Common Quickbooks errors and how to fix them

I am often approached to help with or solve errors on Quickbooks.    A few common errors I have come across, with steps to resolve the problem, are outlined below:

Bank account does not balance to statement

Whether the bank transactions are set up to be downloaded via the online bank feed or uploaded manually from a .CSV file there is still a need to manually reconcile the transactions to those on the bank statements.

Click on the company cog in the top right-hand corner, under Tools select Reconcile. Select the account you wish to reconcile then enter the date and the closing bank balance as per the bank statement you wish to reconcile.

This will bring up all the transactions that have been entered on to Quickbooks. If these have come in direct from the bank feed (the authorised online link with your banking provider) they will feature a little green box in the corner.  Highlight the transactions as you see them appear on the bank statement until the difference box on the right-hand side shows £0 with a big green tick next to it.

This reconciliation will highlight any duplicates or missing transactions and give you chance to edit these from here to allow the bank to balance to the statement at your chosen date.

A supplier or customer is still showing a balance that I know has been paid/received:

If you know this has been paid or received and has gone through the bank, the chances are it has been entered as a new payment/receipt rather than matched to the supplier/customer invoice.

To rectify this click on the banking tab, make sure the bank you want to look in is highlighted in blue along the top and click the ‘In Quickbooks’ tab. Scroll until you find the transaction you wish to edit and click ‘Undo’ on the right-hand side. This will then put the transaction in to the ‘For Review’ tab where you can click in and click ‘Find match’ to match it against the necessary invoice. This will then show the invoice as paid and clear the outstanding amount from the ledger.

Please note: this could result in an adjustment to your VAT if the transaction resulted in the VAT being paid/reclaimed twice. Should this relate to a period where the VAT return has already been finalised this adjustment will appear in the ‘Exceptions report’.

Amending/deleting customers, supplier or accounts

Any customer, supplier, account name or information can be easily amended.

Customers

Sales tab  Customers  click into the relevant customer  click the ‘Edit’ box in the top right-hand corner.

Suppliers

Expenses tab  Suppliers  click into the relevant supplier  click the ‘Edit’ box in the top right-hand corner.

Account names

Accounting tab  Chart of accounts  select the required account name you wish to edit  on the right there is a drop-down arrow which will bring up a box where you can choose ‘Edit’.

Marking VAT return as filed

It is important that when the VAT return is finalised that the period is closed down. This will stop any transactions being paid or reclaimed more than once.

When the VAT return is ready to submit click into the taxes tab. The large figures at the top of the screen will show the VAT calculation of the transactions which have yet to be submitted.

The box underneath will show ‘Open Returns’ – showing the return which is due for submission.

Please make sure you check the dates of these returns tie in with the VAT quarters which have been agreed with HMRC.

On the right there is an option to select ‘submit return’, click this. This will take you through to the VAT return which can then be submitted directly to HMRC using your Government Gateway credentials or to be submitted manually on to HMRC’s website. Should you submit directly to HMRC the return will mark itself as ‘Filed’, should you wish to submit manually you will need to adjust the drop down option in the green box on the bottom right hand side to ‘Mark as filed’.

This will then close off all the VAT that has been marked on a return and will not attempt to feature on any future returns. Any adjustment to figures which do feature on a filed return will be brought in as an automatic adjustment in the ‘Exception report’ on the next return.

If you need any help with Quickbooks, please contact me at the Penrith Office or email me nina.jacobs@saint.co.uk