Billing for Time and Expenses: How It Works

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Richard

QuickBooks handles billable expenses capably, but it’s critical that you understand the process thoroughly before proceeding.

 

Billing for inventory parts is easy. Pick the items from a list and specify a quantity. Poof. Done.

 

Billing for costs, time or mileage is a little more complex. QuickBooks has built-in tools to help you do this, but it’s a bit of a process.

 

To simplify your workflow, do this groundwork first:

 

  • Go to Edit | Preferences | Time & Expenses | Company Preferences. Click the Yes button under Time tracking and indicate your choices under Invoicing options. If you plan to mark up some costs and want a default number, enter a percentage and account (these can be changed on individual invoices).

Inside The QBC

Figure 1: As you do with other QuickBooks processes, make sure that your Preferences are set correctly.

 

  • Add any billing items necessary by clicking Lists | Item List and then Item | New in the lower left corner.
  • If you plan to bill for mileage, go to Lists | Customer & Vendor Profile List | Vehicle List and enter information about every business vehicle.

 

Invoicing for Services

 

If you’re a service-oriented company, you bill for time frequently. This is easy. You’re probably already familiar with the Enter Time entry in the Employees menu. Whether you make individual time entries or complete a timesheet, it’s critical that you make the correct selections for each Customer: Job, Service Item and Payroll Item field, and check the Billable box.

 

You can let QuickBooks enter the time totals now, or add them later by clicking the Add Time/Costs button. Either way, the Choose Billable Time and Costs window opens. Add a checkmark next to each entry that should be billed, and click Options… to indicate whether you want one line for each time entry or would rather combine all similar service item types.

Inside The QBC

Figure 2: QuickBooks wants to know which entries should be invoiced.

 

More Complexity

 

If you’re done with billable expenses for this invoice, click OK. If there are other costs that you covered, click the Expenses tab to see all transactions that you earmarked for this client on a bill, check or credit card. You have the option here to mark up the cost by a percentage or amount (even if you established this in Preferences), and to specify an account.

 

Do the same for Mileage, which you would have entered previously – when it was incurred — at Company | Enter Vehicle Mileage. Then select any Items that you purchased for the customer. Your records should be correct – assuming that you were conscientious about assigning expenses to customers and jobs.

Inside The QBC

Figure 3: It’s easy to pull billable expenses into invoices if they’re documented carefully.

  

Turning expenses into invoices and then into income can be complicated. Let us know if we can help. We are your partner in building a successful business.

 

QuickBooks Tip

 

Here’s a cool little keyboard shortcut. Hit F2 while you’re in QuickBooks, and you’ll get the Product Information screen. It’ll tell you everything you want to know about your specific copy of QuickBooks, like your release and license number, the file size, number of users logged in, audit trail status and the total number of accounts, customers, employees, etc.

 

QuickBooks News

 

As of May 31, 2012, Intuit is discontinuing support for QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Simple Start 2009, QuickBooks for Mac 2009 and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 9. You can continue to use these solutions, of course, but live technical support and add- on services like payroll, credit card processing, online banking and bill-pay will not be accessible. Talk to us about upgrading if you’re using any of these products or services.
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Posted on March 21, 2012 by Richard

Upgrade QuickBooks Enterprise v9 to v12 by May 27th and receive

30% off and avoid interuption to any of your connected services. *

 *to be eligible, you must be a current QuickBooks Enterprise client using v9.

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Portable Productivity: Smartphones Do Invoices, Expenses, Time Billing

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Richard

These three web-based apps – accessible via your smartphone — provide mobile access to QuickBooks data.

 

Accounting in the cloud is closer than you might think. In fact, it’s here, in some cases. QuickBooks Online, of course, is entirely cloud-based, but itdoes not yet offer all of the features found in Intuit’s top-of-the-line products, Premier and Enterprise.

 

In the meantime, Intuit itself, as well as third-party developers, have built online apps that fill in some of the gaps. These add-on solutions exist on websites, but they can collect data and synchronize it with desktop QuickBooks. So can that iPhone or Android that’s sitting on your desk right now.

 

Many Mobile Applications

 

To find these apps, go to the IntuitApp Center and click on All Apps. There are dozens of them, arranged by category (Billing and Invoicing, Customer Management, Inventory Management, Apps by Intuit, etc.).

 

Your first stop should be at Intuit’s QuickBooks Connect (this is the name of the online application that you’d use on a remote PC or laptop; the name of the smartphone app is QuickBooks Mobile). This app gives you easy access to your customer and sales data when you’re away from your office.

 

Figure 1: QuickBooks Mobile, shown here on the Android operating system, gives you sales tools when you’re away from desktop QuickBooks.

 

Remote Sales Tools

 

Whether you’re working in web-based QuickBooks Connect or on a smartphone, your data and transaction options are similar. QuickBooks Connect has a few more features, like an Item List and Customer Center, but both let you:

 

  • Access multiple company files
  • View, add, and edit customers, estimates, invoices, and sales receipts, using QuickBooks’ custom templates
  • E-mail these forms to customers

 

QuickBooks Mobile and QuickBooks Connect use the Intuit Sync Manager – located on the desktop where QuickBooks is installed — to keep data current everywhere. That computer must be running for syncs to work.

 

Figure 2: You can create and e-mail invoices from QuickBooks Mobile.

 

Prices start at $9.95/month for one user; a 30-day free trial is available.

 

Manage Travel Expenses

 

Concur Breeze grabs the data you need (customers, employees, jobs, etc.) from QuickBooks to record expenses on the road. You can enter charges directly into a form or snap a picture with your phone – it’ll be attached to your expense report. These charges are then sent to a report template that thoroughly documents the charge, letting you specify variables like the trip purpose, travel policy type, project and client. The status of your approval and payment are also included here.

 

You can send travel itineraries from your free TripIt Pro account and credit card charges directly to an existing expense report to accelerate the process. And once an expense report is approved, money can be moved automatically from the designated company bank account to an employee’s account. $8 per month per user; free 30-day trial.

 

Figure 3: Concur Breeze provides mobile expense management.

 

Mobile Time-Tracking

 

If your company has employees or contractors who work remotely and submit hours for approval, consider eBillity Time Tracker for Intuit QuickBooks. After it pulls in customers, service items, and employees from QuickBooks, you can invite workers to track their time on their smartphones by either entering it manually or using the timer, and then sync it with the online application.

 

Mobile workers can use the application in offline mode; entries are uploaded when they reconnect. Prices start at $10/month for Admin and one user.

 

Figure 4: eBillity Time Tracker for Intuit QuickBooks is a great companion app for remote workers.

 

 The Cloud = Convenience And Accessibility

 

Synchronization – especially across three or more devices – is a simple concept whose implementation can be not-so-simple. We can help you determine which apps make sense for you and get them up and running.

 

Integrated, web-based applications accessed by whatever computing device happens to be nearby are the essence of cloud-based accounting. Intuit and its companion mobile apps offer the convenience and accessibility that the Internet is making possible.

 

If you need help with any of these applications, or questions about “the cloud”, please email or call us. We are your partner in building a successful business.
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Paying An Invoice

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Richard

The ability to accept credit and debit cards within QuickBooks is one of the program’s ten best features. It attracts customers who might not otherwise buy. It improves cash flow. And it saves trips to the bank and paper-shuffling.

Intuit Merchant Service for QuickBooks is a merchant processor. It facilitates connections among your business, your customers, your bank and your customers’ financial institutions. It lets you move money from a customer’s debit or credit card into your bank account, and finally, into QuickBooks itself.

Authorizing a payment

There are just a couple of steps in this process, once you’ve established an account. We began to explore the card authorization process in Intuit Merchant Service for QuickBooks Improves Cash Flow and Streamlines Accounts Receivable (August 2011) by entering a credit card number and expiration date manually in the Receive Payments window (Customers | Receive Payments).

Let’s delve deeper into that process. Once Receive Payments is open, you’d find the invoice being paid, either by selecting it from the Received Fromlist or clicking Find a Customer/Invoice. The invoice details automatically fill in. Either enter the card information manually or click Swipe Card (the latter makes you eligible for lower rates). Be sure that Process XXX payment when saving is checked.

QuickBooks opens a browser window and accesses your merchant service account, then opens the Process Credit Card Payment window, which looks like this (in the 2012 version; versions prior to 2009 are different):

Figure 1: Before you request payment approval, you’ll enter the card verification number in this window.

 

Authorizing the card

Intuit Payment Solutions has carried over your customer’s name, address, credit card number and transaction amount. Enter the Card Security Code in the box and click Submit.

Once your transaction has been approved, the Processed Payment Receiptwindow opens. Fraud detection tools check to make sure that the address and Card Security Code match what is on file for that customer.

You’ll also be given a Transaction ID and type, as well as an authorization code. This keeps you from accepting a fraudulent card and helps you avoid chargebacks. Print a receipt if you’re satisfied or void the transaction if a match was not made. Click Close. QuickBooks marks the invoice as paid.

Figure 2: This window provides authorization information if the payment is approved.

There’s a lot more to learn about Intuit Merchant Services for QuickBooks, which we’ll continue to explore. Questions? Just ask us.

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Blue Santa

Posted on November 21, 2011 by bigsplash

As we all start to prepare for the Christmas holidays filled with family, fun and laughter, the Friendswood Blue Santa program is in full swing helping to support for families who will not experience the joy of the holiday season.  Last year, as a result of generous contributions, more than 130 Friendswood children received gifts through the Friendswood Police Officers Association Blue Santa Program.  In addition, truck loads of toys were collected for the Galveston Police Department Blue Santa program.

This year, VARC solutions is proud to help with the Blue Santa effort.  If you bring in an unwrapped toy for the Blue Santa Toy Distribution Program you will get 10% off of any of our Computer Services (Computer Tune-Ups, Set-Ups, Backups, Repairs, and More). A great way to help a child *and* to get your computer tuned-up all at the same time.

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QuickBooks Tips And Tricks: Make it Yours

Posted on November 21, 2011 by bigsplash

No matter which version of QuickBooks you’re using, there are always ways to make your workday easier. As with any software, we tend to learn the features we need and not much more. But small changes in the way you operate can add up to significant time savings and more accurate files. If you jumped into QuickBooks without a thorough introduction, consider these tips.

Use the Open Window list

 Spend some time in Preferences, and you’ll be surprised to learn that you have more flexibility than you knew. QuickBooks is designed to work for a tremendously wide variety of businesses, so it comes with some features activated but many dormant.

The Open Window list is a good example. Do you tire of closing windows to find a screen that you used several tasks ago? Make sure that you’re in one-window view (View | One Window), and then click View | Open Window List. Click on any entry to move to that page.

Figure 1: The Open Windows list lets you easily move among active screens.

 

 Make account assignment mandatory

 QuickBooks lets you enter transactions without assigning them to accounts. So your Chart of Accounts has two accounts labeled Uncategorized Income andUncategorized Expenses that serve as repositories for these transactions. This means that when you run reports or prepare for taxes, you may have a hard time remembering the circumstances of those transactions and will find it difficult to assign them to accounts.

Do yourself a favor. Set up QuickBooks so that you must assign an account to every transaction. This will take extra time upfront, but not as much as if you try to recall the transaction three months from now. Go to Edit | Preferences | Accounting | Company Preferences and make sure that Require Accounts is checked. If you have questions on this, please call or email us.

 

Use the Account Prefill fields

Speaking of accounts, here’s a little time-saving tip. If you have vendors that are always assigned to the same account(s), you can establish this constant in the vendor record. Simply open the Edit Vendor window for a client and click the Account Prefill tab. Select the appropriate selection(s) from the drop-down lists. If a payment is sometimes split between multiple accounts, you’ll handle this division when you add transactions.

Figure 2: Designate vendor accounts to save time when creating transactions.

 

 Use “Pending Sales”

 Invoices, sales receipts and credit memos can be earmarked as “pending.” These sales do not show up in registers or reports (except for the Pending Sales report) and can’t be used for transactions where payment has already been applied. Create the transaction and click Edit | Mark [form name] As Pending. To finalize it, open the form and clickEdit | Mark [form name] As Final.

This action can be useful in multiple situations, including:

  • Backordered items
  • Draft approvals
  • Estimates
  • Time-tracking for jobs
  • Profit and loss reports that show the impact of pending sales (choose Either as the posting status [Non-posting or Posting] under Filters)

Figure 3: You can mark a payment as “pending” in several situations.

 

 Be kind to your accountant: Set a closing date

 Once we’ve worked with your QuickBooks file up to a certain date, entering, editing or deleting transactions prior to that date wreaks havoc with the balance of your books. To be safe, your administrator should password-protect the ability to do this, so that no one does this intentionally or unintentionally. Go to Edit | Preferences | Accounting | Company Preferences and enter a closing date and password. We will change the date each time we complete our work.

Figure 4: Password-protect closed periods to preserve the accuracy of your books.

These are just a few examples of ways you can customize QuickBooks to make your workdays more productive and your record-keeping safer and more reflective of your business. We can help you further tailor the software to make it a better fit.

If you have questions on this or any other QuickBooks feature, call or email us. We’re your partner and we’re here to make your business better.

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Expanded QuickBooks Referral Program

Posted on October 17, 2011 by bigsplash

We’re excited to announce that we’ve expanded our QuickBooks Referral Program. Our QuickBooks Referral Program is designed for independent consultants and/or IT professionals who would like to offer their customers Intuit solutions including: QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise Solutions, Intuit Payments & Intuit Payroll but may not have the technical expertise in each to right by their clients. For more informaiton, check out our Referral Program page

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Robin Hall is on the Intuit ISP Advisory Council

Posted on March 16, 2011 by bigsplash

Intuit has asked our own Robin Hall to be a member of the Intuit ISP Advisory Council. The council members share their insights, experience, and expertise with Intuit as the company develops new products and services for accounting professionals and advisors, as well as clients nationwide. Council members serve one or two year terms. Participation on the council is driven by participants’ desires to contribute to the development of technology products and services that increase productivity and help grow accounting businesses, and those of their clients.

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Intuit Partner of the Year!

Posted on March 16, 2010 by bigsplash

Intuit Corporation, makers of QuickBooks accounting software, announced VARC Solutions as the Intuit Solution Provider of the Year. The Solution Provider of the Year was selected from a group of nominees based on their dedicated use of Intuit software and solutions provided for their customer needs.

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VARC Solutions named a “VAR Star”

Posted on February 16, 2010 by bigsplash

Bob Scott’s Insights, a publication of the Progressive Media Group, is pleased to announce that VARC Solutions has been selected as a member of the 2009 VAR Stars, a group of 100 organizations that are being honored for their accomplishments in mid-market financial software.

“This award is made to honor organizations for factors such as quality performance and leadership in their arena. It is made without regard to the volume of annual sales made by these businesses, although their ability to achieve notable growth is considered,” says executive editor Bob Scott.

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