QuickBooks Pro 2010. for Development Organisations. Prepared May 2011 for users of QuickBooks Pro 2010.

QuickBooks Pro 2010 for Development Organisations Prepared May 2011 for users of QuickBooks Pro 2010. further information from Mango www.mango.org.uk and richard@collinsdavies.com

QuickBooks Pro 2010 Notes for Development Organisations CONTENTS PAGE 1 USING THIS MANUAL... 1 2 CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOFTWARE... 1 3 EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION... 2 4 IT PROCEDURES... 2 5 INTERNAL CHECKS AND CONTROLS... 3 6 SETTING UP QUICKBOOKS: EASY STEP INTERVIEW... 4 7 SETTING UP QUICKBOOKS: PREFERENCES... 6 8 SETTING UP QUICKBOOKS: CHART OF ACCOUNTS... 7 9 SETTING UP QUICKBOOKS: OPENING BALANCES... 9 10 USERS AND PASSWORDS... 9 11 USING CLASSES TO TRACK FUNDS AND PROJECTS... 10 12 CASH AND BANK TRANSACTIONS... 12 13 BANK RECONCILIATION... 15 14 JOURNAL ENTRIES... 16 15 CORRECTING MISTAKES AND CLOSING PERIODS... 16 16 REPORTS... 17 17 EXPORT OF DATA AND REPORTS TO EXCEL... 19 18 YEAR END TASKS... 20 19 BUDGETS: SETTING UP AND ENTERING DETAILS... 21 20 BUDGETS: PREPARING REPORTS... 23 21 FOREIGN CURRENCY... 25 22 CHECKLIST 1. NGO ACCOUNTING SPECIFICATIONS... 29 23 CHECKLIST 2. MONTHLY TASKS... 30 QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries.

1 1 Using this Manual This manual is for NGO staff using QuickBooks Pro 2010, which is a multicurrency version of this popular accounting software. The features in previous versions of QuickBooks vary QuickBooks Pro 2008 was not a multicurrency package. QuickBooks Pro 2006 was multicurrency but certain features worked in different ways. Readers should consider upgrading to the 2010 version. The main purpose of this manual is to help you set up your company file in QuickBooks, and discover the features of QuickBooks 2010 software which are of particular interest to NGOs. It is assumed that the reader has experience of using a computer and a good knowledge of accounting principles. The Menus in QuickBooks are shown in uppercase in this manual. This is to help you find your way round the software. For example, the option for using multiwindows instead of single window is shown as follows: EDIT- PREFERENCES- DESKTOP VIEW- MY PREFERENCES. The option for selecting multi windows is displayed in the last window. Select the menu HELP for detailed information about how QuickBooks software works. The appendices at the end of the manual contain checklists to help you to decide if QuickBooks 2010 is the appropriate software for your NGO and to give you an illustration of checks and operating procedures for NGOs using QuickBooks 2010. 2 Choosing the right software Carry out some research before you buy your new software! Find out what other NGOs in your area are using and whether they have contacts that can help in case of need. Ask your auditors for their suggestions. Make a list of the NGO s budgeting, accounting and reporting requirements; review and agree the Chart of Accounts that you will use in future. This will enable you to prepare the specifications that your NGO requires from your new software. There is an example of accounting software specifications for NGOs on page 29. QuickBooks Pro meets these requirements except where indicated. It is for this reason that QuickBooks Pro is used by many NGOs across the world. Alternatives for medium size NGOs include software produced by Pastel, MYOB or SAGE. Larger, international NGOs may require more sophisticated software such as SAGA, and SUN Systems. QuickBooks is produced in English in the UK and in the USA. There is a French multicurrency version available from Intuit Canada.

2 3 Equipment requirements and installation Check that your computer system meets the system requirements for QuickBooks Pro 2010. Visit the Intuit website on http://www.intuit.co.uk/, and refer to the QuickBooks manual for full details, before you purchase! Currently at least 2 GHz Pentium lll (or equivalent) with 1GB of RAM is recommended. Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7. 1 GB of disk space is required (additional space for data files). Microsoft 6.0 browser or better required (6.0 provided on CD from Intuit requires an additional 70 MB hard disk space). It is advisable to run QuickBooks on a computer that has access to the internet, for registration and updating of the software. You may find using a mouse rather than a keypad an easier way to move round the various menus and for entering transactions. The QuickBooks manual that comes with the software explains how to install and activate the software. Close all open programmes, including anti-virus, before installing the software. The activation process includes online connection to Intuit or a phone call. Print the details of the Serial number, Installation key and Licence key after activating the software. The programme will stop working after a few uses if it is not activated. 4 IT procedures AIM: To ensure that the software runs smoothly and data is not lost. Your NGO should have a written IT Policy including regulations about computer access and security, and anti-virus precautions. Regular Backups must be kept in a secure location away from the computer. Backups should be stored on an external hard drive or on CDs. If QuickBooks is installed on more than one computer each user must have their own licence. If you transfer company files across from one computer to the other this can be done by backing up via the menu FILE SAVE COPY OR BACKUP. The backup file can then be transferred to another computer where the programme is already installed, and then restored via the menu FILE- OPEN OR RESTORE COMPANY. Take care that the correct filenames are used during this process, so that you do not delete a needed file on the second computer by mistake. If your computers are connected to the internet the QuickBooks files are automatically updated from time to time so that your computer has the most recent version. When transferring a file from one computer to another make sure that the same version of the software is running on each computer. A computer with an older version may not accept a newer version file. The Automatic Update feature can be switched off on both computers if this is likely to cause problems (HELP UPDATE QUICKBOOKS OPTIONS).

3 5 Internal checks and controls AIM: To ensure that the control features of QuickBooks are used as part of the internal checks and controls of the organisation. NGOs should never rely on their software systems alone to provide sufficient checks and controls on the accuracy or security of their accounting systems. Reports that are produced from the accounting software must be checked; backups kept; access to the software restricted to the accounting staff and arrangements made for internal and external audit of the records by someone who is not involved in the daily accounting work. An example of good organisation is as follows: a) The Administrator (the person who sets up QuickBooks) will be a senior staff or board member, for example the Finance Director. The Administrator will have a password (keep a copy of this with someone who does not make entries in QuickBooks) and will set up other Users, with their own passwords.. b) It is strongly recommended that the Administrator is not involved in the entering or changing of any data in QuickBooks. The Administrator s responsibility should be to oversee the work of those who are responsible for making entries of transactions into QuickBooks. The Administrator has total access to the QuickBooks system, including the ability to change or delete transactions recorded in QuickBooks. For this reason it is important that a different person, say The Accountant/ Accounts Assistant, is responsible for entering all transactions into QuickBooks. c) The documents supporting the bookkeeping entries, including cash and bank transactions and journals will be approved and countersigned by the Finance Director and/or others who have authorised transactions and checked the documents. This should be done before the accountant enters transactions into QuickBooks. d) The Finance Director will ensure that financial reports are prepared in a timely and regular way, say each month, and that these are thoroughly checked. There should be strict controls over the procedures to correct mistakes or to change previous entries in QuickBooks. See section 15 for further details. e) Those responsible for internal and external audit of the QuickBooks records will compare the entries in QuickBooks with the supporting documentation and with the approved management reports and accounts. Particular attention will be given to examination of cash and bank reconciliations. Other key reports include the General Ledger, and the Audit Trail where all transactions, including changes and deletions, are recorded. These reports are located in REPORTS - ACCOUNTANT & TAXES.

4 6 Setting up QuickBooks: Easy Step Interview AIM: To create a well structured company file for your NGO. Some features that you choose at this stage cannot be easily changed later! This indicates steps or notes of particular interest Once QuickBooks is installed a separate Company file has to be set up for your NGO. Go to the menu called FILE at the top left of your screen and follow these steps: Select and click on NEW COMPANY. EasyStep Interview Window opens Option to Start or Skip interview START INTERVIEW Enter details as listed (it is not necessary to complete all fields) Company name Address etc. NEXT Select your industry Scroll down the list and highlight Non Profit NEXT How is your company organised? Select Non-Profit NEXT Select the first month of your financial year NEXT Set up your Administrator password It is recommended that you enter a password, even if this is a temporary one, such as admin, and time to be spent later setting up passwords and users. See sections 10 and 15 for further details. It is very important to use, and to control the use, of passwords! NEXT Create your company file. No action required NEXT Filename for New Company QuickBooks will assume that you want your file to have the same name as your company name entered previously. It will create the file in a folder called Company files. This is a sub-folder of QuickBooks which is a sub folder of Intuit. SAVE (Wait while your new company file is created) Customising QuickBooks for your business NEXT What do you sell? Suggest that you select Both services and products even if your NGO does not sell anything! NEXT Do you charge VAT? No will already be selected. This will normally be the case, so leave this as it is unless you are a UK company or charity that does charge or claim Value Added Tax. NEXT Do you want to create estimates in QuickBooks? No will already be selected. NEXT Tracking customer orders in QuickBooks No will already be selected NEXT Using Sales receipts in QuickBooks Yes should be selected (if not already marked) as your NGO may wish to use this facility to issue receipts. NEXT Using statements in QuickBooks Select Yes

5 NEXT Using invoices in QuickBooks If you issue invoices (now or in the future) to anyone using NGO services, renting NGO property etc. select Yes. NEXT Using progress reporting Normally not required so select No NEXT Managing bills you owe Yes is selected NEXT Tracking stock in QuickBooks Most NGOs will not require stock records; this QuickBooks feature can be adapted for use by hospitals and relief agencies where there is tracking of goods issued from warehouses. NEXT Tracking time in QuickBooks Normally not required so select No NEXT Do you have employees? Select No unless your NGO is based in the UK and has employees. The payroll software can only be used in the UK as it is linked to UK tax rates. NEXT Tracking multiple currencies in QuickBooks If your main ( home ) currency is not UK pounds sterling, or if your NGO handles more than one currency you should select Yes for this question. Although Intuit states that you can change this preference later it is advisable to say Yes before going further. When you have clicked on Yes a further line will come up asking you to Select your home currency. This will normally be the currency in which the majority of your transactions are made. Note that the ledger, and management reports will be automatically prepared by the software using the currency you have selected. (If reports for partners are required in other currencies your reports can be easily transferred and converted in Excel). See section 21 for further details about multi-currency. NEXT Using Accounts in QuickBooks (some general information is given here) NEXT Select a date to start tracking your finances It is usually best to set the start date as the first day of your financial year even if you will start to use QuickBooks at a later date. See section 9 Opening Balances - below. NEXT Add your bank account It is recommended that you enter details of one bank account now, and then other accounts later. Choose Bank as the type of account when you create a new account in which you will record cash transactions NEXT Enter your bank account information: Bank account name: Your bank account name or nickname Bank account number: Optional - You may decide for security reasons not to enter this. Bank routing number: Optional Account currency: Assumes that this is in your main currency When did you open this bank account? Before / On or after: Suggest that you select Before NEXT Enter your bank statement information Follow the steps indicated on the screen in order to enter the closing bank balance before your start date for using QuickBooks. If in doubt, leave at zero and complete this later. NEXT Review bank accounts Recommend that you select No and complete details later.

6 NEXT Review income and expense accounts You will see a model Chart of Accounts for you in this window we recommend that you delete all the proposed account by deselecting each one (drag your mouse down the ticks or click on individual ticks until they disappear). You can then set up your own chart of accounts when your QuickBooks company file is up and running see Section 8 below. NEXT Congratulations! This window confirms that you have completed the Easystep Interview. Click FINISH The NEXT window gives you the opportunity to run a Tutorial about using QuickBooks it is up to you to decide if you would like to look at these, or leave this until later! Then select GO TO QUICKBOOKS This takes you to the opening window of your newly created file for your NGO. You will see another little window QuickBooks Coach. You may decide to leave this until later, in which case CLOSE this but keep the window Home open. If your screen is blank, click on the icon labeled Home (this is the first icon on the extreme top left of the screen). 7 Setting up QuickBooks: Preferences AIM: To set up key features for your NGO including use of account numbers. To manage the ICON Bar - where key reports can be accessed at the touch of a button! Go to the menus on the top row of your screen and select: EDIT PREFERENCES There is a list on the left hand side of the Preferences window, starting with Accounting at the top. When you have time explore these preferences. The following preferences may be required immediately: ACCOUNTING When you select accounting you will see two tabs My preferences and Company Preferences select Company Preferences If your Chart of Accounts has account numbers (and this is recommended), tick the box Use account numbers. We shall revisit this preference again to select Use lowest sub-accounts only, but this cannot be selected at this stage. If, as is likely, your NGO manages different funds or programmes and you want to track income and expenditure on each one you should now tick Use class tracking. You can now move on to the NEXT Preference on the list on the left BANKING. When you select this QuickBooks prompts you to save the preferences that you have just selected and changed select Yes.

7 BANKING: My Preferences There is nothing urgent to be done here until after you have set up your chart of accounts. You may return to this preference later and set up one of your bank (or cash) accounts as the default account. ( Default means that when you open a menu to enter transactions, QuickBooks will open the default account first). DESKTOP VIEW: My Preferences Check that View is set for Multiple Windows. You can open as many windows as you like while using QuickBooks but close down unused windows from time to time via the menu WINDOW CLOSE ALL. If you have too many windows open the computer may crash! 8 Setting up QuickBooks: Chart of Accounts AIM: To set up and manage your Chart of Accounts. a) Introduction The Chart of Accounts is set up through the menu: LISTS CHART OF ACCOUNTS. Click on this. You will then enter the chart of accounts window. There will be some system generated accounts already there (Payroll liabilities, Giro, Opening Bal Equity, etc.) It is assumed that you have already prepared a list (chart) of numbered accounts. In section 7 above you will have selected: EDIT-PREFERENCES-ACCOUNTING- COMPANY PREFERENCES - Use Account Numbers. In this case most of the system generated accounts will already have account numbers but some may not (for example the account Exchange Gain or Loss). Enter appropriate numbers for these existing accounts, and your new accounts, as follows: Move the cursor to the account where you wish to enter (or change) the account number, so that this is highlighted. RIGHT CLICK on your mouse or keypad and select EDIT ACCOUNT. Enter the account number in the top right hand corner of the new window and then click on SAVE AND CLOSE. b) Creating new accounts Go to LISTS CHART OF ACCOUNTS. New accounts can be created by Right clicking the mouse on a blank space and selecting NEW. Alternatively select: EDIT NEW ACCOUNT from the main menu. Note that you have to decide upon the Category of the account first (Income, Expense, Bank etc.).

8 If you have main accounts with sub-accounts where transactions are entered consider writing the main account names in capitals/ uppercase, or place a suffix such as a full stop in from of the name. In this way the person making entries into QuickBooks is less likely to enter transactions into the main accounts by mistake. c) An important preference to be set up! It is important that ALL accounts have numbers. This is essential if you have accounts arranged in a hierarchical structure (i.e. accounts with sub accounts, subsub accounts etc.). It is recommended that you select this preference: EDIT PREFERENCES ACCOUNTING Company Preferences Show lowest subaccount only. This preference can only be selected once all accounts have be allocated numbers. If this preference is NOT selected you will find that, when you enter a transaction, the name of the sub account is not visible on the screen, but only the name of the account at the top of the hierarchy! d) Importing your Chart of Accounts from an Excel Spreadsheet If you have a list of your Accounts on an Excel Spreadsheet this can be directly imported into QuickBooks. Go to FILE- UTILITIES- IMPORT-EXCEL FILES and then follow the instructions for Import using an existing Excel file. The accounts on the Excel spreadsheet have to be arranged so that the account numbers are in one column; the account names (which must not exceed 32 characters) in a second column, and the account Type (i.e. Income, Expense etc. as used in QuickBooks) in a third column. NOTE: DATA AND ACCOUNTING TRANSACTIONS CANNOT BE IMPORTED. NB Mapping is complicated! Note that QuickBooks column includes Type and other headings more than once you must Map each of these or the Mapping will not work. Intuit recommends that you set up your Chart manually! e) Deleting accounts This can be done through the EDIT-DELETE ACCOUNT menu or by holding down the key CONTROL and pressing C. QuickBooks will not let you delete accounts in which transactions have been recorded. Accounts that are no longer required can be removed from the Chart of Accounts by making them inactive. In the LISTS-CHART OF ACCOUNTS window select the account concerned; right click the mouse and select Make Account Inactive. If you do this we recommend that you click on the Account button at the bottom left of the window and select Show all accounts. The inactive accounts appear on this screen, marked with a cross in this way you will not forget that they are there and can be reactivated by clicking on the cross.

9 9 Setting up QuickBooks: Opening Balances AIM: To enter balances from your previous accounting records. It is not possible to import balances from your previous accounts if these are on an Excel spreadsheet or in other accounting software. It is recommended that you enter the opening balances by a Journal entry (see section 14). If possible, start your entries in QuickBooks from the beginning of your financial year. It is recommended that you enter your opening balances by journal. The date of the journal should be the last date of your past financial year. In this way you will be able to prepare a Balance Sheet Prev Year Comparison report which displays the past years balance sheet figures. It is also good idea to enter the closing balances of your past year s income and expenditure so that a Profit and Loss Prev Year Comparison Report can be prepared. You can also see that these reports are displayed correctly. 10 Users and Passwords AIM: To enter passwords and to ensure that access is restricted to authorised persons. To set the limits as to what each user can, and cannot, do. When you set up QuickBooks you were prompted to enter a Password for the Administrator (named as Admin ). This is a first step in establishing control over access to the software. The menu to use to enter a new password is: COMPANY SET UP USERS AND PASSWORDS CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD The Administrator should not normally be the person who is responsible for the daily entering of transactions into QuickBooks. The Administrator is a senior person with a supervisory role, and the responsibility to check that entries into QuickBooks are authorised and accurate. The Administrator will set up other USERS, each with a password, and will decide upon the ACCESS RIGHTS of each person. The menu to set up Users and their Access rights is found under COMPANY SET UP USERS AND PASSWORDS SET UP USERS. The Administrator can Add, Edit or Delete Users here. The Administrator will set up the password and access rights of the new user. The Access rights range from full access to selective access, and where the user can modify past transactions or not. Your organisation should have clear procedures concerning the security of PASSWORDS. If the Administrator s password is lost, or if the Administrator is no longer contactable, or if someone else starts to enter passwords, the whole system could be blocked if there is no backup plan! Someone, preferably at Board level, should have access to the files and backup copies in this situation.

10 11 Using Classes to track Funds and Projects AIM: To set up a method for allocating transactions to individual projects and funds and to monitor their financial activity. The QuickBooks word Class may indicate a Fund, Programme or Project in your organisation. a) Introduction Transaction amounts may be classified i.e. recorded in a Class, as well as posted to their respective general ledger account. This is important for NGOs if you need to track the use of restricted funds, projects, departments etc. Separate budgets and reports can be prepared for each Class. b) Creating Classes New Classes may be set up either as you enter a transaction for a new Class, or by selecting the menu EDIT-NEW CLASS, or by selecting LISTS- CLASS LIST and then right click on the mouse to create a new class. It is also possible to create subclasses. This is useful if you have a project that is co-funded or where you need to have a sub total of income and expenditure for a group of funds or projects in the same programme. The PROFIT AND LOSS BY CLASS report gives a breakdown of income and expense for each class for the dates that you specify. There is also a column that lists all transactions that have not been classified. This is useful as you can review each item by double clicking on the amounts listed in the unclassified column, and then check if the transaction should have been entered into a particular class. Section 16, Management Reports explains how you find this report. It is recommended that you check that all income and expenditure transactions have been allocated into their respective classes. c) Recording transactions in their respective Classes A column is provided in the Bank Registers and Journal where the name of the Class is selected. If a transaction affects more than one Class, the transaction can be split up so that the appropriate amounts can be entered. If you decide to use Classes it is a sensible control to allocate all income and expenditure to a class. There is then less possibility of forgetting to allocate items to its class.

11 d) Balances at the beginning of the year on individual classes The QuickBooks year end function closes down Income and Expense accounts. Brought and carried forward balances for individual Classes are therefore not held in the system. Here is an example of a suggested Work around solution if you want your class reports for the next year to include balances brought forward: Example ABC Literacy Action financial year ends on 31 December. It has two programmes with the following balances in hand at the year end: Alpha School - 5,675; Beta College 4,000 (i) Create a new account named Opening fund balance. The account type is Other Income (ii) Then prepare a journal entry dated the first day of your financial year recording opening Class (Project/Fund) balances. Debit and credit the amount of the opening balances on each funds to this Opening Balance account i.e. The debit entry is the same as the credit! (iii) Then record the debit or credit opening balances against the correct Classes but do not classify the corresponding balancing debit or credit. Your management reports for Classes should now show the opening and closing balance to date in respect of each project. Date 01/01/2011 Entry No: Account Debit Credit Memo Name Billable Class Opening Balance 5675 Alpha School Opening Balance Opening Balance 5675 Alpha School Opening Balance ALPHA Opening Balance 4000 Beta College Opening Balance Opening Balance 4000 Beta College Opening Balance BETA (iv) The PROFIT & LOSS BY CLASS Report will display the Opening Balance after the Income and Expenditure for the Year to date. Thus the final balance at the end of the page will be the balance in hand and carried forward at the report date. (v) No journal is required at the end of the year as the QuickBooks year end routine will automatically zero out this Opening Balance income account. e) Preparing reports for a specific class Budgets and Income and Expenditure reports may be prepared for each Class (see section 19 and 20 below for further details).

12 12 Cash and Bank transactions AIM: To enter cash and bank transactions into QuickBooks together with date, reference numbers, class allocation and other relevant details. When QuickBooks talks about Bank as an account type it includes Cash accounts as well. So choose Bank as the type of account when you create a new account in which you will record cash transactions. Here are some general notes about the way QuickBooks works, and procedures to be followed: VOUCHER NUMBERS! It is essential that each entry in QuickBooks is given a reference number that is also recorded on the document supporting the transaction (invoices, receipts, extract of minutes etc.) This will make it easy for NGO staff, and the auditors, to find the document if it is needed in the future. The voucher number can be entered after the date, in the column labeled No. However, this column is also used for cheque numbers. Another idea is to enter the voucher number at the beginning of the Memo details column. QuickBooks memorises names of the people making or receiving payments as you enter them, so that the full name does not need to be entered next time. The first time you enter a new name you will be prompted to say whether this person is a Supplier, Customer, Employee or Other. DO NOT use the Employee option unless you are using the Payroll software in the UK. File these names in Other. When receipts or payments are being entered you can find the account name by typing in either the name or the account number (but be careful if two accounts have similar names). Use Control C to Copy and Control V to paste the same details (or use the mouse to copy and paste) If you enter a receipt as a payment or a payment as a receipt QuickBooks may not allow you to immediately correct it. If this happens cancel what you have done by clicking on Clear or Restore and start again. It takes time to enter each transaction when you start; however, it becomes faster as you get used to how QuickBooks works; and as QuickBooks memorises names. There are two methods of recording payments in a particular bank (or cash) account:

13 METHOD 1 This is a good method to use to start with as the screen looks like a cash book and you can enter receipts and payments! However, this Method does not work for foreign currency bank accounts go to Method 2A and 2B! a) Close all open windows except the HOME window. On the far right of the screen you will see Account Balances and under this there is a list of your cash and bank accounts. Double click on the bank account in which you wish to enter a transaction. Alternatively go to the main menus and select BANKING USE REGISTER Select Account. b) A screen opens that looks like a cash book! Enter the transaction as follows: Date: No: Payee: Amount: Account: Memo details: Date of the transaction Cheque (or supporting voucher) no. the name of the person you are paying; the first time you enter a new name here you will be prompted to say whether this person is a Supplier, Customer, Employee or Other. the amount payment in the first column or receipt in the second column Enter the account number /name here write brief details here about the transaction i.e. brief description of goods or services. c) If this is all you need to enter click on RECORD (bottom right corner). The transaction is then permanently recorded in QuickBooks. d) If the receipt or payment is to be split between two or more accounts, or if you want to track the transaction against a particular fund or programme, click on the SPLIT box on the bottom left of the screen. Complete the items as follows: Account: Amount: Memo: Customer Job: Billable? Class: enter names of the ledger accounts here enter the amounts. QuickBooks will not let you record the transaction unless the total of the amounts entered here agree with the total amount received or paid. it is not necessary to repeat the details you have already entered (see b. above) no entry is necessary no entry is necessary Enter the name of the programme or fund if you are tracking transactions against different programmes or funds (see section 11 for more details). e) When you have finished entering the transaction click on RECORD (bottom right hand side of the window). QuickBooks then permanently records the transaction.

14 METHOD 2A (This is an alternative method for entering payments - all the details you need to enter are displayed in the window). a) Close all open windows except your HOME window. On the right of the screen you will see Banking and under this you will see Write cheques. Click on this to open the WRITE CHEQUES window. Alternatively go to the main menus and select BANKING WRITE CHEQUES. b) You will see a frame that looks like a cheque! Above this there is a place for the name of the cash or bank account in which you are going to enter transactions. Make sure that the right account is selected. You can make the cash or bank account that is used most often appear each time you return to this window. Go to EDIT-PREFERENCES-BANKING- My Preferences and Select Default Accounts to Use. Then enter the account number/name of the bank or cash account that in the Write Cheques box (and also the Make Deposits Box) When you open the Write Cheques window the ending cash or bank balance is displayed above the cheque, on the right hand side. c) Under the cheque you will see a box labeled To be printed. Untick this. d) Use your mouse or the TAB key to move from one entry to the NEXT as follows: No: Date: Pay order of: Amount: Memo: Cheque (or reference) no. Date of the transaction the name of the person you are paying; the amount write brief details here about the transaction i.e. brief description of goods or services. e) Under the cheque you will see a box with a tab called Expenses (ignore the tab called Items no details are required under this tab) Account: Amount: Memo: Customer Job: Billable?: Class: Enter the account number /name here The amount will already appear but you can change this if the amount paid is to be entered into different accounts. not necessary to use this if you enter details in the first Memo space no entry is necessary No entry is necessary Enter the name of the programme or fund if you are tracking transactions against different programmes or funds (see section 11 for more details).

15 METHOD 2B (This is the alternative method for entering receipts). a) Close all open windows except your HOME window. On the right of the screen you will see Banking and under this you will see Record Deposits. Click on this to open the MAKE DEPOSITS window. Alternatively go to the main menus and select BANKING MAKE DEPOSITS. b) At the top of this window you will see a place for the name of the cash or bank account in which you are going to enter transactions. Make sure that the right account is selected. Then using your mouse or TAB key enter the details of the transaction: Date: Date of the transaction Memo: Voucher number and Brief memo Received from: Name of person from whom cash is received From account: Ledger account (for example- donations, grants) Memo: Further details if required Chq No: No entry necessary but this column could be used for recording the voucher reference Pmt Meth. No entry necessary Class: Enter the name of programme or fund (see section 11) Amount: Enter the amount b) At the bottom of this window you will see three further boxes: Cash goes back to, Cash back memo and cash back amount. The use of these boxes is optional. c) When you have completed entering the transaction click on Save and Close. 13 Bank reconciliation AIM: To ensure that the transactions recorded in QuickBooks agree with those on bank statements and that entries on both records are correct. The process is found in the menu: BANKING RECONCILE. Have the most recent bank statement NEXT to you and follow the instructions on screen. You may temporarily Leave the bank reconciliation to make an entry or to correct a figure in the bank account, while you are preparing the bank reconciliation. Print out the detail report when you have finished the reconciliation. This is a useful control report, especially the end of the financial year. This can be a workpaper to support the accounts, and to give to the auditor.

16 14 Journal entries AIM: To enter non cash/ bank transactions, corrections, year end adjustments, etc. in QuickBooks. The Journal is found in the menu ACCOUNTANT MAKE GENERAL JOURNAL ENTRIES. The following message comes up the first time that the Journal is opened QuickBooks automatically assigns numbers to journal entries. You can enter your own journal reference if you prefer, and this preference may be changed. QuickBooks will not Save and Close the Journal until the Journal entry balances. 15 Correcting mistakes and closing periods AIM: To set up procedures for correcting mistakes before or after management reports and accounts have been prepared. To ensure that corrections and changes are authorised. It is always possible that a mistake is made when entering transactions. Incorrect entries may also be found when carrying out the bank reconciliation or reviewing monthly financial reports before they are circulated. The mistakes should be immediately corrected and new financial reports prepared. The Finance Director should ensure that there are procedures for checking transactions both before and after they have been entered so that mistakes are seen and corrected immediately. The accountant may be authorised to amend the data entry in QuickBooks by editing or deleting it If a mistake is found immediately after it has been entered, or before a financial report is prepared. These amendments are automatically recorded in the Audit Trail. The mistake is corrected by highlighting the incorrect transaction and then editing it. An entry can be deleted by holding down the CTRL key and then pressing key D, or via the menu EDIT-DELETE (or VOID) CHEQUE. No further changes should be permitted once the monthly accounts have been discussed and approved. Any corrections should be made by preparing a Journal entry in the NEXT financial reporting period. An essential procedure to prevent any changes to entries in previous accounting periods is to Close previous periods. The menu for this is COMPANY SET CLOSING DATE. This takes you to the PREFERENCES- ACCOUNTING Company Preferences screen. Click on the box Set Date/Password. Once a date is set a warning screen is displayed if someone tries to make, or change, an entry before the closing date. It is necessary to enter the password (if this has been set) before any change or entry can be made.

17 A Password can only be entered here by the Administrator, and not by any other User. The Administrator can change the password if it is lost. All correction or modifications are recorded permanently in the AUDIT TRAIL. The Audit Trail is found via the menu: REPORTS - ACCOUNTANT & TAXES - AUDIT TRAIL. The screen that first comes up discloses transactions entered or modified on today s date. Change the date range as needed. The listing includes Deleted transactions it is advisable to click on the tab: Modify Report and check that the Show Deleted Transactions box is ticked. There is an alternative report CLOSING DATE EXCEPTION REPORT which discloses all changes made to entries prior to a Closing Date. 16 Reports AIM: To produce timely management reports at the press of a button! a) Introduction You will find a large number of reports, and illustrations, via the menu REPORTS REPORT CENTRE. On the left hand side there is a list of report groups. The groups that are of particular relevance to NGOs are: Company & Financial Banking Accountant and Taxes Budgets & Forecasts List Once you have selected a report in a particular group you will usually find the following menus at the top of the report: Modify Report Memorise Print E-mail Export Hide Header Collapse Refresh Dates From/ To Columns Sort By The Modify Report menu is of particular interest. This menu has options to change dates, format the report, add or remove columns, etc. There is a facility to filter the accounts information, allowing you to select certain accounts, classes etc. as required for your report.

18 b) Key Reports The key reports you can create, where they are found in REPORTS, and how they are presented include: COMPANY & FINANCIAL STANDARD PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT COMPANY & FINACIAL PROFIT & LOSS BY CLASS COMPANY & FINANCIAL STANDARD BALANCE SHEET The MODIFY REPORT menu allows you to change the name of the report for example change Profit and Loss to Receipts and Payments. You can make other changes for example, change fonts, show amounts without decimal places, show negative figures in brackets or not display zero amounts. The COLLAPSE menu hides any sub- accounts that you have created, so that you can have a summarized report displaying the main accounts. There are some headings that are generated by QuickBooks that cannot be changed, for example, the heading Assets. You can change the header, including the date on the report BUT be careful! You may prepare a report later for a different period and it is easy to forget to change the header to the new report date! There is a report in this group where previous year comparative figures can be displayed and also an income and expense graph which includes a pie chart. ACCOUNTANT & TAXES TRIAL BALANCE If you double click on an amount listed on the Trial Balance a screen opens displaying the detailed transactions that make up the balance on the account; if you need to look at all the transactions on this particular account, including those of previous periods, change the DATES setting to ALL. ACCOUNTANT & TAXES GENERAL LEDGER If you do not wish to include ledger accounts for which there are no transactions or balances click on the MODIFY menu and then click on the box marked ADVANCED (bottom right); then select In use. ACCOUNTANT & TAXES JOURNAL This report includes ALL transactions, including bank. Select ACCOUNTANT & TAXES ADJUSTING JOURNAL ENTRIES if a listing of Journal entries only is required. ACCOUNTANT & TAXES ACCOUNT LISTING It may be helpful to export this report to Excel so that you can design it to display sub accounts etc. and have a copy in the office for reference purposes.

19 c) Memorising reports and the use of the Icon Bar There will be some reports that will be needed on a regular basis, for example, the Profit and Loss Account, and the General Ledger. When these key reports are created for the first time, and it has been formatted in the way you would like it to appear when it has been printed, the report can be memorised. Click on MEMORISE. You will be prompted to give a name to the report, for example Profit and Loss. Then click on OK. When you want to retrieve this report go to REPORTS MEMORISED REPORTS and then click on the report that you need from the list on the screen. An even quicker way to retrieve a report is to add it as an icon to the Icon Bar. When the report is on the screen, select the menu VIEW- ADD (name of report) TO ICON BAR. You will then be prompted to give a Label (a short name) and a description for your report. Click on OK, and a new icon for your report is added at the right hand end of the ICON BAR. Click on VIEW- CUSTOMISE ICON BAR (or right click on the Icon Bar) and then follow the instructions to delete icons or to change the order in which they appear. 17 Export of data and reports to Excel Check that dates and figures in the Excel sheet are correctly formatted before exporting data, or a financial report, to Excel. Click on the EXPORT Tab which is located just above the report currently on the screen. If there is a problem check that the Regional Settings on your computer are the same as those that are assumed to be in place by your QuickBooks software. The Regional Settings may be adjusted as follows: Close down QuickBooks and Excel. Go to START-CONTROL PANEL- and find REGIONAL AND LANGUAGE SETTINGS Edit the format of dates and numbers as required Note that changing the Regional and Language settings may have an impact on other Excel files so you should make a note of changes you have made, in case you have to change them back to the original settings.

20 18 Year end tasks The Journal is used to record year- end adjustments for prepayments, accruals and stocks, and any other adjustments after reviewing cash and bank reconciliations. QuickBooks automatically closes down all income and expense accounts on the Year end date. The balances on these accounts are transferred to an account called RETAINED EARNINGS on the first day of the new financial year. The balance on this account represents the overall surplus or deficit for the year on all funds and projects. Accounts must be set up in the ledger for each fund or project that is managed by the NGO. These accounts should be created as EQUITY accounts. There will be no movement on these accounts except an annual journal that should be prepared on the first day of the new financial year. This journal is transfer the income and expenditure on each fund from the RETAINED EARNINGS account to the respective fund account. There should be a ZERO balance on the Retained Earnings account after entering this journal. After the Annual Accounts have been finalised it is recommended that a file is prepared containing print outs of key reports that back up the accounts. This would include: TRIAL BALANCE LEDGER (includes Cash and Bank accounts) JOURNALS PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT BALANCE SHEET These reports should be kept in your archives for at least seven year (some countries may require documents to be kept for a longer period). It is recommended that a back of the company file is prepared via the menu FILE SAVE COPY OR BACKUP. This should be on an external hard drive or CD.

21 19 Budgets: setting up and entering details AIM: To set up an annual budget so that management accounts comparing budget with actual results may be prepared this information may also be used to prepare cash flow forecasts. There are TWO types of budget that can be prepared - a global budget for ALL the income and expenditure of the NGO, and - budgets for individual programmes/funds (by CLASS see section 11 above). A) GLOBAL BUDGET Select the menu COMPANY- PLANNING & BUDGETING- SET UP BUDGETS. Select Create a New Budget specify the year end and type (leave type as Profit and Loss). NEXT Additional Profit and Loss Budget Criteria Leave as No additional criteria NEXT Choose how you want to create a budget You will probably want to create budget from scratch (with new figures) FINISH. The NEXT screen lists the income and expenditure accounts, with columns for monthly budget figures. These are totalled into an annual total column. It is not possible to enter annual budget figures into the annual total column entries can only be made in the monthly budget columns. If you only know the annual figure, say 4,000, and the monthly figure is the same throughout the year, you can enter: 4000/12 in January and then ENTER. QuickBooks will enter 1/12 of 4000 into the month (333.33). Then click on COPY ACROSS (box at bottom left of screen). QuickBooks then enters 333.33 in each month and the total in the Annual column. SAVE as you proceed and when you have finished entering the budget figures (including zero amounts see below) click on OK. This takes you out of the Budget menu. B) PROGRAMME BUDGETS Select the menu COMPANY- PLANNING & BUDGETING- SET UP BUDGETS. Select Create a New Budget specify the year end and type (leave type as Profit and Loss). NEXT Additional Profit and Loss Budget Criteria Select Class Do NOT leave as No additional criteria NEXT Choose how you want to create a budget You will probably want to create budget from scratch (with new figures) FINISH. There is a box on this screen labeled Current Class. Select the Class for which you wish to prepare a budget. The screen lists all the income and expenditure account with a column for monthly budget figures. These are totalled to make up the annual budget. See the section above (A) Global Budgets for information and notes as to how to enter budget figures.

22 SAVE as you proceed, and when you have finished entering the budget figures (including zero amounts see below) click on OK. This takes you out of the Budget menu. The amounts you enter in your Class budgets are NOT be included in your global NGO budget report. Points to remember when preparing Budgets on QuickBooks ZERO BUDGETS Enter Budget figures for ALL income and expenditure accounts. If there is no budget for a certain account enter a Zero. If no entry is made the QuickBooks budget report does not calculate/ display the variance between any actual income (or expenditure) and the zero budget. CAPITAL BUDGETS A Work around solution has to be found if you wish to include and monitor budgets for capital expenditure during the year (Balance Sheet accounts are not included in the QuickBooks Revenue Budget). One procedure is to create temporary capital expenditure accounts (categorised as OTHER EXPENSES ), in addition to the accounts in the Fixed Assets Category of Accounts. Record Expenditure during the year in these accounts. Then at the end of the year the capital expenditure is transferred to the Capital accounts (fixed asset accounts). NOTE: QuickBooks will not allow you to use the same name for two accounts so the account in Other Expense should be given a slightly different name to differentiate between the two. Be careful when entering expenditure that you do not record it in the Fixed Asset account by mistake!

23 20 Budgets: preparing reports A) GLOBAL BUDGET REPORT Select the menu REPORTS BUDGETS & FORECASTS - BUDGET Vs ACTUAL On the NEXT screen, select the budget to use when generating the budget report. Select the budget with the name FY. Profit and Loss by Account NEXT Account by Month this cannot be changed here, select NEXT then FINISH. This takes you to a very large spreadsheet where the budget is broken down by months, initially for This Financial Year to Date with columns for Actual, Budget, Over Budget and % of Budget for each month. Select MODIFY REPORT. On the first Tab Display you can change the date to the period required. If you want to see the budget by Year rather than by Month you can change the Display columns by month to Display columns by Year. B) PROGRAMME BUDGET REPORT Select the menu REPORTS BUDGETS & FORECASTS- BUDGET Vs ACTUAL On the NEXT screen, select the budget to use when generating the budget report. Select the budget with the name FY. Profit and Loss by Account and Class NEXT Account by Month this cannot be changed here, select NEXT then FINISH. This takes you to a very large spreadsheet where the budget is broken down by months, initially for This Financial Year to Date with columns for Actual, Budget, Over Budget and % of Budget for each month. THIS SPREADSHEET INITIALLY DISPLAYS ALL Actual Income and Expenditure and the CLASS budget(s)- so the report now has to be modified so that only the budget and actual expenditure for a particular class is displayed. This is achieved as follows: MODIFY REPORT. Select the tab Filters Scroll down the box headed Filter and select Class Then in the box labelled Class select the Class (or multiple Classes) for which you want to display the actual and the budget figures. Click on OK.