Emailing Invoices.

Question:

To email invoices and statements do you have to purchase something additional besides having QuickBooks premier?

Answer:

No, QuickBooks Premier includes this function for invoices and statements.

To email invoices, find the invoice you are interested in so that it is on the screen. On the menu bar next to print, there is a button that says "Send". Click "Send" and follow the instructions.

Also you can send multiple invoices in one step by selecting "Send Batch".

To email Statements, follow these instructions:

If you have more than one customer to send statements to, you can have QuickBooks send the statements out in a single batch.

1. From the Customers menu, select Create Statements.

2. Select the customers that you want to create statements for.

3. Click View Selected Customers to verify your selection.

4. Click E-mail.

5. In the Select Forms to Send window, make changes as necessary.

6. Click Send Now.

Also...nice office address.

Backup Problem.

Question:

I have backed up a company file to a cd. It won't open because it says it's a read only, change file to read-writable. I can't figure out how to do this-- please help! Need info on new computer.

Thanks,

Harriett

Answer:

When you do a back-up in QuickBooks, it creates a .qbb file (for QuickBooks Backup) the working file uses a .qbw extension (for QuickBooks Working file).

Many people have this problem because they try and "use" the .qbb file.

What you need to do is go into QuickBooks and select Restore (File - Restore).

When the Restore window opens select the .qbb file from your CD in the upper box. In the lower box select where you want the new .qbw file to be located (on your new computer).

If this is the process that you followed, and you are still getting a read only error, then the backup may b corrupted and you will need to make a new one. Sometimes a USB drive works better than a CD.

"Slightly" Forgotton Password.

Question:

Help!
Is there any assistance for retrieving a slightly forgotten password on QuickBooks?

thanks!

Answer:

First I would try everything to remember my password (try using all of your other passwords).

If after exhausting this process you still cannot remember your password, then you will have to have QuickBooks remove it for you.

Here is a link to their Password Removal Service.

Even though you have only slightly forgotten your password, I think Intuit will still be obliged to charge the full $65.00.

I always try to keep a list of passwords in a secure location...this has proven to be helpful for me.

Reimburseing Employees.

Question:
I am very new to QuickBooks, but I have to ask this question.

How do I record a payment to an employee when that employee submits an expense report for expense he incurred on behalf of the company. Mileage or office supplies for example. Is the employee just a vendor just like any other. Thanks.

Carol in Augusta Maine

Answer:

In this case, your employee is in essence a vendor. However, if you are writing them a check, you don't have to set them up as a vendor if they are already an employee.

Simply bring up the check screen. Select the name of your employee and write the check as you normally would...classifying the reimbursement to the proper account.

Note: After selecting the name of the employee, you may get a message that says something like: "To pay employees, use the pay employee’s screen." If you are writing a reimbursement check only and not actually paying the employee...just cancel this message and proceed with the instructions above.

Bank of America Problem

Question:

I have several independent accounts set up in QuickBooks Pro 2004. I have been connecting to my bank via QuickBooks and downloading processed checks.

Recently, I got the message, “Your last on line connection was not completed. QuickBooks is having a problem recovering from this condition. Please contact Tech Support for on line banking.

I don’t get this message with all of my accounts. What happened?

I have contacted Bank Of America and they can’t help.

Answer:

I have gotten several variations of this question over the last few days. The common thread in all of them is Bank of America. I have not seen any question where another bank was involved.

It would seem then that either BOA is not sending the data properly or they are using a format that doesn't "agree" with QuickBooks.

I would keep pestering BOA to see if they can provide an answer. The key may be to find a support representative that speaks English and resides in one of the 50 states as opposed to Bangalore.

A/P Problems.

Question:

When I enter bills, it has a section at the top that says a/p account. It’s beside the bill/credit section. Is this supposed to be there? Whenever I enter the bill to the vendor whatever is in that a/p section is what prints in the check register as account monies to be paid from.
How do I fix this?

Answer:

To your first question, yes this is supposed to be there. Some companies use several A/P accounts for various reasons and this allows them to change between those accounts.

Secondly, I think you are worried for no reason. You see, when you enter a bill you are recording a payable and an expense (assuming that you are on an accrual basis). When you pay that bill you are satisfying the debt (bill) by crediting your cash account (writing a check)...so the register correctly records the check as going to the A/P account (so it doesn’t record the expense again).

This may be confusing, but it will work correctly.

Faxing Invoices.

Question:

I just bought a laptop in hopes that I could work while I was traveling. Our business (manufacturing custom mantels) requires that I fax invoices to certain builders but I do not know how to do this from my laptop. I have qb2005, please help!

Thanks
Brenda

Answer:

Unfortunately, QuickBooks does not have a mechanism that will allow you to fax directly from the program. You can however email invoices by clicking “Send” on the menu bar above where you enter invoices.

QuickBooks will automatically create the invoice as a .pdf file and send it to your customer along with a pre-formatted email message.

If this will not work for your customers, a more tedious option would be to email the invoice to your office…let one of your staff print it out and then have them fax it to your customer.

Windows ME Compatible?

Question:

Can you tell me whether QuickBooks Pro 2005 - PN 284456 is compatible with Windows Millennium Edition - I've heard yes and no and really don't want to upgrade my operating system .

Answer:

According to the QuickBooks website, 2005 is not compatible with Windows ME...So I would be leery of installing on that machine.

I had a machine a few years ago with ME on it, and I had considerable problems with it (Not with QB's though).

Has anyone used QuickBooks 2005 with Windows ME?

Tracking Expenses.

Question:

Hello,
I am starting a new company in the Portland, Oregon area. www.stainlesscablesolutions.com it is a stainless steel cablerail in fill company that uses sailing hardware and cable for decks interior and exterior.

I have quicken Premier and I can not figure out how to put my expenses into the program. It has bills on a cash basis or accrual but I do not know how to put just expenses in . I do not have bills just expenses I pay outright in full.

Any help would be GREAT!

Answer:

To track expenses, you simply need to classify your check to the proper account in the section below the check. Recording Bills will only help you track payables. It also will allow you to pay your bills more efficiently (ie. you can pay multiple invoices with a single check). However tracking bills is optional if this is not important to you.

Recording SBA Loan distributions.

Question:

I am in the process of opening a smoothies business and have secured a $150,000 SBA loan. The way that SBA works is that you (over a period of several months to 1 year max) take out disbursements to pay for your startup costs (including equipment, fees, tenant improvements, inventory, etc). The disbursements can be in uneven succession ($200, $40,000, $3583, etc). For the first year the SBA loan is setup as interest only on the portion dispersed and after one year it goes to principle and interest via a 7 year term. We are trying to figure out the best way to set this up in QuickBooks. We also need to be able to track the expenses that where incurred at startup (like construction costs and building permit fees). All of this did not come from us directly, but came from the SBA Loan. How do we then record an item as an expense when it was paid for via a loan disbursements? For example: When we go to record $5000 in fees for the building permit, QuickBooks asks what account it came from. The problem is that it wasn’t paid for via an account. The Bank cut the check directly to the city building department and thus we only have the receipt showing that the fee was paid.

Any suggestions would help.

Thanks

Answer:

Very good question. This is something that I’m sure many users face. How do you record an expense that was paid directly?

The problem is that QuickBooks really doesn’t have a mechanism to record these types of transactions. So ideally, you would run it through your bank account...but in your case that is not possible, so here is what you do.

You will need to record journal entries for the disbursements that came from the SBA loan. To do this follow this procedure:

1. Hopefully, you have a record of all the transactions in your SBA loan account. If you haven’t done so already, set-up the SBA loan account as a liability.

2. Open the journal entries screen. (Company - Make Journal Entries)

3. For each distribution, DEBIT the applicable expense account or asset account and CREDIT the SBA loan account. Be sure to enter thorough memos so that you and your accountant can track these things come tax time.

4. When you are done entering the journal entries, pull up your balance sheet and ensure that the balance you have in the SBA loan account matches your most recent statement.


Just for you information, if you were to receive a check from the SBA to deposit in your company account and then disburse funds yourself the process would be easier. This scenario would call for you to make a Funds Transfer (Banking - Transfer Funds).

Note: Just a word of caution, when recording the distributions from the SBA you need to be careful how you classify them. For instance you mentioned that you paid $5,000 for a building permit...I assume this means you are either building a building or remodeling one. In most cases that building permit fee would actually be a capitalized as part of the building or leasehold improvements not recorded as an expense. Also the IRS requires that you capitalize many of your start-up expenses as well. You should talk to someone familiar with your business and accounting.