Does anyone use online Quickbooks? Another update post 37

[debthaven]

Update: DH and I had a 1h phone conversation with a screenshare with a QB person, and it worked! I'm extremely relieved they were able to undo what I'd done, even if it does mean I have to start over. I said, I thought you weren't allowed to purge the account? She said, I'm not, but you purged all the bank card info, that's the problem. 

The QB person also sent me a link to their online tutorials. I promised her I'd watch them before I try again. She answered a few of DH's questions.   

She also told me that I'd actually categorized everything properly, I just did it in the wrong "section" (ie under "bank CARD" instead of under "bank ACCOUNT"). So maybe there is hope for me yet?!

DH and I will do it together until everything is up to date/I get the hang of it. There is a backlog but it's not huge. She warned me NOT to watch tutorials for the US or Canada anymore, because each country's Quickbooks is specific to that country's laws. Good to know. She may have been laughing inside, but if she was, she did a great job not showing it.

We'll try again this weekend. 

 

[TheOtherMe]

It will be fine.  If all you had incorrect was bank CARD instead of bank ACCOUNT, you can do this. 

[debthaven]

Thank you TheOtherMe ! That means a lot coming from you.

The problem was that once I realized my mistake, *I* was not able to undo it myself. On the other hand, I get it.

The QB person said, you both have an accent. Would you prefer to do this in English? We NEVER say yes to that (ie, generally to the other person's TERRIBLE English.) This woman's English was perfect, zero accent.

DH was smart enough to ask, that depends. Are you a native English speaker or a native French speaker? She said, I'm both, I'm bilingual.

At that point we both said YES ENGLISH PLEASE. LOL!

And on the phone conversation today, we all went back and forth between both languages (because obviously QB France is in French, but that was NOT the issue).

I wish we had been asked to rate her performance today, like we often get asked to rate anybody that we have a 1 min interaction with. 

At the end of the conversation, DH asked her, you speak perfect English and perfect French. Would it be rude to ask where you are situated? She said not at all, I'm in the UK, but I'm French too, and I'm a French "QB Expert" in both English and French. She even told DH which city she lives in, but I don't remember.

Wow!!!

[taz157]

Debt - Generally being able to see what’s actually happening is soooooooooo much better than explaining it over the phone. I’m a more visual person anyway. Forgetting Bank CARD and Bank ACCOUNT issue, if get the other part correct, that’s great! When I worked in public accounting, some wouldn’t get the correct account selected and it would be in accounts it shouldn’t be (ie, charity instead of advertising, travel instead of distributions, etc).

What is your first language and DH’s first language? FWIW, I speak English solely and can understand a tiny bit of Spanish (if written or spoken slowly).

[debthaven]

taz157 the problem is that once you've realized you've categorized something incorrectly, YOU can't change it yourself (well that's the case as far as I've gotten).

I am American (from NY), DH is British (from London). So definitely both native English speakers! Neither of us are native French speakers but we've both been here for a LONG time so language is generally not an issue. I think this is literally the first time in 30 years we both said YES ENGLISH PLEASE!!!

[bookkeeper]

One tip I would suggest is to name your accounts very distinctly.  Such as:

CHECKING-MEGABANK

MASTERCARD-LOCALBANK

SAVINGS-ONLINE BANK

Try to avoid creating categories with similar sounding names.  Edit the categories that you will not use, that way you are not scrolling through all the choices the program suggests.  The more descriptive you are with your data entry, the better information you can get from your reports.

Good luck, you'll get there.

[debthaven]

bookkeeper we never even named the categories, QB did LOL.

Thank you! I hope so LOL.

[debthaven]

Update:

I THINK I have been doing this correctly (after a HUGE amount of trial and error from someone who went to a math/science HS that is in the news these days for all the wrong reasons AND who has an ABD PhD in American Poetry).

A question: when QB asks me if I want to create a "rule", I always say NO, because we are still waiting for DH's accountant to vet everything. (His lack of availability is another issue.)

It seems to me that QB decides to offer me the option to create a "rule" any time I've done something twice.

I ALWAYS refuse. Should I let it? I am guessing that refusing is creating more work for myself. I had decided NOT to accept "rules" without our accountant's confirmation that I was doing this correctly. And he's not answering. 

What happens if I create a "wrong" rule? Is it easier to correct any errors if I DO or DON'T have "rules"? 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Miss Tequila]

Mar 21, 2019 20:41:11 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Update:

I THINK I have been doing this correctly (after a HUGE amount of trial and error from someone who went to a math/science HS and has an ABD PhD in American Poetry).

A question: QB often asks me if I want to create a "rule". I always say NO, because we are still waiting for DH's accountant to vet everything. (His lack of availability is another issue.)

It seems to me that QB wants to create a "rule" any time I've done something twice.

Should I let it? If I'm wrong about creating a "rule", is it easier to correct if it's NOT a "rule"?

Any help would be appreciated.

I never used quickbooks online until about 2 months ago. I despise it and we are looking for a more robust accounting software. Having said that, I do have two months under my belt

The only time I’ve seen it ask to make a rule is on a bank download. For example, the one company we have sell lottery tickets so on the data the rule is deposits are always treated as lottery commissions. That is a valid rule and one that will never change. It makes the import and bank Rec easy-peasy

Not sure where else you are seeing rules. But feel free to PM me with any questions.

[debthaven]

I am seeing rules on ANYTHING I do more than once.

Miss T I really appreciate your input but you are an accountant. I am most certainly NOT LOL.

[debthaven]

I see the option for a rule on anything that happens more than once, whether it be a regular payment TO DH or FROM DH.

[debthaven]

For example, every time the same client or provider appears, I have the option of creating a "rule" for the VAT (taxes).

I ALWAYS say no.

Typing this out, I am realizing that it is totally idiotic of my to say no to that "rule", because the tax rate never changes.

We were REALLY hoping our accountant of 30 years would weigh in before I agreed to accept any "rules", but that hasn't happened (yet?!)

[Miss Tequila]

Mar 21, 2019 20:52:58 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I am seeing rules on ANYTHING I do more than once.

Miss T I really appreciate your input but you are an accountant. I am most certainly NOT LOL.

But honestly, that is why I hate QB because it is geared towards people that aren’t accountants. It is more geared for the very small business owner (imho). I can’t even customize reports! I was in culture shock!lol

As long as you think you are coding the bull entry correctly, I would allow it to make a rule for it. It works pretty well on the bank download side.

[debthaven]

Since I learned the hard way that QB is very country-specific, I think it's probably best that I contact the QB advisor that helped us in the beginning.

[Miss Tequila]

Mar 21, 2019 21:04:12 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Since I learned the hard way that QB is very country-specific, I think it's probably best that I contact the QB advisor that helped us in the beginning.

True. We don’t have VAT taxes to deal with

[debthaven]

It is more geared for the very small business owner

This is exactly what DH is. DH sucks at paperwork so he offered to pay me to do his books, in exchange for teaching less. Rest assured, he does have a real accountant too LOL.

I will ask QB (they have great customer support).

[debthaven]

Thank you Miss T!

[debthaven]

Just wrote to them.

[Lizard Queen]

It's been a couple years since I took a QB class, but it seems to me these are similar to Outlook rules.  Why be scared of them?  If something happens the same way consistently, it would just help you fill in the fields that you need quicker.  I'm sure it's easy to change if you need to as well.

[TheOtherMe]

Working for CPAs, I've used QB's at various size of businesses and various types of industries.

I don't know if this will work in France, but I have been known to Google the question and I usually find the answer that way.

It worked when I did the church books using QB and was there alone.  

Before I got there, they were using a huge spreadsheet for donations, that hadn't been correct for years.  Once we got QB for churches, it kept track of the individual donations and printed the letters to the donors.  As long as I entered them correctly, the letters were accurate.  Using that spreadsheet, that hadn't even been divided by month or quarter was a nightmare.

[debthaven]

I heard from them today. Haven't had a change to read the article our person sent me but I will tomorrow.

Always amazed at their customer service.