Mission Business Podcast

How to Track Intellectual Property Value in QuickBooks It’s important that you track the assets of your business in your financial records. If your business has intellectual property, it should be also considered an asset and should be tracked. Many business owners do not track this, but in today’s episode, Bernard Roesch explains why it’s important to track intellectual property and how to track it correctly within QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. Examples of Intellectual Property to Track A few of the most common examples of intellectual property that has business value are patents and trademarks. Patents including the costs incurred to get the patent or to buy the patent produce value to your business over time. This is something that needs to be tracked. Trademarks or premium domain names are also intellectual property assets that should be tracked. Should Intellectual Property Be Amortized? In some cases, it makes sense to amortize an intellectual property asset, so the expense is logged over the life of the asset. In some cases, you can make the decision yourself based on the size of the asset value, while in other cases, the situation is defined by the IRS. Be sure to follow amortization guidelines defined by the IRS to avoid tax issues later. In general, if the asset is going to provide value over multiple years, it should be amortized so that your accounting records are accurate. How to Track Intellectual Property in QuickBooks Tracking intellectual property in QuickBooks is very similar to tracking machinery or real estate. First, you record the cost for the intellectual property such as a patent as an asset. Then you amortize the cost over the life of the patent or other intellectual property. By recording the intellectual property asset in QuickBooks and amortizing this over the life of the asset, you accurately reflect the impact of this intellectual property on your finances. Need Help Tracking assets in QuickBooks? If you need help tracking intellectual property assets in QuickBooks or some other complex accounting scenario, contact Bernard today. He’s been able to help many businesses properly track complex accounting scenarios in their business. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Track Intellectual Property Value in QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

Tax Preparation Bookkeeping Best Practices As a business owner, it’s important that you have your accounting records up-to-date. This becomes even more essential during tax time. You’re required to file taxes and if you don’t have your data available, then tax season can become a big distraction for you from running your business. In today’s episode, Bernard Roesch explains how to avoid tax season becoming a mess by not having your accounting records available. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. Common Issues During Tax Time There are two main problems that business owners face during tax time. First, not having their bookkeeping up-to-date means they do not have data available for a tax preparer to review. This leaves them frantically trying to get their records updated quickly. Second, business owners often have not reconciled or cleaned up their data even though they have done bookkeeping throughout the year. This leads to the same end result of not having the right data you need for a tax preparer. Make sure that you are keeping your records up-to-date and reconciling throughout the year so that you have that data available when tax season begins. Specific Information a Tax Preparer Will Need In addition to your bookkeeping records, a tax preparer may need additional information. For example, they may need W2s or other specific tax-related information. Second, it’s likely they will need some way to validate the bookkeeping records you’re providing. For example, they may ask for a bank statement or sales tax record that they can use to compare your bookkeeping records to. This gives them the ability to be confident the bookkeeping records you provided are accurate, which is important for their licensing requirements. How To Prepare Your Records If You Are Behind Meet with your tax preparer in October to plan before the end of the year. This enables you to have a rough idea of how tax season is going to go for your business. You can catch up on bookkeeping records before the end of the year. It’s important that you do not wait until the last minute to update your records. Otherwise, you may risk filing your taxes late. Need Help Preparing For Tax Season? As a business owner, you should not be focused on updating your accounting records yourself or scrambling to get it done. You have a business to run. If you need help updating your information or getting ready for tax season, contact Bernard today. He can help drive the process for you and remove the burden. [Image: www.canva.com] The post Tax Preparation Bookkeeping Best Practices appeared first on MISSION.

How to Work with a Bookkeeper It’s important to have up-to-date bookkeeping records in your business. But if you are directly responsible for updating your books, it can be hard to keep your records updated, since you need to be focused on running your business day-to-day. In today’s episode, Bernard Roesch, will explain how to go about working with a bookkeeper successfully. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/134_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 The Challenge of Delegating Bookkeeping There are typically two main things that cause a business owner to not be able to effectively delegate the bookkeeping process. First, you need to have clear access to the resources that a bookkeeper would need. For example, bank account statements, credit card records etc. Second, the business owner needs to be able to provide access to these resources in a way that doesn’t risk the business financially. For example, providing read only access to a bank account or some other lower level permission. Once you have clear resources to use to understand bookkeeping data, and you’re able to provide that access to somebody else, you can hire a bookkeeper to help you. Setting Up a Bookkeeping Process Typically, before a bookkeeper begins working with you, you will already have accounting software set up and a basic process in place. Ideally, that should be set up by a professional or at least reviewed by a professional as part of starting work with a bookkeeper. This will make the start up process of working with a bookkeeper easier. Once you have the accounting software ready to go, you can do an initial orientation with the bookkeeper you hire. This orientation should cover how to get the key bookkeeping resources they need, your bookkeeping preferences, and an overview of the workflow you’d prefer with them. At that point, the bookkeeper should be able to take over updating your books. The Ongoing Bookkeeping Process After the initial set up process, you should get into a set routine with your bookkeeper, set the time frame of when the bookkeeper works and have their resources ready at that time. The bookkeeper will then enter the data using those resources and produce a series of reports for you to review. It’s important that you have set financial reports defined that you want the bookkeeper to produce, so that your review is part of the routine. Need Help Delegating Bookkeeping? If you need help getting set up with a bookkeeper so that you can simply review bookkeeping reports and make financial decisions, contact Bernard today. He has been able to help many business owners overcome the challenge of streamlining their accounting and bookkeeping process and can help you as well. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Work with a Bookkeeper appeared first on MISSION.

Who You Need for Small Business Accounting It’s important to make sure the accounting process within your business runs well. This will give you the data you need to make financial decisions. In order to do this, you need to have the support of a great team. But hiring team members can be overwhelming. In this episode, Bernard Roesch will help you better understand the key roles you need and how to go about finding them. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/133_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 Key Accounting Team Roles In order to have your accounting run smoothly, there are basically four categories of team members that you need. First, you need someone that can configure and run the actual accounting software. This person will be a little more tech-savvy and able to configure the right processes within your accounting software such as QuickBooks. Second, you need a bookkeeping or data entry person that will run the bookkeeping process to ensure your records are updated regularly. The third person you need is a controller to monitor the process, ensure accuracy, produce reports, and call out accounting trends that should be further investigated. This person helps you make sense of the accounting data in your system. The fourth person that you need is someone you can rely on for tax planning and strategic guidance. This person can use reports from the controller to help you better understand what’s happening and make decisions. By having all four of these types of roles available to you, you will be able to have a robust accounting process that drives your business. Hiring a Team Versus Individuals In order to have these roles available to you, you don’t necessarily need to hire an individual person for each one. This can be a difficult process to manage since you won’t need most of them or all of them full time. It can be helpful to hire a firm that can support you in a few of these roles at once. For example, at MISSION, we can handle the configuring of your software, your bookkeeping and controller duties. This leaves the tax preparation role unfilled, but we can help you find a tax preparer and coordinate directly with them on your behalf. By hiring a team rather than hiring individuals, you simplify the management process for yourself. Do You Need an Accounting Team? Now that you understand the key roles that you need available to you to have your accounting run smoothly, contact Bernard today. He can help you better understand what roles you may have already available to you internally and how to fill the rest of the roles in the best way. [Image: www.canva.com] The post Who You Need for Small Business Accounting appeared first on MISSION.

The Benefits of QuickBooks vs Other Accounting Tools There are many different accounting softwares to choose from. Choosing the right accounting software for your business can be difficult. In this episode, Bernard Roesch, explains the pros and cons of different accounting software options. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/132_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3   The Most Important Factors to Consider When choosing an accounting software for your business, there are a few key factors that you need to consider. First, make sure the software has key features that you need. For example, if you need to use sales orders as part of your accounting process, it’s important to make sure that the software supports this. Another example is inventory tracking. If inventory tracking is important for your business, you need to be sure to choose an accounting software that supports inventory tracking. Once you’ve confirmed which software has the features you need, check to see how well supported the software is. While there may be new upstarts in the accounting software market, it’s important to choose a software that is reliable and will be around for years. This ensures you don’t end up in a situation where the accounting software company goes out of business and you’re forced to move to a different system. Also, a more supported software will have more bookkeepers available to help. You will need bookkeeping support to streamline your accounting process. So, choosing a well-supported software makes finding a bookkeeper easier. The last factor to consider is the cost. There are a wide range of accounting software options on the market with vastly different pricing, so you’ll want to make sure to choose the level of software that fits your budget. Don’t go cheap here, but also don’t think you need to go completely enterprise-grade. Pros and Cons of Popular Accounting Software There are basically two levels of accounting software that we will review. First is small business accounting software and second is enterprise options. In the small business accounting software category, you have QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Online, Xero, and lower versions of Sage which used to be Peachtree. Most of these have the features that a small business will need, but you should definitely dig in before making a choice. Also, some of these have mobile app support that makes accounting easy to access on the go. The next level after small business accounting software is a more enterprise-grade accounting system. Some of the players in this market are Dynamics, NetSuite, etc. Enterprise accounting software offers more functionality and deep customization, but also requires much more support to get up and running and to maintain over time. Need Help Choosing an Accounting Software? It can be daunting to research accounting software and try to make a buying decision. The right choice depends on your needs and your workflow. Contact Bernard today and he can walk you through the best options for your business based on your specific needs. [Image: www.canva.com] The post The Benefits of QuickBooks vs Other Accounting Tools appeared first on MISSION.

How to Track Sales Estimates in QuickBooks QuickBooks is powerful for accounting and bookkeeping in your business, but you can also use it for much more. In today’s episode, Bernard Roesch will explain how you can use QuickBooks to keep track of sales opportunities similar to what you might do with a full-fledged sales CRM system. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/131_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3   Why Use Quickbooks to Drive the Sales Process? There are number of reasons to use QuickBooks as part of your sales process. First, keep in mind that sales prospects that turn into actual customers will end up in QuickBooks anyway. You’re going to create invoices and log payments within QuickBooks so it’s best to have these customers logged early in the process. When a new prospect contacts you, you can create a contact within QuickBooks. You can do this manually or you can integrate it with your external third-party sales tool. Once the prospect is ready for an estimate, you can use a sales estimate as a template to compile information about their project. The sales estimate can be sent as a formal estimate for the prospect which makes your business look more professional. Tracking Sales Opportunities in QuickBooks If you already logged sales estimates in QuickBooks, you can simply use the sales estimate report to see the status of open estimates. You can also see how long the estimates have been open to determine which should be followed up on. To make things more efficient and accurate in your sales process, you can use QuickBooks to store past sales estimates that you can use when creating future estimates. You can even keep track of which were won and which were lost to guide future sales estimate processes. Need Help Using QuickBooks in Your Sales Process If you want to leverage QuickBooks as part of your sales process and more in your business, contact Bernard today. He has helped many companies integrate QuickBooks best practices in their sales process and he can help you do the same. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Track Sales Estimates in QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

How to Streamline Accounts Receivable Reminders in QuickBooks An important part of the accounting process is to make sure you get paid by clients after you invoice them. In some cases, you need to send a reminder or add other steps to your accounts receivable process to ensure you are paid.  In this episode, Bernard Roesch provides best practices on how to streamline accounts receivable reminders in QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/130_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3   The Importance of Reminding Customers Your business is driven by cashflow. Even if you are doing great work for clients in invoicing them which shows revenue, the day to day operations of your business are funded by actual cash flow coming into your business. Clients may have good intentions but still somehow overlook payment deadlines. This becomes a problem for the cash flow of your business if invoices remain unpaid. Sending out reminders is a key step in ensuring you get paid. Also, its important to look like you are running your business effectively from your client’s perspective. Staying on top of payment due dates will establish that confidence. Have Clear Accounts Receivable Process Below are best practices for managing the accounts receivable process. Ensure that your accounts receivable records are accurate day to day. When you send an invoice to your client, make sure this invoice is logged in your system and when you receive your payment, update your system as well. Use the reporting process in your accounting system to keep track of open invoices along with how long those invoices have been open or overdue. Automate Accounts Receivable reminders. There are multiple features within QuickBooks that enable you to stay on top of Accounts Receivable. Use the batch process feature within QuickBooks to make a reminder process more efficient. You can also use third party QuickBooks app to automate the accounts receivable reminder process. Whats most important is that you keep communication going with clients who owe money. Need Help Configuring QuickBooks? Its important to have good processes setup for your business. If you need help configuring an accounts receivable process that is streamlined and effective, contact Bernard today. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Streamline Accounts Receivable Reminders in QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

How to Log Investor Contributions and Equity Within QuickBooks We’ve discussed the importance of tracking your finances carefully in other episodes. One situation where it is very important to track your finances accurately is if you have outside investors in your company. In this episode, Bernard Roesch explains how to log investor contributions and equity within QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/129_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3   Loans Versus Equity Investments The first step to tracking investor contributions accurately is to determine if the contribution is a loan or an equity investment. If the contribution is a loan, then there’s a repayment point plus interest over time. We’ve covered this in other episodes. So for the sake of this episode, we will focus on equity. If an investor is providing you funding and receiving equity, that funding is not expected to be repaid with interest, but the investor would receive a share of the profits. How to Record Investor Contributions in QuickBooks When you receive the payment, record that payment to an equity account in the balance sheet to document the ownership of the business. Similar to the way that you would track fixed assets in a balance sheet, you should also have sub accounts for each investor. This allows you to track each investor’s contribution separately. If you, yourself, contribute money to your business, you should also record it in a similar way. However, as an owner, it would be best to talk to a CPA to ensure it’s logged in a way that meets financial compliance as well as tax planning best practices. Need Help? It’s important that you log investor contributions accurately, especially if you are doing this for the first time. Bernard can help you by configuring QuickBooks to track this information appropriately so you can use it today and in the future. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Log Investor Contributions and Equity Within QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

How to Log Capital Expenditures in QuickBooks It’s important to track all of your finances in QuickBooks. Specifically, you need to track more than just income and expenses. In today’s episode Bernard Roesch explains how to track capital expenditures in QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/128_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3   What are Capital Expenditures? A capital expenditure is the purchase of equipment or other large items above a certain dollar amount. Typically, capital expenditures are items that have a useful life of multiple years that you would not expense entirely in year one. Businesses usually have a threshold above which they consider an expense a capital expense for the purpose of accounting. How to Log Capital Expenditures For the sake of this example, assume the piece of equipment costs $10,000 and is used over a period of five years. You would log the transaction similar to a normal transaction but simply to a different expense account. Rather than logging to a normal expense account, you would log the transaction to a fixed asset account on the balance sheet. Ideally, you would split that fixed asset account into sub-accounts if you have multiple different pieces of equipment. Then periodically over that five-year timeframe, you would record depreciation as an expense against that balance sheet item. While this expense would not affect cash flow, it would affect the profit and loss statement as a non-cash expense. Need Help Logging Capital Expenditures? Although this may sound complicated, it’s important to track your finances at this level of detail in your business. This helps you to have an accurate financial picture of your business over time. Contact Bernard today for help setting up the logging of capital expenditures and much more. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Log Capital Expenditures in QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

How to Import Transactions from a Spreadsheet Into QuickBooks The accounting and bookkeeping process frequently involves data from other systems. While QuickBooks is a great accounting platform, there are some situations where you need to manipulate data within Excel or bring in data from an external source. In today’s episode, Bernard Roesch will talk about how to bring in outside data into QuickBooks using a spreadsheet. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/127_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 Spreadsheet Import Needs with QuickBooks The most common reason that you will need to import a spreadsheet of data into QuickBooks is because not all systems connect to QuickBooks directly. However, most database systems allow for exporting data into Excel, and Excel can be used to import data into QuickBooks. This is the most common reason you would need to use a spreadsheet to move data into QuickBooks. QuickBooks doesn’t integrate with the data source you’re using. Overview of Importing Spreadsheets into QuickBooks The specific process will vary depending on what systems you’re using. But the basic steps are as follows. First, if there is a native functionality within the software you’re using to export to a QuickBooks-friendly Excel file, then that would be best. If that’s not possible, you can export to a CSV Excel format and use third-party utilities to convert that Excel data into a QuickBooks-friendly format. If that is not a feasible solution, there are other custom program ways to move data when a spreadsheet is not possible. Need Help Moving Data into QuickBooks If you need help getting data from an outside system into QuickBooks or any other method of managing your data related to QuickBooks, contact Bernard today. Bernard can help you understand the options for moving data around and help you accomplish what you need. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Import Transactions from a Spreadsheet Into QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

How to Train Your Team to Help with QuickBooks Tasks Having bookkeeping run effectively in your business is easier if your team can help with bookkeeping tasks. In this episode, Bernard Roesch shares how you can train your team to help with common QuickBooks tasks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/126_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 Example QuickBooks Tasks For Your Team In any bookkeeping process, there are a number of daily tasks that don’t make sense to have your bookkeeper or accountant help you with. For example, processing incoming bills and sending payments for those bills or entering invoices and sales receipts related to daily sales. This is something that you can have your team help you with. Also, there are many tasks that can be completed that are semi-automated. For example, you can configure QuickBooks to automatically log your credit card transactions and have your team simply code new transactions, so the automation is always accurate in the future. How to Train Your Team on QuickBooks First, you should choose specific types of tasks that you want your team to help with. By being narrow on the types of tasks your team will help within QuickBooks, you can more easily find training resources. Rather than training the team on the entire inner workings of QuickBooks, it’s often easier to have them find online tutorials and guides to walk them through the specific types of tasks they are trying to do. For example, there are plenty of online resources on how to efficiently log accounts for credit card transactions. In addition to specific tutorials to accomplish narrow tasks within QuickBooks, you can also have your team attend webinars from Intuit or other QuickBooks resource providers. These webinars are helpful for your team to understand the broader aspects of using QuickBooks. Finally, the last training resource is Q & A sessions with your bookkeeper. By having your team involved with your bookkeeper for specific questions, you can enable them to handle more tasks over time. Need Help Training Your Team? If you need help getting your team up to speed on how to best support your bookkeeping process, contact Bernard today. Bernard can help you better define your QuickBooks accounting process and provide resources to your team to learn how to help. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Train Your Team to Help with QuickBooks Tasks appeared first on MISSION.

How to Log a Client Refund in QuickBooks It’s important to make sure that your QuickBooks data is accurate. Not only does this include making sure transactions are free of errors but it also includes making sure that the status of payments and how money moves around in QuickBooks matches reality. One situation many business owners don’t track appropriately in QuickBooks is refunds. It’s important to track refunds in QuickBooks. In today’s episode Bernard Roesch, explains why it’s important and how to track refunds in QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/125_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 Why Track Refunds in QuickBooks? It’s important to make sure the data for individual clients is accurate within QuickBooks. If you owe a client money as part of a refund, it’s important to have a good audit trail of that money within QuickBooks. You may need to send statements to clients or other people involved in your business, so having this data accurate and logged in QuickBooks is important. The Flow of Refunds in QuickBooks The steps to appropriately log refunds in QuickBooks are as follows. First, you’ve probably already invoiced the client and they’ve paid you for that invoice. Do not simply reverse the transaction or write the client a check. To properly log a refund enter a credit memo for the amount that you’re going to be refunding them. This credit memo is basically a reverse of the invoice transaction. Then you can use that credit to write a check to the client. If there was no invoice and you were just paid for services, write the client a check and book it to the same line item that you used when you received the money in the first place. By tracking all of this information in QuickBooks, you can easily look back at a later time and even produce reports on the status of client, financials, and refunds. Need Help Leveraging QuickBooks? If you need help leveraging QuickBooks to have a better handle on your business finances, contact Bernard today. Not only can he help you ensure transactions like refunds are logged appropriately but he can help you make QuickBooks a powerful tool and data resource for your business. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Log a Client Refund in QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

How to Split a Client Payment Over Multiple Months in QuickBooks We’ve talked in other episodes about how it is important to make sure your QuickBooks data matches the reality of finances in your business. Another area where business owners struggle with this is making sure that reporting dates for income match the time periods where that income is actually earned not just simply the payment dates. In today’s episode, Bernard Roesch, we’ll explain how to log client payments over many months so they show up in those months on your profit and loss statement. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/124_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor_1.mp3 Why Log Payments Over Time for Reporting Think of this example, you bill a client one time per year, but the service you provide is provided throughout the entire year. If you don’t spread that payment out, your reporting data is going to show all of the income in January and no income throughout the rest of the year. However, your expenses will happen over time and you won’t be able to match that revenue in reports with expenses. By logging this January payment over time, you’re able to more accurately reflect the financial health of the business in your reports. As you earn the income throughout the year, the income will be reported and expenses incurred while earning that income will be matched with the income. How to Log a Payment Over Multiple Months in QuickBooks For this example, we’ll assume you received a $12,000 payment for the entire year in January. When you invoice the client for $12,000, log it against deferred revenue in your balance sheet rather than the normal sales item. Then each month as you earn that income record a journal entry against deferred revenue. This journal entry should bring down deferred revenue and bring up revenue for that month. This will ensure that your profit and loss and other reports accurately reflect the income earned over the year. Need Help with Advanced QuickBooks Reporting? If you need help configuring more intricate aspects of QuickBooks for your business, contact Bernard today. He can help you set up this type of reporting structure as well as other reporting and financial needs for your business using QuickBooks. [Image: www.unsplash.com] The post How to Split a Client Payment Over Multiple Months in QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

How to View QuickBooks Accounting Data in Salesforce There are many things you can do to streamline your accounting process. One of the biggest areas where you can streamline your accounting process is to enable your sales team to see accounting data such as invoices and payments. In today’s episode, Bernard Roesch will explain how to show QuickBooks data directly in Salesforce to your sales team. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/123_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 QuickBooks Data in Salesforce QuickBooks and Salesforce can be configured to show multiple different parts of your QuickBooks data directly within QuickBooks. You can configure Salesforce to kick off the creation of invoices directly from Salesforce opportunities. You can also show invoice status and payments directly within Salesforce so your sales team can see where the prospect stands with payment. Finally, you can sync contact information between both systems so that a change in one system is reflected in the other. By integrating the flow of data between QuickBooks and Salesforce, not only will you streamline your accounting process, but you can also keep the data more accurate. How to Configure QuickBooks and Salesforce The specific process to integrate QuickBooks and Salesforce depends on your need. For example, you may just need basic information integrated between the two systems, or you may need a deep integration of QuickBooks into your sales workflow within Salesforce. Different third-party apps enable you to integrate QuickBooks differently into the Salesforce process. The best option when integrating QuickBooks with Salesforce is to work with a qualified consultant that has integrated the two systems before so that you can ensure the end result fits your accounting workflow. Need Help with QuickBooks and Salesforce Integration? If you need help configuring QuickBooks and Salesforce to integrate well together, contact Bernard today. [Image: www.canva.com and www.unsplash.com] The post How to View QuickBooks Accounting Data in Salesforce appeared first on MISSION.

How to Streamline Accounting with the QuickBooks Mobile App The accounting process for a business is a workflow.  With QuickBooks mobile app, you can do much of your accounting workflow on the go. In this episode, Bernard Roesch talks thru features of the QuickBooks mobile app and how to use it to make your accounting process more efficient. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/122_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3   Accounting Features in the QuickBooks Mobile App The QuickBooks mobile app has many of the features of QuickBooks online.  For example, you can generate an estimate or invoice for a customer directly from the mobile app.  When you receive payments, you can collect those payments or log payments as received against existing invoices.  If you need to check certain QuickBooks reports, you can do that directly within the app.  Finally, you can also enter a vendor bill that needs to be paid at a later time.  By being able to do so many parts of the day to day accounting process on the go, the QuickBooks mobile app enables you to ensure your accounting is up to date. Additional QuickBooks Mobile App Features There are a number of other specific features that may be relevant to your business.  For example, you can use the mileage tracker to track your miles for tax reasons.  This feature is only available in the QuickBooks Self-Employed application but may be helpful for you.   You can also check inventory and stock status if you have an inventory-based business configured in QuickBooks.  By using the QuickBooks mobile app, you can streamline your workflow to make accounting simple. Need Help with QuickBooks Mobile App? If you need help finding ways to use the QuickBooks mobile app in your business or in any other way to streamline your accounting process, contact Bernard today. [Image: www.unsplash.com] The post How to Streamline Accounting with the QuickBooks Mobile App appeared first on MISSION.

How to Log Your Personal Loans to Your Business As a small business owner, you may need to periodically use personal funds to operate your business. It’s important to log these appropriately within QuickBooks. In this episode, Bernard Broesch explains why it’s important to log personal business loans appropriately and how to go about doing this within QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/121_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3   Why Log Personal Business Loans in QuickBooks? It’s important to log any money that is coming in to the business that is not income. Even if this money is personal money and you have no business partners, best practice says you should document this differently than other income coming into the business. In addition, there could be tax ramifications and benefits to you personally by logging personal money as a loan, along with an interest rate paid to you from the business. If you have business partners or another significant financial event, such as an acquisition, it’s important that these movements of money are logged appropriately. In short, it’s important to log personal money you’re giving to the business as a loan rather than just putting the money into the accounts. How to Log Personal Loans in QuickBooks The specific process to log a personal loan in QuickBooks involves the money coming in, the money being repaid, and interest being paid on the money. When the money comes in, you increase the cash balance and a log, a balance sheet liability for the loan. As interest payments are paid, you log these as expenses. Once the money is repaid, you reduce cash and reduce the liability to the business. Need Help with Proper QuickBooks Accounting? If you need help logging personal loans in QuickBooks or any other aspects of accounting within QuickBooks, contact Bernard today. [Image: www.canva.com] The post How to Log Your Personal Loans to Your Business appeared first on MISSION.

Migrating Accounting Records to QuickBooks If you are migrating from an old accounting system into QuickBooks you may want to migrate accounting records into the QuickBook system. In this episode Bernard Roesch explains the migration process and how to get certain accounting records into QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/120_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 Which Data Needs to be Moved to QuickBooks? While most companies may initially think they need to move all of their transaction data from the old accounting system into QuickBooks, this is usually not the case. Your specific needs will vary but most companies operate smoothly in the new system by simply moving customer lists, vendor lists, and open transaction items such as purchase orders. By focusing on these specific items during the migration, it makes the migration much easier to accomplish. Keep the Old Accounting System Live if Possible Another thing that can make the migration easier is to keep the old accounting system live for a period of time if possible. Not only does this enable you to not worry about migrating every single transaction over to QuickBooks but it also gives you the opportunity to look back at certain transactions or data points if needed. If you have the option, keep your old accounting system live for a period of time until you know the migration has been done smoothly. Start Using the New QuickBooks Accounting System at a Specific Point of Time If your business is calendar or fiscal year and it’s coming up, that’s a great time to start using your new accounting system. Rather than dealing with mid-year reporting changes, you will be able to start the new fiscal period on the new system. If this is not feasible for you, consider starting at the end of a quarter to make the reporting process a little easier between accounting systems after the migration. Need Help Migrating Accounting Records to QuickBooks? If you are considering migrating old accounting records into QuickBooks, contact Bernard today. He’s been fortunate to see many different methods of migrating to QuickBooks and can help you develop a comprehensive but cost effective strategy quickly. [Image: www.unsplash.com] The post Migrating Accounting Records to QuickBooks appeared first on MISSION.

How to Log Chargebacks and Refunds It’s important to have good accounting records for your business. Tracking refunds is important so that you can see the impact of refunds on your business and track individual customer refunds appropriately. In this episode, Bernard Roesch explains how to track refunds appropriately within QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/119_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 Why Track Refunds in QuickBooks? As a business, you need to ensure that a customer gets refunded and that you don’t owe them money. This ensures that your customers are satisfied and that you are not left blind to whether you have paid refunds or not. It’s also important to watch the trends of returns in your business because this could affect the profitability of your business over time. For these reasons, it’s important to track refunds carefully within QuickBooks. How to Log a Refund in QuickBooks A sale that needs to be refunded will already be logged within QuickBooks. This will be logged as either an invoice or a sales receipt for the customer. You will have already received money for this sale in most cases, so the accounts receivable for this customer should be zero. In order to give money back to the customer, a few steps should be taken. The first step is to issue a credit memo on the customer record that shows that you owe the customer money for a sales item, called returns. Tracking returns as a separate sales item is helpful for reporting purposes at a later time. Once you’ve issued the credit memo, you write a check to the customer against that credit memo. This zeroes out the credit memo that you owe the customer, and the customer receives their money. The specific process for you to execute refunds in your business may vary depending on how you sell and return product or services, but the basic process above should be followed. Need Help Tracking Refunds in QuickBooks? If you need help configuring QuickBooks and your accounting workflow to track refunds appropriately, contact Bernard today. It’s important to track these in a best practice way as this is important accounting information to be able to look back on later. [Image: www.unsplash.com]

If you run multiple businesses, it’s important that you keep the records of each business accurate. This is not as simple as just using QuickBooks for both businesses. In today’s episode, Bernard Roesch explains important factors to consider with how to structure multiple businesses within QuickBooks. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/118_How_to_Run_Multiple_Businesses_in_QuickBooks_-_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 * Note that this blog post is derived from the transcript of the audio discussion. Please excuse any typos or odd wording. — What to Consider with Multiple Businesses in QuickBooks The first thing to consider is what you need from a management perspective when it comes to your QuickBooks data. For example, if you have a business that has five different restaurant locations and you simply want to report on each location, then you do not need to keep separate QuickBooks files. You can use a single QuickBooks file and log transactions for each restaurant location using different QuickBooks classes. This will enable you to run QuickBooks reports by class to see reporting information about each restaurant location. However, if you need to keep completely separate financials for the different businesses, then you may need different QuickBooks files. For example, if you need to provide full financial statements for partners, investors, or for tax reasons, then it would be best to have two different QuickBooks files. This can become challenging if both companies share common ownership or move money between the business bank accounts. It would be best to consult with a QuickBooks ProAdvisor in this situation to ensure you meet your business needs as well as the needs of your partners, investors, and the government. Running Multiple Companies in a Single QuickBooks File The specific process to run your companies in a single QuickBooks file may vary but the key factors are below. First, have separate bank accounts for each business so that you can keep the money separate. Both of these bank accounts will be within QuickBooks but this will make tracking finances of each business easier. Create separate assets and liabilities accounts for each business so that you can track the assets and liabilities for each business separately within QuickBooks. When logging transactions use classes in QuickBooks, also known in other software as departments, to specify which business the transaction is for. This will enable you to run reports for each business separately by class and to keep track of bank accounts, assets, and liabilities for each business all within the same QuickBooks file. Need Help Configuring Multiple Businesses in QuickBooks? The process to have multiple businesses within QuickBooks is complex but it’s important to be done right. If you have multiple businesses and want to ensure they’re structured appropriately in QuickBooks, contact Bernard today. [Image: unsplash.com]

As a business owner, you are ultimately accountable for the finances of your company. In order to manage and improve your finances, it’s important that you keep track of expenses, especially as your company grows or changes. In this episode, Bernard Roesch will cover best practices when it comes to auditing and managing expenses, along with QuickBooks features to help. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com. If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missionconsulting/117_The_Mission_Business_Podcast_-_Insights_from_Certified_QuickBooks_Proadvisor.mp3 * Note that this blog post is derived from the transcript of the audio discussion. Please excuse any typos or odd wording. — Best Practices for Monitoring Expenses The first step to being able to monitor your expenses is to have a basic bookkeeping process in place. You need to regularly monitor your accounts and keep track of them within an accounting software like QuickBooks. Once you have that data in QuickBooks, you can produce reports on a weekly or monthly basis to track expenses. Within those reports, you can compare expenses for the current time period versus the previous month or the previous year to see significant changes. Analyzing the Income Statement On a monthly basis, you should analyze the income statement for trends related to your expenses. Are there specific categories of expenses that have changed significantly in the last month or compared to the previous relevant accounting period? If so, it’s important to dig in to understand why those changes took place. You could create a budget for the month and then compare the actuals to that budget. This is a helpful way to predict expenses and to audit if those expenses are happening according to the plan. You can also make comparisons of vendor-specific expenses for current time periods versus prior time periods to see changes in expenses for specific vendors. Finally, you can have a detailed expense review process with each team member or department within your company to justify each expense and this is something that could guide your budgeting process. The level of analysis of your income statement varies depending on the complexity and size of your business. Get Expense Monitoring In Place As your company grows, it’s important to have best practices for monitoring expenses. If you don’t currently have a strong process for monitoring expenses, contact Bernard today. He can help you get the basic foundation set up and then get a recurring process in place that is easy to manage. [Image: unsplash.com]