Blog

In July, QuickBooks came out with some fresh features and updates to map up their game. That’s part of why we love them - they’re always looking for new ways to make the accounting experience a breeze for the user. Updates every month, handy new features, and new QB tricks are some of our favorite things! There are multiple ways to add bills and receipts to QuickBooks - Receipt Capture via SmartPhone, email receipts@quickbooks.com, upload them from your computer, or manually add them yourself. 

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At Skynar Bookkeeping, we like to work on our clients’ books the most efficient way possible - that includes using shortcuts when necessary to speed up a process. We save precious seconds not having to raise our fingertips from the keyboard! There are some simple shortcuts we suggest every QuickBooks Online user memorizes, as you’ll see they’ll come in handy as you do everyday tasks in the program. Print this out, reference it when necessary, and enjoy your increased QBO efficiency! 

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It’s all about using the right tools, but if you’re not sure how to use the tools, it will be hard to be effective. Invest time for proper training with the right tools to be most effective. At Skynar Bookkeeping Services, we use, and trust, QuickBooks to Set Up, Clean Up, and Keep Up our clients’ books. Having proper QuickBooks training will not only help improve your overall experience, but help you better manage your books and your business.

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It’s more important now than ever to maintain accurate and up-to-date books for your business, whatever it may be. With the state of the economy and everyone adjusting to WFH or not working at all, it can be easy for something like bookkeeping to slip through the cracks. However, neglecting your books during a volatile economy is a sure way to lose sight of where your business is headed and how it’s holding up. To keep it simple: a good business keeps good records. 

Having the ability to pull a report at any time is one benefit to having updated books. You can evaluate the finances of your business at any given point to help make important company decisions. Do you need to cut your budget? Run a report to look at the exact numbers of your business in each area - where can

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Let’s make a choice not to give up on our bookkeeping this year. This is such an important practice that cannot be neglected. Starting a few simple habits now will keep your books strong, accurate, and constantly updated. Remember to remain consistent with all of these, and contact Skynar Bookkeeping for any questions regarding setting up, cleaning up, or keeping up with your bookkeeping. 

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Running a business doesn’t mean sitting in a chair 24/7. We know some days you’ll be cool, calm, and collected, while others you’ll be running around like a chicken with your head cut off. You’re up and moving, and you need your resources to be, as well. Accessing QuickBooks on-the-go is not something you need to worry about. We’ve got you covered with three recommendations on how to safely and accurately open and edit your books from anywhere, at any time.  

QuickBooks Online

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The software programs Quicken and QuickBooks have a couple things in common, including being founded by Intuit and beginning with the word “Quick.” However, the similarities end there. Let’s discuss the differences. 

Quicken

Quicken was released in 1983 as a personal management tool for individual users. It uses the single-entry accounting method and assists with your personal accounting needs, like recording your transactions. It categorizes your expenses to show where your money goes, and has budgeting features to help you take control of your finances. There are a variety of Quicken software programs available: Starter, Deluxe, Premier, and Home & Business.

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Let’s talk cash flow statements. When is the last time you looked at one for your company? If you’re cringing right now because you just can’t remember, it’s time to change that. Your cash flow statement, or statement of cash flows, shows you where your money is going. The money coming in, the money going out. It’s vital to know where the company’s money is going, and where it’s coming from. 

Your cash flow statement is based on cash basis accounting rather than accrual, which means you will record every time money is exchanged. Always keep in mind that your cash flow is not the same as your profit and vice versa. The relationship between the two will vary from business to business, and fluctuations will occur due to the type of business. For ex

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If you do your own bookkeeping with QuickBooks, you may have noticed the pesky little Undeposited Funds account along the way. This account confuses people, but we promise it’s for a good purpose! If you’ve just happened to ignore this feature of QB, you’re doing yourself a disservice. 

Your Undeposited Funds account will act as a middleman between your invoices and your bank deposits. When you receive payments from invoices, they’ll be held in this temporary Undeposited Funds account until they’re deposited into your bank account. When you receive a payment, you’ll simply choose Undeposited Funds from the “Deposit to” dropdown menu, this way you know which payments need to be deposited (it should already be the default option). 

When using the Undepo

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Let’s go through how to run a report for your vendors using the checks that have been issued to them, whether they be bill payment checks or regular checks. You can also run this kind of report on customers to see the invoices that have been created or payments, but let’s focus specifically on vendors today. You may run this report to see how much you’ve been spending or to compare costs from month to month. 

To begin , click on “Vendor Center.” On the left, select the vendor you would like a report on. Next, you’ll click “Quick Report” toward the upper right. A box will pop up to set the logistics of your report, you’ll choose your date range, and a generated report will appear. It will likely give you more results than you

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Keeping track of stray receipts is messy, and logging them come tax season is time consuming. QuickBooks Online had previously allowed you to add attachments of receipts, but now it completely captures them for you with their latest feature.

New to QBO this month is a feature called Receipt Capture, and it does basically what it sounds like - it captures screenshots of your receipt. You simply snap a photo of your receipt and upload it to QBO where it will be stored digitally. Beyond that, QBO will sort your receipts into categories.

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If you use QuickBooks Online (QBO), you probably know about the seemingly endless number of apps that are available for your use. You simply connect the app(s) to your QuickBooks Online account and all of your information will sync, so when you update information in one place, it’s updated everywhere else, as well.

These apps can help you with any number of things, but their main purpose is to make running your business easier. Would you like your payroll automated? There’s an app for that. Would you like your invoices to be synced to your calendar? There’s an app for that. Would you like to manage your inventory directly from your phone? Yes, there’s an app for that. Which area of your business is cau

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If your books aren’t up to snuff, it’s time to outsource. To make accurate and informed decisions on your business, it’s important to reference your bookkeeping. If they’re a mess, it means you don’t have the full story on your business. Making blind decisions is always a risk (one never worth taking!). Let’s talk about three signs it’s time to outsource.

You have a pile of receipts and papers left unrecorded, going back months.

If you have one or many folders stacked with receipts and papers from past months that haven’t been logged, it’s time to outsource. If you don’t put the time into your books, you’re neglecting your company as a result. As a business owner, it’s important to know where you stand financially, and t

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QuickBooks is the number one accounting software used by businesses with 5.6 million users worldwide. Aside from he convenience, efficiency, and ease of using the program, they also have multiple plans to choose from so you can pick the one that’s right for your business. With differing features and purposes, each of these plans has its own benefits and not all companies should have the same plan. Four of the five plans are for managing your books, and the fifth is for the self-employed tracking their own expenses.

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Something we love about QuickBooks is how much they appreciate their users. How do we know? They show us by staying up-to-date with new features to help make everyone’s bookkeeping quicker and easier. In case you missed it, here’s the rundown on the newest features added to QuickBooks through the first quarter of the year.

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We always say you should be paying constant attention to your books, so we decided to break it down based on what you should be doing daily, weekly, and monthly. What you do in these short periods of time can impact the overall state of your books and your knowledge of your company’s financial standing. The more often you work in your books, the less time you’ll have to spend on them come the year’s end. You’ll thank yourself come December! If not, we’re here to help.

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If you’re a small to midsize business, you need to be using QuickBooks Online (QBO) to manage all of your finances. QuickBooks Online makes life easier by helping you, not adding to the stress in your life. With just over 5.6 million users, it’s hard to deny it’s benefits.

So, what’s the big deal? There seem to be an endless number of efficient features in this accounting software, so we

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Adding credit card transactions to a main account that has sub accounts using multiple cards can be quite a process, but if you follow these five simple steps, you’ll be able to complete these entries without getting a headache or creating a mess of your books. 

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QuickBooks will become your business’s most valuable player. And, as something you will be using on a regular basis, it’s important it’s perfect for you. Although both Desktop and Online assist you with your books, they don’t share the same characteristics or help you in the same way. In simple terms, QuickBooks Online is the internet version of QuickBooks Desktop. But, let’s take things a step further and break down the differences. 

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Accountants wouldn’t benefit from QuickBooks, right? Wrong! QuickBooks is a fantastic tool for them; they have a software specifically tailored for accountants to help them do their job better, faster, and more efficiently. It’s a triple threat for accountants!

Not only will QB Online Accountant display all of your clients that are QB users, but also the clients that are not. This allows accountants to see a big picture list of their clients before diving into each more in-depth. All the client information and notes can be recorded here and easy to reach for reference. Bonus: it’s a breeze adding clients - even non-QuickBooks clients! 

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Running a business is a challenge. Keeping up with your books is one moving part of running a business. This can either go incredibly smoothly or be a complete disaster. If you’d prefer the former, we strongly recommend you check out QuickBooks. Not only will QB make your bookkeeping easier, it’s also a great tool for helping you run your business. Here are several reasons why QB should be your bookkeeping software:  

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To speed up your activity on QuickBooks Desktop, follow these simple shortcuts. They will minimize the time you spend doing tasks and will optimize your productivity! Keep this table handy until you have these memorized. Remember, if you ever need help on QuickBooks, click F1 or contact us!

Display account list/chart of accounts Ctrl + A To write a check Ctrl + W Customer center: job list display Ctrl + J Delete check, invoice, or transaction Ctrl + D Find a transaction Ctrl + F Memorize a transaction or report Ctrl + M Display a memoriz [read more]

When you’re working in QuickBooks, it’s better to work smarter, not harder. If you’re trying to find a

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Bookkeeping fraud is one of the most common forms of internal fraud. When running a business, there is always the potential risk for fraud within your company’s four walls. Unfortunately, not everyone in the workforce is a trusted individual; they could access your private files and

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Getting around QuickBooks Desktop doesn’t have be a struggle thanks to these quick and efficient shortcuts. Next time you’re moving around in QBD, try out these simple clicks; you’ll have them memorized in no time. 

 

Activity Shortcut Next field TAB Previous field SHIFT + TAB Beginning of current field HOME End of current field END Line below in detail area Down arrow Line above in detail area Up arrow Next word in field CTRL + → Previous word in field CTRL + ←

 

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When it comes to your books (and just about everything else), it’s best to work smarter, not harder. Finding little tips and tricks to make your bookkeeping the slightest bit easier is like a little win each time you successfully maneuver your way through. Lucky for you, QuickBooks Online is plentiful with shortcuts that make your bookkeeping just a smidge easier each time you use one! Depending on if you’re a MAC or PC user, these shortcuts will be slightly different by only a couple keys. Don’t forget that these are specific for QBO, not QuickBooks Desktop. 

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One thing we love about QuickBooks Desktop is there is more than one way to do things. However, we know the most efficient and productive way for entering any and all information. Today we’d like to address writing checks and share our advice for the most convenient route for you, and they will also keep your books flawless!

1.   Set Up an Automatic Payment Schedule For Loans

QB is great for entering bills and writing checks to make loan payments each month. However, instead of going to the Enter a Bill or Write a Check windows, a more convenient route is to go to Banking, then Loan Manager, and then Set Up a New Loan. Once this is finished, click the Set Up Payment option to finalize. Now you’re on track for QB t

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When you’re a contractor, you work on multiple projects that need different accounts and we want to make sure the chaos doesn’t turn into confusion. To make sure everything is organized and you know exactly what’s going on in each account, we compiled a list of helpful tips.

1.      Set up your QuickBooks properly at the beginning. You will need a specialized Chart of Accounts and Items for your business. By doing this right the first time, you avoid the very time consuming task of having to clean up your books.
2.      Invest the time, money, and energy to set up QuickBooks to properly track Direct and Indirect Constructions Costs and keep Overheard separate.
3.      Use Estimates to your customers and Purcha

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Mistakes are likely happen in your bookkeeping, but it’s best if they don’t! We have a few common errors that can occur and how to avoid them. They’re easy to miss but also easy to fix. Sometimes it’s as easy as double-checking your entries and making sure numbers match up. When working on your books, be sure to keep your eye out for these five mistakes that can easily slip by unnoticed. 

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QuickBooks (QB) has this useful (and great) feature called “Class Tracking” that allows you track your income and expenses. We know what you’re thinking - another great feature?! QB is just too good to be true, we know, but the best part is that it is definitely, very much real. And it’s customizable! If you’re ready to go beyond account-based tracking (we recommend you do), we know just what you need.

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In our offices we spend our days on QuickBooks, both online and desktop. We’ve discovered different tips and tricks that help us complete our work and increase productivity due to how helpful and useful they are! These are useful not only to us, but also our clients. Take a look to see if one of these can make your QuickBooks experience the slightest bit easier!

1. Cheryl’s favorite tool for QuickBooks desktop is control F, which is the “Find” feature. This is super convenient when wanting to find amounts, names, or items within a specific account. 

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You don’t need a new year to make a change, you simply need a new day. If your 2017 accounting and bookkeeping didn’t go as smoothly as you had hoped, we have a solution – let us help you. 

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Mistakes can happen in your books, no matter who you are. It’s important to know why your mistake happened and how they can be avoided.

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The best thing any business can do is simplify and consolidate all their work into more manageable and efficient loads. This can seem like an impossible task but there are ways to do so, and we have the answers! Why overwork yourself when there are tools for you to use that will keep you motivated and energized during the work day instead of burnt out and dragged down? Below are four online tools every small and medium-sized business should utilize for maximum productivity and efficiency - we use/have used all of them!

Expensify.com

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Intuit has released information about the new features coming with QuickBooks 2018. The scheduled release date is September 26. Although we're excited for all updates coming in the latest version, here are the top five we are most anxious for:

1. Multi-Monitor Capability

The 2018 version now offers support for up to three monitors. This will allow you to move a task/report/register from your one monitor to another monitor. For example, you can have two reports open at once - one on each monitor. Or you might have an invoice on one monitor while you have a bill open on another monitor. This will be a definite enhancement to your productivity.

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At Skynar Bookkeeping, we utilize QuickBooks as our preferred accounting platform for many reasons. The first being it is the best accounting software for small and mid-size businesses—it is ranked number one among all other software for small business accounting. It is user friendly and can be used for any type of business. We strive to make our clients’ business lives easier and QuickBooks helps us do so.

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