DO NOT FALL FOR IRS TELEPHONE SCAM

Over the past few months many of my clients have received disturbing phone calls from individuals posing as IRS agents.  Even though these types of calls have been going on for years, it seems that over the past few months the number of calls being reported has gone up dramatically.  

Every one of my clients who reported this issue had the same exact experience.  They received a phone call from someone claiming to be with the IRS.  They were then told they had a past due balance and if they didn't remedy the situation immediately they would be sent to jail.  The fake callers even threatened my clients with sending a sheriff over to their house that very second to have them arrested.  Since several of my clients do have past due taxes owed or are late at paying their current estimated tax payments, these types of calls were especially frightening.  Thankfully none of my clients gave out any of their personal information, (social security numbers, identification card numbers, or credit card/ bank account info).

I have worked with the IRS on behalf of many of my clients and I have NEVER received a threatening phone call, even when a client was seriously delinquent.  The IRS themselves have been warning people about this scam.  On April 14, 2014 the IRS wrote a post on their own website describing the scam and warning tax payers not to fall for it:

"The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the U.S. mail. The IRS never asks for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone. For more information or to report a scam, go to www.irs.gov and type "scam" in the search box."

 The IRS then goes on to describe what's being reported to them:

"People have reported a particularly aggressive phone scam in the last several months. Immigrants are frequently targeted. Potential victims are threatened with deportation, arrest, having their utilities shut off, or having their driver’s licenses revoked. Callers are frequently insulting or hostile - apparently to scare their potential victims."   http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterates-Warning-of-Pervasive-Telephone-Scam 

So remember, do not fall for these types of calls and whatever you do, NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR BANK OR CREDIT CARD INFO OVER THE PHONE and, when in doubt, ALWAYS call your tax advisor.

How to Scan a Document Using a Mac

Step #1 - Open the "Settings" by double clicking on the "Settings" icon

Step #2 - Click on "Print & Scan" icon

Step #3 - Make sure the correct scanner is selected

Step #4 - Click "Scan"

Step #5 - Click "Open Scanner"

Step #6 - Choose where you want  the scanned document to be saved on your computer.  Then click "Scan".

Step #7 - Open your "Documents" folder and you will see your scan

Reclassifying Transactions in QuickBooks

In the following video we show you how to reclassify transactions in QuickBooks Accountant.

How to Merge Names and Accounts in QuickBooks

In most QuickBooks files I see, there are usually a ton of duplicate names and accounts.  In the following video, we show you how easy it is to merge these names and accounts, even if the names have jobs or "subnames" under them.

 

The Importance of Updating QuickBooks

Let's start with defining the three QuickBooks categories: Product, Version, and Release.  QuickBooks has many different desktop products: QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise, and Accountant.  Each product has it's own version: 2011, 2012, 2013, and now 2014.  QuickBooks updates it's software quite frequently.  This is referred to as "a new release".   

It is very important to update your QuickBooks file to the newest release.  QuickBooks creates these releases to improve it's products.  It is similar to updating your iPhone software of apps.  Most people I know update their iPhone on a regular basis but do not update their QuickBooks software.  Remember...tech companies create updates to improve their products.  It's up to you if you want to utilize those improvements.

I was recently contacted by a local business who was having serious QuickBooks issues.  After meeting with the client and trouble shooting the issue, I was sure that the file was corrupted in some way or another.  The problem was, after verify and rebuilding the data, nothing was coming up with an error.  The file acted like it was corrupted but wasn't showing that it was corrupted.  I finally checked the release he was on and saw that it was R5.  I searched online for the latest release with QuickBooks Pro 2011 and found it was R13!  This guy hadn't updated his file in years!  Sure enough, after updating his data file to the newest release the problems vanished.  So remember, if you open your QuickBooks file and a window pops up informing you that there is a new release/update- download that update.  

To check what release you are on, open your QuickBooks file and hit F2.  This will bring up the "Product Information" window.  At the top of this window you will see your product, version, and release.   For example, for my business, I am currently using: QuickBooks Enterprise 2013 release 9.

If you are a user who rarely closes QuickBooks, you will never be prompted to update your file.  In that case, you will need to manually download your updates.  To check to see if you are on the latest release: Open QuickBooks, Click Help > Update QuickBooks.

The next item you want to be careful of is how old your QuickBooks version is.  Intuit only services three years of QuickBooks products.  This means, if you call QuickBooks because you are having issues like: your file won't open, you are getting error messages, your file keeps closing, etc...  The service expiration date is usually around the end of March.  If you are using QuickBooks 2011 you will want to upgrade before March 2014 because after March 2014 Intuit won't touch your QuickBooks file.  

Now you may be asking, "Why should I upgrade?  I have never had issues with my older version of QuickBooks."  I have worked on several QuickBooks files that were so corrupted, they needed to be sent to Intiut's file fix site.  This is where you upload your file and Intuit works on it, fixes it, and gives it back to you.  In my experience, this can take anywhere from one to four weeks.  This service is ONLY available for the most recent three years of QuickBooks products.  If you are using QuickBooks 2010 and encounter an error, you are going to be in big trouble.  

Many users don't realize that their file is corrupted until it's too late.  They come into work one morning and try to open QuickBooks except QuickBooks won't open.  It doesn't matter if you have backups of your file.  You have no idea when the corruption started.  Your only option at that point is to buy the newest version of QuickBooks and try and upgrade an old backup copy (which may not even work).  

So remember, update your QuickBooks regularly and upgrade your software to a newer version at least once every three years.

Update

Hi Everyone,

We have been receiving a lot of great feedback regarding our blog.  Please continue to leave comments and to email us with any questions or blog post ideas. 

 

Many of our posts are actually questions that were asked by readers, for example, the posts “How to Create an Accountant's Copy in QuickBooks” and “QuickBooks = Sales Receipts vs. Invoices” were both submitted by our readers.  Going forward, we will include the reader’s first name and the city and state in which they live in our post.  If you have a question but would rather remain anonymous, please make sure to include that in your email.

 

As always, thanks for reading.

 

Sincerely,

 

Nicole Kerr

 

QuickBooks = Sales Receipts vs. Invoices

There are a few ways of recording daily sales in QuickBooks:

1.       Using invoices

2.       Using sales receipts

3.       Using the deposit window.

Many of the clients I work with understand what an invoice is but are unsure of what a sales receipt is or the purpose it serves.  In this article I will explain what the differences are between the two and when to use them.

SALES RECEIPTS

Sales receipts are used to record daily sales.  The benefit of using a sales receipt is that the funds are immediately transferred into your bank account in QuickBooks (or undeposited funds if you have that feature turned on).  The types of businesses that generally use sales receipts are: retail, restaurants, gas stations, liquor stores, etc…  These types of business usually have dozens (if not hundreds) of transactions per day.  These businesses usually accept cash, credit, and debit cards (some of them also accept checks). 

When using sales receipts you still have to assign the transactions to a customer account.  Most commonly used is one customer account named “Daily Sales”.  You can also create a customer for each type of bank deposit (i.e. 1-Cash (cash and checks), 2-Credit (Visa, MasterCard, and Discover), and 3-Amex (American Express). 

To enter a sales receipt in QuickBooks click on “Customers” (top menu bar) and select “Enter Sales Receipts”. 

INVOICES

Invoices are generally used by businesses that let their customers pay via terms (i.e. net 10 or net 30).  By using invoices, you can track the monies still owed to you and you can track each customer’s total sales.  You can also track marketing and referral sources within those customers by adding custom fields. 

Using invoices allows you to track sales by customer.  You can run reports that show a breakdown of what each customer purchased that month/quarter/year.  It also allows you to receive partial payments or record different forms of payment to be applied to a single transaction.  For example, one of my clients is an auto mechanic.  His business uses sales receipts because he has a large number of transactions per day and his customers pay at the time of the sale (on the rare occasion he will let his customers make payments).  Although he uses sales receipts to record his daily sales he does need to use invoices to record sales on occasion.  There are two situations where he uses an invoice instead of sales receipt.  The first is when a customer will be making payments for the repair charges (which will need to be tracked).  The total repair order could be for $2,000 but instead of paying the full $2,000 up front my client allows them to pay using installments (i.e. ten $200 payments).  The second is when a customer pays a repair order with two different payment methods (i.e. a check and a Visa card).  For example, if the repair order is for $2,500 the customer may pay $500 with a check and the remaining $2,000 using a credit card.  In order to reconcile payments in QuickBooks you have to make sure the payments are deposited (within QuickBooks) correctly.  Since cash/checks are deposited separately from credit card charges it is better to enter the transactions separately as well.

To enter an invoice click on “Customers” (top menu bar) and select “Create Invoices”. 

Summary 

When it comes down to it the main difference between sales receipts and invoices is this:  When you enter a sale using a sales receipt in QuickBooks the funds are immediately moved into your bank account (or undeposited funds as mentioned above).  When you enter a sale using an invoice in QuickBooks the funds are immediately moved into Accounts Receivable.  You then have to record and apply a payment against that invoice to move the funds to your bank account (or undeposited funds).

I hope this helps you understand the differences between invoices and sales receipts.  As always, feel free to leave a comment or a question you may have.  Thank you for reading.