Question: I am new to the business and to QuickBooks. Do I have to enter all of the data each time with each order? Answer: QuickBooks runs on lists. The major lists are Customer, Vendor and Item lists. There are a few others, too. True to all QB lists, once you create a list entry,…
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Question: Should I put the real shipping or in-hands dates on the orders I send to suppliers? Answer: I always built in a cushion of a few days to prevent 11th hour heroics and to be prepared for client ignorance, like neglecting to tell me the event is at 8 a.m. or that they need…
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Question: How do I know how many QuickBooks Users I need to start? Answer: My advice is less. I prefer to err on the side of saving money and minimizing the number of users until knowing exactly how many users are needed. And it’s wise to have as few people as possible inside your accounting…
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Question: I have been working for a Distributor for a few years, but am thinking of leaving them and starting out on my own. What steps should I take? Answer: Starting a business from scratch has many variables to be addressed, here are four from the accountant’s perspective. 1. Be sure you are free of…
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Question: I am planning to grow my business. Should I just start out in QuickBooks Enterprise? Answer: “Big” is a relative concept. I have several ad specialty distributor clients who generate $3 million in annual sales, and QB Premier serves them perfectly well. QB Enterprise does have more features than Premier, but many are not…
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Question: Can I enter credit card charges as journal entries in QuickBooks Premier? Answer: QuickBooks strongly discourages making journal entries, except in a few rare instances. You should not enter credit card charges as journal entries. QuickBooks has an icon on the homepage just for that. It’s in the lower righthand corner of the homepage…
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Question: I have customers that pay me by credit card, but the credit card company takes out fees. I am receiving less than the total amount on the invoice. How do I handle that in QuickBooks Premier? Answer: I am seeing this situation more often, where the credit card company takes out the fees and…
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Question: I send my bank and credit card statements to my accountant at year end to do my taxes. What benefits are there to using something like QuickBooks instead? Answer: There are lots of reasons. First, in QuickBooks, you are able to write and submit orders to customers and suppliers. From there, you can track…
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Question: I am creating an item in QuickBooks Premier, and it makes me select it as “Tax” or “Non for Sales Taxes.” Sometimes it is taxable and sometimes not, depending on the customer. What do I do? Answer: If an item is ever subject to sales tax in your state, create it as a tax item.…
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Question: Can I just switch from cash to accrual basis in my company? There is a button to do that in QuickBooks. Answer: Generally, you cannot switch your basis from cash to accrual or accrual to cash without a significant and legitimate business reason, and a government sanction, too. That being said, QuickBooks does have…
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