[15.03.21]

As an Advanced Pro-Advisor for QuickBooks, we have significant experience of QuickBooks.  As a cloud based bookkeeping solution, QuickBooks is very powerful.  The software enables clients to easily keep on top of their bookkeeping, thus providing up to date management information on how their business is performing.  However, to get the most benefit from QuickBooks, it is essential that it is kept up to date.  Here we have set out the most common mistakes in relation to QuickBooks:

1.       Leaving it too long between QuickBooks updates, can cause multiple issues, including:

a.       Bank feeds can lapse, leading to gaps in data coming in from bank

b.       You can forget where items are posted, leading to inconsistent allocation

2.       Not reconciling the bank.  This can lead to inaccurate reports, especially for clients on cash accounting

3.       Using inconsistent VAT codes or wrong VAT codes

4.       Not using QuickBooks to produce and submit VAT returns

5.       Not updating debtors and creditors

6.       Posting expenses/sales receipts causing duplicates

7.       Leaving all bookkeeping until two days before the VAT deadline

To get the most out of the software, we recommend:

1.       Reconcile the bank every week or month.  As a result any issues you come across are likely to be recent and easier to resolve than something that happened six months ago

2.       Connect all your business accounts to the bank feed – current/saving/credit card/loan etc

3.       Review the payable VAT figure regularly, so you are fully aware of your VAT bill

4.       Regularly review the sales and purchase ledgers, writing off bad debts as and when is appropriate

5.       Use bank rules to streamline the allocation process and ensure consistent allocation

6.       Use the reports function.  There are a lot of different reports, which you can customise and save your favourites for easy access

7.       Use recurring transactions if you have regular sales invoices to save time

8.       Use classes/locations to drill down into individual project/job profitability

9.       Utilise QB online resources https://quickbooks.intuit.com/uk/learn-support/

10.   Email invoices to customers – you can see when they have opened and send easy reminders

11.   Contemplate a linked direct debit service for example: Gocardless, which once set-up, will automatically take the due amount from your customer’s account

12.   Consider third party apps to streamline the process, for example Receipt Bank https://apps.intuit.com/app/apps/home

13. Use timesheets for employees

14. Attach purchase invoices to the QuickBooks record, to make it easier to find the original documents

15. Use Google Chrome

16. Do not change items in a previous financial year

17.   Utilise the audit log

18.   Make your accounting system central to your business – it is easy to keep things up to date this way, and means you are not running multiple systems

If you have any questions or issues in relation to QuickBooks please contact Siobhan on siobhan@castletons-accountants.co.uk

Castletons Accountants