Posts in the Financial Accounting category:

Financial Accounting

How To Track Personal Charitable Contributions In Our Business QuickBooks File To Make Taxes Easier

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

Method to track tax related deductions for charitable contributions, in one QuickBooks file, to make year end tax filing much easier.
It is generally good advice to keep personal transactions completely separate from business transactions, keeping two separate set up books, and having two separate checking accounts.
There are benefits, however, to tracking some personal items using our business account. Once benefit is that it keeps the items we need to track for taxes in one location and tax preparation and compliance if often one of the main goals for small businesses. The business QuickBooks account is often much more organized then the personal records because special focus has been spent on tracking the accounts and on using the bank account for guidance.
If we can use the same QuickBooks account for tax related items we must track it can simplify our lives. We do run the risk, however, of combining business and personal records in a confusing way so we do need to be very careful.
For more accounting and QuickBooks Information see accounting website.

 

Financial Accounting

Payroll Item Setup Health Insurance Employer Paid In QuickBooks

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

Set up payroll item for health insurance that is employer paid.
payroll items are the driving components to how QuickBooks navigates the system. The payroll items will help QuickBooks process payroll and select the correct accounts to be effected.
We have set up payroll items related to dental insurance and vision insurance in the past. We set these items up to be paid by the employee.
In contrast we will set up this health insurance item to be paid by the employer so that we can then run payroll and examine the differences.
For more accounting and QuickBooks information see accounting instruction website.

 

Financial Accounting

Payroll Item Setup Dental Insurance Employee Paid After Tax in QuickBooks

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

Payroll Items are items QuickBooks uses to help run the payroll process and direct the journal entries and accounts that will be effected by processing payroll.
We will add payroll items related to dental insurance. When adding dental insurance payroll item to QuickBooks we will have multiple options. The insurance can be employer paid, employee paid, and if employee paid can be before tax or after tax. We will add dental insurance that is employee paid after taxes in this example and compare it to other insurance options in future videos.
For more accounting and payroll information see accounting website.

 

Financial Accounting

Add 401(K) Payroll Item In QuickBooks

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

Payroll Items are items QuickBooks uses to help run the payroll process and direct the journal entries and accounts that will be effected by processing payroll.
We will add a payroll item related to a 401K plan, a type of retirement plan. Adding the 401K plan payroll item will result in two payroll items, one for the employee portion and one for employer matching.
Once the 401K payroll item is setup we can add the 401K option to employees and process payroll with the 401K.
For more accounting and QuickBooks information see accounting website.
accountinginstruction.info/

 

Financial Accounting

What Month End Documents Should A QuickBooks Bookkeeper Provide To Client

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

List, description, and formatting of month end documentation for a small bookkeeping business. We will list out forms and documents a bookkeeper can provide to a client at the end of each month.
The forms a bookkeeper provides are the end product and service provided and it is best to format them in as presentable a way as possible.
When working with small clients and even large clients the main concert of the bookkeeping client is often year end. The monthly Quickbooks documents help to provide assurance that the QuickBooks bookkeeping client is in good hands.
The bookkeeper will need to generate standard financial statement type documents including the balance sheet and profit and loss, or income statement.
The bookkeeper may also generate accounts receivable detail reports from QuickBooks, as well as deposit and check detail. QuickBooks also has the capability of generating some graphs and charts that can look nice in the monthly documentation. If the bookkeeper in running payroll or working with a payroll company payroll reports and helpful as well.
Once the reports are generated from Quickbooks, the bookkeeper needs to decide how to deliver them. The bookkeeper can mail the reports or provide them in some kind of digital format. The bookkeeper can e-mail the reports with PDF file attachments.
When e-mailing it is nice to zip the file for easier client use. QuicKbooks also allows the bookkeeper to export reports to Excel and we can use the Excel report to generate one PDF file with multiple reports which can help with the presentation of the financial information.
For more accounting and QuickBooks instruction see accounting website.

 

Financial Accounting

How To Enter Financed equipment to QuickBooks When Using a Cash Basis

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

Options for entering equipment that was financed into QuickBooks. When entering equipment into QuickBooks we need to record the purchase as an asset rather then an expense. To do this we will create an account in the chart of accounts with the account type of fixed assets.
When large equipment is purchased we often have another problem for the data entry into Quickbooks. The equipment may by partially financed. In other words, we may have purchase the equipment with a loan.
When entering transaction into Quickbooks on a cash basis, from the bank statement, we will only see the portion of the equipment purchased with cash.
We have some options for recording the equipment on the books under a cash basis.
The first option, the easy option, is to just enter the equipment at the value we payed and depend on year end adjustments to record the difference. When using this option we can enter the cash payment in the check register and record the other account to a fixed asset called equipment.
Our next option is to get the loan agreement and record the equipment and the loan. We can still enter the transaction into the check register if we paid some cash, but if no cash was paid we may need to enter the transaction into QuickBooks using a journal entry.
We can enter the transaction into QuickBoosk check register by using the split function and charging the equipment account for the full purchase price and charging a loan payable for the difference between the purchase price and amount paid.
For more accounting information see accounting website.

 

Financial Accounting

5 Most Common QuickBooks Bookkeeping System Problems

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

We setting up a new QuickBooks bookkeeping system for a new company file we need to outline how the process will work, how we will enter data into the system, how we will sort data, and how we will give the data to clients. When designing a bookkeeping system there are many problem areas we can anticipate and think about how we will deal with them. Inventory is one area that we need a plan for. Does the company have inventory? Do we want to track inventory in QuickBooks? Credit card payments and tracking outstanding balances is another area we need to consider. How will we enter credit card payments into the system. Payroll is an area of concern and one we need to plan for in our bookkeeping system. For more accounting and bookkeeping information see accounting website. http://accountinginstruction.info/

 

Financial Accounting

Easy Way To Record Insurance QuickBooks

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

Easiest way to record insurance payments in QuickBooks. Insurance is an account that usually requires an adjusting entry at the end of the time period. In other word, even if we record insurance perfectly we will usually need an adjustment at the end of the period to make it correct on an accrual basis for financial reporting in an accrual system. When recording insurance for a small business we may have different needs for our bookkeeping records. We may need financial statement preparation or our primary need may be year end tax preparation.
We are usually taught to record interest as prepaid asset called insurance expense and then adjust the expense portion at year end. When entering transactions into QuickBooks, however, and when considering tax preparation, it may be easier to enter the insurance as an expense and let our accountant or tax preparer adjust the portion that is prepaid if needed. One reason for this method is that the tax return may be on a cash method with record to insurance payments. Another reason for this method is that it will show insurance on the income statement, making it less likely for a tax preparer to miss.
For more accounting information see accounting website.

 

Financial Accounting

Who Should QuickBooks Bookkeepers Network With

Written by Bob Steele CPA - Accounting Instruction, Help & How To on . Leave a comment

Networking opportunities for QuickBooks bookkeepers.
Once we have decided our specialization in QuickBooks bookkeeping we can decide how we want to interact with other accounting professionals.
Our focus here will be on specializing as a bookkeeper and not moving into taxation, financial statement preparation, and payroll.
By not focusing on areas outside of QuickBooks bookkeeping we can often build strong relationships with other professionals.
One reason we can build other relationships with other accounting professionals is because they do not have to worry about us competing with them. I’m not saying we should not consider going into other areas. This is just one strategy for a QuickBooks bookkeeper .
Other accounting professionals are more likely to recommend our services and may even provide referral for recommending clients to them. If we do get commissions, however, we want to be very open with clients about them.
For more accounting and QuickBooks information.