QuickBooks Company File Setup and Introduction to Customizing QuickBooks

Transcription

1 QuickBooks Company File Setup and Introduction to Customizing QuickBooks Contents Welcome and Orientation... 2 Set up the QuickBooks File for Use... 3 Plan Your Customer and Vendor Lists... 4 Customer:Job List Considerations... 4 Vendor List Considerations... 5 A Short Introduction to Accounts, Items and Classes... 6 Brief Overview of Accounts, Items and Classes... 6 Consider What Accounts You Will Need... 6 Consider What Items You Will Need... 8 Consider What Classes You Will Need... 9 Consider Reporting Needs for Fundraisers Enter Opening Balances Start Date Opening Balances for Cash Accounts Opening Balances for Accounts Receivable Opening Balances for Accounts Payable Opening Balances for Restricted Grants Remaining Opening Balances Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 1

2 Welcome and Orientation Congratulations on your purchase of this QuickBooks Kit! You have decided to make an important investment in managing your organization s finances. The QuickBooks Kit contains three parts: 1. File Setup and Information Organizer (included below) 2. A QuickBooks portable company file using QuickBooks 2016 desktop software 3. Customizable Bookkeeping Documentation This document will give you the initial steps to install the QuickBooks portable company file template. It will also help you do some preliminary organizing of essential information you will need to set up your new QuickBooks file. Please contact us if you need assistance with any aspect of implementing your QuickBooks accounting system or if you have suggestions for improvement. We wish you the best. Carrie Schulz, CPA, MBA Carol A. Wilson, CPA, MBA Care Accounting Services Main: info@careaccountingservices.com careaccountingservices.com nonprofitaccountingacademy.com Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 2

3 Set up the QuickBooks File for Use Before you can start using your new QuickBooks file you must save it to your computer and open it by following the steps below: 1. Download the file QuickBooks Template and Documentation zip file. 2. Click the radio button next to Save File. 3. Navigate to your Downloads folder and double click to extract the files. You will see two files: a. A Word doc for Bookkeeping Procedures (ends in.docx) b. A QuickBooks portable company file (ends in.qbm) 4. Create a folder on your computer under My Documents called QuickBooks. Under the QuickBooks folder create a sub folder called QB Reference. Move the Bookkeeping Procedures document to this folder. 5. Create another sub folder under the QuickBooks folder and call it My Organization Name QB File. (Of course use your organization s name!) Move the QuickBooks portable company file to this folder. 6. Open QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit or any QuickBooks for PC version 2016 or newer. 7. Using the file drop down menu at the top of the screen, go to File > Open or Restore Company. 8. Choose Restore a Portable File > Next. 9. Navigate to the QuickBooks portable company file; click Open then click Next. 10. Navigate back to the same sub folder you created for My Organization Name QB File. 11. Type a new name for the file (usually your Organization Name) and click Save. 12. If requested, click Update Now to update the restored file to work with a newer version of QuickBooks. The QuickBooks company file will be converted then opened. Leave the file open so you can refer back to it as you go through the following steps. This file will become the QuickBooks file for your organization! Next steps: 1. Understand the Customer and Vendor lists. 2. Understand the three main lists QuickBooks uses to capture information about transactions. 3. Consider the accounts, items and classes you will need. 4. Set up opening balances. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 3

4 Plan Your Customer and Vendor Lists Customer:Job List Considerations The Customer:Job list in QuickBooks contains information about the people, companies, organizations and other entities from whom you receive money. Customers can include donors, clients and members. Each customer must be assigned a Customer Name which is used to select the customer from a drop down list on transaction entry forms. Separately within each customer record you can enter details such as the name of the company or organization, the first and last name of the contact person, the address and other important information. The Customer Name list is sorted in alphabetical order. For names of individuals, we prefer a naming convention of Last Name, First Name. However you may use First Name, Last Name if you prefer. Just decide on a naming convention and be consistent. Be careful not to duplicate Customer Names. If you set up Smith, Andy as a Customer Name and then later create a second Customer Name of Andrew Smith, you will end up with duplicate entries. That is one reason why a consistent naming convention is so important. If you end up with duplicate entries, you can merge the two names together. Search in Help from the QuickBooks drop down menu for Merge 2 customers (or simply google it). Set up Customer Names and Jobs for restricted grants. For example, if you receive a restricted grant each year from United Way your customer list may look like this: United Way UW Grant UW Grant Each grant is set up as a Job in QuickBooks and shows as indented under the parent Customer Name. Using the above format, create a list of your current granting organizations and agencies and any open or soon-to-be-received grants. Keep the grant Job names short. You may wish to include the year of the grant and an abbreviation of the grantor name. Use your list to set up the Customer Names and Jobs in QuickBooks. Follow the instructions in the Bookkeeping Procedures document that comes with this Kit under the section called Restricted Grants. Another useful Customer Name to have is Anonymous. Use this Customer Name for donations where the donor is unknown or wishes to remain anonymous. If you have your current customer information in Excel, a handy way to add them quickly is to go to the drop down menu in QuickBooks and click on Lists > Add/Edit Multiple List Entries. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 4

5 First set up one customer record using the Edit Customer window from the Customer:Job list so it shows up in the Add/Edit Multiple List Entries window. Use this customer record as an example to help you customize which fields appear in this window and the order of the fields so it looks like your Excel spreadsheet. Then you can copy and paste from Excel into QuickBooks to enter customer information quickly. Vendor List Considerations The Vendor list in QuickBooks contains information about the people, companies and organizations from whom you buy products and services. Each vendor must be assigned a Vendor Name which is used to select the vendor from a drop down list on transaction entry forms. Separately within each vendor record you can enter details such as the name of the company or organization, the first and last name of the contact person, the address and other important information. The Vendor Name list is sorted in alphabetical order. For names of individuals, we prefer a naming convention of Last Name, First Name. However you may use First Name, Last Name if you prefer. Just decide on a naming convention and be consistent. Be careful not to duplicate Vendor Names. If you set up Smith, Andy as a Vendor Name and then later create a second Vendor Name of Andrew Smith, you will end up with duplicate entries. That is one reason why a consistent naming convention is so important. If you end up with duplicate entries, you can merge the two names together. Search in Help from the QuickBooks drop down menu for Merge 2 vendors (or simply google it). Be aware of vendors to whom you must send a 1099-MISC form in January. Request a completed W-9 form before you pay the vendor. Set up vendors as 1099 vendors in QuickBooks in the Edit Vendor window on the Tax Settings tab. Then you can run reports on payments to 1099 vendors. You can also print or e-file 1099-MISC forms from QuickBooks in January on preprinted 1099 paper stock. If you incur expenses to a variety of gas stations and/or restaurants, you may wish to set up a generic vendor name called Gas Station and another for Restaurant. That way you will not add so many names to your vendor list. If you import debit or credit card transactions from your bank, the specific vendor name will be included in the downloaded information. Or you can type the specific vendor name in the Description field if you are manually adding the transaction. You can also set up a vendor name for each employee of the organization who receives expense reimbursement checks. Sometimes expense reimbursements are added to paychecks. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 5

6 If your payroll system accommodates this approach then that is fine. If you separate the expense reimbursement from the paycheck and make a separate reimbursement check payable to the employee s Vendor name (not the name on the Employee list in QuickBooks) then you will be able to easily look into the Vendor Center for a record of expense reimbursements. A Short Introduction to Accounts, Items and Classes Brief Overview of Accounts, Items and Classes QuickBooks has three main lists to help you classify transactions you enter. 1. Chart of Accounts This is the list you are probably most familiar with. It includes accounts for income such as contributions and accounts for expenses such as salaries or supplies. It also includes accounts for assets, liabilities and net assets. All transactions in QuickBooks are recorded to an account. Sometimes accounts are referred to as categories. 2. Item List Items are primarily used on sales receipts or invoice forms to record income. Each item is linked to an account in the chart of accounts. You can bypass the use of items and post deposits directly to a bank account, but then you lose the ability of QuickBooks to deliver amazingly beautiful reports on your organization s sources of funds and donors. 3. Class List Classes are used to track functional expenses which include programs, management & general expenses and fundraising expenses. In QuickBooks you can also track income using classes. Assigning transactions to classes is optional. Some organizations choose not to use class coding in QuickBooks. Instead they break out their functional expenses for 990 and audit purposes using Excel. Coding by class has many benefits including helping you understand how your organization works and better management information. Consider What Accounts You Will Need The QuickBooks file you opened above already has a chart of accounts that has been developed over many years of working with a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. You can open the Chart of Accounts by clicking the Chart of Accounts icon in the top right part of the Home screen or click on the Lists drop down menu and select Chart of Accounts. You can see all the accounts in context is by running the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss reports and displaying all possible account lines. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 6

7 To preview all the income and expense accounts available, run a Profit & Loss report and modify it to show all accounts: 1. Return to the QuickBooks company file you were instructed to leave open in the section called Set up the QuickBooks File for Use. 2. Click on the icon called P&L in the icon bar in the top center of the QuickBooks company file. 3. Click on Customize Report in the top left corner. 4. Click Advanced 5. Under Display Rows, click the radio button next to All. 6. Click OK, then OK again to close the dialog boxes. You should now see a Profit & Loss report with all possible accounts showing. Ignore the accounts that end in - Other. These accounts are a repeat of the parent account and will not appear in your actual report unless you have coded a transaction to parent account (which you should avoid doing). Now you can scroll down the report and see all the accounts that are already set up for you to use. You may want to print this report and use it to make notes about any accounts you wish to add or delete so you can customize the chart of accounts for your organization. You can also run a balance sheet report with all accounts showing by following the same steps above. Start by clicking on the icon called Bal Sheet right next to the P&L icon. The chart of accounts is the backbone for the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports. Strive to create the minimum number of accounts necessary as each new account makes these reports longer. For example, we have combined the accounts for bank fees and merchant fees into one account called Bank & Merchant Fees. Do not set up accounts for specific vendors such as one for PayPal Fees and another for Square fees. Likewise do not set up accounts for specific donor names. Accounts should help you organize categories of transactions. There are better ways to track transactions by specific customers and vendors. In the Profit & Loss report click the Collapse button in the top center part of your screen. Notice it condenses to a much shorter report based on the parent/sub account relationships. A more condensed report is great for your board or for a higher level management view. You can click the gray arrows to the left of each parent account to selectively expand a particular section. Or you can click the same button again which now says Expand to expand the entire report again. The parent account groupings were designed to work well with management as well as 990 and audit report categories. Keep this framework in mind as you customize the chart of accounts. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 7

8 You want an account structure that produces good reports in both expanded and condensed formats for management, 990 and audit purposes. Consider What Items You Will Need The QuickBooks file you opened above already has a list of items that has been developed over many years of working with a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. You can open the Items List by clicking the Items & Services icon in the top right part of the Home screen or click on the Lists drop down menu and select Item List. After you start using items in transactions you will be able to run many useful reports based on items. For now simply look through the items list, noting the parent/sub item groupings which help keep the items organized. You can export the Items List to Excel or print a report of items using the buttons at the bottom of the list. You may need to add Program Service items. This QuickBooks file contains one Program Income item to help you get started. If your organization charges fees for services, you can set up an item for each fee-based service you provide. For example, maybe you provide health services so you would want items for basic screening and other health related services. Refer to your organization s master list of services and fees or look at examples of client invoices or sales receipts currently in use. You can also create items for merchandise you sell. This Kit does not cover managing Inventory type items. If you sell merchandise you can use Non-inventory Part type items. Be aware you may need to collect sales tax on merchandise you sell. If you have questions about tracking physical inventory or sales tax, please contact us. For detail instructions on how to set up items see the section called Customize Item List in the Bookkeeping Procedures document which you downloaded and saved as part of this Kit. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 8

9 Consider What Classes You Will Need We use classes in QuickBooks to record income and expenses by functional area (programs, management & general and fundraising). Use the blank form following the example below to organize your program areas. You will need to set up a class in QuickBooks for each program you wish to track separately. For detail instructions on how to set up classes see the section called Customize Class List in the Word file Bookkeeping Procedures document which you downloaded and saved as part of this Kit. Organization Name: Harmony Help Center Example of Defining Main Programs Organization mission statement: Serve the people in Harmony County by helping those in crisis regain stability and self-sufficiency via a network of compassionate people and organizations. In the example below, Harmony Help Center has two main program areas: 1) Emergency Shelter and 2) Counseling Services. Counseling Services has two sub programs: Call Center and Case Management. While the organization wishes to track Call Center separately from Case Management for internal management purposes, it plans to present only two main programs, Emergency Shelter and Counseling Services in its Form 990 and audited financial statements. Short Program Name - Description 1 Emergency Shelter Provide shelter to homeless individuals and families in area hotels 2 Counseling Services Various counseling services 3 Call Center Run emergency call center to provide initial assessment of needs and match with community resources 4 Case Management Guided transition back to selfsufficiency Sub Program of Class Name in QB (Keep short) Track for management purposes? Track for 990 and audit presentation? N/A Shelter Y Y N/A N/A N Y Counseling Call Center Y N Counseling Case Mgt Y N Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 9

10 Based on the above table of programs, Harmony Help Center needs to customize the Class List in QuickBooks to show three program class names under the parent class 10-Progs: Shelter, Call Center and Case Mgt. TIPS: 1. Keep class names in QuickBooks short. Short names are easier to see in drop down boxes on the various forms. 2. Consider if you really need sub classes for programs. If desired, Harmony could set up a parent class for Counseling and then set up two sub classes for Call Center and Case Mgt. However we generally recommend against setting up additional class levels below the parent class 10-Progs. It makes data entry more error-prone since now you have the option of selecting a parent class when you should only select one of the lowest level sub classes. It also makes the P&L by Class report wider and hence more difficult to read. You cannot collapse the P&L by Class report horizontally. 3. Minimize the number of programs. The more programs you have the set up in QuickBooks the more complicated it becomes to enter transactions. Try to think in terms of broad program areas 4. Consider how program classes in QuickBooks align with restricted grants. Ideally both your major program areas and restricted grants will align with the classes you set up in QuickBooks. Use the blank table below to list your organization s programs: 1 Short Program Name - Description Sub Program of Class Name in QB (Keep short) Track for management purposes? Track for 990 and audit presentation? Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 10

11 Consider Reporting Needs for Fundraisers We use the term fundraiser interchangeably with special event to mean an event that is held primarily to raise money for the organization. You will need to set up QuickBooks for each special event you wish to track separately. See the section called Special Event Income and instructions on customizing accounts, items and classes in the Bookkeeping Procedures document. Use the form below to list your special events and fundraisers before you customize QuickBooks. Event Name Event Date or Month Approximate Gross Revenue If event gross receipts exceed $15,000 in total for the year, Form 990 or 990-EZ requires you to complete Schedule G for each event grossing over $5,000. Therefore we recommend separately tracking each event with anticipated gross receipts over $5,000. One Main Event If you hold one special event each year you can edit the account names in the chart of accounts section for Special Event #1 to reflect the event name. In this case you would only need to use class 60-Special Events on transaction entries into QuickBooks so you could delete the sub classes for Event #1 and Event #2. If your main event changes from year to year or if it occasionally changes, you can make the accounts reflect a more generic name such as Special Event or Fundraiser. Multiple Events If you have multiple special events, you will need to consider how you want to track the individual events. You have several options which are summarized in the table below. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 11

12 Approach Works best with Track detail income and expenses using: Track separate events using: Entering budgets for events in QuickBooks Biggest advantage Biggest disadvantage What do we recommend Approaches in QuickBooks If You Have Two or More Special Events Use Detail Accounts Use Classes Use Items Set up a section in the chart of accounts for each event with detail sub accounts. One or two major events each year Accounts or also use Items to track specific kinds of income Use same accounts in the chart of accounts for all events; use sub class under 60-Special Events for each event. Two or more events Accounts or also use Items to track specific kinds of income Accounts Classes Items Entering a budget for each event is easy since budgets are set up by account. Intuitive and easy to understand Chart of accounts is longer which means more potential data entry error; P&L and related reports will be longer. You can run P&L in collapsed mode or collapse sections of the P&L which helps presentation. Use for one or two events. You can use items instead of accounts for sources of income so you may not need as many accounts. Budgets for separate events must be set up by the particular class or keep separate event budgets in Excel. Chart of accounts stays shorter and requires less maintenance resulting in fewer data input errors and better reports P&L by Class report gets wider with more classes. Unfortunately you can t collapse the P&L by Class horizontally on parent classes. You can export to Excel and manipulate the report there to reduce the columns. This approach is popular since it is intuitive, as long as you don t mind the disadvantage above. Use one set of accounts for all events and use items to track each event. Two or more events Items for income and two-sided items for event expenses Budget numbers can only be entered for all events in aggregate. You can keep a budget for each event in Excel. Keeps the chart of accounts and class lists the shortest which results in best P&L and P&L by Class reports. Cannot enter budget by individual event in QB. Also people entering expenses forget to use the Items tab; instead they use the Expenses tab like they do for regular expense transactions. It s good to keep the chart of accounts and class list as short as possible, as long as you can handle the disadvantages above. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 12

13 You may also combine approaches, such as creating two sub classes for events one for a flagship event and one for all other events and relying on items or accounts to further break out detail by event. Besides the accounts related to Special Event #1, we also added two accounts, Other Special Event Income and Other Special Event Costs to accommodate miscellaneous small special events. Please do not set up accounts for every little event. Be parsimonious with setting up new accounts! Enter Opening Balances If your organization was in operation prior to the current fiscal year, you will need to enter opening balances into QuickBooks which are the balances as of the last day of the prior fiscal year. At a minimum, you need to enter the balance sheet account amounts. If you wish, you can also enter the prior year profit and loss numbers so you can run comparison reports to the prior fiscal year in total. Note this guide does not cover setting up opening balances for inventory items or sales tax. Please contact Care Accounting Services if you need additional help. Start Date The start date is the date you select to begin using QuickBooks for day-to-day transactions. It could be the first day of your fiscal year or it could a date later in the year. If you are starting QuickBooks midyear you may wish to pick a start date such as the first day of the current calendar quarter. Then you can make summary entries or detail entries or a combination of both for the transactions that occurred from the beginning of the year to the last day before the start date. Opening Balances for Cash Accounts To enter the opening balance for cash accounts, first gather the bank statement(s) that ended in the last month of the last fiscal year and the bank reconciliation(s) for that month. Each physical bank account should have a corresponding QuickBooks bank account. Do a journal entry to record the ending balance(s) per the bank statement: 1. Go to Company > Make General Journal Entries 2. Enter the journal entry date as the last day of the prior fiscal year. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 13

14 3. On the first line of the journal entry select the first bank account from the drop down box in the Account field 4. Enter the ending balance per the bank statement in the Debit column. 5. In the Memo field write something such as Set up opening bank balance. 6. After entering a journal entry line for each bank account balance, on the last line select account Unrestricted Net Assets. Enter an amount in the Credit column equal to the total amount(s) in the Debit column. 7. Click Save & Close. 8. Next enter each check that was outstanding as of the last day of the prior fiscal year per the bank reconciliation(s) using the date of the original check. a. Go to Banking > Write Checks. b. Uncheck the To be printed box if it is checked. c. The Date should be the date the check was written in the prior fiscal year. d. Enter the payee name, check number and check amount. e. Below the check form on the Expenses tab select account Unrestricted Net Assets from the drop down list. Enter the entire check amount in the Amount column on this line. f. In the Memo field write something such as Set up outstanding check. 9. If applicable, also enter each deposit in transit. a. Go to Banking > Make Deposits. b. Select the correct bank account from the drop down box next to Deposit To. c. Enter the original date of the deposit in the prior fiscal year. d. In the From Account column, select account Unrestricted Net Assets from the drop down list. e. In the Amount column, enter the deposit total. You do not need to list each line of the original deposit separately; only create one line for the total deposit. When you are finished, run the balance sheet report by clicking the Bal Sheet icon or go to Reports > Company & Financial > Balance Sheet Standard and changing the report date to Last Fiscal Year. Confirm that the cash balances agree to the balances as of the end of the last fiscal year in the old accounting system. Opening Balances for Accounts Receivable You will need to enter each open pledge, grant or other receivable as of the end of the last fiscal year. (See also Enter or Import Customer and Vendor Lists. ) 1. Go to Customers > Create Invoices. 2. Select an appropriate invoice template such as the My Org Pledge Invoice for pledges. 3. Set up the invoice with the same information as the original invoice: Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 14

15 a. Select a Customer:Job from the drop down list. b. Select the appropriate receivable account from the Account drop down list. c. Enter the original invoice number. d. Make the date the original invoice date. e. Enter the invoice due date (or pledge payment due date if a pledge). f. Select one or more items from the Item drop down list as appropriate and enter the corresponding Amount and Class. If originally you had one lump sum invoice for a pledge receivable with multiple payments you may wish to break the pledge apart into multiple invoices, one for each pledge payment with the corresponding due date. Use invoice numbers that keep the original invoice number as the root and append a number such as XXXX-1, XXXX-2, etc. If a receivable is partly paid, only enter the balance remaining. You may wish to make a note in the Description or Memo fields regarding the original invoice. After opening balances for receivables are set up, enter any payments received in the current fiscal year. See Unrestricted Pledges in the Word file Bookkeeping Procedures-NPO Level 3- Large Established-QB 2016.docx which you downloaded and saved as part of this Kit. Opening Balances for Accounts Payable You will need to enter each vendor bill that was still unpaid as of the end of the last fiscal year per your prior bookkeeping system. (See also Enter or Import Customer and Vendor Lists above.) 1. Go to Vendors > Enter Bills. 2. Enter each vendor bill that was open as of the prior fiscal year end. 3. The important fields to enter are Vendor, Amount Due and in the lower part of the screen the expense or other accounts as per the original bill 4. If a bill is partly paid, set up only the remaining balance due. You can set up payroll liabilities as a regular account payable to the vendor name United States Treasury. After opening balances for payables are set up, enter any payments made in the current fiscal year. See Vendor Bills under the Expenses section of in the Word file Bookkeeping Procedures-NPO Level 3-Large Established-QB 2016.docx. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 15

16 Opening Balances for Restricted Grants Set up unspent restricted grants as of the end of the prior fiscal year, if any, so you can use QuickBooks to run a report on the grant amount received and expenses charged to the grant. Create a sales receipt to record the grant dated in the prior year. See the section in the Bookkeeping Procedures called Restricted Grants under the section Recording Contributions (Other Than Gifts-in-Kind). Deposit the sales receipt to the operating account using a date in the prior fiscal year. Create a check on the operating account dated in the prior fiscal year to record all expenses attributable to this grant through the end of the prior fiscal year. You can use one check to a vendor named Accountant Use Only Vendor to denote a summary entry. Make the check amount the total spent on the grant so far. If you wish to break out the account lines of the expenditures (for example, part spent on program supplies and part spent on salaries) that s OK, or you can pick an expense account to enter a summary entry if you have the detail outside of QuickBooks. Refer to the section called Grant Expenses under the Expenses section of the Bookkeeping Procedures. Go to Company > Make Journal Entries and create a journal entry to offset the effect of the above transactions. The journal entry will credit the operating account cash and debit the income account affected for the sales receipt amount, and it will debit operating account cash and credit the expense account(s) used on the above check in the amount of the check. When you do the first bank reconciliation you can mark these transactions as cleared. They should all offset each other and net to zero effect for all accounts. Create a memorized report to track the restricted grant expenditures. See Grant Reports under the Useful Reports section of the Bookkeeping Procedures. Remaining Opening Balances After you have entered bank balances, outstanding checks, deposits in transit, open receivables, open payables and any restricted grants in progress, you can now do a journal entry to enter the remaining account balances as of the end of the last fiscal year. Print a trial balance as of the last fiscal year end at Reports > Accountant & Taxes > Trial Balance. At this point you should see correct balances for cash accounts, receivable accounts and accounts payable. If any of these balances do not agree to the ending balances under the old accounting system, investigate and make corrections. You will also see amounts in various other accounts. If you want to set up the income and expense amounts as of the end of the last fiscal year, determine the difference you need to add Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 16

17 to each account to bring it to the correct amount. Otherwise, you will be making an entry to zero out each of the profit and loss accounts. Create a journal entry for the remaining amounts: 1. Go to Company > Make Journal Entries 2. If the trial balance shows a debit balance, enter the same amount as a credit balance to zero out the account or vice versa. 3. On the subsequent lines select each remaining account that needs to have its balance adjusted including the remaining balance sheet accounts and the profit and loss accounts, and make an entry to bring the balance to the actual ending amount. 4. On the last line select Unrestricted Net Assets and enter the amount needed to balance the entry. 5. Instead of coding the entire amount to balance the entry to account Unrestricted Net Assets, you can also code amounts to Temp Restricted Net Assets or Perm Restricted Net Assets if applicable and if you know what those amounts are. 6. Save the entry without closing it by clicking the Save button at the top. 7. At this point run a new trial balance as per the instructions above, or run a Balance Sheet report and Profit & Loss report to compare to the prior fiscal year ending numbers. You can click the icons for these reports in the Icon bar and in the Date drop down box select Last Fiscal Year. 8. Compare the ending balances in the new QuickBooks file to the ending balances from the old accounting system. At this point the numbers should agree. If not, make any corrections needed or call Care Accounting Services if you need more help. Updated 5/2/ Care Accounting Services Page 17