QuickBooks - How To Reconcile Accounts on a Daily Basis

Have you ever wanted to reconcile a bank account in QuickBooks on a daily basis? It's very easy to do, if you have the correct information. You will need a report from the financial institution showing three things:

1. The opening balance of the account on that day
2. All banking activity for the day
3. The closing balance for the day

With these three pieces of information, you can reconcile any account in QB on a daily basis.

Most banks and credit card companies offer online services. If you need to reconcile an account on a daily basis, see if you can go online and print a report showing the above information. If so, then you are all set to do daily reconciliations.

We're all familiar with monthly statements. They have the same information as what I show above: an opening balance as of the first day of the month; all activity for the month; and a closing balance as of the last day of the month. Knowing this, it is possible to do bank recs for other time periods: weekly, bi-weekly, or any other time period. It doesn't even have to be a regular time period. You can reconcile for a week, then for a day, then for three days, then for three weeks. As long as each report/statement from the bank shows the above information, recs can be done on whatever time basis suits you.

Not that I recommend irregular recs, because I don't. I only point them out to show that it's not the time period that is most important, it's the three pieces of information I show above that are important. Irregular recs could be problematic for other reasons, so my suggestion is that, as a rule, everybody does their recs on a regular basis.

About the Author: Jennifer A. Thieme is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who loves to help people with QuickBooks. She brings unique insight, clear instructions, and over ten years of experience to all of her QuickBooks articles. Owner of Solid Rock Accounting Services, Jennifer's clients enjoy these same benefits on a personal and regular basis. You can too - visit http://www.jenniferthieme.com and contact Jennifer today.

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QuickBooks - Bills and Invoices - What's the Difference?

QuickBooks has done a great job making double-entry accounting accessible to many people. But sometimes people still get confused over the terminology. One area of confusion is the difference between Invoices and Bills in QuickBooks. In our day-to-day interactions we may use these terms interchangably, but in QuickBooks they mean entirely different things.

Invoices in QuickBooks

"Invoices" are accessed by following this path:

Customers > Create Invoices

"Invoices" are sent to customers. They record revenue (sales) on the books, and they record that customers owe the amount of money that appears on the invoice.

There is a payment screen associated with invoices, where customer payments are recorded. Recording payments in this screen shows that the customer owes less money, and also records that more cash has been aquired. The payment screen for customer invoices is called "Receive Payments," and is accessed by following this path:

Customers > Receive Payments

First, invoices are generated using the Create Invoices screen. Then, as payments are received from customers, the payments are applied against the invoices by using the Receive Payments screen.

Bills in QuickBooks

"Bills" are accessed by following this path:

Vendors > Enter Bills

"Bills" are received from vendors. They record expenses (or costs or inventory), and they record that the business owes the vendor the amount of money that appears on the bill.

There is a payment screen associated with the bills, where payments made to vendors are recorded. Recording payments in this screen shows that the business owes the vendor less money, and also records that there is less cash by paying the vendor. Or, if the vendor bill was paid with a credit card, this screen shows that there is more credit card debt on the books. The payment screen for vendor bills is called "Pay Bills," and is accessed by following this path:

Vendors > Pay Bills

When vendor bills are received, they are entered using the Enter Bills screen. Then, as they become due, they are paid using the Pay Bills screen.

Home Page Confusion for Bills and Invoices

Starting with QuickBooks 2006, Intuit added a Home Page. Access it by following this path:

Company > Home Page

In the Home Page, QuickBooks graphically shows how money should flow through the business.

One point of confusion on the Home Page is where the arrow goes from Enter Bills, down to Invoices. Although the arrow is a lighter color than other arrows, if people are not aware of the difference between bills and invoices, it may seem that invoices must be created after entering bills. However, for most users this is not the case.

When to Create a Customer Invoice After Entering a Vendor Bill

Users only need to create a customer invoice after entering a vendor bill in one specific instance: when there were expenses on the vendor bill that need to be invoiced to a specific customer. For example, if there are reimbursable expenses (direct pass-through with no markup), or other expenses requiring a markup, these can be marked Billable in the Enter Bills screen, and put onto a specific customer's invoice.

Final Thoughts

Once QuickBooks users understand the difference between Bills and Invoices, and how they can be used in tandem, many problems can be avoided.

About the Author: Jennifer A. Thieme is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who loves to help people with QuickBooks. She brings unique insight, clear instructions, and over ten years of experience to all of her QuickBooks articles. Owner of Solid Rock Accounting Services, Jennifer's clients enjoy these same benefits on a personal and regular basis. You can too - visit http://www.jenniferthieme.com and contact Jennifer today.

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Lift up the Position of Your Business With Small Business Bookkeeping

Like a small kid requires extra care and papering so as a small business. If you are a small business owner then you are the one who will have to struggle the most in making a better market position. Big companies enter in to the market with plenty of resources but small businesses have to make their own way. They need to manage every aspect of their business with these available resources only.

This is what defines the perfect tactic of doing business i.e. more profit with fewer resources. Business owners that start business with low budget need to be very careful about all expenses. Expenditures that go out of budget are assumed as loss and no one would like to bear a loss. To keep a record of each expense and earning, every business, whether it is small or big, operates a particular section, which is the bookkeeping section. Requirement of a small business bookkeeping and strategies to fulfill these requirements are very different from large-scale business as resources are the biggest constraint.

The biggest question that comes in everyone’s mind is why a business needs bookkeeping? The reason behind it is very simple but the task is not. Businesses need bookkeeping because it is the biggest requirement to track the proceedings of organization and to keep a record of the cash flow. The term bookkeeping sounds very easy but it includes the most gigantic terminology and procedures than any other section. Small businesses bookkeeping is more tedious task than others as it includes extra calculations and policy making features that are essential for growth of organization. Small business bookkeeping not only carries the responsibility of accuracy but also of organizational growth. At the time of planning for new financial year these records made by bookkeeping section plays a vital role as they help in assessing profit and loss for the year. By theses small business bookkeeping records a small business owner can easily evaluate the efforts and resources that are needed to put in the strategy for growth.

As small business bookkeeping includes various sections, many accounting and secretarial professionals are required to perform the bookkeeping task. Due to limited resources an owner of small business can not afford to hire those professionals who charge a large amount of money for their services. As there cost to company is very high, hiring them may go out of budget and that will be considered as loss therefore company will have to find any other option. Another option is hiring services of a small business bookkeeping firm that will help the business in keeping record of every transaction. Business owners can search on internet to get detailed information about such service providers as internet is the best source to know about such service providers.

All that he needs to do is to search for the best and cost effective service provider so that the charges of hired bookkeeping firm may mot affects the balance sheet. No doubt that getting the best small business bookkeeping option will speed up the growth of your business and will assist in the escalation of your business.

Alvis Brazma gives advice to business owners about how to manage their business efficiently without any hassles. To know more about Accounting outsourcing services, Small business bookkeeping, Retail accounting, accounting outsourcing services visit this leading internet source: http://www.impacctusa.com

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Keep On Growing With Systematic Small Business Accounting

Money market is at boom these days and according to market experts it is the best time to step in to a new business. People who are willing to be a part of this huge money market by establishing their business are moving ahead as there are brighter future prospects. Starting with a small business is a sensible decision as risk factor is less effective here. The crucial factor that plays vital role in rapid growth of business is its accounting section. Well organized small business accounting tasks can do wonders for business thus it is must to maintain the accuracy and perfection in accounting tasks.

For small businesses, accounting section is the back bone of their organizational structure. A small business owner need to take care of every financial aspect means every transaction should be monitored and recorded properly so that it may not create any problem in future. Requirements of small business accounting are entirely different from corporate accounting as their proceedings are distinct. No matter how other sections are working but accounting records should be well organized. If you are a small business owner then you must understand the value of accuracy and proper monitoring. A missing entry or record can create big problem at the time of evaluation of overall financial activities for the year or month. Therefore, for a perfect evaluation of growth and profit or loss small business accounting should be perfect.

Small businesses need to understand its strategic strengths and weaknesses so that the future planning may eradicate negative aspects. Small businesses run with limited capital resources and can not go out of their proposed budget, in such situation it becomes necessary to make maximum use of these limited resources to earn unlimited revenues. For ideal organization and execution of accounting activities every company needs to hire well qualified and efficient professionals. It may become a bit difficult in case of small organizations as small business accounting sections can not hire professionals who demand a high salary. The only solution to manage accounting and financial statements perfectly is to hire accounting professionals from outside as it is cost effective and reliable in comparison to employing accounting processionals in organization. Such small business accounting service providers offer whatever your business needs to flourish. With their services you will never have to worry about managing accounting and financial records as they keep everything updated. At the time of tax filing you can also find great ways to get maximum exemption in tax and can save a lot of money which can be further used in betterment of organization.

Small business accounting is a very tough but essential task as it decides the future of any business. Whether you decide to recruit professional or outsource your accounting task, the bottom line is achieving the target i.e. profit. Though a new business may take some time to get a hold on market but its accounting section can enable it to make better plans for future. Businesses either they are small or big need to be updated therefore, if you are a small business owner then keep your accounts accurate and updated as it helps in rising.

Alvis Brazma gives advice to business owners about how to manage their business efficiently without any hassles. To know more about Accounting outsourcing services,Small business accounting,Retail accounting, Small Business Accounting visit this leading internet source: www.impacctusa.com

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