Where Does My QuickBooks Desktop Data Go?
Do you really know how your QuickBooks Desktop data entry processes affect your financial information and reports? QuickBooks transactions are not static images. The correct setup of customer names, service items, and payroll items helps drive how the company’s transactions flow into financial reports. Would you like to be in the know about where your entries go?
Customer List: Aged Accounts Receivable and Profit and Loss by Job Reports
For every customer in the list, there may be multiple jobs. Time worked by employees and subcontractors, travel and ODC costs expensed, and customer invoices created, should all be tagged to the specific job. A/R Aging Summary will display by customer name, but a quick mouse click on the balance will bring up the details by job. The terms are selected from a drop down list on the invoice screen. Tagging the job name for direct costs can provide more detailed data for job reporting and help organize activity by customer and job.
Service Items List: Revenue Accounts, Direct/Project Cost Accounts, and Profit and Loss by Item Report
Job costing is easier when direct/project cost activities are properly linked to the appropriate service item. While clients usually remember to tag the customer/job name when recording transactions, omitting the appropriate item and recording directly to a ledger account can affect job-costing and item-level reporting.
Items Tab vs. Expenses Tab
When recording expenses through a vendor bill, check, or credit card transaction, job-related purchases and services can be entered on the Items tab and assigned to the appropriate Customer:Job. Other expenses can be entered on the Expenses tab as appropriate.
Customer Invoicing
When invoicing a customer for recovery of allowable direct/project costs, select the appropriate item. Properly configured items can help ensure amounts are recorded to the intended income and expense accounts.
Item Profitability Reports
Use job and item reports as internal management tools. These reports can help compare costs and revenue and provide better visibility into job profitability.
Payroll Items List: Payroll Summary Reports and Payroll Reconciling
Careful setup of payroll items means more than simply coding paychecks into categories of wages or taxes. Payroll items can include wages, taxes, deductions, reimbursements, benefits, and other payroll-related amounts. Proper setup helps support accurate payroll reporting and reconciliation. Payroll Summary reports should be reviewed regularly and compared with applicable payroll records. Understanding the QuickBooks payroll reports and addressing item-coding errors promptly can help reduce reconciliation problems when preparing the company’s financial statements.
Conclusion
Understanding where your QuickBooks Desktop data goes can help improve job costing, payroll reconciliation, and financial reporting. Consistent setup and coding can also make your financial information more useful when evaluating the performance of your business. Need help reviewing your QuickBooks setup or accounting processes? Contact Cheryl Jefferson & Associates to discuss your accounting needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is the Customer:Job field important in QuickBooks Desktop?
Assigning transactions to the appropriate customer or job helps businesses track job-related income and costs and improves job-cost reporting.
2. Why are service items important for job costing?
Items can be associated with income and expense accounts and used to track costs and revenue. Proper item setup can provide more useful job and item reporting.
3. Can QuickBooks Desktop track payroll costs by job?
Yes. QuickBooks Desktop Payroll provides settings for tracking payroll expenses by job, class, and item when properly configured.
