I've been searching and posting to multiple forums for quite some time to no avail. I will cross post a link to this thread on those forums to help out other people having the same problem. I hope your website can handle the traffic!
If I didn't have two CPA's for brothers I'd hire you on the spot. Unfortunately for me, neither of them use Quickbooks, so it is only Quickbooks quirks that I run into frequently. There should really be a warning in quickbooks "Do you really *really* want to make a general journal entry"!
I do use Quicken to track all my investments.
I'll modify my account structure to what you suggest.
Dave
Apr 15, 2015
Dave by: Lake
Glad you found my method helpful. If you have two brothers who are CPA, you may want to run my suggestions for your COA by them first ... just to make sure it is suitable for your circumstances.
Apr 15, 2015
Follow up by: Dave
Lake,
I will definitely check with my brother before proceeding with the changes to the books. Otherwise, I may void my support warranty!
In the spirit of "avoid GJ entries if possible", would it not be equivalent to use the record deposit window for recording income, recording the dividend income or investment income as the "from account"? Or would you stick with GJ entries just to be consistent?
Dave
Apr 15, 2015
Dave's Follow-up by: Lake
Yes Dave, it would. It is acceptable to enter bank deposits directly through the Make Deposit window (as opposed to using "Receive payments" in the Customer module) if the amount being received is not outstanding in your Accounts Receivable.
Apr 16, 2015
HST with Quick Method by: Dave
Lake,
So my books are all looking great after your suggestions (brother approved!).
I elected to use the Quick Method for HST this year. From reading your comments, I see you are not a fan of the quick method. But as a consultant I have extremely low overhead (read low ITC) versus my revenue, so using the Quick Method will add to my bottom line.
Now that the tax file is fixed up, I want to make sure to not mess it up again. So two questions for you.
First, HST paid on services (e.g. investment fees) would normally get captured as an ITC. But with the quick method doing so would throw off the Quickbooks tax file balance. What should the GJ entry look like for these services?
Second, at year end, what is the proper way to zero out the Quickbooks tax file when transferring the balance over as income?
Dave
Apr 16, 2015
Dave's Quick Method by: Lake
Yay! BROTHER APPROVED!!!
If you are using the Quick Method (and it is the right choice for some businesses) you need to read this forum posting (see first comment after the main posting) on how to calculate and record the Quick Method using QuickBooks here:
With regards your second question; "At year end, what is the proper way to zero out the Quickbooks tax file when transferring the balance over as income?" ... I'm not sure what you mean. If you are talking about the part of the ITCs you take into income, that's also covered in the link above.
May 13, 2015
Zero Out HST balance by: Dave
Lake,
Sorry about the tardy reply. Work has been busy!
If one is using the regular method, making the final payment at year end with"File Sales Tax" should result in a zero balance in the tax file.
With the quick method, at year end I make my last quarterly payment and (hopefully!) there will be a balance in the HST account that becomes income. So I am curious what type of QB transaction to use to transfer this balance over to "other income".