WHITE PAPER Billing Matters Accounting Sunset May 2013
Introduction... 2 Key Differences in Process... 2 How to Transition... 3 QuickBooks Setup... 4 What Do I Need... 4 QuickBooks Installation and Creation of Company File... 5 Modify the Chart of Accounts... 10 Install Time Matters QuickBooks Server... 14 Import Customers... 15 Import Vendors... 15 Enter Beginning Balances... 15 Linking Billing Matters and QuickBooks... 18 1
Introduction If you have been using Billing Matters and Billing Matters Accounting, you may be trying to decide how to move forward with your accounting, given the announced sunset of the Billing Matters Accounting component. If you would like to continue with the power and convenience of Billing Matters integrated with Time Matters, the best option is to consider linking to QuickBooks. Key Differences in Process When linking Billing Matters with QuickBooks, all billing and receipts of payment are done in Billing Matters, in very much the same way they are done today. The key differences are: Client expenses continue to be entered into Billing Matters, but the checks are written from QuickBooks. Disbursements from Client Trust/IOLTA accounts continue to be entered into Billing Matters, but are then sent to QuickBooks for check creation. Receipts into Trust/IOLTA accounts continue to be entered into Billing Matters. However, the Billing (AR) GL Distribution Detail Report will post the information over to QuickBooks. Receipts of payment from Clients for invoices will continue to be entered into Billing Matters. However, the Billing (AR) GL Distribution Detail Report will post the information over to QuickBooks. Apply funds to AR transactions will continue to be entered into Billing Matters. However, the Billing (AR) GL Distribution Detail Report when run will post the information over to QuickBooks and checks will be printed from QuickBooks. All non client related transactions will only be entered into QuickBooks, they will not be entered into Billing Matters at all. All bank reconciliations and other financial transactions will be done in QuickBooks. Deposits in Billing Matters are optional, and are generally not recommended. 2
How to Transition Once you have decided to implement the Billing Matters/QuickBooks link, you need to decide the best way to transition. To minimize duplication of data entry and to facilitate reporting, it is best to make the transition at the end of a quarter. The ideal time is the end of the fiscal year, but this may not be practical. It is important to remember that in order to link to QuickBooks, you must turn off the Billing Matters Accounting component. Prior to turning off Billing Matters Accounting you should take the following steps: Make sure all bank accounts are reconciled within Billing Matters. Print reports of checks and deposits not yet cleared. Run the Billing (AR) GL Distribution Detail Report and the Payables (AP) GL Distribution Detail Report and post. Run the Trial Balance and make sure it balances. If it doesn t balance, this should be fixed before conversion. Run Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, General Ledger and any other reports that you may need for historical reference or for tax preparation. It is recommended that these be converted to PDFs, printed and saved. Run the Profit & Loss Statement and Balance Sheet through the date of conversion. These will be your beginning balances in QuickBooks. Print the Fund Balance by Matter report with no Filters. This will be used to input beginning balances into QuickBooks. Print your current Chart of Accounts o Go to Report Standard Reports Setup Chart of Accounts. o Note: You can save to Excel and import; however, you will need to do cleanup of the file since the terminology between the programs is different. We generally do not recommend importing. Export your vendor list to Excel o Go to Database Vendor List All Vendors. o Set the columns to include those you want to import into QuickBooks, including Vendor Name, Account number, Address info o Tag all and Click on Send to Excel from toolbar. If you do not have the Send to Excel icon, you may add it. Check with your Consultant or Technical support for instructions. 3
Export your customer list to Excel o QuickBooks does not have separate Client and Matters lists. The information you want is the Matter and the Bill To Information. o Go to Database Matter List All Matters. o Set the columns to include those you want to import into QuickBooks, including Matter Ref and Billing Address info if desired. o Note: If you want Customer: jobs in QuickBooks, it is easiest to export everything and then edit the customers in QuickBooks to set up jobs. o Tag all and click on Send to Excel from toolbar. If you do not have the Send to Excel icon, you may add it. Check with your Consultant or Technical support for instructions. QuickBooks Setup The first thing to determine is how many licenses of QuickBooks you will need. Determine the number of people who will actually need to open the QuickBooks application to do accounting work. You have two options regarding QuickBooks licenses: 1. Buy a license for everyone who will create matters and link them to QuickBooks or who will need to post transactions or vendor payments to QuickBooks. 2. Buy a license for the server and a license for each person that needs to open the QuickBooks program. If you choose this option, you will need to install the Time Matters QuickBooks Server Manger on the server. This application will need to be kept running so that all users can access QuickBooks. What Do I Need Next you need to determine what version of QuickBooks you need. If you need up to 3 licenses, you can purchase QuickBooks Pro. If you need up to 5 licenses, you should purchase QuickBooks Premier. Unlike Time Matters/Billing Matters, QuickBooks is licensed based on specific installations. Note that you will benefit by purchasing through a QuickBooks reseller who can help you get multiple users tied to a single license number. This greatly simplifies installation tracking. 4
QuickBooks Installation and Creation of Company File Install QuickBooks on the server. QuickBooks should be installed on the same server as Time Matters. You should do a custom installation and choose the option for using QuickBooks on this computer and storing the database on the computer. When you open QuickBooks, you will be prompted to create a new company. QuickBooks offers an Express Start option that will walk you through the creation of the data file. You can install on additional workstations at any time, but we recommend setting up the company file first. Once the company file is set up, make sure the QuickBooks Database Server Manager is installed and running. When you install on the additional workstations, choose a Custom Install and choose QuickBooks will be run on this computer, but the database will not be located here. Note that LexisNexis Customer Support does not assist with the installation or setup of QuickBooks. Choose Express 5
It is recommended that you enter this Company Name with no periods or commas as it will be used later as your file name. If you begin typing in the Industry Services box, it will fill in Legal Services. The Company Type is used to automatically assign tax lines for export to Turbo Tax and to set up the appropriate accounts in the Chart of Accounts Equity section. By selecting Legal Services, the system will set up a Chart of Accounts for a typical law firm. If you click on Help Me Choose, you will be presented with a list of Industries and Accounts for that Industry. If you scroll to the bottom, you can choose Other/None and define your own Chart of Accounts from scratch. If you choose the default, you can easily make changes to customize the Chart of Accounts for your firm. 6
If you click on Preview Your Settings, you will see the Features Selected, Chart of Accounts and Company File Location that will be used. From these screens, you can make limited changes to the Chart of Accounts and you can change your company file location. Changes to Features and further additions to the Chart of Accounts can be done when setup is completed. 7
When you finish reviewing and Click OK, you will be brought back to the screen to Create Company File. The file will be named based on the Company Name entered earlier. 8
You will then be prompted to Add vendors, customers, products and services, and bank accounts. You can add this now, or you can click on Start Working and enter the information using the normal QuickBooks procedures. 9
Modify the Chart of Accounts To modify the Chart of Account, click on Chart of Accounts in the Company section of the Home Screen or Lists Chart of Accounts. If you are using the default Chart of Accounts, we recommend the following changes: 1. If desired, go to Edit Preferences Accounting Company Preferences. Turn on Use Account Numbers and Show Lowest Subaccount only. 2. Add your Bank Accounts checking, savings and money market. 3. Rename the Client Trust Accont to a name that matches what you used in Billing Matters and add additional Trust/IOLTA bank account as needed. 4. For each Client Trust/IOLTA bank account, add a matching Other Current Liability account. 5. Under Advanced Client Costs remove the subaccounts for Court Costs, Expert Witness Fees and Filing Fees. 6. Add Credit Card type accounts for each Firm Credit Card. 7. Rename the Partner Accounts, if appropriate. 8. Add a Bank account called Exchange Account; this may be needed for writing checks from the Trust bank accounts. 9. Add an Other Current Liability Account called Suspense for tracking unapplied income. 10. Add accounts needed for your firm. 11. Create an Undeposited Funds Account: a. Close the Chart of Accounts. b. Click on Create Sales Receipts in the Customer section of the Navigator. c. When the screen opens click on the X to close. 10
d. When the Chart of Accounts screen is reopened, there will be an Undeposited Funds Account. This is the equivalent of the Billing Matters Checks to be Deposited Account. NOTE: This account should not be simply added to the Chart of Accounts as this will not create the real account needed by QuickBooks. NOTES: If you are using Account Numbers, do not use 12000 as this is the account number reserved by QuickBooks for the Undeposited Funds Account. Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable accounts will be added to the Chart of Accounts when needed. QuickBooks reserves 11000 for the Accounts Receivable account and 20000 for the Accounts Payable account. If using account numbers, it is best not to change the account numbers automatically assigned for Opening Balance Equity (30000) and Retained Earnings (32000). 11
Default Legal Services Chart of Accounts, before Edits. Note the Chart of Accounts will be in Alphabetical order. If you turn on Use Account Numbers, the Chart of Accounts will be in numerical order. 12
Modified Chart of Accounts 13
Install Time Matters QuickBooks Server Documentation on how to install the Time Matters QuickBooks Server is available at http://www.lexisnexis.com/law firm practice management/timematters/help/12/default.htm#6_quickbooks_billing_server_set_up_hdi.htm Before you start, you will want to make sure you have the name of the computer on which QuickBooks is running. This can be obtained by going to Start, then Right Click on Computer and click on Properties. The Name of the Computer will be shown. 14
Import Customers Customers can be added In QuickBooks individually or by pasting from Excel. To import a number of Customers at once: Go to Lists Add/Edit Multiple List Entries. Customize the columns to match the order in Excel. Note that QuickBooks does not have separate fields for City, State and Zip code. You should combine these fields into one field in Excel. This can be done using the Concatenate command. Please see the Excel help or work with your consultant. Copy the information from the Excel spreadsheet and paste into the QuickBooks screen. Note: It is not recommended to import Beginning Balances. Import Vendors Vendors can be added In QuickBooks individually or by pasting from Excel. To import a number of Customers at once: Go to Lists Add/Edit Multiple List Entries. Customize the columns to match the order in Excel. Note that QuickBooks does not have separate fields for City, State and Zip code. You should combine these fields into one field in Excel. This can be done using the Concatenate command. Please see the Excel help or work with your consultant. Copy the information from the Excel spreadsheet and paste into the QuickBooks screen. NOTE: It is not recommend to import Beginning Balances. Enter Beginning Balances Make sure your Chart of Accounts is set up. Add an Equity account called Opening Balance Equity. This will be used for entering Beginning Balances. Go to Company Make General Journal Entries. Date the transaction the day before the opening date of the QuickBooks books, i.e., if you are starting QuickBooks on January 1, 2013, the Journal entry will have a date of December 31, 2012. Using the information from the Billing Matters Trial Balance as adjusted by your accountant, enter each account and the amount in DEBIT or CREDIT. Do Not enter amounts for Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, any Bank Accounts including Client Trust or Client Trust Liability Accounts. If you are entering balances as of the end of your fiscal year, you will only need to enter the Balance Sheet account balances, including Retained Earnings. The Journal Entry will not balance. The difference should be entered into the Opening Balance Equity Account. This will be cleared as the process is finished. Click Save & New. 15
Enter a separate journal entry with the Bank Statement ending balances for each Bank account other than the Client Trust Bank Account. The offset will the Opening Balance Equity Account. Enter all checks and deposits that had not yet cleared the bank accounts as of the Bank Statement used above. These transactions can be entered directly into the Account Register or you can use the Write Checks and Make Deposit processes. You can include actual vendor names or simply create an Opening balance vendor/customer. For all of the entries, the account will be the Opening Balance Equity Account. Create a new item in your Item List. This Item will be a Service and the Account will be Opening Balance Equity. 16
Enter a bill for Each Vendor to whom you owe money. If you have multiple outstanding bills for a single vendor, you should enter them separately so that you can accurately check the Accounts Payable aging. If your Balance Sheet or Trial Balance from Time Matters was on an Accrual Basis, the Account should always be Opening Balance Equity. If your Balance Sheet or Trial Balance from Time Matters was on a Cash Basis, you should enter the actual expense category. Go to Make Deposits and Create a Deposit into each Trust Bank Account listing each Customer and the Amount they have in the Trust Bank Account. The offset Account will be the Client Trust Liability Account. Make sure you include the Customer Name. The Fund Balance by Matter report printed from Time Matters will provide the necessary information. Verify your work: o Check that each Client Trust Bank Account balance matches the balance of the corresponding Client Trust Liability Account. o If your Balance Sheet or Trial Balance from Time Matters was on an accrual basis, the amount in the Opening balance equity account should be equal to the Accounts Receivable from Time Matters. Ask your accountant how they would prefer you to handle this as you will not be tracking Accounts Receivable in QuickBooks. Proper handling will depend on whether the conversion is being done mid year or at the beginning of a year. 17
Linking Billing Matters and QuickBooks The steps for Linking Billing Matters and QuickBooks and using the link are documented in a white paper at support.lexisnexis.com/lndownload/software/tm_quickbooks.pdf. Please use this document for assistance in proceeding. 18