positioning clients for year-end workshop objectives: how to best prepare our clients for their tax...

Positioning clients for year-end

Workshop objectives: How to best prepare our clients for their tax preparer How do we get QuickBooks “tax ready”? User Preferences and Company Information Clean up the QuickBooks database Becoming GAAP compliant Make financial reports more professional and readable

Pete Bornstein - BizPro Consulting - [email protected]


Basic infrastructureCorrect tax form in Company InformationReview User Preferences

Cash vs. Accrual agrees with tax form

Is Company Information correct? Tax Form, FEIN, Legal Name

Clean up chart of accounts Inactivate or merge unused accounts Account numbers, if used, should be categorized and progressive Use mixed case and meaningful “descriptions” Do NOT use list names in Account descriptions

Map each account to a tax lineProduce preliminary “tax” reports and review them:

Determine how the client’s tax preparer receives data Does the preparer work directly from an Accountant's Copy of the company file? Does the preparer ask for a copy of your QuickBooks company file, but send manual

journal entries back ? Does the preparer want only financial reports? If so, make sure the basis is correct.



Clean up the company file(s) Verify data. Rebuild if necessary. Clean up company data. Consolidate “old” transactions into

journal entries. Is it time to consolidate several company files into one?

Irvin Data Transfer Utility Irvin Check Utility for Payroll checks and for Sales Tax Liability payments

Or… do you simply need to combine reports from multiple companies:




Tools for company file cleanup

QuickBooks Client Data Review

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AuditMy Bookshttp://www.auditmybooks.com/AuditMyBooks Analyzer is a subscription software service that automatically double checks small business accounting records for problems. It is designed to work with QuickBooks, and is available in the Intuit App Center.

Scan, Verify and Tune

http://www.auditmybooks.com/

http://www.auditmybooks.com/

http://workplace.intuit.com/appcenter/moreInfo.aspx?AppID=3343



Download by clicking on the link below:

The QuickBooks Company File Diagnostic Tool is designed to help diagnose and repair damage within a QuickBooks company file. The tool targets damage which may prevent a company data file opening in QuickBooks.

Important: This tool is designed for US based versions of QuickBooks only.

There are currently three primary results of running the tool: Detection and repair of data damage that prevents the

file from opening The symptom\error will be resolved and full QuickBooks functionality restored.

Detection of data damage that prevents the file from opening Restoring a backup prior to the symptom, or pursuing Data Recovery services are the most common next steps when the tool can detect, but not repair Data Damage within a company file.

No detection of data damage

QuickBooksCompany File

Diagnostic Tool

Very useful if you have tried Rebuild and were not successful, or if you cannot open a company file

http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/pages/knowledgebasearticle/899095#stepone


Verify Tax Liabilities Is Sales Tax Liability correct?

Is Payroll Tax Liability correct? Depends upon payroll service used by client Insure that client’s Chart of Accounts is mapped to payroll service’s Chart

of Accounts Verify “Payroll Liability Balances” report

Are there other tax considerations? Multi-state tax districts Foreign tax liabilities Currency conversion considerations



Review 1099 Vendor AccountingStep-by-step wizard in the Vendor drop-down box:

Check for Name, Address, Tax Id, accurate coding of expenses as to whether they are eligible for 1099 tracking.

Issue W-9s for miscreant vendors. What if they don’t respond?

Note that reporting requirements may increase drastically in 2012 unless the Health Care Reform rider is repealed.

Issue W-9s and 1099s



Reconcile Bank accounts. Credit card accounts. Loan accounts. Are you using Loan Manager? Clear Undeposited Funds Uncategorized Income Uncategorized Expenses Offset Debit or Credit accounts from bank downloads Clearing accounts used by Bill.com in sync? Owner Draws or Investments Personal expenses vs. business expenses

Reconcile everything!



Clean up Inventory Physical Inventory and Inventory adjustments Inactivate or delete unused items Price or cost adjustments Clean up Price LevelsInventory Management



Prepare year-end Payroll reports W-2, W-3, 940, 941, 1096, 1099 Issue W-9s to 1099 vendors where SSN or FTID is not on

file The client’s payroll processor may prepare these. The client’s accountant or CPA may prepare these.

Prepare year-end Financial reports Profit and Loss Balance Sheet Cash Flow Profit & Loss Budget Performance Reports for the tax preparer: (if tax line mapping is complete)

Income Tax Preparation Income Tax Summary Income Tax Detail

Year-end reporting



BudgetsDoes your client currently have a budget?Does your client use their budget?Why have a budget?

Compare budget vs. actual at the line item level Red-flag accounts that need attention Conform to a business plan Demonstrates effective financial oversight Useful for strategic planning

Put your client’s budget versus actual financials “in the clouds” with webKPI - www.webkpi.com A few Meetup members are webKPI partners

Budget vs. Actual


http://www.webkpi.com/


“Miscellaneous” Check List Adjust any prepaid items, such as insurance, that need to be

expensed. Journalize any other accruals for year end that won't be paid until

the following year. Calculate and record amortization, depreciation, and any other

necessary year-end adjusting journal entries. Review your asset and expense balances to ensure that all fixed

assets have been accurately recorded for any purchases or selling of assets.

Update any changes in employee or sales tax rates for the New Year.

Ensure any prepaid deposits received from clients throughout the year are adjusted to earned revenue.

Review and update the business plan to include changes anticipated for the upcoming year as needed.

Check to see if any local licensing or permits need to be filed with year-end data.

Review memorized transactions to ensure they are still applicable for the New Year.

And, finally:

Schedule a time to review the information with your client to see if what you have done seems reasonable to them.

Review the year-end checklist in QuickBooks.

And some other stuff:


Join the National Advisor NetworkSan Francisco Bay Chapter

Share ideasDevelop professionalismLearn how to better serve our clientsCross-refer QuickBooks-related products and specialized servicesExchange technical information, tips and tricksDevelop solutions to complex QuickBooks issues and scenariosMonthly meetings and occasional national webinarsPrerequisites

You must be a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor or Intuit ISP You must be a Basic member of the National Advisors Network

Next meeting is here at 6pm on Tuesday, January 4Email [email protected] to be added to our mailing list

To join NAN, go to www.nationaladvisornetwork.comChapter information is on the above site


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.nationaladvisornetwork.com/

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