those four, click the down arrow under MORE. If it's still not there, click Add New Payment Method. This window will open:

Click OK. When you choose your new payment method from the list, a window opens containing fields for the card number and expiration date. Click Done after you've entered it, and you'll be returned to the Receive Payments screen. If you're satisfied with your work there, click Save & Close or Save & New.

Haven't gotten set up to accept credit and debit cards yet? We can get you going with a merchant account to make this possible. You're likely to find that some customers pay faster with this option. Your customers will be able to click a link in an emailed invoice and make their payments.

Instant Sales

Depending on the type of business you have and its physical location, there may be times when customers will come in and buy something on the spot. You will need to give them a Sales Receipt. Click Create Sales Receipts on the home page or open the Customers menu and select Enter Sales Receipts to open this window:

Complete this form much like you entered data in the fields of the Receive Payments window. Then you can print the mail for the customer and/or email it.

After all the hard work you've done to make your sales, the last thing you want to do is record a payment incorrectly so it isn't processed and you don't get paid. Though QuickBooks™ makes the mechanics of receiving payments simple enough, you still should understand the entire process involved in getting income into the correct accounts. If you need assistance with this or any other areas of QuickBooks, just call.

Tracking Jobs in QuickBooks: Part 1

Job-costing is not just for contractors. While that's probably the most common understanding of this concept in QuickBooks, you can also use the software's jobs tools to track income and expenses for any related group of items and/or services.

Think of them as projects. If you're an expert in business promotions, for example, you probably have multiple projects going on simultaneously that consist of materials you might need to order for your client (like special paper) and the actual work you do (design, content-creation, etc.). You could also have to track expenses like mileage, and you may price your services by the hour.

QuickBooks™ can handle all of this. If you're conscientious about documenting all of the pieces that go into every job, you'll be able to run reports that show you how much you spent and took in on each. This information can help you better price your services and manage your time to maximize profitability.

Many Elements

In part one of this of a two-column series, we're going to explore the basic elements that go into job-tracking. Keep in mind that there are many different ways to work with jobs. How you choose to do it will depend on the structure of your business.

First, let's look at a simple example. The first step involves setting up a job for an existing client. Even if you think you're only going to be doing one project for them, you can still set it up as a job so you can assign all related income and expenses to it. This will make it much easier if you get additional work from the customer down the line â?? and if you have to bill the customer for something that's not related to a specific project.

To create a job, open the Customers menu and select Customer Center. Make sure the Customers & Jobs tab is highlighted. Select the customer by clicking on it. Right-click the name and select Add Job from the drop-down list. When the New Job window opens, click the Job Info tab.

Fill in the Job Name field. In this example, we've selected a name that's broad enough that we'll eventually be able to break down into specific tasks. If your customer has an outstanding balance as of the current date, that amount will appear in the Opening Balance field.

Enter a Job Description. The Job Type field is optional, but creating these classifications can help with advanced reports that gauge profitability. Consult with us if you want to explore these.

Open the Job Status list and select the correct one, then choose a Start Date and Projected End Date. You'll document the End Date when you're finished. Click OK.

Creating Item Records

You may already know that if you buy and/or sell products and/or services, you have to set up individual records for each one so you can include them on sales and purchase forms. You'll need these to record income and expenses related to your Promotion job. If you're new to QuickBooks, here's how it works.

Open the Lists menu and select Item List. In the window that opens, click the arrow next to Item in the lower left corner and select New. A window like this will open:

The Item Type list will drop down. Select Service. In the example above, youâ??re creating a record for a service you sell: Website Development. Enter that in the Item Name/Number field. Ignore the U/M Set field; this is not available in QuickBooks™ Pro or Premier.

Enter a Description and your hourly (or project) Rate. Choose the correct Tax Code status and select the Account. When you're done, click OK.

Warning: You may not have an Account in your Chart of Accounts that fits the specialized income and expenses you want to track. If you need assistance setting this up, don't hesitate to call.

You'll repeat this process for other types of promotional work you do (making flyers and brochures, designing and ordering branded products, general content creation, etc.).

Think it through first

Before you create your first job, spend time envisioning how you want it structured. Remember that every invoice or timed activity or other income or expense you enter will only be assigned to one Customer:Job, but you can include as many Items as you want. If you need help envisioning this, please call, and a QuickBooks™ professional will be happy to help you think this through and go through the setup with you

.

Next month: a look at how the records you've created can be used.

Tracking Jobs in QuickBooks: Part 2`

Last month, we showed you how to start building a foundation for tracking jobs in QuickBooks. We explained that you can use the software's jobs tools to track income and expenses for any related group of items and/or services (you can think of them as projects, if you prefer).

We covered three elements of preparing to use "jobs":

• Creating job records that you can use in transactions (example: develop promotional materials)
• Creating item records that can be assigned to jobs (example: website development)
• Determining whether you'll need to create a new account in your Chart of Accounts for your job income and expenses. You should consult with a QuickBooks™ professional anytime you think it might be necessary to modify the Chart of Accounts.

Using Your Job-Related Records

Now that you've recorded the items and jobs themselves, you can start using them in transactions, and eventually track your progress by generating reports.

Let's say you worked eight hours on website development for your promotion job. You would open the Employees menu and select Enter Time | Time/Enter Single Activity to open this window:

In the example above, you are limited to recording one day's work on a specific SERVICE ITEM. You would verify the date and select from the drop-down lists to complete the fields for employee NAME, CUSTOMER:JOB, and SERVICE ITEM. You can either use the timer to time the job or enter the number of hours manually in the DURATION box. Click in the Billable box to create a checkmark and add NOTES if you would like. The CLASS field is optional; talk to us if you're not familiar with this feature.

If you worked on two separate service items on the same day for that CUSTOMER:JOB, you would create two individual records. You can also enter billable activities directly on a timesheet by clicking Employees | Enter Time | Use Weekly Timesheet. Once you select the employee NAME at the top, any single activity(ies) you created that week will appear as individual records, and vice versa.

Writing a check or using a credit card for a job-related purchase that should be billed to the customer? You would fill out these forms in QuickBooks™ like you usually do, making sure that you document the items or services by highlighting the Items tab, select the correct CUSTOMER:JOB, and make a checkmark in the BILLABLE? column.

If you will be doing some billable driving for your job, you should also be tracking your mileage in QuickBooks. Open the Company menu and select Enter Vehicle Mileage. If you haven't created a VEHICLE record in QuickBooks, click and easily do so. Complete the rest of the fields and save.

Tip: Do you want to see some of your overhead expenses on job costing reports? Create a CUSTOMER:JOB named "Overhead" and assign related costs to it.

Billing the Billables

When the time comes to invoice your customers (Customers | Create Invoices), you'll see how your careful work in QuickBooks™ simplifies that task. Open an invoice form and select a CUSTOMER:JOB. If you've entered billable items for him or her, this small window will open:

If you leave the first option checked and click OK, another window will open that lists all of the expenses you've marked as billable to the customer, arranged by type. Click in the first column of each expense you want to include and click OK. Your invoice containing those entries will open. Do any editing necessary, and then save it.

Note: You'll probably notice two fields in the Choose Billable Time and Costs window that refer to Markup. This is an advanced concept that we can explore with you, should you want to charge customers more for expenses you've incurred on their behalf.

Related Reports

QuickBooks™ contains a wide variety of reports related to your work billing customers for jobs. Click Reports in the navigation pane or Windows menu, then Jobs, Time & Mileage to see what's available. Choose a date range and click Run to see them appear with your own data.

If you've never worked with jobs in QuickBooks, we strongly recommend that you let us help you here. There are a lot of moving parts, and you don't want to miss out on any of your efforts or expenses that are billable.