General QuickBooks Information

Q & A with Will English:
Will received the following email inquiry from a CPA:

Mr. English,
I came across an older support article regarding a $100 per month employee benefit for retail staff using QuickBooks Point of Sale (QBPOS) that you responded to back in 2009. In your response you noted using the discount function to apply the charge to employee benefits in QB versus POS.  Since the original charge was processed through POS, will entering the discount directly into QB be reflected in the POS system (so the cashier will know if the employee will have available credit) at the next financial exchange? This client is using the QB POS 2013 and Enterprise 12.0.  Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Will’s answer: So if you are entering a General Journal Entry (GJE) to create the credit for the employee debit, employee benefit, and crediting Accounts Receivable (A/R) for the employee/customer, POS will update the balance for the customer account.  In 2013, it is not as visible as it used to be, but if you click on the magnifying glass, it will show the available credit.  Then the employee can charge using the account payment type.

The accountant thanked Will for his help. He went on to say that this procedure was exactly what they needed.

Q & A with Will English
Our clients contact us with questions covering all aspects of their QuickBooks systems.

Question from client: My Point of Sale (POS) cash register is working fine. Awhile back I added a second computer and POS license, and have only been using it to check prices and receive inventory. We'd like to use it as a second register as well.
So I've been looking up information about end of day, cash in drawer, etc. to see how it is done properly. I've seen that if you run end of day on both registers you can modify the report to show just workstation 1 or 2, however, when I get to that point, only one workstation shows up. Since I'm running off of the same database, which is only located on workstation 1, will I have to grab cash from both machines each night and manually separate out change for the next day?
What's the proper way to do this since the two machines use the one database located on the main register?

Will’s answer: The drawer count report will include both drawers unless you filter it to only one drawer.  The way you can get the filter to come up is to go the Report Center and click on Report Center.  You will see at the lower left a Show Modify Report before running report.  Check that box and then the modify window comes up before running reports.  You can then filter for one drawer or the other.
 

We hope you had a wonderful 4th of July celebrating this country’s Independence Day. The sun did not shine in San Diego but the temperature was still fairly warm. Because of our freedoms and the wealth of resources available in this great country, there are solutions available for anything that we need.

Several of our clients are expanding their businesses and opening second locations outside of San Diego County. We’ve had some new clients contact us who are opening their very first store location which is an exciting time for a business owner. Some want to upgrade their current system to meet their growing company needs. Will English has been traveling to set up the new systems and train staff on how to properly use the software, manage inventory, etc.

Intuit has recently launched their latest version of Point of Sale 2013. You can try it for free for 30 days. There were some glitches with the previous version (10.0) but Intuit has made key improvements and expanded upon the great benefits of QuickBooks Point of Sale in the new version. Will was one of the Beta testers for this new release and he provided accurate and honest feedback to help Intuit improve their product. If you would like to see a no cost, no obligation demonstration of this product and learn more about the features and functionality, contact Anita via email or phone so she can schedule your meeting with Will, whether it’s virtual or in person.  And if this isn’t the right product for your business, Will is going to provide an alternative solution so that you have a good sense of what will best serve your business needs.

A QuickBooks user who owns a full service landscape design, install and maintenance company that also has a retail company is requesting to run a detail sales report in QuickBooks. He asked the following of Will:

Hi- At the end of the day I am wondering if you have a report (or can make one) that has the below information (at a minimum) and what this report would cost me?  Thanks for your timely response.

Receipt #        Item #        Item Description        Sales Amount        Cost        Sales Tax        Date        Promo Code

PS- the information does not need to be in this particular order.

Will’s answer: The Sales detail report gives you everything you need except the cost, which I am sure is the main reason you want this report. The Item Summary Report gives you the sales and cost, but not the receipt #, tax or promo code.  There is a plug in to plug data in to Microsfot Excel or Access but not sure that all of the data fields are available. I also have access to custom developers, but most of their custom reports start at around $1,000 with an annual maintenance fee.

Don’t miss these important specials and announcements:

1. Intuit Trade-up Promotion through May 31, 2012: If you have QuickBooks Pro/Premier & wish to upgrade to Enterprise Solutions (ES), trade it in & save up to 50% off! To be eligible you must have a prior QuickBooks asset. 

2. Enterprise + Advanced Inventory promo: 30% off software for stretchers AND switchers plus the price of Advanced Inventory. Customers can purchase Enterprise Solutions with Advanced Inventory & save 30% off the Enterprise software. Expires April 30, 2012.

3. QuickBooks Point of Sale version 9.0 will only be for sale through May 1, 2012. If you need to purchase additional users/registers or stores after May 1st, you’ll need to upgrade to QuickBooks Point of Sale 10.0 or QuickBooks Point of Sale 2013 once it is released.

4. QuickBooks Point of Sale introduces Version Protection for POS v10 users: Version protection allows customers to receive the most current version of the software when and if it becomes available within a 12 month period. Contact us for pricing. Through May 31, 2012.
Customers will get:

• Improvements and new features with each software release
• New Point of Sale software at a fraction of the upgrade price
• Automatic software shipment so you're always on the latest version

• Customers can renew version protection annually
• A customer has 6 months to renew version protection. After that time, the customer will need to repurchase the product license to reactivate version protection.
• Version Protection does not come with support. However, customers will continue to receive 30 days of free support when they “receive” the new product.

5.  If someone signs up for QuickBooks Financial merchant accounts during April, they will get $150 gift card.Contact Us today! Expires April 30, 2012

Q & A with Will English
Q: I have a prospect that creates very long Purchase Orders (PO) and wants to be able to receive the PO items using a wireless scanner. It seems do-able but I would like to be sure I'm not missing something. Thanks.

A: Provided that the items have UPC's and the UPC's are entered into QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS), you can use your scanner to add them to the receiving voucher. A perfect example is a shoe store. All of the boxes come with a UPC, so you simply open the box and scan the item.

Submit your QuickBooks questions to Will English at info@englishmgmt.com.

A colleague of Will's consulted him for guidance. See Q & A below.

Q: I am just trying to clarify some things that aren't too clear to me when working with P.O.S. set up. It seems to me things would be a lot smoother if I could set everything up in the file before I arrive on site. Does Pro create a file that can be imported into Basic? Can I create a client’s customer file in my P.O.S. program, back it up, and then install it on their system? Can I create this file using Pro and install it in a client’s "basic" version?

Will's response: Yes we do create client’s files in our office although there is some configuration matter that gets copied across from files. Make the sure the base file is as simple as possible and still check. File structure is the same so Pro files will transfer but if you create style grids, they will not be available.
 

Urgent Message From Intuit on 01/26/2012 at 02:08PM PST

We’ve seen a scam e-mail regarding Intuit tax information floating around today. This e-mail was not sent or authorized by Intuit. If you ever wonder whether an e-mail from Intuit is real or fake, please refer to the link below.

Thank you,

http://security.intuit.com/security-alerts.php  

Your Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a 9-digit number issued by the IRS. Your EIN identifies your business to the IRS, and it is also used by your Assisted Payroll service. Here's how to change your EIN for Assisted Payroll through Intuit.

Assumptions:
You currently have an active Assisted Payroll subscription.

Expected Outcome:
You will update your EIN with your Assisted Payroll service.

Change Your EIN with the IRS:
For information about changing your EIN with the IRS, see IRS Publication 1635, "Understanding Your EIN," which you can download from the IRS web site. If you already have an EIN and the organization or ownership of your business has changed, you might need to apply for a new number.

Change Your EIN with QuickBooks Assisted Payroll Service
1. After you receive your new EIN from the IRS, download the Request for Assisted Entity Change Packet.
Assisted Entity Change Packet
This form will open in Adobe Reader. The length of time it takes to download depends on your Internet connection speed.
2. Complete the entity packet online, and then print, sign, and date the documents.
3. Submit the entity change packet to QuickBooks Assisted Payroll by fax, mail or email.
• Fax the form to: 877.471.2801
• Mail the form to: QuickBooks Assisted Payroll, Intuit, Inc., PO Box 30005, Reno, NV 89520-3005
• Scan and email to: entitychanges@intuit.com

Article ID: 1000056 from  http://payroll.intuit.com/support/kb/1000056.html.
 

A business owner contacted us today requesting training on how to properly enter inventory items in QuickBooks (QB). She stated that they have not been doing it properly since they first started using QuickBooks and now they have several problems that they don't know how to correct, and the inventory problems in their QB are mounting. Their Spring inventory is starting to arrive and they are nervous about entering it in their system because the way they've been doing is obvioulsy not working or correct.

This is one of the main reasons it's so important to learn how to use QuickBooks correctly from the beginning. QuickBooks has many capable systems that are easy to use, but in our experience of working with over 700 businesses, most people doing it themselves either do not set up the system correctly or do not use it properly. This leads to bad data which causes poor decision making. The only reason to have a system in place is to efficiently manage your finances, sales, and inventory and to do that, you need to use your QuickBooks system effectively.

One benefit in establishing a working relationship with us (EMS) is that Mr. English is a specialist in determining which of the many product features you need to maximize at your company and configure the software for your business needs along with training the staff on how to properly use the software. We are always here for ongoing client support but why not learn how to use your system properly in the beginning so that you are not creating more work and headaches for you and your staff, plus incurring the costs to have problems corrected.