Setup Quickbooks for Appraisers

[John Rolls]

Hello all
I just purchased Quickbooks Pro 2007 online. I've never used Quickbooks before. Does anyone have any suggestions on setting up Quickbooks to be tailored to our profession.
A key area I am curious about is setting up the Chart Of Accounts for an appraisal company. Easy tax prep as well as bill and invoice tracking are a few of the goals. However, any suggestions are welcome.

Thank you for your time.

 

[xmrdfghap]

Do you do your own taxes? What kind of entity organization do you operate under?

Before you get too far into it, check your local community college and see if they have a quickbooks course......they usually last a few days or are offered for two days a week for two or three weeks.......and you learn a lot about the more esoteric parts of the program. It helps if you have a basic understanding of double entry accounting.

I have always filed my own taxes using a Schedule C, so I lump all income together. I separate my expenses into the catagories found on the Schedule C so it makes it easy to file later. I expense out all assests the year that I put them into service assists me in avoiding significant depereciation contra-accounts. I also do my accounting under the cash basis. As I grow and the business gets more complex, that will change.

Not knowing how knowledgeable you are in accounting, I will run through a basic chart of accounts for you, assuming you are a dba or an S-corp or LLC.

Basic data: Remember, there are 5 types of accounts. The only difference between a debit and a credit is the credit is the right hand column and the debit is the left hand column. The five types of accounts are Assets (things the company owns), Liabilities (things the company owes), Equity (What the company owes you--is usually the difference between assets and liabilitys), Income, Expenses. Assets and Expenses are increased by debits. Liabilites, Equity, and Income are increased by credits. Every entry (called a transaction) MUST have BOTH a debit and a Credit. (Example: you make a sale, income increases---a credit; assets/cash increases---a debit)

Typical CoA for a dba:
Assets: Cash on hand, Equipment, Accounts Recievables.
Liabilites: Credit card accounts, Personal Loans, Taxes not paid, Accounts Payable
Equity: you and your partners
Income: Sales
Expenses: Advertising; Car/Truck Expenses (Don't bother to keep gas receipts unless you like big boxesof little papers, just record milages....so you don't need to keep this account if you don't collect litle pieces of paper);Commissions and Fees; Contract Labor; Depreciation/179 Expense; Insurance; interest; Professional services; Office Expenses; Equipment Rental; Land/Building Rental; Repairs; Supplies; Taxes and Licenses; Travel; Meals and entertainment subject to 50%; Meals and entertainment subject to 70%; Utilities; Gross wages (before credits); Other expenses.

That is it.

 

[John Rolls]

Setting Up Quickbooks For Appraisers

We are actually an S Corp. We will also be issuing 1099's for all appraisers as we grow.

Looking at the community college for a Quickbooks class is a good idea, but I am trying to get atleast a basic setup that I can build on.

In addition to the original question that I posted, I am also curious if anyone has ay ideas for good refference material to learn quickbooks? (ie. Quickbooks For Dummies)

 

[PL1957]

If you have an accountant do your annual taxes, I'd strongly suggest you pay them the extra money to set up your Quickbooks. That way, at the end of your year, they will be able to seamlessly pull the information.

 

[Bob Ipock]

I paid my CPA $300.00 (or something like that) to set up my Quickbooks the way THEY wanted it. At the end of the year...all I take him is a back-up CD and they have all they need.

I am a HUGE Quickbooks fan. It amazes me how poorly many appraisers keep financial records.

 

[ccooper]

Not to complicated

I am using a "cash" based system whereby I only log in income that is actual bank deposits into that account that Quickbooks is keeping the books on. I only have the single checking account into Quickbooks.

The expenses are categorized as they are, "office supplies", "fuel", "dues, subscriptions, "subcontractor fees", etc.

You may need some assistance when you own assets (cars, furniture, etc.). These need to be setup up in the system separately so that they may be depreciated. Loan payments for your company vehicle will need a "note payable to GMAC" account setup which will be debited and credited accordingly when you setup that loan and when individual payments are made.

Checks I write to my credit card company can be "split" among various expense categories by using the "splits" function.

A quick tutorial might be useful in the beginning, in general you learn as you go. You can always go back and correct stuff later when your accountant sees errors (mine always does).

We don't use ours for "bill and invoice tracking" as you stated. This would be a "credit" system in lieu of "cash". I track my outstanding receivables on a simple excel spread sheet. Row #1 is my job number, borrower's name, clients name, date of billing and the amount of the fee. When the job is paid, we highlight in yellow. Any un highlighted rows are un paid. First of the month, my office manager goes down the list and sends out past due notices.

We cross check our excel A/R with a big binder full of invoices. When the check comes in the mail, we pull our copy of the invoice out of the binder and throw it away. Any invoices in that binder are not paid.

We have other cross cross checks in our appraisal job log as well (highlighting the fee when paid).

 

[Dr Seuss]

John,

Ditto on paying a professional...I had my accountant set up our LLC as well. I figure it is tax deductable service and I have confidence that my accountant has set up correctly for Uncle Sam.

 

[Michael Chu]

What about the templates?

When you install QB, like all other good Intuit products, it goes through an interview session at one point you can choose from several pre-programmed Chart Of Accounts.

I think I picked the right one. No problems so far.
Yes my accounts are simple, very simple. It may be "too simple" for my accountant, but hey, it's his job to make it more complicated for the IRS.