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A free QuickBooks Tips and Tricks email update filled with time saving suggestions for using QuickBooks more effectively. With each issue you’ll get a manageable amount of information that you can quickly scan then use right away, like these topics from recent issues:
• Ask the Expert – Cash Disbursement Journal
• Ask the Expert – Unable to Import Accountant’s Changes
• Featured Add-On: XpandedReports
• Ask the Expert- Employee Advances
• Enhanced Payroll Plus for Accountants
• Ask the Expert- Lost and Incorrect Passwords
• Transferring Memorized Report Templates
• Ask the Expert – W-2 Printing
• Ask the Expert – Light Manufacturing Inventory
“I subscribed to your newsletter to be more informed when dealing with my bookkeeper & CPA and have found your newsletter very helpful. I am not easily impressed and am very selective with the companies I work with. . .” Duane Saucier, www.sauciersales.com
Why am I making such a generous offer? Because if you don’t have this information, you are missing something that will make working with client QuickBooks files faster and easier. Why waste time researching these things on your own when we have done it for you? Things like:
• “I know the information I want is in QuickBooks. How can I generate the reports I need without all the headaches?”
• “I get dizzy trying to correct my client’s payroll errors. Is there an easier way to do this?”
• “I’m pressed for time. Is there a faster way to answer client questions about add-ons?”
You get the idea. We give you help with those things that are most frustrating and time consuming for you. Because that’s where you have the most to gain or lose.
And it is a very special kind of help. Help that “tells it like it is”. Help that goes deep enough to uncover the solutions to the kind of problems that keep you awake at night.
Sample Content:
How do I print a cash disbursement journal of only checks written for a certain period of time along with a grand total (no other entries of deposits, journal entries, etc.)?
This is not a “standard” report in QuickBooks but you can create one by following the steps below.
1. Choose Reports > Custom Transaction Detail Report.
2. The Modify Report dialog box should come up automatically. If not, click on the Modify Report button at the top of the report.
3. On the Display tab, change the date range to the appropriate period and the sort by to Num.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the columns list. For version 2002 and before add a check mark next to credit, and remove the check marks next to account, class, amount and balance. For version 2003, remove account, class, debit, and balance.
5. On the Filters tab, choose the appropriate bank account. You will notice the date range as the same as number 3 above.
6. Next, click on the transaction type, and from the pull down list, choose selected transaction types. This creates a pop out box of all the transaction types. Place a check mark next to the cash disbursement types (i.e. check, bill payment, sales tax payment, paycheck, payroll liability check.).
7. Choose the Header/Footer Tab and change the report title.
8. Click on OK.
9. Memorize the report for future use.
If you are using QuickBooks version 2002 or 2003, it is also possible to export this report template so you can import it into other client files. Choose Reports > Memorized Reports > Memorized Report List > Single Click on the report (so it is highlighted) > Reports (at the bottom of the list) > Export Template. You will designate a name and folder for the template to be saved. In other QuickBooks files you will go through the same choices, except choose to Import Template.
An employee has approached me for an advance and I am unsure how to properly enter the information into QuickBooks. Can you help?
The proper recording of an employee advance is critical for two reasons: accurate payroll records and related payroll taxes; and an effective method for tracking amounts owed to the business.
The best method for recording the employee advance will depend on several factors:
• Is the advance being given at the same time as a paycheck or between pay cycles?
• Will the employee be writing a check back to the company to repay the loan or will it be withheld from the paycheck.
• If it will be withheld from the paycheck, will the amount be paid back all at once, or over time?
Alternative 1: The advance and subsequent repayment will be handled through the payroll feature in QuickBooks.
This is the approach recommended by Intuit.
This is to create an Employee Loan (coded to an other current asset type “Employee Loans” account) addition on the payroll item list and then use this addition on the employee paycheck. The amount is then withheld from a subsequent paycheck using an Employee Loan Repayment (coded to that same other current asset type account) deduction on the payroll item list and then use this deduction on the employee paycheck until the amount is withheld in total.
Trick: To make this process more automated, the Employee Loan Repayment item can be added to the Payroll Info tab for the employee with a limit based on the loan amount. This eliminates the potential error of forgetting to withhold the loan amount and/or an amount in excess of the loan.
Tip: An advantage of this approach is that the loan and the repayment both appear on the paycheck stub so it is very easy to see that the amount advanced has been repaid.
Alternative 2: The advance and subsequent repayment are at times that do not coincide with the payroll cycle.
The easiest way to handle this scenario is to issue a check that will be coded to another current asset type account (for example, Employee Advance). Then when the employee issues a check to the business for the repayment, the deposit is coded to that same other current asset type account for a net balance of zero.
Alternative 3: The advance does not coincide with the payroll cycle, but the repayment will be withheld from the employee paycheck.