| QuickBooks is a great accounting program for | | | | time you receive payment. You also enter |
| home-based businesses to track their income and | | | | expenses when you receive the bill, not when you |
| expenses. It is easy to learn and simple to use. It | | | | pay it. The choice is yours on which basis to use. |
| has a great Help file. You do not need an | | | | QuickBooks supports both accounting methods. |
| accounting background to be able to generate | | | | Simplify the Chart of Accounts!! The most |
| reports such as a Profit and Loss and Balance | | | | important list in your accounting system is your |
| Sheet needed for tax preparation and managing | | | | Chart of Accounts. You track your flow of |
| your business. I have listed a few key points to | | | | money through this list of accounts which includes |
| consider when using QuickBooks. | | | | where your income comes from, where you put |
| Cash or Accrual Basis of Accounting? The first | | | | it, what your expenses are for, and what you |
| step in setting up your company in QuickBooks is | | | | use to pay them. QuickBooks' EasyStep Interview |
| to determine if you will track income and | | | | walks you through setting up your accounts. The |
| expenses on the "Cash Basis" or "Accrual" basis. | | | | system also offers sample business templates |
| Most small businesses operate on the cash basis | | | | that already have accounts set up for you. You |
| of accounting. What this means is you record | | | | can later delete or add any accounts that were |
| your expenses when you write the check or | | | | initially setup in this interview to make it match |
| charge your credit card, and you record your | | | | your income and expenses better. Keep your |
| sales or income when you take the money to the | | | | chart of accounts SIMPLE! Too many accounts |
| bank and deposit it into your account. This is the | | | | result in messy reports that are hard to read and |
| easiest way to account for your transactions. | | | | analyze. Also, use descriptions for your account |
| Some businesses are required by the IRS to | | | | id's, not numbers. If you assign account numbers |
| report on the accrual basis. This normally pertains | | | | for each account, you will have to memorize the |
| to large publicly traded companies and/or some | | | | numbers for fast data entry. It is much easier to |
| manufacturing entities. On the accrual basis, you | | | | type in the name of the account when entering |
| record income at the time of sale, not at the | | | | transactions. This is a key timesaver! |