QuickBooks

Job-Tracking Adds Precision to Your QuickBooks Company

Does your business have clients whose work sometimes requires multiple steps drawn out over weeks or months, like remodeling projects or court cases? If so, and you’re not using QuickBooks’ Jobs features, you’re missing out on the opportunity to track and evaluate the financial impact of these complex tasks.

You can, of course, just send an invoice out to these customers. But if you do, you’re not taking advantage of what QuickBooks’ job tools can do. If you create and track these projects faithfully, you’ll have valuable insight that you wouldn’t otherwise.

Simple definitions

Before you create jobs, you’ll need to make sure that QuickBooks is set up properly. Click on Edit | Preferences and then on the Jobs & Estimates and Company Preferences tabs. You’ll see this window:

Figure 1: It’s important to set up Jobs options before you begin.

There are just a few preferences to set here, but you need to make any necessary changes before you launch into job creation. Also, if you track time, scroll down on the list on the left to Time & Expenses. Be sure time-tracking is turned on, as this will likely be an important element of your jobs.

Before you can attach jobs to customers, you’ll have to define your Job Types. Go to Lists | Customer & Vendor Profile Lists | Job Type List. A small window opens with command bars at the bottom. Open the Job Type tab and click New. Let’s say you’re a building contractor. You might type Remodel in the Job Type Name box, then OK.

Repeat until you’ve entered all of your job types. If you want to build subtypes, click New again and enter the name of the subtype, like Kitchen. Click Subtype of and click the arrow to drop down the list. Select the parent type and click OK.

Figure 2: It’s easy to build a list of your job types and subtypes.

Outlining your jobs

Of course, you’ll be attaching jobs to customers, though each Customer:Job will exist as an individual entity. So start by opening the Customer Center. Right-click on a customer who needs a job tracked and select Add Job. The New Job window opens, which should already contain your customer’s profile. Click on the Job Info tab. In the Job Name field, enter Main Home Kitchen Remodel, and skip over the Opening Balance field.

Click the arrow to open the Job Status list and select Awarded from the options offered (None, Pending, Awarded, In Progress, Closed, Not Awarded). Select the Start Date and Projected End Date. Type a brief description in the Description field and select the correct job type. Your window will look something like this:

Figure 3: You can lay out simple details about each job on this screen.

Click OK to save this job. It’s now available for use in transactions and reports. When you’re creating an invoice or estimate for a specific job, for example, or filtering a report, you’ll need to make sure that you select the correct job, and not just the customer. Otherwise, your bookkeeping will not be accurate.

Estimates and progress invoicing

If you do many jobs that take weeks or months, you may find yourself in a bit of a cash flow crunch. Rather than billing for everything at the end, companies in this position often deal with that by creating estimates and dispatching progress invoices. You don’t even have to send estimates to customers; they’re helpful, though, for gauging your projected income and expenses.

To build a progress invoice partway through a job, create the estimate and click Create Invoice. This window will open, offering three billing options:

Figure 4: QuickBooks gives you three options when you’re creating a progress invoice.

Select the one you want and click OK. Your invoice will appear, billed according to your instructions.

In-depth reports

Insightful, detailed reports are your reward for all of this meticulous bookkeeping. QuickBooks’ job definitions may be fairly simple, but the reports they make possible give you tremendous insight into how cost-effective your projects are. You’ll learn how each job is doing in terms of things like:

Profitability
The accuracy of your estimates
Time and mileage
Unbilled costs
Job status

QuickBooks’ job-tracking tools are not overly difficult to use, but you may want our help in getting your jobs set up and preparing progress invoices. Once you get more than a few jobs in the pipeline, you’re going to want to be very confident in your ability to keep up with these procedures. But if you do, you’ll have a deeper awareness of how all of your inventory and labor and other expenses are working together to complete projects profitably.

By Leon Clinton
August 29, 2011

Using the Add/Edit Multiple List Entries Feature

Data entry and modifications in QuickBooks can be tedious. Beginning with QuickBooks 2010 Pro Edition and above, that job got a lot easier. The Add/Edit Multiple List Entries tool does just what its name implies: It lets you add entries to your lists of customers, vendors, services, inventory parts, and non-inventory parts. It also makes changing one or several of them quick and easy.

Using this feature, you can:

See customized views of your list data
Enter missing information
Create new entries from duplicates of existing ones
Do a mass change of a whole column
Copy and paste records from Excel

There are myriad applications for this tool. You could use it, for example, when you’re changing Preferred Vendors for a group of items and you don’t want to have to edit each individual item record. Or when the area code for select customers or vendors has changed. You could use it if you’re adding an inventory item that’s just slightly different from another, or when your accountant tells you to change the name of an account.

Building the perfect view

To get started, click Lists | Add/Edit Multiple List Entries. In the screen that opens, click the arrow next to the List box and select the type of data you want to see, like Customers. Then select the group that you want displayed by dropping the View list down. Click the Customize Columns button. This window opens:

Figure 1: Make sure your columns are correct and in the right order.

The list on the left represents all possible column labels. To make the list on the right reflect what you want to see in your table, highlight the correct item and use the Add or Remove buttons and the Move Up or Move Down buttons. When you’re satisfied, click OK. The table will change to display those columns in that order.

TIP: You may have a lot of empty space between columns. To close those gaps, put your cursor on the faint vertical line that separates two column names. A cross-like symbol will appear. Drag it left or right until the columns are positioned well.

Let’s say that a customer commissions a new job. Since so much information will remain the same as in previous jobs, you can duplicate her record. Highlight the last entry in her list of jobs and right-click. Select Duplicate Row. The new entry will contain her default information, except the name will change to DUP [NAME OF PREVIOUS JOB]. Change that phrase to the name of the new job and click Save Changes if you’re done.

Figure 2: It’s easy to duplicate an entry’s information.

Mass changes

You may occasionally want to make the same change to a subset of records. Say a city’s zip code changed and you want to find the customers affected. You’d open the Customers list, click on the View arrow and select Custom Filter. Then:

In the Search list, choose from All, Active, etc.
In the For box, enter the common attribute, like the zip code.
Click on the arrow next to the in box, and tell QuickBooks where you want to search (address fields, all common fields, etc.).

Figure 3: You can search for a group of entries that share a common characteristic.

Click Go. QuickBooks will display a list of all of the matching entries.
Make your change to the entry at the top of the list, then right-click on it. You’ll see this menu:

Figure 4: The Copy Down command changes all entries in a column to match the top one.

When you select Copy Down, all of the entries duplicate the first one in the list.

Some housekeeping

Anything you change in these views, as long as you click Save Changes, will be reflected throughout QuickBooks, wherever that record appears. If you’ve made an error, like using a dollar sign, you’ll get a message telling you to fix it.

You can use Add/Edit Multiple List Entries in other ways. For example, it’s a good way to see how thorough your recordkeeping is. Take a look at your lists occasionally to spot missing data. Or say you were at a trade show and signed up new customers, but you didn’t have QuickBooks on your laptop so you entered them in Excel. Once you’ve made sure that your column names and order in Excel match those displayed in Add/Edit Multiple List Entries, you can just copy and paste the new customers in.

This feature is easy to use, but be cautious. We can help with complex modifications. Add/Edit Multiple List Entries is one of the ten best features QuickBooks has incorporated in recent years. It’s an easy way to get a birds’ eye view of your lists, and a great time-saver.

By Leon Clinton
August 16, 2011

Need a Tax Preparer? Facts to Know

As a provider of one of the nation’s largest database of accountant, advisors and financial planners, I found the following very interesting article at:

http://irsattorneys.webarticles.co.za/need-a-tax-preparer-important-facts-to-know.html

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Every tax season someone will write a story about how to choose a tax preparer, the latest scams to watch out for, new tax laws, identity theft issues and on and on it goes until you hit panic mode. So much research, so much time and what if you owe money?

Each year the California Tax Education Council (CTEC) receives phone calls from taxpayers desperately looking for information about their tax preparer they should have learned day one. A surprising number of callers do not even know the tax preparer’s name.

Why do so many of us go into tax season with such immense trepidation until it comes to hiring a professional tax preparer?

Before you Google, flip through the yellow pages or walk into the nearest tax preparation office, know this: If you live in California or Oregon, make sure your tax preparer is legal.

In California, paid tax preparers who are not an attorney, certified public accountant (CPA) or enrolled agent (EA), are required by law to register with CTEC. All CTEC Registered Tax Preparers (CRTPs) must complete tax education courses each year and keep a current bond before they can prepare tax returns for a fee.

If you live in Oregon, all paid tax preparers must be licensed through the Oregon State Board of Tax Practitioners.

Maryland recently passed legislation in 2008 to also require that its paid tax preparers complete education requirements and pass an exam before they can prepare tax returns.

As for the rest of you, choose your tax preparer cautiously. There is no oversight for tax preparers in other states who are not an attorney, CPA or EA. In other words, the training, education and ethical standards these tax preparers go by are set at their own discretion.

Hiring the wrong tax preparer could result in penalties, missed deductions and no protection against mistakes or fraud.

Below are the top ten questions to ask a tax preparer (They should answer “yes” to all ten questions):

1. Will you sign my tax return?

2. Do you have a written privacy policy? Can I get a copy of it?

3. Do you have proof of a tax preparer bond (Required for all CRTPs) and/or errors and omissions insurance (Optional for all tax preparers)? If not, what protections will you offer me and can I get it in writing?

4. If a situation should arise with the IRS, will you stand by your work?

5. Do you take continuing education courses on tax laws? Can you provide proof?

6. Can you provide me with a list of references I can contact about your work?

7. Will you be available after April 15th?

8. Have you ever prepared a tax return dealing with my situation?

9. Will you provide me with a copy of my completed tax return?

10. Will you go over the finished tax return with me?

CTEC was established in 1997 by the California State Legislature to protect the public by registering tax preparers within the state. For more information visit www.ctec.org or call (877) 850-CTEC.

CTEC is a nonprofit organization that is mandated by the State of California. CTEC’s mission is to protect the public by ensuring paid tax preparers (excluding attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents) are registered, educated and bonded.