Question: Can you clarify “Customers,” “Vendors,” “Employees” and “Other Names?” Too often I use “Other Names.” Is that right?
Answer: No. It is best to set these up correctly from the beginning. Fixing later is difficult.
In this section, QuickBooks allows a name to be used only one time. If you put everyone in “Other Names,” these names are then not available for use as a Customer or Vendor ever again. (And, if you integrate QuickBooks with SAGE Online, your entries will be declined.)
“Other Names” is for people or businesses that are not Customers, Vendors or Employees, such as owners or partners.
And as a rule of thumb in accounting, the word “other” should be used only with a well-defined note of explanation.
Please email your questions to Harriet at Ask The Accountant.
QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise can be modified to better serve ad specialty distributors. Harriet Gatter is a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, a former accounting professor and a former ad specialty distributor. She advises ad specialty distributors to use QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise, often in conjunction with other industry-specific software, to manage the complexities of the ad specialty business, with the results being time saved, errors eliminated and an overall accurate accounting of your business. Contact her at [email protected].
