How to Account for Bad Debts and Record it in Quickbooks Online and Desktop
One of the more unpleasant aspects of being a business owner is having to chase clients that do not pay. It is frustrating, stressful and disheartening, while attempts to collect are an unproductive use of time and can have a significant impact on cash flow, particularly if you are unprepared. A bad debt, in accounting terms, refers to an amount charged to a customer that is never paid. While the original sale would have been reflected as revenue, the uncollectible bad debt would then have to be written off as a separate line item on the profit and loss statement
How to Use QBO Class and Location Tracking to Better Analyze Your Data
A powerful, but lesser know feature of QBO is the ability to organize your data by using two separate features which are location tracking and class tracking. These features allow business owners to effectively create a higher level of categorization, in addition to their accounts, which allows for significantly better reporting and analysis.
Class and location tracking are essentially classification mechanisms that allow for reporting by an additional layer of categorization. The primary way to categorize transactions in any accounting system is to assign them to specific accounts eg. sales, purchases, computer equipment, travel, meals, office expenses etc. This is referred to as a “Chart of Accounts”. There does, however, exist two additional layers ways to categorize your transactions in QBO which work on top of the chart of accounts allowing each transaction can be grouped into a broader category. This is particularly useful for companies that have separate locations and/or divisions where they might want to see their results grouped together for deeper analysis and a better understanding of the performance of your business or organization.
3 Online Accounting Software Options for Small Business
As cloud computing becomes ubiquitous, the number of cloud based online accounting software options continues to grow. Many small business owners want a software that has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that allows them to bill customers, enter expenses, record bank transactions and generate financial statements and other reports,. We also want to be able to access the software from anywhere (you never know when the desire to do your accounting strikes!) and not be tied down to a specific location Below is a summary of 3 cost effective, multi functional alternatives :
How to Update Quickbooks for the 2011 QST Rate Increase
Update: As of January 1st, 2012 the Quebec Sales Tax (QST Rate) which had gone up from 7.5% to 8.5% on January 1, 2011 will now increase to 9.5%. The effective sales tax in Quebec will go up from 13.925% to 14.975%. Since QST is calculated on the net amount + GST, the effective rate is actually 14.975% (and not 14.5%) . In other words the effective QST rate is 9.975%. The instructions below are equally applicable, except the new QST rate to enter is 9.5%.
On January 1st, 2011, Revenue Quebec will be increasing the QST rate to 8.5% (yay!), bringing the effective rate of QST to 8.925% andtotal sales taxes (GST and QST) to 13.925% (since the QST is actually charged on the net price + GST.) This will impact anyone who charges QST including small businesses and self employed individuals, and invoicing software and processes should be updated to reflect the change. Suffice it to say that there are no major changes in the application of the rates. For those of you using Quickbooks you will need to update the QST being charged on both sales and purchases.