Greetings The CPA911 Newsletter June 2009 ------ > Contents < ------ QuickBooks Tips Update on Online Banking Intuit Education Events Puzzle Winner Contact Info Subscription Info ------ > QuickBooks TIPS < ------ *** Safeguarding Customized Templates *** We receive frequent laments from users who tell us that a customized template (transaction form) has stopped working properly. Often, these users tell us they no longer remember all the steps they took to add fields, move fields, and so on; they don't want to face starting all over. Sometimes, the problem is that QuickBooks clobbered the template, rendering it corrupt. Most of the time, however, the problem is that another user decided to change the customization and totally messed everything up. When you've created a customized form you can save a copy so you have a replacement if something happens to the template in your QuickBooks company file. To do this, use the Export command at the bottom of the Template List window to export the template to a folder on your computer (make sure it's a folder that's backed up, such as My Documents - you ARE backing up your My Documents folders every day, right?). The file is saved with a .DES extension. To replace a messed-up template, use the Import command at the bottom of the Template List window to import the safety backup copy. *** Fixing Printing Problems *** We receive frequent queries from users who are having trouble printing in QuickBooks, even though they can print from all their other software. Either nothing happens when they select the printer and click the Print button, or the QuickBooks document prints incorrectly. In QuickBooks, printing and printer settings are kept in a file named QBPRINT.QBP. Sometimes this file becomes corrupted. (In fact, if there's ever a contest for "the most easily and frequently corrupted file", many users tell us they think this file would be a good bet.) To fix these problems, delete the QBPRINT.QBP file. Then go to Print, Printer Settings and re-configure your printer (or multiple printers, if you use different printers for different types of transaction forms). QuickBooks automatically re-creates the file. Here's where to find the QBPRINT.QBP file: Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Intuit\QuickBooks 2008\QBPRINT.QBP Windows Vista or 2003 Server: C:\Program Data\Intuit\Qb200x\QBPRINT.QBP *** Returning a Security Deposit *** A reader wrote to find help with a problem. She takes security deposits from tenants, and posts them to an Other Current Liability account. When she has to return the security deposit she issues a credit memo, and chooses the option to create a refund check. She says that each customer record shows multiple entries for these transactions. A credit memo is a credit against currently owed balances (or is held, awaiting future invoices). That description doesn't fit the return of a security deposit, so it's an inappropriate transaction type. To return a security deposit, use the Write Checks window to write the check and post it to the Other Current Liability account. *** Calculating Time in a Timesheet *** If you're tired of doing the arithmetic before you enter employee/vendor time on a timesheet, you probably don't know that QuickBooks will do this for you. For example, when you're working in a weekly timesheet, enter 9-5 in the Day column. When you press Tab, QuickBooks converts this to 8 hours. Entering 9-4:30 results in 7:30 hours (or 7.50 if you've configured time to display in decimals instead of hours and minutes). *** Accountant's Copy Too Large to Upload? *** We've had reports from users that when they attempted to upload an Accountant's Copy to the Intuit server, the server issued an error message saying that the file is too big to send. That's not an accurate description of the error, and we've put an article in the QuickBooks TIPS section of our website to explain what's going on. You can read the article by entering the following URL in your browser's Address Bar: http://www.cpa911.com/read_article.asp?ID=282 *** Understating A/R on Balance Sheet Report *** David Schupp, a QuickBooks Pro-Advisor, recently wrote to us with a solution for a problem some businesses run into. (You can reach David Schupp at dschupp@roadrunner.com if you want to thank him, or ask further questions.) "Here is a problem that may be over-looked, especially at year end. (Although this is a specific problem, it may be reflected within other industries). I have a client that has an apartment complex. He has QuickBooks auto-enter the invoice 7 days prior to the end of the month (in case tenants pay prior to the first), but has the invoice date set for the first of each month (to correctly reflect monthly amounts). Unfortunately, there are usually several tenants that are delinquent and therefore show an A/R balance. After about the 5th of the month when all the 'normal' payments are in, creating a Balance Sheet will display the correct A/R balance. The problem arises when, at the end of the month, any of the tenants pay before the 1st of the next month, and the client uses "today's" in the Receive Payments screen. If you run a Balance Sheet on the last day of the month, the A/R balance will be wrong; it will reduce A/R by the prepaid amounts. SOLUTION: For any payments prior to the first of the month, use the FIRST of the month as the date in the Receive Payments screen. This procedure will ensure the integrity of the A/R account. In the Make Deposits window, use the real (pre-first) date." (Editor's note: In the Receive Payments window, use the Memo field to indicate the real date you received the payment in case the customer calls to discuss his/her account.) ------ > Update on Online Banking < ------ According to the mail we receive from users who are active in the QuickBooks Community (users' forum), Intuit continues to announce that the company is working on improving the way transaction windows in the Online Banking window work. Most of the people who write to us about this (especially those who are accountants) are disappointed about this. They'd prefer to see all the transactions performed in standard QuickBooks transaction windows. One accountant wrote: "They seem to think that crowding the window with all sorts of functions is a good idea, but every client I've tried to educate on using the new Online Banking feature has found it complicated and all of them invariably enter something incorrectly." Another wrote: "I can't let my clients use these functions within the Online Banking window because they don't provide the right functions, and it takes me many hours to undo the damage. I have to bill for those hours, so we've told our clients that they should not use any of the functions in the window; instead, they should use the menus and icons in QuickBooks to access the 'regular' transaction forms they've been trained to use properly. Otherwise, they need to be prepared to pay us for the hours of work required to straighten out the mess." Having seen the results in the company files of many users who add unmatched transactions after downloading, we have to agree. Unless users are totally familiar with the way QuickBooks works behind the scenes, using the functions available on the Online Banking window can cause serious accounting problems. Items, inventory assets, cost of goods sold, sales tax postings, customer records, and other components of your company file are not properly updated or calculated when you use the Online Banking functions. This can have serious consequences in your Profit & Loss report, your Balance Sheet, and, of course, your tax return. Please don't use the functions in the Online Banking windows; instead, when you have to add unmatched transactions, use the functions and forms you use for regular transaction entry. You can read our detailed article on this subject (that includes tips for fixing the problems incurred if you used the functions in the Online Banking Window) at the following web page: http://www.cpa911.com/read_article.asp?ID=279 ------ > Intuit Education Events < ------ Intuit is making it easier for tax and accounting professionals to receive education by presenting robust online events. *** Intuit Academy's Two Day Training Conference *** No travel required; attend from the comfort of your office (or your home). The 2009 Growth and Productivity Virtual Conference for tax and accounting professionals has speakers, lots of valuable information for users, and live chat conversations with your peers, Intuit Academy trainers, and Intuit product experts. Free CPE credit for attendees. For more information and registration, enter the following URL in your browser's Address Bar: http://events.unisfair.com/index.jsp?eid=354&seid=240 *** Free Webinars for Advanced Certification *** To make it easier to prepare for Advanced Certification, Intuit Academy has a series of Webinars coming up. All of them are free, and you earn CPE credits just by logging in. You can sign up to receive detailed information about each course by entering the following URL in your browser's Address Bar: https://www.quickbase.com/db/bdtgq6qne?a=nwr (Note: Optional Lacerte training also available.) ------ > PUZZLE WINNER < ------ Congratulations to Brenda Ellis of Tacoma WA, who won a copy of Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions (CPA911 Publishing) as our May 2009 Puzzle winner. Her name was drawn at random from the pool of correct answers. Here's the puzzle: Several times each week we receive a query that reads something like this: "Many of my customers have credit balances, and I've never used the Credit Memo function. What is going on?" When we write back and ask if they ever collect payment at the time of the sale (a cash sale), they respond in the affirmative. What's the problem? Here's the answer: When this happens, it's almost always due to the fact that the user is selecting Receive Payments from the Customers menu or the Home Page. The Receive Payments transaction is for receiving payment on an existing invoice, and automatically posts a credit to Accounts Receivable. When you have a cash sale, you must use the Sales Receipt transaction. (There are other ways to create an unwanted credit accidentally, but 90% of the time, the problem is caused by using Receive Payments when no invoice exists.) ------ > Poll < ------ Don't forget to vote in our poll (on our home page at www.cpa911.com). We're asking you which enhancements to vendor activities you deem most important. ------ > CONTACT INFO < ------ Copyright 2009 CPA911. Comments or questions? Write to: editor@cpa911.com. Visit our web site: http://www.cpa911.com. ------ > SUBSCRIPTION INFO < ------ You can forward this newsletter to anyone, as long as you forward it in its entirety. If you received a forwarded copy, subscribe for yourself (it's free) at http://www.cpa911.com/newsletter.asp.