Month: April 2016

Quickbooks

Why You Should Use QuickBooks’ Snapshots

What do you do when you need to get information in QuickBooks about customers or about payments they’ve made in QuickBooks? Fortunately, you have several options.

You could, for example:

  • Create a report
  • Go to their Customer pages
  • Click on Receive Payments on the Home Page and use the Findarrows (not very elegant or fast, but would be an easy way to find recent payments).

One of QuickBooks’ strengths is its flexibility. It helps you find the exact information you’re looking for in a variety of ways. Which one you choose at any given time depends on what screen you’re working on at the moment and precisely what slice of data you need.

A Home Base

The desktop version of QuickBooks doesn’t have a “dashboard,” like web-based financial applications do. Dashboards are like home pages on steroids. Rather than just providing navigational tools and menus,Snapshots display charts and grids and lists representing the data that you’d most likely want to see when you first log on, such as account balances, summaries of income and expenses, and high-priority tasks, with links to related activity screens. You can usually customize these.

QuickBooks’ Reminders tell you what needs to be done either today or very soon. But they don’t reveal anything about your financial status.Snapshots do. There are three versions: Company, Payments, andCustomer.


Figure 1: The QuickBooks Customer Snapshot sums up each customer’s activity and history in a one-page view.

Many Sections

Let’s look at the Customer Snapshot to see how these work. To find it, click on Snapshots in the left vertical navigation pane. When the window opens, make sure that the Customer tab is active; if not, click on it. Click on the arrow next to the CUSTOMER field in the center of the very top to select a customer.

You’ll see three columns of information here. The left pane displays some commonly sought numbers (like Total Sales) and some numbers that you might have trouble finding any other way (Average days to pay, etc.). In the middle, you’ll see Recent Invoices and Recent Payments. And the right section (not shown in the screen shot) includes two customizable graphs, Sales History and Best Selling Items.

This is the default layout, the information boxes you’ll see when you first open the Company Snapshot. To remove any of them, click on the X in the upper right corner. You can restore them at any time by clicking the arrow next to Add Content in the upper left and then clicking the +Addbutton next to the one you want.

You can also move the blocks into different positions on the page. Grab one by clicking on its header and holding it, dragging it to the preferred position, and releasing it.

Personalized Pages


Figure 2: You can add, delete, and move blocks of data around in theCustomer Snapshot.

Users who have been assigned access to the data that each Snapshotcontains can customize their own views by adding or deleting sections and rearranging them. So each employee can have his or her own unique-looking Snapshots, though the real-time data in all of them will be the same.

Note: If you’ve given employees besides yourself access to QuickBooks, it’s important that you assign permission levels to them. You probably don’t want everyone to be able to see and modify everything in your file. Call if you need help setting these up.

Other Snapshots

The other two Snapshots are more complex, containing more data options. They can, however, be customized in the same ways that you personalized the Customer screen. The Payments Snapshot can give you a quick update on things like Recent Transactions and A/R by Aging Period.

The Company Snapshot lets you display up to 12 lists and charts, including:

  • Account Balances,
  • Customers Who Owe Money,
  • Expense Breakdown, and,
  • Vendors to Pay.

This would be a good page to use as your dashboard (home page), especially since it can also show you your Reminders. With theCompany Snapshot open, go to Edit | Preferences | Desktop View | My Preferences and click on the button in front of Save current desktop. Remove the checkmark in front of Show Home page when opening company file if one is there.

QuickBooks’ Snapshots can get you up to speed quickly on critical elements of your accounting file, but there are other reports that you should run regularly, including complex standard financials reports that require expert analysis. Don’t hesitate to call if you need help interpreting these reports that in turn, help you to make smarter, more informed business decisions.

Tax

Tax Tips for the Self-Employed

If you are a self-employed, you normally carry on a trade or business. Sole proprietors and independent contractors are two types of self-employment. If this applies to you, there are a few basic things you should know about how your income affects your federal tax return. If you’re self-employed, here are six important tax tips you should know about:

  • Self-Employment Income. Self-employment can include income you received for part-time work. This is in addition to income from your regular job.
  • Schedule C or C-EZ. You must file a Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, or Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit from Business, with your Form 1040. You may use Schedule C-EZ if you had expenses less than $5,000 and meet certain other conditions. Please call if you are not sure whether you can use this form.
  • Self-Employment Tax. If you made a profit, you may have to pay self-employment tax as well as income tax. Self-employment tax includes Social Security and Medicare taxes. Use Schedule SE,Self-Employment Tax, to figure the tax. If you owe this tax, attach the schedule to your federal tax return.
  • Estimated Tax. You may need to make estimated tax payments. These payments are typically made on income that is not subject to withholding. You usually pay estimated taxes in four annual installments. If you do not pay enough tax throughout the year, you may owe a penalty. See, Estimated Tax Payments – Q & A, above, for more information about estimated tax payments.
  • Allowable Deductions. You can deduct expenses that you paid to run your business that are both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your industry. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and proper for your trade or business.
  • When to Deduct. In most cases, you can deduct expenses in the same year you paid, or incurred them. However, you must ‘capitalize’ some costs. This means you can deduct part of the cost over a number of years.

Questions about self-employment taxes? Help is just a phone call away.

Tax

Cut your Tax Bill with Home Energy Credits

Did you know that it’s possible to trim your tax bill and save on your energy bills with certain home improvements? Here are some key facts you should know about home energy tax credits:

Non-Business Energy Property Credit

  • Part of this credit is worth 10 percent of the cost of certain qualified energy-saving items you added to your main home last year. This may include items such as insulation, windows, doors and roofs.
  • The other part of the credit is not a percentage of the cost. It is for the actual cost of certain property. This may include items like water heaters and heating and air conditioning systems. The credit amount for each type of property has a different dollar limit.
  • This credit has a maximum lifetime limit of $500. You may only use $200 of this limit for windows.
  • Your main home must be located in the U.S. to qualify for the credit.
  • Be sure you have the written certification from the manufacturer that their product qualifies for this tax credit. It is usually posted on the manufacturer’s website or included with the product’s packaging. You can use this information to claim the credit, but do not attach it to your return. Keep it with your tax records.
  • You may claim the credit on your 2015 tax return as long as you haven’t exceeded the lifetime limit in past years. Under current law, this credit is available through Dec. 31, 2016.

Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit

  • This tax credit is 30 percent of the cost of alternative energy equipment installed on or in your home.
  • Qualified equipment includes solar hot water heaters, solar electric equipment, wind turbines and fuel cell property.
  • There is no dollar limit on the credit for most types of property. If your credit is more than the tax you owe, you can carry forward the unused portion of this credit to next year’s tax return.
  • The home must be in the U.S. It does not have to be your main home unless the alternative energy equipment is qualified fuel cell property.
  • This credit is available through 2016.

To claim these credits use Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits. If you would like more information on this topic, don’t hesitate to contact the office.

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