QuickBooks & Peachtree Shortcuts

powered by ODEO

Hi, I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Welcome to another in our series of “Quicklets” –informational podcasts about QuickBooks and related bookkeeping topics.

Today, we are going to talk about using shortcuts in QuickBooks.

As much as I love to work in QuickBooks, I appreciate anything that speeds up my work and lets me get done faster. With that in mind, I created a QuickBooks and a Peachtree shortcut guide several years ago. Recently, though I’ve discovered a few more tips that I hadn’t been using that can really speed things up.

The first one, I absolutely love. For people like me who live in Nevada, it can be a real pain filling in the “state” portion of addresses in QuickBooks drop-downs, as well as those on various web forms. Typing “N” brings up NE for Nebraska, while typing “NV” gives you Nebraska, then Virginia. What I learned only recently is that I can type N several times to cycle through all of the states that start with N. The same is true for T states or A states, or any others where your state isn’t the first one with that letter. This is much easier than typing an N and then using the down arrow to get to Nevada.

The second tip, I knew but had forgotten. While working in QuickBooks, you can press control and tab to move from window to window. For example; if I’m working in the check register and open a report over the top of it and then want to return to the check register, I can use control and tab to go back without having to close the report. When I’m cross-referencing several reports, this can be very helpful as I don’t want to have to run them in tiny windows or have to close and re-open them again and again to navigate between them.

One final shortcut in this quicklet, one that I use all the time, is the “Add to Icon Bar” feature. With whatever report, task, or window you might want to make a shortcut for open, simply click on the “View” menu and select “add “. . . “to icon bar.”
This will let you name the thing you want a shortcut for, select an icon for it, and place it on your top icon bar where you can access it with one click in the future. You can return to View and select Customize the Icon Bar if you would like to rearrange the order in which the icons appear. Go to blog.quickbooksgal.com for itemized instructions on how to do this.

I’ll give you a couple of examples of how I use this:

• Regularly Used Reports - As a bookkeeper and business owner, I keep a close eye on my Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable. I like to use the Open Invoice report and the Unpaid Bills reports. Rather than going through the steps to open these reports via the menus or find them in the Memorized Reports file, I just open them, make any changes I want to the layout of the report, then add them to my Icon Bar….now they are just a single click away.

• One-time, Repeat Activities - The second example is pretty specific to my practice: Bank Reconciliations. Very often I have to reconcile a client’s bank account(s) for many months. Quite often, I have to reconcile many months and many accounts. Since this is a repetitious activity, I put the Bank Reconcile to my Icon Bar. Once I finish, I remove that icon.


Adding Icons to the Icon Bar
1. Open the window that contains the feature or report you want to add.
2. Go to the View menu and click Add Window to Icon Bar, where window is the title of the window you are adding.
If the menu item is dimmed, make sure that the icon bar is displayed. Go to the View menu and click Add Window to Icon Bar again.
3. In the Label field, enter the text that you want to appear below the icon.
Choose a label that will help you recognize the icon, but avoid long names that will cause the icon to become too wide.
1. Open the Customize Icon Bar window.
2. Select the name of the icon that should appear before your new icon.
If you don't select an icon, your new icon will appear at the end of the icon bar.
3. Click the Add button.
4. From the alphabetical feature list, select the feature or report that you want to add.
5. (Optional) From the scrolling list, select an icon for the feature.
QuickBooks preselects an icon, but you can select a different one.
6. In the Label field, enter the text that you want to appear below the icon.
Choose a label that will help you recognize the icon, but avoid long names that will cause the shortcut to become too wide.
7. (Optional) Modify the Description that appears when you pause your mouse above an icon.


Are you backing up your data?



Next time: How to choose a QuickBooks Pro Advisor

Upcoming:
• What do you need to start a business? (Insurance, license, etc)
• Payroll – Ugh! I have a business with employees– now who wants a piece of me? (Social Security, Medicare, State Unemployment, FUTA, who else?)
• Using Credit Cards to pay bills, make purchases
• Converting Peachtree to QuickBooks
• Creating a new file in QuickBooks from an old one (Import lists vs. deleting transactions)
• Recording cash purchases and owner purchases/contributions
• QuickBooks Short Cut Keys
• QuickBooks Point of Sale – What’s new in 2007

Once a month, I will be dedicating a podcast to your questions.
Got a QuickBooks Mess? Got a QuickBooks question? Send it to me, The QuickBooks Gal, and I’ll try to include it in our monthly Q&A Quicklet!

Well, that’s it for now. I appreciate your time and hope you will join us again next time for another in our Quicklet© series. If there are topics you would like me to cover, send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. I welcome your ideas, questions, and comments.

Don’t forget to visit our website, www.quickbooksgal.com to learn more about me, the services we offer and our workshops. Look for an expanded workshop schedule in March.

I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Thanks for listening!

Jayne Miller is the owner of Custom Business Solutions, a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support.

Passwords & Security

powered by ODEO

Hi, I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Welcome to another in our series of “Quicklets” –informational podcasts about QuickBooks and related bookkeeping topics.

In my last Quicklet, I left you with a question:

How are Passwords and Bubble Gum alike?

• They are strongest when fresh
• They should be used by an individual, not a group
• If left laying around, they will create a sticky mess.
www.nativeintelligence.com

Thanks to the folks at nativeintelligence.com for that one. If you’re not using passwords, you should. If you are using QuickBooks and have multiple users, whether on a network or a single workstation and you have not assigned passwords to each user, you should.

One more consideration…if you are a business owner or an accounting supervisor, you especially need to assign passwords. It is extremely important that you are the Administrator for your file. Your user profile will be the only one who has total access to all areas of QuickBooks. I am always surprised when I visit a client who has one master password that all employees use. (One of the scariest things is to discover that the owner’s “public” password is also the one he/she uses for their bank account, their credit card pin, and other password-required access)

I immediately suggest that they create a new password known only to them, then create at least one new user named STAFF, for example and assign the old password or better yet, some new one that they like that will be used by the employees.
Even better, I encourage them to assign everyone their own password and user ID…this is especially useful when you use the audit trail.

Years ago, I had a client who called me in a panic. She and the bookkeeper had just gotten into an argument. Things had been bad recently and were escalating daily. The bookkeeper turned around in her chair to her computer and changed the Administrator password to a new word or number, then deleted the company file, and then, emptied the recycle bin. The business owner had never backed up her QuickBooks file and the only record she had was the copy the CPA had taken the year before (did I mention that this happened in March?)

If the business owner had been the administrator, the employee could not have changed the password. In addition, if the employees have specific user roles that are secured by the assignment of passwords and permissions, you can limit the damage they can do to your file, either by accident or intention.

In this particular case, the owner had zero security precautions. Please look at how vulnerable your data is. Investigate computer security and password protected access to assure that no one, even you, can cause such a loss.

Here’s how to add Users and Passwords in QuickBooks:

Only the QuickBooks Administrator can do this task.
1. Go to the Company menu, click Users, and then click Set Up Users and Roles.
2. Click the User List tab and then click New.
3. In the User Name field, enter the name of the person.
4. Enter a password in the Password field and again in the Confirm Password field.
5. Next you can either click OK to finish adding the new user or you can assign roles to the new user.
To do this task
1. Go to the Company menu and click Set Up Users.
2. Click Add User.
3. Assign a user name and password:
a. Enter the name of the person in the User Name field.
b. (Optional) Enter a password in the Password field and again in the Confirm Password field.
c. Click Next.
4. Choose whether this person will have access to selected areas of QuickBooks or all areas of QuickBooks.
5. Click Next.
 If you granted access to all areas of QuickBooks, you have no more selections to make. Click yes to confirm that you want this person to have full access. Click Finish to complete the setup process.
 If you are selecting the areas the user has access to, make your selections in the window. Click Next to go to the next window.
6. When the Changing or Deleting Transactions window opens, click Yes to the first question if you want the user to be able to edit and delete transactions in addition to creating them, and then indicate whether you want the user to have access to transactions from prior accounting periods.
7. In the last window, review the table that summarizes the access rights you granted. If you need to make a change, click Prev to return to the appropriate window.
8. Click Finish to complete the setup process.

Here’s how to set up users in QuickBooks:
Only the QuickBooks Administrator can assign access permissions and passwords to other users.
To do this task
1. Decide who the administrator will be. Choose someone who is usually available in your office.
2. Go to the Company menu and click Set Up Users.
3. In the User List window, select Admin and click Edit User.
4. Enter the name of the person who will be the Admin.
(Optional) Enter a password in the Administrator's Password field. Enter the password again in the Confirm Password field.
Why we recommend creating a password
5. Click Next and click Finish.
When assigning a new password, try to use password setting "best practices" such as the following:
 Include a combination of upper and lower case letters.
 Include a combination of letters and numbers.
 Make the password at least six characters long.
 Do not allow blank passwords or spaces.
 Do not allow passwords to be obvious, such as the user's name or the word "password".
 Change passwords on a regular, periodic basis to protect your data.

Remember, when you set up a new user, the most important thing to create an Administrator account, the highest level of access that only you can access. Even if you want your Bookkeeper, CPA or other accounting professional to access all areas of QuickBooks, they should not be the Administrator – assign a User Id for them with a password that allows access to all areas of QuickBooks after you have created the Administrator ID that only you can access!

In my last Quicklet, I addressed backing up your data. This story reinforces the importance of backing up. If you are not on a network with automatically scheduled data backup s (think small business or home based) get a flash drive or an external hard drive. ..They are inexpensive….and USE THEM on a regular basis! Back up daily….I back up every time I leave my desk….it only takes a few seconds.

One quick note: if you are using a flash drive, take it out of the computer and lock it up when you close your shop or office. Don’t leave it with the computer; back up and secure the flash drive.

I have had several calls in the past few months from folks whose computers crashed and they have lost all of their data…and, believe it or not, they have never backed up!

To schedule Automatic or Regular Backups in QuickBooks:

You must be in single-user mode to do this.
You have two options when scheduling local backups:
 You can schedule automatic backups that take place when you close your company file.
 You can schedule backups that take place at regular intervals, even when you're away from your desk. (Your computer must be on and your data file closed.)
Note: If you are using QuickBooks Online Backup, you must schedule your backups using that service.
To schedule automatic backups
1. From the File menu, click Save Copy or Backup to open the backup wizard.
2. Click Backup Copy, then click Next, then click Local Backup.
3. If you have not already done so, click Options to set your backup defaults (such as where you want to save your local backup) then click Next.
4. Click Only schedule future backups (to create a schedule without running a backup) and click Next.
5. Select the first checkbox and enter a number to specify how often you want your company file to be backed up. For example, to back up your data file every fifth time you close it, type 5 in the field provided.
The backup will be stored in the location you specified in the Set Backup Copy: Options window. To view or change this location, click Options.
6. Click Finish to close the wizard.
To schedule regular backups
Note: For the backup to take place, the computer you use to run QuickBooks must be on, but the company file you want to back up cannot be in use. Be sure to schedule your backups accordingly.
1. From the File menu, click Save Copy or Backup to open the backup wizard.
2. Click Backup Copy, then click Next, then click Local Backup.
3. If you have not already done so, click Options to set your backup defaults (such as where you want to save your local backup) then click Next.
4. Click Save and schedule future backups (to run a backup and create a schedule) or Only schedule future backups (to create a schedule without running a backup).
5. Click Next and in the Save Backup: When window click New.
6. Enter a Description for your scheduled backup.
7. Click Browse to select the folder where you want to store your backup copies. This can be on a network drive, or on local media.
8. Optionally, click the checkbox to Limit the number of backup copies in this folder and enter a number in the field provided. If you do not specify a number, QuickBooks saves all of your scheduled backups.
9. Click Set Password to open the Enter Windows Password window and enter the requested information. This provides permission to run the scheduled backup.
10. Select the time, frequency, and day for the backup to take place.
11. Click OK to return to the Save Backup Copy: Schedule window. The backup appears in the list in the Schedule backups: section.
12. Click Finish to close the wizard.

Suggested Backup Frequency:
Back up your company file at the end of each session or each day. You can:
 Have QuickBooks back up your company file when you close it without prompting you.
 Manually back up your company file. You can even have QuickBooks remind you to back up your company file each time you close it (or at whatever interval is convenient for you).
 Schedule automated daily backups either locally, or to a remote site by using QuickBooks Online Backup.
To find out more about QuickBooks Online Backup go to the File menu, click Save copy or backup, click Backup copy, click Next, and then click the Learn more about QuickBooks Online Backup link.
 A combination of the above (for example, schedule daily backups but manually run the backups you take offsite).
Which should I choose?
If you are backing up locally
If you back up locally and your hard disk has more than one drive, back up onto a different drive from the one where you keep your working data, or back up to a network drive. If you have only one hard disk drive, back up onto a removable storage device such as a USB flash drive, Zip disk or CD-ROM. Remember that an important purpose for backing up data is to protect against a hard disk failure.
1. Each day, back up onto removable media to keep in the office.
2. At least once a month, make a backup copy to keep off your premises.
3. At the end of your fiscal year, make a copy of your data to keep off-premises.

If you have questions about Passwords, User Accounts, User Roles or backing up in QuickBooks, drop me a line at jayne@quickbooksgal.com.






Next time: How to choose a QuickBooks Pro Advisor

Upcoming:
• What do you need to start a business? (Insurance, license, etc)
• Payroll – Ugh! I have a business with employees– now who wants a piece of me? (Social Security, Medicare, State Unemployment, FUTA, who else?)
• Using Credit Cards to pay bills, make purchases
• Converting Peachtree to QuickBooks
• Creating a new file in QuickBooks from an old one (Import lists vs. deleting transactions)
• Recording cash purchases and owner purchases/contributions
• QuickBooks Short Cut Keys
• QuickBooks Point of Sale – What’s new in 2007

Once a month, I will be dedicating a podcast to your questions. Got a QuickBooks question? Send it to me and I’ll try to include it in our monthly Q&A Quicklet!

Well, that’s it for now. I appreciate your time and hope you will join us again next time for another in our Quicklet© series. If there are topics you would like me to cover, send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. I welcome your ideas, questions, and comments.

Don’t forget to visit our website, www.quickbooksgal.com to learn more about me, the services we offer and our workshops. Look for an expanded schedule in March.

I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Thanks for listening!

Custom Business Solutions, is a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support.

February Update Quicklet

powered by ODEO
Hi, I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Welcome to another in our series of “Quicklets” –informational podcasts about QuickBooks and related bookkeeping topics. As a side note, I originally intended to name these little podcasts Podlets; however I recently learned that in Russian, PODLETS (Подлец) means SCOUNDREL. So, Quicklets it is!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve recorded a new Quicklet. Our office has been very busy with End of Year, W-2, and 1099 processing tasks. I hope some of my previous tips have been useful. In the coming months, I will address the changes in QuickBooks 2006 and 2007 and we’re going to talk more about QuickBooks Point of Sale 2007 (v 6).

Just recently, The QuickBooks Gal was mentioned on www.thetechgap.com.
I want to say thanks to those folks at that website, and to all of you who have visited my website & listened to my podcasts. I also teleconferenced with the folks at Intuit and am pleased to let you know that they will be carrying our Quicklet podcasts on their community site now.

One more news tidbit before we get down to business, next month The QuickBooks Gal will expand to Peachtree and Microsoft Office Accounting podcasts – PeachPods and MicroPods. I’ll have more information in my next Quicklet and will give you the location of the podcasts & blogs soon.


In my last Quicklet, I mentioned the CPA Technology Advisor magazine. As I continue to explore and rave about the new features in QuickBooks 2007, a recent article in that magazine about the Unit of Measure Conversion comes to mind. I don’t think I could cover this better than Doug Sleeter, owner & founder of the Sleeter Group of QuickBooks Advisors, did in his article. If you would like to find out more about the new features that he addresses, go to www.CPATechAdvisor.com/IntersectionLive/ColumnistCorner.

This month, Doug covers the following new features:
• Unit of Measure Conversion
• Improved Default Chart of Accounts
• Interface Improvements

Last month, he addressed:
• Accountant’s Copy Enhancements
• New Payroll features
• Google Search & Marketing Tools
• Shipping Manager Improvements

I won’t keep referring you to other sources forever, but sometimes a great resource is the best information I can pass on.



Are you backing up your data?


I know I have discussed this before, but it is so important, I have to go there again. If you are a QuickBooks user, it is critical that you get a method of backing up. I use a simple USB flash drive that can be purchased at any office supply store. A 512 MB drive holds the equivalent of 350 floppy drives. If you take a lot of pictures or store a lot of data that you wouldn’t want to lose, or if you are a practitioner with multiple client data files, you may want to purchase an external hard drive (USB connection). I have one with a capacity equal to that of my computer. I just plug it into the USB port and back up every time I access and affect any file on my computer. I can lock it up when I leave the office and know that my back up is complete and secure. When I originally purchased it, I backed up everything on my computer.


Once again, I want to remind you that 1099 and W-3 Federal copies must be mailed next week, February 28, 2007. You must postmark these by midnight.

One point worth mentioning: It’s a good idea to send those forms by Certified Mail; and on a related issue, be sure that you print the online receipt when you submit your 941 tax payments. If you call in the taxes, create a receipt form in Word or Excel that records your payments and the authorization number they give you. If you pay at your bank, get a receipt and keep it with your payment record.

Next time: How to choose a QuickBooks Pro Advisor
Passwords and security

Upcoming:

• What do you need to start a business? (Insurance, license, etc)
• Payroll – Ugh! I have a business with employees– now who wants a piece of me? (Social Security, Medicare, State Unemployment, FUTA, who else?)
• Using Credit Cards to pay bills, make purchases
• Converting Peachtree to QuickBooks
• Creating a new file in QuickBooks from an old one (Import lists vs. deleting transactions)
• Recording cash purchases and owner purchases/contributions

Once a month, I will be dedicating a podcast to your questions. Got a QuickBooks question? Send it to me and I’ll try to include it in our monthly Q&A Quicklet!


Well, that’s it for this week. I appreciate your time and hope you will join us again next week. Don’t forget to visit our websites, www.quickbooksgal.com and www.custmbiz.com for more information about me and our services. You can send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com if you have questions or would like to enroll in our weekly QuickBooks classes. We’ll be expanding our schedule and the classes offered in the Spring, so be sure to check our site often.

I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Thanks for listening!

Custom Business Solutions, is a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support.

1099 Printing Guide - QuickBooks

I've received several calls in the last few days from folks who still haven’t done their 1099s. With that in mind, I am posting an instruction sheet that I email to many clients. I hope you find it helpful.

1. Bring up a Quick Report for all vendors who are eligible for a 1099 and double check how you coded their checks. You will need to write down all the codes you used so you can “map” accounts later.
2. Make sure all vendors who are eligible for a 1099 are marked as Independent Contractors in their profiles and that you have their soc sec numbers or EIN listed in their profile.
3. Map accounts
a. EDIT
b. PREFERENCES
c. 1099
d. Select NON EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – BOX 7 to bring up the drop-down option
e. Scroll up to the top and select SELECTED ACCOUNTS
f. A new window will appear; place a check mark next to all the accounts you want to map (see #1).
g. Once you have finished, save & exit.

4. Go to REPORTS, 1099 SUMMARY and check the report to be sure that everyone appears and in the proper amounts under the heading Box 7, Non Employee Compensation.
5. If there are any balances under the uncategorized column, you have not captured all distribution accounts in the mapping process. Go back to #.
6. If all is correct, then I always run the 1099’s on blank paper first.
7. If this works, then print Copy B for vendors; Copy C for your files, Copies 1&2 for State Agencies, and Copy A for IRS, however I never print that copy until after Feb 15th because if you have to print more because someone calls and says they should have gotten one or that they have a new address, then you have wasted the forms and if mailed already, you have to submit a revised report to FEDS.
8. Keep in mind that if you run all 1099’s and don’t run the 1096 immediately, then run an individual 1099 later, you should re-run the entire list of 1099s before you attempt to print the 1096. QuickBooks remembers the last run’s total and will print a 1096 for the last run….maybe only the total of the one you ran since you process the batch.
9. Run the 1096 on plain paper before you print the Federal copy…again you are double checking the accuracy before you use the transmittal.
10. Mail the 1096 transmittal and copy A of the 1099’s to IRS no later than 2.28.07. You can find the correct address on the 1096 transmittal. Do not fold, staple or otherwise mangle these forms…use a 9x12 envelope and put plenty of stamps….you want this to get there on time!

I hope this is helpful. If you have questions, drop me a line at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. Don’t forget to listen to our podcasts and check out our websites at www.quickbooksgal.com and www.custmbiz.com.
Coming soon: Peach Pods (Peachtree) and Office Pods (Microsoft Office 2007 and Vista)!

Quick-Pod Backing Up Data

powered by ODEO
Hi, I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Today’s Quick-Pod is devoted to preserving your data. Too often, I get calls from clients or potential clients who have just suffered a computer crash and discover at this unfortunate that they don’t have a back up.

Many people are either intimidated by technology and the data backup process; others forget, are lazy, or just don’t understand the value of regular back ups. Here are some tips to prevent a catastrophe in your future.

1. Create a back up schedule – this should be a daily routine. If you process multiple client accounts, you should backup every time you access the client’s file.
2. Purchase a flash drive or CD’s so you can create a data backup on an external medium…. be sure to remove it from the computer at the end of the day…. if your computer crashes, you don’t want the disk to be corrupted or damaged in the process.
3. Purchase an external hard drive. I have one that uses a USB connection and is equivalent to my computer’s hard drive space. I back up to this drive regularly.
4. Make at least one complete backup of all the data files on your computer. Again, I suggest the external hard drive…you can get one for about $75 with a very large capacity.
5. Learn how to back up and create a disciplined routine.
6. If you are not using QuickBooks 2007, add the date to your data backups. An example of this would be to add 02.07.07 to the file name just before you save the file (ysabelscloset02.07.07.qbb).

I’ll be back soon with another Quick Pod. Thanks for listening. Visit my website at www.quickbooksgal.com or email me at jayne@quickbooksgal.com with questions or comments.

I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Thanks for listening.

Quick-Pod – Three Quickies

powered by ODEO
Hi, I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal and your host for another in our weekly series of QuickBooks and Bookkeeping Podcasts.

My company, Custom Business Solutions, is a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support. In addition, we now have an onsite classroom where we provide classes and hands-on training. Please visit our website, www.quickbooksgal.com, for information and schedules.

I hope you are enjoying my weekly Podcasts and finding useful information in every visit. I find that sometimes there are tips, referrals, and tidbits of information that come up during the week that I want to pass on to you, but they are not relevant to the Podcast’s topic. In an effort to avoid “rambling”, I am going to start a series of Quick-Pods this week….mini-podcasts devoted to these random tips, tricks, info blurbs, and referrals. I hope you like them…. let me know if you do, and especially if you don’t!

Today, I have 3 “quickies”:

1. There is a glitch in Peachtree’s February payroll tax table download. Every time you close Peachtree 2007, it triggers a command to install the February updates….very frustrating….I’m sure they are working on this. Just press Cancel to stop the operation.

2. QuickBooks ProAdvisors are a great source of QuickBooks training and technical support. Intuit is now offering Advanced Certification courses for those who are serious about providing quality support. Here in Reno, two Certified Pro Advisors recently completed the required training and now have Advanced Certification. Congratulations to Marie Gibson and Milton Granton! Look for my Advanced Certification in the Spring.

3. There’s a great magazine devoted to accounting and technology that I really appreciate. It’s called the CPA Technology Advisor. You can check them out at www.cpatechnologyadvisor.com. An annual subscription is only $48 and worth every penny. They have a wonderful website and excellent podcasts!


Well, that’s it for this week. I appreciate your time and hope you will join us again next week. Don’t forget to visit our websites, www.quickbooksgal.com and www.custmbiz.com for more information about me and our services. You can send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com if you have questions or would like to enroll in our weekly QuickBooks classes. We’ll be expanding our schedule and the classes offered in the Spring, so be sure to check our site often.

I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Thanks for listening!

W-2, 1099, and Quarterly Reporting – Last Minute Tips

powered by ODEO
Hi, I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal and your host for another in our weekly series of QuickBooks and Bookkeeping Podcasts.

My company, Custom Business Solutions, is a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support. In addition, we now have an onsite classroom where we provide classes and hands-on training. Please visit our website, www.quickbooksgal.com, for information and schedules.

Today I would like to talk one more time about W-2’s; 1099’s, Quarterly and Annual reports. All of these should be processed and mailed by now, but just in case you still have questions, I’d like to recap these processes and deadlines:


January 31st Deadlines

• State Unemployment Taxes & Forms should be completed, filed and liabilities paid by Jan 31st.
• Local returns and liabilities are usually due on the last day of January; check your local regulations.
• 941 4th Quarter 2006 report is due and should be postmarked by Jan 31, 2007.
• 940 Annual FUTA return is due and should be postmarked by Jan 31, 2007.
• W-2’s are due to be distributed to employees or postmarked no later than Jan 31, 2007.
• 1099’s (Miscellaneous, Interest, etc) must be postmarked no later than Jan 31, 2007.

February 28th Deadlines

• Federal copy - W-2; W-3 transmittal enclosed – postmarked no later than Feb 28. 2007. Mail these to Social Security Administration, Data Processing Center, Wilkes-Barre, Pa 18769.
• Federal copy – 1099 – 1096 transmittal enclosed – postmarked no later than Feb 28, 2007. Mail these to the Internal Revenue Service; use the address on the 1096 transmittal form that is designated for your state.

February Tasks

• Store 2006 payroll records
• Date stamp all reports listed above with the dates you mailed them
• Attach certified mailing receipts if applicable
• Download W-4 2007 form from irs.gov and distribute to employees and update payroll records with any changes to employee addresses or withholding data.
• Clean up payroll file in QuickBooks and make former employees inactive.
• Download W-9 form from irs.gov and mail to new subcontractors/vendors.
• Create a checklist for quarterly and end of year tasks; you’ve just completed these tasks, so now is a great time to create a spreadsheet or document with a checklist of these tasks, processing notes and deadlines so you will have a handy tool next year. You can modify the checklist for use on a quarterly and year-end basis. This is especially helpful if you have multiple clients…helps to assure you don’t forget anything.

This will be the last time we address this topic until next December. If you have any further questions, please send me an email and I will be very happy to answer or be of assistance.


Well, that’s it for today. I appreciate your time and hope you will join us again soon. Don’t forget to visit our websites, www.quickbooksgal.com, or www.custmbiz.com, for more information about me and our services. You can send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com if you have questions or would like to enroll in our weekly QuickBooks classes. We’ll be expanding our schedule and the classes offered in the Spring, so be sure to check our site often.

I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Thanks for listening!