Ask the Accountant… Question: Do I need account numbers in addition to account names? If so, are there particular numbers? Answer: I like using account numbers with account names for accounts in the chart of accounts (COA) because it makes it easier to distinguish one account from another more readily, as some account names are…
Harriet Gatter
A chart of accounts is a list of financial accounts set up in a company to record financial transactions. Accounts fall into six general categories. When your financial transactions are recorded into your accounting system, they are assigned or recorded into the appropriate categories...
QuickBooks Online (QBO) is one of several options from QuickBooks. It is very different from QB Premier or Enterprise, which are more robust and better suit our industry. For instance, QBO does not have customer sales orders, which are pivotal in QB Premier and Enterprise. That being said...
Ask the Accountant… Question: I need to charge my customers 7.5% in sales tax, but 6% is for the state and 1.5% is for my county. How do I handle that in QB Desktop so I can file with the state, but just show the 7.5% to my customer? Answer: Sales tax is complicated, and…
Ask the Accountant… Question: What report will tell me what orders are in progress with suppliers? Answer: Open purchase orders in QB Premier are orders that have been submitted to suppliers and are in production. Once you receive the invoice from the supplier, you adjust the purchase order to match the supplier invoice exactly, and…
Ask the Accountant… Question: How can I find out if and when I emailed an invoice to a client out of QB Premier? Answer: QuickBooks has a nice feature on its invoices called “See History.” It is a button on the top left of the invoice template just to the right of the word “Invoice.”…
Ask the Accountant… Question: I had some accounting in college. Can I enter transactions in QuickBooks as Journal Entries instead of learning the software? Answer: QuickBooks is designed to follow their designated flow so that your entries are recorded correctly. By doing this, the debits and credits are recorded automatically in the background of the…
Ask the Accountant… Question: I have been using my personal checking account and credit card for my business transactions. Are there any problems with doing that? Answer: Yes! You are creating myriad problems by using personal accounts for both personal and business use. The term for this is “commingling of funds.” The first problem is…
Ask the Accountant… Question: Can I add calculations to reports in QB Premier? Answer: Yes. QB Premier has a wide array of reports, and you can access the QuickBooks Community for contributed reports. All QB Premier reports can be expanded by way of a link to Excel. Click on Excel at the top of the…
Ask the Accountant… Question: Why is QuickBooks Premier making me log into my Intuit account when I open my QB? Answer: This is a relatively new requirement, but I suspect it’s here to stay. When you open your QB Premier file, you will now be prompted to log into your Intuit account as the admin.…
Ask the Accountant… Question: I have to produce 1099’s for some of my vendors. How do I get a record of these vendors and their costs for the year? Answer: When you set up a vendor in QB Premier, go to: Vendor > Vendor Center > New Vendor > Enter contact information. Under “Tax Settings,”…
Ask the Accountant… Question: A customer is placing a reorder. Is there an easy way to do that in QB Premier? Answer: Yes. Open the original sales order and click “Create a Copy” at the top of the screen. Make any adjustments to prices in the new sales order, then create the supplier purchase order…
Ask the Accountant… Question: The price for QB Premier has gone up a lot recently. I found a much lower price online. Is it the same thing? Should I wait and see if the prices come down? Answer: Intuit has significantly increased the prices for QB Premier 2021. The wholesale pricing has nearly doubled, and…
Ask the Accountant… Question: I have an older desktop version of QuickBooks Premier (too embarrassed to mention the version/year). So far, it seems to work fine. What are the disadvantages of staying on an older desktop QB version? I have a sense there's something I don't know but should. Answer: By using an old version…
Ask the Accountant… Question: I produce my month-end statements and then do my reconciliations whenever the statements are ready. Is that the right order? Answer: Reconciliations are an important step in keeping your data up to date. Reconciliations are a safeguard that your numbers are correct, or at least entered in your system. A reconciliation…
