QuickBooks Premier-Only Accounting Functions

The QuickBooks Premier editions include features that provide efficiency, power, and added value to your accounting tasks. These features, which are unique to the Premier editions, are the subject of this chapter.

Some of these features are only available in certain Premier editions, and I’ll note those restrictions when I discuss those features.

Journal Entries

Journal entries provide a quick and efficient way to create transactions directly into the general ledger (such as depreciation entries), and to fine tune existing account balances (for job costing, class assignments, or allocation across classes). The Premier editions offer some nifty features that add convenience and power when you're creating journal entries.

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How to Make QuickBooks Display Accounts by Number

A reader wrote to explain that he'd carefully planned the numbering system for his chart of accounts in QuickBooks, putting everything in the order in which he needed it. However, he doesn't know how to get the QuickBooks COA to display accounts according to his numbers; he wants the list to use his numerical order in every report and window.

QuickBooks sorts accounts by type first, and account number second. Therefore, you have to design your account numbers to match that order if you want to display the COA in numerical order. Here's the sort order:

• Assets
  • Bank
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Other Current Asset
  • Fixed Asset
  • Other Asset
• Liabilities
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit Card
  • Other Current Liability
  • Long-Term Liability
• Equity
• Income
• Cost Of Goods Sold
• Expense
• Other Income
• Other Expense

Just keep in mind that QuickBooks will always ignore your account numbering scheme in favor of the account type. For example, if your liability accounts begin with 10000 and your asset accounts begin with 20000, QuickBooks will sort them by type, putting asset accounts (20000) at the head of the Chart of Accounts, followed by liability accounts (10000).

How to Open QuickBooks with a Clean Desktop

Rather frequently we hear from readers who ask for help because the company file won't open. QuickBooks displays an error message about a problem with a memorized report or a corrupt transaction, and then freezes.

This occurs when a window that was open when the file was last closed contains something that has become corrupt. The most common problem is with memorized report windows; something has corrupted the report. Many users keep reports, transaction windows, or lists open when they close their company files because they use those windows constantly while working in QuickBooks.

If something goes wrong with one of those open windows, QuickBooks freezes when it tries to open the file. To avoid this, we recommend that you automatically close all open windows when you close the file. To configure QuickBooks to close all windows when you close the file go to Edit, Preferences and choose the Desktop View icon. In the My Preferences tab select the option labeled Don't Save The Desktop. Create icons for fast access to the windows you use most; it only takes a second to display them.

If you encounter this problem, press and hold the Alt key when you launch QuickBooks. Release the Alt key when you enter your password, then press the Alt key again before clicking OK on the Login dialog. Continue to hold the Alt key until the company file opens – the file opens with no windows open. Your first chore is to change the configuration options as described in the previous paragraph.

QuickBooks Fundraising Tools

QuickBooks contains tools and features that can help you raise money, especially from donors and members. These constituents are the primary sources of income for many small nonprofit organizations. In addition, you need to track all your fundraising efforts in QuickBooks transactions.

It’s possible to track individual members and donors in QuickBooks, but you need to be careful about keeping the number of entries within the size limits imposed by the QuickBooks structure (see the next section to learn about file size limits).

The more information you keep about members and donors in QuickBooks, the easier it is to create targeted fundraising campaigns. Sending a fundraising letter, or creating a fundraising event and targeting people who have a known interest in some specific angle of the fundraising topic can sub- stantially increase the amount of money you raise.

In this chapter I’ll show you how to track information about members and donors in ways that are useful for fundraising, and for tracking participation in activities. I’ll also explain the QuickBooks  configuration settings you need for tracking the income and expenses involved with fundraising.
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How to Write Off Unpaid QuickBooks Invoices

We frequently receive queries from QuickBooks users about the process involved in writing off old A/R balances. Some users want to create a credit with the date of the open invoice; other users ask whether they should use the current date. Some users ask whether they have to use the same item used on the original invoice.

For the question about dates, the rule is simple. NEVER enter a QuickBooks transaction dated in a previous tax year. Your books match your tax return so the numbers can’t be changed.

For the question about the item to use, I prefer to create a QuickBooks item named Writeoffs and link it to an Income account named Writeoffs or Prior Year Writeoffs (posting credits to this account produces a negative income total, and your accountant may prefer to make this account an Expense account). The advantage of this is that it makes it easy to track and report on your write-offs. If you’re writing off receivables that are several years old, the amount may be substantial. Since this lowers your net profit, your accountant (or the IRS) may want to know why this year’s net profit is lower than previous years. The ability to isolate the write-offs (with an Item report or a report on the Write-offs Income account) makes what you did quite clear.

After you create the credits, you have to use Receive Payments to apply the credits to the open invoices. If you don’t, the old invoices will continue to appear on QuickBooks aging reports, even though the customer now has a zero balance.

Remember that write-offs are not the same as Bad Debts. If you file taxes on a cash basis, you don’t have bad debts. Consult your accountant about the way to proceed before you decide to write off overdue amounts in QuickBooks.