Thursday, October 31, 2013

New features in QB 2014

This article from QuickBooksUsers.com has some links to reviews of some of the new features in the QB 2014 programs.

Surveying the Reviews of QuickBooks 2014

 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Installing QB on Multiple Computers

Q:
Subject: Quickbook 2012
Hello there,

I found your blog and was reading this page:

Specifically: 
“In regard to the QB installation issue, I have never had any problems installing a copy of the program on multiple computers with one user license.”

and am wondering if this is still the case with QB 2012?

Was just about to install it over my existing QB 2009 install and wanted to be sure I could install it on my 4 workstations without a problem.

Thanks for any guidance,

A:
I haven't had any problems installing any QB programs on several computers, including all the way up the most current 2013 programs.

I just got a new computer a few months ago and have installed all of the QB programs from 2007 up to the 2013 on it with no problems, even though these programs are also installed on four other computers with the same licenses.  When I registered each one, I used the same phone number and zip-code for all of them, with no problems.

I hope this eases any concerns you may have.

Kerry Kerstetter



Payments between accounts

Q:

Hi Kerry,


I just had a question about how to handle transfers between separate bank accounts for separate QuickBooks files (same client).

I was sure if I should make the deposit into an Equity account or Other Income.

The money from the first account ("A") is the Business account. The client writes checks from A account to the Family Trust Account ("B").

The deposit into B account is not income because it was already income in the A account. 

Just no sure how to categorize the deposit from A to B...

Please let me know if you can help.

Thanks!

 

A:

How to properly handle these kinds of transfers in QB depends on the ownership of the accounts.  Each QB company file should coincide to a tax return.

If both bank accounts are owned by the same tax entity, they should both be in the same QB company file.  You can then use the "Transfer Funds" function to move money between accounts.

You mentioned the second account as being a family trust.  What kind of trust is this; revocable (aka Living) or irrevocable?

If it is a living trust, that is considered for tax purposes to be a disregarded entity (no separate tax return required) and the account should be in the same 1040 QB company file as all of the other personally owned accounts.

If the trust is irrevocable and a 1041 is filed for it each year, it should have its own QB company file that will match up to the trust's 1041s.

If the trust is a separate tax paying entity and has its own QB company file, it should have balance sheet accounts to handle payments between it and the trust's owners.  If there are to be repayments back to the owners, a Liability account would be appropriate.  For money that won't be repaid, an Equity account for the owner's investment in the trust would be appropriate.  Entries into either of these accounts would have no effect on the trust's income.

To mirror the payments to the trust, there should be Asset accounts set up in the 1040 company file; one for Loans To Trust and another for Investments in Trust.  At any point in time, the balances in the 1040 accounts should match their corresponding accounts in the 1041 company file.

Good luck.  I hope this helps.  As always, it would be best if the tax preparer for the 1040 and 1041 is involved in helping to set up and synchronize the QB company files with the tax returns.


Kerry Kerstetter

 

Follow-Up:

Great, thank you so much! I have been struggling with this and recommending for a year now to combine the accounts. I do not file their taxes, so I do not know if there is a separate return for each account. I will find out and take appropriate steps!


Thanks again!

 

 

Sunday, May 19, 2013

QuickBooks Video Training

I have always stressed how important good bookkeeping is for making financial decisions, as well as for preparing the most accurate tax returns.  Several years ago, I made a video showing people how to best use the Quicken programs for bookkeeping and tax return preparation purposes. 

 I have long  wanted to do a similar one for QuickBooks.  While I have made some short instructional videos and guides for certain QB tasks, the program has far too many features for me to be able to cover everything it can do.  Also, since I don't use a lot of the features in QB, such as invoicing, inventory and payroll, I don't feel as qualified to do as good a job on these specific topics as someone who does use them on a daily basis.

I had been unable to recommend a good training video to clients and other readers who wanted to learn how to work with QB.  Every time  I saw an ad for a hands-on live class or seminar on QB, they were always using a two or three year old version of the program instead of the most current one.

That's why I was glad to learn about a new instructional video series focusing on the QuickBooks 2013 program from a company that has a ton of excellent instructional videos.  This one is broken up into 115 separate videos totaling nine and a half hours. making it easy to just focus on those aspects of QB that you need to use but are unfamiliar with.  At only $99.95, it's a lot less expensive than most live seminars and much less costly than my time would be to explain these topics one on one.

It's available on DVD or as a download.  They also have 17 free videos from the course that you can check out to see if it will work for you.

   Beginners QuickBooks 2013 Training Videos  

Sunday, January 13, 2013

QB Videos

Intuit has posted a series of videos on YouTube showing the new features in the 2013 QB programs.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3