Did everyone get the memo? QuickBooks Online will no longer support tags, and they’re making the change one week before the S-Corp and Partnership tax deadline.
While I appreciate the need for this kind of decision, I encourage Intuit to reconsider the timing of big changes so that they come between May and November. It’s not just tax pros that struggle with “busy season”… it’s also bookkeepers and CAS practices that have to tie out the annual financial statements in QBO to effectively hand off the books to tax pros — which y’all know is my passion when teaching and in our ‘Ask a CPA’ subscription.
As for the specifics — they are adding an additional custom field to most plans and are creating a tool to facilitate the migration from tags to this new custom field.
More from the announcement here —
What action do I need to take? In February 2025, you and your clients will have the option to migrate all tags to a custom field. Watch for an email from the QuickBooks team in the first week of February. You and your clients will get access to a tool to facilitate the migration. However, you can also input the values, e.g. tags, into the custom field by hand or not transfer the tags at all, if you prefer. Additionally, be sure to download any tags reports so you have them for your records.
What deadlines should I be aware of if my clients are currently using Tags? – Week of February 3, 2025 – Both you and your clients will receive an email notification. It will include a link to a tags → custom field migration tool and a how-to FAQ. – March 8 – April 30, 2025 – You and your clients will have read-only access to existing tags, whereby you can view and generate reports for tagged transactions for your records. – All Tags UI will be removed after May 1, 2025. You will no longer be able to run reports for tagged transactions.
A lot of people got really mad on social media when I posted about this, saying that it was a really useful feature and skewering Intuit for taking it away… but in reality, from a corporate standpoint, anyway — not enough folks are using it, partially because it’s underdeveloped and kind of buggy, and the reporting usage isn’t robust. As my friend Margie Remmers-Davis said, “either flesh this feature out or let it go”. So, personally — I’m actually on-board with it. EXCEPT for the lousy timing. Increasing the number of custom fields in the three lowest levels of subscription and creating a way to migrate from tags to the new custom field is a good way to facilitate this transition — but it’s going to take work to implement this, and we just don’t have time in Feb/March to make that happen. Beyond that, it’s been pointed out by other colleagues that changing reporting mid-year is really challenging, and that this should have been timed to coincide with next January 1st.
The rest of the comments on this particular post are truly worth reading, in my opinion, as you can get some good insight as to how the folks who do depend on tags are using them — for example, Dena Martin and Megan Tarnow talked about why they use them for event-tracking for non-profits, so they don’t muck up the financial statements — and what workarounds they’re considering. Custom fields are not likely to handle this well. Projects may, but that’s a lot of work to set up and maintain.
There are also folks who are going to be severely limited by the fact that only one custom field is being added. Comparatively, QBO Essentials allotted unlimited tags and 40 tag groups. The new arrangement takes it down to only four custom fields. Several clients are going to be forced to a Plus subscription to use classes — or in some cases, come up with an external workaround. It was pointed out that QBO Advanced clients who are already using classes for other purposes and were using Tags as well are out of luck if using Projects won’t solve the issue. Each client is different, so if you’re a bookkeeper or accountant with clients in this situation, please hit that Feedback button in QBOA and let them know your concerns. And if you aren’t already following the thread I mentioned above on Facebook… it’s definitely worth your time.
Ah, QuickBooks — you giveth and you taketh away. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.
One of my favorite books when I was a kid was “Hail, Hail, Camp Timberwood,” about a girl who goes to summer camp for her first time. She’s standing around, feeling (and probably looking) uncomfortable as all the return campers are running around, hugging each other, excited to be reunited. All of a sudden, someone runs up to her and gives her a big hug and says how happy she is to see her again. After a moment of total confusion, the girl leans in and says, “Don’t worry – we don’t actually know each other. I was just feeling left out and figured I’d join ‘em.” The two of them become fast friends and go off hugging others who looked out of place and letting them in on the joke. Before you know it, the entire place was full of everyone running around hugging each other and laughing.
While I can’t say this is likely to happen exactly like this at the upcoming Intuit Connect conference in Las Vegas, I also wouldn’t be that surprised if it did. There will be heaps of people reuniting for the first time since last year, or at least since Scaling New Heights (check out last year’s video blog about those amazing takeaways, which includes some bonus suggestions for Connect). But there will also be loads of first-timers attending, who are nervous and out of their element. Find the other wallflowers and go up to them – tell them it seemed like maybe they didn’t know anyone there, either, and do they want to eat lunch together or go to a vendor booth or grab a drink? You’ll be delighted and surprised at how many of these folks you’ll stay in touch with through the years. Remember, progressive accountants and bookkeepers such as the kind you’ll find at Connect – especially those who go year after year – are excited you’re there, and they want to help make your experience better. Introduce yourself to someone who looks like they “belong” and say that you’re new, and not sure where to begin. I am sure they’ll point you in the right direction, take you under their wing, or introduce you to someone who might be a great conference buddy.
For today’s blog post, I’m going to be that conference buddy, and share with you my Expert Tips for Attending Intuit Connect 2024.
Tip One — PLAN AHEAD
Attend a prep session webinar or podcast for individual insights. Michael Ly presented one on October 15th as a tax-extension-day celebration and you can check out the recording here. Also, Lynda Artesani joins Matt Fulton and Richard Roppa-Roberts to host a wrap-up on November 8, sponsored by Forwardly. Keep your eye on this space, as I’ll be updating the article as I learn about new events.
Plan ahead, make a schedule, but be comfortable diverging from it; that way you don’t waste time figuring out what to do in the moment, but you also don’t miss the organic opportunities that arise.
Make a list of vendors you’d like to meet; they’re often very busy during open Exhibit Hall time; it might be helpful to set up a time with them to meet during a session when the Hall is less busy. Bring a list of questions you’d like to have answered. Narrow your scope… it’s impossible to visit everyone. Pick a few areas of interest, look into which vendors serve those areas, and focus on them.
Connect on social media with others who will be attending, whether it’s in a Facebook group like The Unofficial QuickBooks Connect Conference Group, LinkedIn, or other platform — you can always use the official hashtag #IntuitConnect to find out who you already know that might be going. Engage and make plans ahead of time.
Check with your sales reps and vendors for the tools you love best – whether you’re already using them or plan to implement this year – to see if they are hosting any customer dinners, happy hours, or get-togethers. Same with professional associations you’re either in or are considering joining, like Bookkeeping Buds, Realize, or Roundtable.
Register for parties that aren’t already in the QBC app! In addition to the always-fabulous ConnectFest on Tuesday evening, there are loads of RSVP-only sponsored parties, such as:
There are also some customer-specific dinners and get-togethers for RightTool, Relay, Synder, ClientHub, Truewind, and other vendors and professional associations (such as Bookkeeping Buds, Realize, and Roundtable) – check with reps for the apps you already use or are planning to implement, and ask if they are hosting anything.
Tip Two: DOWNLOAD AND USE THE MOBILE APP
When you log into the Intuit Connect website (same credentials you used to register for the conference), you can select sessions ahead of time. Keep in mind that some are 50-minute sessions and some (including mine) are 100-minutes. One of the nice things about the app that Intuit uses is that you can sign up via the website or the mobile app. You can also “favorite” (aka “heart”) a session without signing up for it. Although you can only sign up for one session per-slot, you can “favorite” more than one, giving you an excellent way to select backup classes. (There’s one small bug – in an attempt to make sure you’re not signed up for two sessions simultaneously, they accidentally made it so that you have to choose between LUNCH at meetups that are being held during the lunch hour.)
On your phone, you can log into the Intuit Connect website and scroll down about half-way to download and sign into the conference app; the app and the website sync with each other! If you still have the app on your phone from last year, it will work! You just have to click the “update” button in your phone’s app store.
You can also click on the “Add Personal Time” button, which allows you to include items in your agenda that aren’t part of the official conference.
Once you’ve got your calendar just the way you want it, you can then export it so that everything shows up on your personal calendar, by clicking the dropdown at the top of the “My Agenda” view.
You can “register” for only one per timeslot, but you can “favorite” many, which is great if a session turns out not to be your cup of tea and you want to bail for another, or if you’re somewhat undecided.
The app won’t let you register if it’s full. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to attend anyway! Lines will form for the “sold-out” sessions, and they will let additional people in if there’s capacity, which there usually is – get there early to be near the front of the line. There is almost always extra room and I’ve rarely been turned away.
If you click on the session, it will show you the description, as well as speaker info. If you click on the speaker it will show their bio and all the sessions they’re teaching at the conference. This is a great way to research which instructors you’d like to hear.
Tip Three — PACK WISELY AND COMFORTABLY
Wear comfortable shoes – there’s a lot of walking, even though it’s a confined space. Three floors, plus events at neighboring properties. (And of course, dance parties!)
Pack an extra collapsible duffle bag for swag if you’re into it – but remember… you can also say “no thank you”. It’s easy to get lost in the freebie frenzy, but do you really need another stress ball? That said, some of the stuff will be too good to pass up and you want to make sure you have room to carry it home. Personally, my QBO wine stopper from last year is a treasured memento – no joke!
The breakout rooms are often FREEZING! Bring a wrap or sweatshirt. Also, Vegas is in the desert… it’s chilly this time of year.
However, there are a couple of hot tubs in the pool area, so also bring a swimsuit. Keep in mind that they close very early — 4 or 5 pm depending on the day.
Bring a refillable water bottle (or reuse a plastic bottle) and/or coffee/tea mug; there will be dispensers, and also, the water in your hotel room is fine to drink. Pro tip: the gym is 24/7 and has great filtered water.
Bring battery packs and chargers – often the rooms are in a basement and your cell struggles and chews up your battery; plus you’ll want to be on the conference app, your association’s Slack or Circle app, and you’ll probably text or WhatsApp a lot.
Conference hotels are pricey! Buy food & drink at a nearby convenience store if you’re going to want snacks or a bottle or box of wine outside of the usual meals and parties – but there are lots of those, so it’s not strictly necessary. Also, ordering delivery food or groceries is a lot cheaper than eating at the casino. While you’re at the convenience store or ordering online, grab some Epsom salts to soak your feet. You’ll be glad you did.
Speaking of the hotel restaurants, the reservations book up very quickly. If you know you’ll want to eat out on a given night, go ahead and reserve as soon as you can.
There are no coffee-makers in the rooms, and the line at the café winds through the casino. Bring a portable tea kettle or coffee-maker; this is ours. I wish I had an affiliate link because I recommend this thing to everyone.
Carry small bills for tipping bartenders at the various happy hours, socials, parties and receptions. They work hard and many attendees don’t think to bring cash.
Bring earplugs for sleeping and loud parties.
All that said, don’t overpack. We’re only there for four days and you can re-wear some of your clothing. You don’t want to get stuck spending most of your final night re-packing your whole wardrobe. You’ll probably need less stuff than you think.
Anchor is hosting a service on the final day where you can store your luggage, after checking out (rather than with the hotel concierge) — register here. (They’ve been amazing. Airport pickups on the first day, storing luggage on the last, a hospitality lounge, and loads of co-sponsored events with other apps and organizations. And incredibly nice people, too!)
Dress code: BE YOURSELF. Many people are in sweats and jeans, others are in power-suits or dresses, and some of us love dressing up in-costume and wearing tiaras whenever we get the chance. Wear what makes you feel most like yourself.
Addendum: Halloween is October 31st! Many of us are bringing costumes, so if you’re inclined to do the same, you will not be alone.
Related: plan for ample travel time while in Las Vegas, whether you’re on foot or in a vehicle. Use cabs instead of rideshares when you must take a vehicle, as they are prohibited from surge pricing. But keep in mind that the lines to grab a taxi outside each property can be long. Stick with over-street pedestrian bridges and monorails when possible.
Once you’ve met a bunch of folks at the conference, consider coordinating to share a cab back to the airport when you depart.
Check in early and skip the QBC lines. On Oct 27 from 12 PM-7 PM you can head to the Mariposa Registration Desk on Level 2. Remember to bring your ID.
Tip Five — NETWORKING
Represent your tribe… for example, last year the Bookkeeping Buds wore our tiaras to show support when a member was competing in a QBO Tips & Tricks session. I also always bring my favorite Bookkeeping Buds bag and use it instead of the conference one (it not only is a nice talking point, but it also is easier to find if you leave it behind somewhere). Many folks love wearing t-shirts from their favorite apps – Kim Noh even has her own tee that has logos of her tech stack!
Stay connected via Slack, WhatsApp, social media, and texts throughout the conference.
Bring business cards – digital, paper, or a paper one with a QR code (or QR code stickers). I used HiHello for my first time last year, but there are loads of others out there. These days the vendors usually just scan your badge to get your info, but they do sometimes have raffles where you can drop an old-school card in an old-school fishbowl; I have a different set of b-cards I use for these with an email that routes to a different folder.
Prepare your elevator pitch – who are you, what do you do, why are you here, what makes you different? What will I want to remember about meeting you?
Tip Six — TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
Sleep well the week and weekend leading up to the conference – the sessions start early, the parties go late, and there’s always something happening in the hotel bar.
Put your badge on the inside of the doorknob when you get back to your room, so that you remember to grab it on your way out — a great tip I learned from Lynda Artesani. They are strict about not letting anyone in without it.
If you’re getting groceries delivered or stopping by a 7-11 or Walgreens, consider picking up some epsom salts to soak your feet.
It’s okay to skip the morning session if you were up late, or to take a nap during a mainstage or between events. Give yourself some grace.
But be careful about how late you stay up and how much you drink. You don’t want to miss something valuable or feel sick just because you lost track of yourself. There’s a cool “bracelet trick” I learned years ago… put as many bracelets on your left wrist as drinks you’ll allow yourself. Move one bracelet to the right wrist with each adult bevvie. Once your left wrist is empty, cut yourself off. Another trick is to re-use the same glass each time you get another cocktail — filling it up with water between drinks. You have to finish the water before allowing yourself a refill. And this may go without saying, but make sure to eat a full meal to soak up all that fun.
Consider arriving a day early or leaving a day late so you can see the sights in Las Vegas. If you haven’t been to Absinthe, Lost Spirits, a Cirque de Soleil show, the Fremont Street Experience and the downtown Vegas lights, or the Museum of Neon, I can highly recommend taking the extra time to make it happen. And it’s a great way to form a tighter bond with some of the new friends you met at the conference!
Tip Seven — SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
There are always seats up-front, even when a session looks full. Don’t be nervous about walking right up there, even if it’s a few minutes into the session. No one’s looking at you, and no one cares.
That said, feel free to ditch a class if it’s not what you were hoping for or expected. There are other workshops that will be better worth your valuable time – or maybe it’s an opportunity to visit with vendors or network with colleagues.
Take a photo of the Exhibit Hall map so you can easily zoom in/out and orient the phone so that you’re pointing the right direction.
Take lots of notes – notebook, e-ink pad, tablet, laptop… however works best for you. (In fact, as a paper-note-taker, I plan to check out my friends’ Remarkables and Supernotes as one of my research goals for the conference.) Make one page a list of client-specific takeaways and one page a list of non-client actions you’ll perform when you get back to the office. Try to restrict that second list to only 2-3 things – it’s impossible to implement every shiny new idea you come across. Those will hang around in your head and you’ll get a chance to learn more at the next conference, by which point maybe you’ll have a new set of goals.
It’s natural to be nervous, but you can do this! Even extroverts struggle with meeting new people sometimes. Move through that shyness or fear and lean into the fact that almost everyone here came alone; everyone had a first conference where they didn’t know anyone; and everyone is here to meet other people and develop their practices. We have so much in common… sit at a lunchtable where you don’t know anyone and introduce yourself. Ask why they’re here and what they’re enjoying most. Find out where they’re from and what their specialty is. Tell them your goals and ask if they have advice. Ask them what their tech stack is and share your struggles with your choices and vendors and all the things. We will never run out of topics to talk about with each other, because there is so much to learn in our industry. Plus, chances are that these are folks who are as passionate about what they do as you are, or they wouldn’t be here in the first place.
There’s been a ton of confusion lately among QuickBooks Online users due to a series of emails from Intuit about the importance of PCI compliance (that part’s true, it is important), which they follow up with a plug to encourage you work with their “partner,” SecurityMetrics. Problem is, they are surprisingly quiet about the fact that QB Payments… is already PCI compliant.
From Intuit: It’s important to note that QuickBooks applications themselves maintain a high level of security. However, the security of your overall environment can be influenced by other applications used in conjunction with QuickBooks. As for the use of QuickBooks Payments services, it’s essential to understand that merely utilizing these services does not automatically make you PCI compliant. It’s also crucial to recognize that as a merchant, you hold the responsibility of safeguarding payment card information and adhering to PCI compliance requirements.
Short answer — chances are that you don’t need to pay their “partner” (aka Intuit is likely receiving referral fees) to confirm that you and your clients are probably already PCI compliant if you’re using QB Payments. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t review your workflows and integrations with other software to see if there’s a step in your process that doesn’t comply.
You know those emails Intuit is sending about PCI Compliance? QB Payments is already compliant. At issue is how you’re gathering those credit card numbers and bank account data.
If you’re using a workflow where the client enters the info, you’re fine. If you’re talking to the customer and manually entering it into QBO, you’re fine, though you also need to be on an isolated computer, not on a network, if you’re typing in the info.
But if you’re still using those old forms QBO used to provide, or have the information written down, or are saving it in your computer system, you’re NOT fine.
You do NOT need to hire the service in the email and pay $150/year. All you have to do is self-assess, and change your procedures if you’re out of compliance.
Q: For old clients who completed an agreement years ago with those old QBO forms, how do you move to compliance for those? Just delete and get rid of their old forms? A: Yes, delete any forms you have saved (and empty your trash)!
(Side note: Alicia’s company Royalwise is my #1 go-to for technical training in QuickBooks, whether for small business owners or bookkeepers, and I’ll be doing a class for her later this year! Here’s my affiliate link for her catalog — check it out.)
I’m recommending that you take a look at what these two leaders in our field have to say about PCI Compliance because I trust the heck out of them (not because I have affiliate links; in fact, the reason I requested affiliate links is due to the confidence I have in them both).
As much as I adore QuickBooks Online and can say so much good about it — in fact, we base our entire firm’s work on using QBO as an accounting platform — it’s important to remember that its parent company Intuit is a for-profit, publicly-traded company. They’ve built an incredible product, but their end goal is to increase shareholder wealth… so please take what they say with a grain of salt and do some research before plunking down additional dollars. Small businesses need to be careful to watch their budgets!
And I’ll end with another heads-up, which is that earlier this year there was in fact a phishing scam going around called “PCI DSS Compliance Verification” with the QuickBooks logo on it, that encouraged users to “verify compliance now” by clicking on a button. This was *not* an authorized email from Intuit. As always, you have to be careful whenever you’re encouraged to click on any button or link — whether it turns out to be phishing… or just misleading.
If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.
I’m still floating through the clouds (quite literally, as I’m writing this from a window seat on the plane) on my way home from Scaling New Heights, where I was awarded Insightful Accountant’s 2024 Top Client Services ProAdvisor. And I’ve been thinking about how lucky I was to stumble into bookkeeping and accounting as a profession, and how much the support and education that QuickBooks provides to its ProAdvisors has played a part – not only in our team’s success, but also our clients’.
There are so many conferences, webinars, colleagues, apps, and tools that have helped me find this path, but unquestionably one of the most valuable has been our free subscription to the ultimate QBO client services tool – QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA). My team and I rely on its capabilities daily, and I can’t imagine running our practice without it. We reduce time spent on manual tasks, as well as review our clients’ books for accuracy and insights… basically a level-up on the already-robust basic subscription, with a version that’s designed for professionals who serve multiple clients.
Why does Intuit give us an accountant-specific bells-and-whistles version of QBO for free? Couldn’t they make a bunch of money selling this to us as an add-on? For sure… I see that angle, and I often worry they’ll switch to that approach someday. That’s how it was set up for QB Desktop – you had to pay to be a QBDT ProAdvisor, which gave you a special multi-client version of the software that allowed you to make edits and adjustments to client books and sync them between your system and theirs. But as you know… QBO already lets you do that, by the nature of its being cloud software-as-a-service, and so the extra bells-and-whistles aren’t as expensive to maintain as their Desktop counterparts. And having small business owners’ books prepared or reviewed by professional bookkeepers makes those businesses more likely to thrive, succeed… and remain in the Intuit ecosystem. It’s a win-win.
But I’m surprised at how many bookkeepers, even those who are already ProAdvisors, don’t realize how powerful a tool QBOA is. So I wanted to highlight my favorite things about it that I use all the freaking time.
Accessing all your clients’ books from one login
This may sound obvious if you’re a regular QBOA user, but honestly – how many other SAAS packages let you do this? We use countless apps and banks with our clients, and with the exception of a few (heaping blessings here onto Relay, Gusto, Guideline, Bookkeep, and Synder), we’re constantly having to log in and out of them when switching clients. QBOA lets you do this with one simple toggle. Side bonus: all our team members are associated with my account, so they can also have their own QBOA login (and therefore their own list of clients) if they’ve simultaneously got their own side-hustle or company, something common in our particular staffing set-up as well as with companies that co-firm.
ProAdvisor-specific training
I’m a huge fan of lifetime learning, and QBOA makes this easy. When I was on QB Desktop, I struggled to find training that was specific to bookkeepers working with multiple clients (rather than material that focused on end-users). In the QBOA portal, they suggest a personalized training path, provide self-paced study materials, videos, and links to live trainings. It also keeps track of your certifications and suggests new ones.
Client Overview
When doing a diagnostic review of a potential client, you should have them invite you as an accountant-user. Once that’s accepted, you can go into their books – and because of QBOA, you’ll have access to a Client Overview page, which gives you a sense of how much work it would take to bring them up-to-date, summarizing the most important points about banking activity, common issues, and transaction volume. For us, it’s an absolutely essential step that helps us determine whether we’re interested in working with the client, and if so… how much to charge for a clean-up and ongoing services.
Books Review ➡️ Transaction Review
Just below the Client Overview on the left-nav bar is an unassuming little item called “Books review”. Click into that and you’ll find a series of headers – the first of which, “Transaction review” is my favorite. It’s like QBOA is your junior accountant, digging through the books to find unaccepted bank feed transactions, uncategorized transactions, transactions without payees, undeposited funds, and unapplied payments. And it transports you to where you can actually fix a lot of these problems on behalf of the client (or you can give them a heads-up and ask them to DIY before you dig into your review). Until this feature was developed, we literally had folks combing through transactions – and there was no transparency into how bad things were in each area, which meant we didn’t know how long it would take us to go back-and-forth with the client to get things fixed… and this is before we even are taking care of reconciliations and reviews – truly foundational stuff that needs to be addressed right off the bat so that the books are in good-enough shape to address the big issues. I don’t want to use the phrase “game-changer” because it didn’t change the game… it moved us into a higher league of play.
Books Review ➡️ Account Reconciliation
Account reconciliation is the header just to the right of Transaction review, and it performs the next round of what we would normally ask a junior accountant to do – it shows the current status of each of the bank accounts, in terms of when they were most recently reconciled, as well as the number of and a list of unreconciled transactions. You can access reconciliation reports from here, look at the most recent statement if it’s in the system… and it doesn’t limit you to bank and credit card accounts; if you reconcile any of your Balance Sheet accounts, you can see this info, as well as link to them from here.
Accountant Tools ➡️ Reclassify Transactions
And what do you do once you’ve used Books Review to identify the myriad issues? This is where it gets really good, in my opinion. There are quite a few tools for accountants that are included in QBOA, but one in particular was a total game-changer when it was first released however-many years ago. And it’s just gotten better through the years. We have access to a tool called “Reclassify transactions” that our clients don’t get to use (just think of the mess they could end up making if they did). It allows us to filter transactions by type of financial statement or down to the specific account, and then also by date, type, and customer/ vendor. Once you’ve pulled up a list of all the transactions that fit your filters… you can reclassify or recategorize the ones you select. All at once. In a batch. You can even select just the ones that have a particular word in the memo (and with RightTool, another favorite tool, you can even filter by that word, or by a dollar amount or range)! It’s truly the most incredible feature, especially for cleanups. You can get quite granular with your filters and fix massive issues in a matter of minutes. Talk about a value-add.
Bonus! Chart of Accounts templates
I’m adding it as a bonus instead of one of the main features because it’s newish, so we haven’t yet had an opportunity to use it a ton – but I know it’s going to be a favorite. To be honest, this is one of those things that for years felt like it was just a missing feature; we used countless workarounds to standardize our clients’ Chart of Accounts, or at least make sure they all fit the format we use when preparing Tax-Ready Books (my passion and focus when providing education to bookkeepers). Intuit finally announced this feature at QB Connect last year and you should have heard the room burst into applause! The one trick to keep in mind is that you access the area where you build (or import, your choice) your templates from “Your Practice” as a QBOA user, not from each client. If you go to “Accountant Tools” while you’re in your ProAdvisor space, just after you log in – like where you’d go to get your Training – that’s where you see this option pop up in your toolbox. From there, you can get a video overview or take a guided tour. Once you’ve got your templates in there, you can assign them to a client or update their existing COA. Finally, wee-hoo!
And More…
There are other great features of QBOA that I know some of my colleagues adore – both ones that have been around for a while like reporting tools and app integrations, and newer ones like role-based access and permissions to clients’ books. But I meant to only list my top five and couldn’t do it under six, and then I wanted to add a bonus, and eventually this article will have to end or none of us will ever be able to get back to work and dive into the benefits QBOA offers. Enjoy!
Note! As my readers know, I am downright fanatical about transparency and full disclosure (often to my detriment, as you may have noticed that I have a wildly popular award-winning blog that is non-monetized). Though this particular post is a paid partnership with Intuit, I want you to know that a) I wanted to write an article on QBOA anyway, but couldn’t find the time; getting paid allowed me the break from client work I needed to make it happen; and b) they didn’t delete a single thing when I presented it. In fact, they have been totally cool with all my Intuit-bashing since the first article I wrote for them… which impressed me quite a bit, to be honest. That’s three times now — I might just keep this win-win-win up.
Tax season is over. Take a deep breath – whether you’re a bookkeeper or tax preparer, you’ve endured plenty of stress these past months, and now you’re in the perfect space between vacation and conference season to look back and figure out how to make it go better next year.
That’s what we do in our firm, anyway; I learned an amazing lesson from one of my favorite instructors, Tom Gorczynski, to plan for next tax season while the pain is still fresh in your mind! We schedule a company-wide zoom meeting, and everyone fills out a survey beforehand that asks about what worked, what didn’t, what they’d like to see go differently, who their favorite and least-favorite clients are, and why. This helps us incrementally improve year-over-year, and makes sure everyone has a voice. Then we send out cocktail kits and snacks to everyone, we celebrate, and we brainstorm. We even vote clients “off the island” together.
One of the themes that comes up every year is the need to move more clients off QuickBooks Desktop and onto QuickBooks Online. I know, groan… yet another talking head telling you to make the shift! At this point you’ve been bombarded with information on all the benefits of moving to QBO, so I won’t bore you with those. I’ll just share my own experience.
It was becoming more and more of a drag to coordinate with Desktop clients to review their books, and the new subscription structure made it confusing and frustrating to know who was on which version and how to make the most of what they were paying for. And of course, there were constant client fears around Intuit’s messaging, worrying they were going to stop supporting their product. But the biggest stressor for us was that it was actually getting hard to find junior bookkeepers who had ever worked with the Desktop program. (No joke. How about that for making a certain dancing accountant feel old?)
I assure you, I absolutely *hated* QBO for years; it was a clunky beast that didn’t have some of the most basic functionality that Desktop did – and I’m not just talking about the early days; this went on far too long and alienated many users. And while I held out for ages in moving to QBO, especially for certain types of clients that really benefited from what QBDT had to offer, I finally realized that it’s gotten to the point where the features I love about the Online version far outweigh its negatives. Between the concerted effort that Ted Callahan, Jessica McCracken and their team have made to actually listen to our community and implement some of the most-loved features; the fact that most third-party apps and tools no longer work with Desktop; and the advent of RightTool, an amazing browser extension by industry superstar Hector Garcia that supercharges what QBO has to offer… it’s time. It’s really time. QBO is now light-years ahead of almost anything that QBDT can do.
The point of outlining all this isn’t to convince you that you should migrate your remaining Desktop clients to QBO. It’s to suggest that when you do – follow my lead, and use exactly these reasons in your messaging. This became our mantra for communicating the value of converting, and it worked; at this point we only have one client left who needs to make the shift.
Think about it: your clients and your team members trust you, more than anyone else, to make smart and thoughtful decisions with everyone’s well-being in mind. If you convey the messaging that QBO is listening to us and responding to our requests, that RightTool will make you more efficient, and third-party apps will serve your clients’ needs better than the previous solutions, they will believe you, you’ll get buy-in, and in our experience, we found that clients were overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic (though understandably still nervous) about the change.
Once you’ve got buy-in, it’s a simple matter of following some practical tips and advice to make sure the execution is done well.
Understand the Conversion Process Intuit came out with a free conversion tool a few years ago that they keep tweaking to make it better; the most recent improvements announced at last year’s QB Connect blew me away – you can now batch migrate clients, meaning “do a ton at once and be done with it”. To be honest, it kind of made me wish I had waited to convert some of ours! However, as straightforward as they make it to migrate data from QBD to QBO, you do have to ensure your QBDT file is ready for the transition. This means backing up, running a verification on the file, ensuring it’s under the maximum target limit, and cleaning up any weirdo issues that have been hiding or buried for years, especially if you don’t regularly do a verification and rebuild. And most importantly, reviewing your “all dates” financial statements beforehand, exporting them, and comparing the same reports afterwards is essential.
Technical Resources for Conversion
I mentioned Intuit’s Conversion Tool, which guides you through the process step-by-step; they also have a QuickBooks Conversion Toolkit with checklists, webinar links, guides, client materials, and even a link to book a call to have Intuit do the conversion for you – just head here and then click on the “How to migrate” button to download the toolkit or set up a call. If you prefer your info from a third-party source, Hector Garcia does a short walkthrough on his YouTube channel, and Alicia Katz-Pollock is offering an Earmark webinar on May 21st. And if you have any concerns whatsoever about the process, consider outsourcing the job. We worked with CMB Hero and had a good experience, and I know DL & Associates does migrations as well; there are probably hundreds of companies or even trusted colleagues who’ve gone through the process before and can help you make sure it goes smoothly.
Research Third-Party Apps Before Converting
There are some super-fabulous apps out there that we love to use for syncing daily Point of Sale data, such as Synder, Bookkeep, and Shogo. But you need to look at the client’s needs and determine how they’ll be met in the new QBO world before making the shift – not all sync programs work with all POS platforms. Do demos, consult with colleagues, and figure out the timeline for implementing – in other words, not only the migration of QBDT data to QBO, but setting up the new system to work with the POS and get it all running. Our experience has been that some up-front planning saves loads of effort on the far end (which is when you’re pressed for time so the client can get back up-and-running).
Prepare Desktop Clients For The Change
And sticking with the theme of up-front planning… a little client hand-holding goes a long way. What they’re looking for is to follow your lead as their trusted advisor. The more you can compare and contrast their existing workflows and procedures with the new system, the more comfortable they’ll be with your proposal to move to QBO. Ideally, you already have Standard Operating Procedures in place for each of your clients. I wince as I type this, because I get that this is the “ideal” and not necessarily your reality – in all honesty, we’re still in the process of making sure each client has clear and detailed SOPs for every scenario. But this is a golden opportunity. Your instructions – in Word, an Excel checklist, Loom videos, or a project management app like Keeper, Financial Cents, or Asana – will build trust, making it much easier for you to illustrate to the client that this is a manageable change and that you’ve anticipated their needs. Side bonus: way less stress when a client (or your firm) loses a trusted team member and a new one needs to be trained ASAP.
To illustrate: in going through all the steps that a client’s office manager would complete each month as part of her billing process, and reproducing/ rewriting them using QBO, I noticed that she would no longer be able to run a particular report – at this point I had to decide whether we would come up with a different way for her to perform the same task, or whether we would track the data with a different feature in QBO so that she could run the report she was used to. Both approaches were fair; but the point is that I wouldn’t have noticed this change without walking through the process of retooling the procedures. This built trust with the client and made them more open-minded about making the change, because they knew we were actively anticipating and removing any stumbling blocks.
Client & Staff Training and Familiarization
As you know, transitioning to QBO doesn’t just involve moving data; it’s also about adapting to a new user environment. You’ll want to invest time in training sessions provided by Intuit or certified trainers like Royalwise (my personal favorite – I’ve been studying from Alicia for as long as I can remember). Intuit also offers an ongoing monthly session called QBO In The Know, which I encourage all my team members to attend as part of their paid training hours – this ensures that you don’t just get up-to-date, but that you stay that way, as the QBO ecosystem is constantly improving and new features are released every month. Hector Garcia’s YouTube channel is an endless wealth of information (I once hired a senior accountant with no degree and no certification based on the fact that she learned QBO by watching every single one of his videos. She’s now our Senior Accountant). Lastly, remember that QBO has a demo company! It’s a sandbox – have at it, and let your team practice without the risk of affecting real data.
Start by getting your client and team members’ buy-in. Take advantage of the available resources, and invest in training. With communication and planning, both your firm’s and your clients’ bookkeeping experience will end up better than it was with Desktop – we don’t have a single client that regrets having migrated, despite the fact that we all miss this-or-that feature (everyone’s got their favorite). But I promise it will be replaced by a new favorite. Remember, the goal is not just to convert data, but to enhance the overall efficiency and effectiveness of your accounting practices and those of your clients.
So… take that deep breath, plan for the future, and enjoy the heck out of that moment next tax season when you hear someone go, “oh wow, this really is so much better than it used to be!”
Note! As my readers know, I am downright fanatical about transparency and full disclosure (often to my detriment, as you may have noticed that I have a wildly popular award-winning blog that is non-monetized). Though this particular post is a paid partnership with Intuit, I want you to know that a) I wanted to write an article on QBDT–>QBO conversions anyway, but couldn’t find the time; getting paid allowed me the break from client work I needed to make it happen; and b) they didn’t delete a single thing when I presented it. In fact, they were totally cool with all my Intuit-bashing… which made me pretty impressed with them, to be honest. That’s twice now — let’s see if they go for a three-fer!
QB Ledger was announced at QB Connect a few months ago.
If you’re like me, March is that special month from hell where clients that have ignored your pleas for four quarters in a row suddenly show up again… and lucky you. Because now they’ve got a new AirBnb rental property in tow! Or yet another side gig! Or even better: an estate that they have to manage until it settles, and it’s caught up in probate!
To be honest, I’ve been slowly weeding these folks out of our client list – and I feel like a jerk about it – but it just doesn’t make sense for us to spend time during our busiest season getting them caught up on a year’s worth of transactions. Especially because these are the same characters that tend to be super price-conscious, and are somehow convinced that because they have a low volume of transactions, they shouldn’t have to pay for the monthly QuickBooks Online subscription – “can’t you just use our bank statements or a spreadsheet?”
For anyone reading this who isn’t intimately familiar with these classic dance moves already – no, we can’t just use bank statements or a spreadsheet. There’s no double-entry bookkeeping, no debits and credits, no Balance Sheet, and far too many potential lurking mysteries to be uncovered only after all the manual data entry is already complete. At some point we put a stop to these shenanigans… only to find ourselves sitting in QB Desktop, doing all the write-up work on behalf of our clients – a total reconstruction job. More reliable, but not less effort. (And moot at this point, since QB Desktop has gone subscription and is slowly asphyxiating.) And yet – I was a tiny startup at one point, too! I get not wanting to spend big bucks on a full-featured bookkeeping package for an activity that’s not earning much money.
By this point we’ve filtered out most of these types of clients, raising our minimum to price out some of the potential clients we really did (in theory) want to help – itty bitty start-ups or serial entrepreneurs, those that can’t resist a good deal on real estate, or people who sadly lost a loved one and are adrift as to how to handle the demands of bookkeeping for the estate. (I did this for both of my grandmothers back in the day, using my accountant’s copy of QuickBooks Desktop. It was not fun, but boy was my family relieved that they had a knowledgeable QB ProAdvisor handy.) But some remained. Clients who we really like who have been with us for ages, or who have another full-on business that we support, or whose side-gig really serves our community and they deserve a break.
(You read the title, right? I mean… you can see where this is going?)
Those who know me know that I don’t mince words about Intuit as a company. They’ve created a core product that I love, which I’ve been using in some form or another since 1993 (oof, that dates me) – but when they cross me (and they do, more than I’d like), I call ‘em out on it. I don’t like the constant price increases (though I do see the constant improvements), nor the aggressive marketing of corollary products to us and to our clients. I don’t understand why they haven’t fixed some basic functionalities we’ve been asking about for literally years. But the only reason I bother complaining is that I truly believe in QuickBooks products, and the ecosystem they’ve built, and that other software companies have built around them. Which is why it was delightful to be there when QB Ledger was announced at QB Connect in November (see photo above), and all the more delightful that since then, I’ve been able to honestly say I’m in love with this new product.
Why? What’s the hype?
Nothing. There’s no hype. That’s what’s so great about it. It’s just plain old reliable QB Online that we know and love, but without all the bells and whistles, and therefore totally affordable for uncomplicated files. It basically strips down the system to the core functionalities but retains the tools that are the most timesaving. And therefore, they only charge you for the basics. It’s $10/month per client.
At this price, and with the connected bank feeds, rules and reconciliation features, we can blow through an entire year of transactions on a cash-basis filer in literally a couple hours, and still make it affordable for the client, while maintaining plump margin for our firm. Since the bank and credit cards are connected, we don’t have to rely on the client for statements before we get started, so we can take care of most of the work well before tax-season begins. In most cases, the client won’t ever need access to the system, because it’s not about managerial insights and analytics – it’s just a compliance engagement that gets us to the point where we can file an accurate return. But unlike QB Self-Employed, this is real accounting software that gives us double-entry accounting, adjusting journal entries, and spits out proper financial statements. And also unlike QBSE, it allows for a full-on easy upgrade should the side-hustle turn into a more full-fledged business, or the real estate toe-dipper turns full-on house-flipper. (And yes, two accountants can be connected, just like the other QBO products, so if you’re not doing CAS and tax in-house like us, you can have a bookkeeper firm and tax prep firm both connected.)
Things to know before you dive in: – It seems like QB Support staff haven’t all been trained yet on what it can and can’t do, how many and which types of users can be attached, and which use-cases make the most sense, so be aware of that. It’s also sometimes tricky to get the client added (to set up the bank feeds) because the accountant user gets assigned both as accountant and admin; as with other versions, when this happens it can bea pain to switch that over to the client. So, make sure not to check the box to make yourself primary admin when setting it up. – And… they’ve got a weirdo situation where you can’t use a Customer name anywhere in the file (presumably they deactivated this because there’s no invoicing, which is fine… but we still need that field). I’ve got it on good authority that this isn’t a bug. I suspect this was done with the expectation that those who have customer reporting needs will just upgrade, but I don’t personally think that it will serve the purpose of moving them to Simple Start. They’ll just use an external invoicing or scheduling program to track income by customer instead of upgrading – especially because those third-party apps do in fact create these customers in the app – and then they’ll be hooked on that invoicing feature… instead of tracking things by customer in QB Ledger and eventually upgrading to Simple Start. I have clients in all walks of QBO and there are startups that can’t initially afford Simple Start who will eventually get there… but they’re going to need customers to make that happen. Another workaround: some folks are using the Vendor field with a “-Cust” after the name to get around this. – And lastly, bummer – you can’t downgrade, you can only start a new QB Ledger file or upgrade that file. (Yeah, they were thinking about all the reluctant clients who we had to talk into paying for Simple Start that don’t actually need A/R and A/P and would be fine on Ledger… really wishing they’d released this version years ago.)
Hector Garcia just released a half-hour complete tutorial on QB Ledger for accountants and bookkeepers, so if you want a deep dive on the specifics, then you’ve found your instructor.
Start-ups, trusts, estates, once-a-year write-up or tax prep clients, small side-hustles, AirBnB and other rentals, your glam diva marching band (ok, maybe my glam diva marching band)… the list goes on. Intuit has finally taken the core functionalities that are the reason we celebrate QuickBooks Online, and packaged them into an affordable option. It’s earning them goodwill, providing a pipeline for future upgrading customers, and will surely make the switch from Desktop to Online more attractive for the masses. For us, it fits seamlessly into our strategy to shift away from once-a-year rush work. For bookkeepers just getting their start, it allows them to take on small freelance and hustle clients. Welcome to the QB family, Ledger! We’re glad you’re here.
(What’s that, you want to learn more about QB Ledger? I knew you were gonna want to know how – so I’ve conveniently set it up for you to check out this page here.)
Note! As my readers know, I am downright fanatical about transparency and full disclosure (often to my detriment, as you may have noticed that I have a wildly popular award-winning blog that is non-monetized). Though this particular post is a paid partnership with Intuit, I want you to know that a) I wanted to write an article on QB Ledger anyway, but couldn’t find the time; getting paid allowed me the break from client work I needed to make it happen; and b) they didn’t edit a single thing when I presented it. In fact, they were totally cool with all my Intuit-bashing… which made me pretty impressed with them, to be honest. I might just do this again sometime. We’ll see.
One of my favorite books when I was a kid was “Hail, Hail, Camp Timberwood,” about a girl who goes to summer camp for her first time. She’s standing around, feeling (and probably looking) uncomfortable as all the return campers are running around, hugging each other, excited to be reunited. All of a sudden, someone runs up to her and gives her a big hug and says how happy she is to see her again. After a moment of total confusion, the girl leans in and says, “Don’t worry – we don’t actually know each other. I was just feeling left out and figured I’d join ‘em.” The two of them become fast friends and go off hugging others who looked out of place and letting them in on the joke. Before you know it, the entire place was full of everyone running around hugging each other and laughing.
While I can’t say this is likely to happen exactly like that at the upcoming QuickBooks Connect conference in Las Vegas, I also wouldn’t be that surprised if it did. There will be heaps of people reuniting for the first time since last year, or at least since Scaling New Heights (check out my recent video blog about those amazing takeaways, which includes some bonus QBC suggestions). But there will also be loads of first-timers attending, who are nervous and out of their element. Find the other wallflowers and go up to them – tell them it seemed like maybe they didn’t know anyone there, either, and do they want to eat lunch together or go to a vendor booth or grab a drink? You’ll be delighted and surprised at how many of these folks you’ll stay in touch with through the years. Remember, progressive accountants and bookkeepers such as the kind you’ll find at QBC – especially those who go year after year – are excited you’re there, and they want to help make your experience better. Introduce yourself to someone who looks like they “belong” and say that you’re new, and not sure where to begin. I am sure they’ll point you in the right direction, take you under their wing, or introduce you to someone who might be a great conference buddy.
For today’s blog post, I’m going to be that conference buddy, and share with you my Expert Tips for Attending QuickBooks Connect 2023.
Tip One — PLAN AHEAD
Attend a prep session webinar or podcast for individual insights. There are so many great recordings already out there: Check out the ones from The Unofficial QBC FB Group, Bookkeeping Buds, Forwardly and Uncat & Method, just to name a few. Kelly Gonsalves is hosting a star-studded one with Insightful Accountant – sign up here. Every registered participant will get a recording to watch on the way to Vegas!
Plan ahead, make a schedule, but be comfortable diverging from it; that way you don’t waste time figuring out what to do in the moment, but you also don’t miss the organic opportunities that arise.
Make a list of vendors you’d like to meet; they’re often very busy during open Exhibit Hall time; it might be helpful to set up a time with them to meet during a session when the Hall is less busy. Bring a list of questions you’d like to have answered. Narrow your scope… it’s impossible to visit everyone. Pick a few areas of interest, look into which vendors serve those areas, and focus on them.
Connect on social media with others who will be attending, whether it’s in a Facebook group like The Unofficial QuickBooks Connect Conference Group (where many of us shared short videos of what we’re looking forward to at QBC this year), LinkedIn, or other platform, you can always use #QBC2023 or #QBConnect to find out who you already know that might be going. Engage and make plans ahead of time.
Register for parties that aren’t already in the QBC app!
There are also some customer-specific dinners and get-togethers for RightTool, Synder, and other vendors – check with reps for the apps you already use or are planning to implement, and ask if they are hosting anything. Same with professional associations you might be considering joining, like Bookkeeping Buds, Realize, or Roundtable.
Tip Two — DOWNLOAD AND USE THE MOBILE APP
When you log into the QB Connect website, and once you’ve downloaded and signed into the conference app, you can select sessions ahead of time in the app or on the website; they sync with each other.
If you click on the session, it will show you speaker info. If you click on the speaker it will show their bio and all the sessions they’re teaching.
You can “register” for only one per timeslot, but you can “favorite” many, which is great if a session turns out not to be your cup of tea and you want to bail for another, or if you’re somewhat undecided.
Lines will form for the “sold-out” sessions, and they will let additional people in if there’s capacity, which there usually is – get there early to be near the front of the line.
Tip Three — PACK WISELY AND COMFORTABLY
Wear comfortable shoes – there’s a lot of walking, even though it’s a confined space. (Plus, dance parties!)
Pack an extra collapsible duffle bag for swag if you’re into it – but remember… you can also say “no thank you”. It’s easy to get lost in the freebie frenzy, but do you really need another stress ball?
The breakout rooms are often FREEZING! Bring a wrap or sweatshirt. Also, Vegas is in the desert… it’s chilly this time of year.
Bring a refillable water bottle (or reuse a plastic bottle) and/or coffee/tea mug; there will be dispensers, and also, the water in your hotel room is fine to drink. Pro tip: the gym is 24/7 and has great filtered water.
Bring battery packs and chargers – often the rooms are in a basement and your cell struggles and chews up your battery; plus you’ll want to be on the conference app, your association’s slack, and you’ll probably text a lot.
The hotels are pricey! Buy food & drink at a nearby convenience store if you’re going to want snacks or a bottle or box of wine outside of the usual meals and parties – but there are lots of those, so it’s not strictly necessary. Also, ordering delivery food is a lot cheaper than eating at the casino.
There are no coffee-makers in the rooms, and the line at the café winds through the casino. Bring a portable tea kettle or coffee-maker; this is ours.
Carry small bills for tipping bartenders at the various happy hours, socials, parties and receptions. They work hard and many attendees don’t think to bring cash.
Bring earplugs for sleeping and loud parties.
All that said, don’t overpack. We’re only there for four days and you can re-wear some of your clothing. You don’t want to get stuck spending most of your final night re-packing your whole wardrobe. You’ll probably need less stuff than you think.
There’s usually a spot at QBC where you can store your luggage on the last day, after checking out (rather than with the hotel concierge).
Dress code: BE YOURSELF. Many people are in sweats and jeans, others are in power-suits or dresses, and some of us love dressing up in-costume and wearing tiaras whenever we get the chance. Wear what makes you feel most like yourself.
Tip Four — TRAVEL CONSIDERATIONS
Sign up for the Forwardly/Fyle Shuttle from the airport to Aria on Nov 12 & 13 — The whole city has been torn apart in preparation for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix and rideshare surge prices are already insane.
Related: plan for ample travel time while in Las Vegas, whether you’re on foot or in a vehicle. Use cabs instead of rideshares when you must take a vehicle, as they are prohibited from surge pricing. Stick with over-street pedestrian bridges and monorails when possible.
Once you’ve met a bunch of folks at the conference, consider coordinating to share a cab back to the airport when you depart.
Check in early and skip the QBC lines. On Nov 12 from 12 PM-7 PM you can head to the Mariposa Registration Desk on Level 2, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win a meet-and-greet with Ryan Reynolds! Remember to bring your ID.
Tip Five — NETWORKING
Represent your tribe… for example, the Bookkeeping Buds are going to wear our tiaras for one of the sessions where a member is presenting. I also always bring my favorite Bookkeeping Buds bag and use it instead of the conference one (it not only is a nice talking point, but it also is easier to find if you leave it behind somewhere). Many folks love wearing t-shirts from their favorite apps – Kim Noh even has her own tee that has logos of her tech stack!
Stay connected via Slack, social media, and texts throughout the conference.
Bring business cards – digital, paper, or a paper one with a QR code (or QR code stickers). I’m using HiHello for my first time this year, but there are loads of others out there. These days the vendors usually just scan your badge to get your info, but they do sometimes have raffles where you can drop an old-school card in an old-school fishbowl; I have a different set of b-cards I use for these with an email that routes to a different folder.
Prepare your elevator pitch – who are you, what do you do, why are you here, what makes you different? What will I want to remember about meeting you?
Tip Six — TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
Sleep well the week and weekend leading up to the conference – the sessions start early, the parties go late, and there’s always something happening in the hotel bar.
Put your badge on the inside of the doorknob when you get back to your room, so that you remember to grab it on your way out. They are strict about not letting anyone in without it.
It’s okay to skip the morning session if you were up late, or to take a nap during a mainstage or between events. Give yourself some grace.
But be careful about how late you stay up and how much you drink. You don’t want to miss something valuable or feel sick just because you lost track of yourself. Bracelet trick.
Consider arriving a day early or leaving a day late so you can see the sights in Las Vegas. That’s harder this year because of the Formula 1 race coming up, but if you haven’t been to Absinthe, Lost Spirits, a Cirque de Soleil show, the Fremont Street Experience and the downtown Vegas lights, or the Museum of Neon, I can highly recommend taking the extra time to make it happen.
Tip Seven — SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
There are always seats up-front, even when a session looks full. Don’t be nervous about walking right up there, even if it’s a few minutes into the session. No one’s looking at you, and no one cares.
That said, feel free to ditch a class if it’s not what you were hoping for or expected. There are other workshops that will be better worth your valuable time – or maybe it’s an opportunity to visit with vendors or network with colleagues.
Take lots of notes – notebook, e-ink pad, tablet, laptop… however works best for you. Make one page a list of client-specific takeaways and one page a list of actions you’ll perform when you get back to the office. (In fact, as a paper-note-taker, I plan to check out my friends’ Remarkables and Supernotes as one of my research goals for the conference.)
In that notebook, keep one page aside for notes that are about client-specific problems that you will solve when you get back home; and another for non-client-specific items you will address. Try to restrict that second list to only 2-3 things – it’s impossible to implement every shiny new idea you come across. Those will hang around in your head and you’ll get a chance to learn more at the next conference, by which point maybe you’ll have a new set of goals.
Supposedly they are giving out free headshots at the Intuit booth, but I’m not sure where the info is on that.
It’s natural to be nervous, but you can do this! Even extroverts struggle with meeting new people sometimes. Move through that shyness or fear and lean into the fact that almost everyone here came alone; everyone had a first conference where they didn’t know anyone; and everyone is here to meet other people and develop their practices. We have so much in common… sit at a lunchtable where you don’t know anyone and introduce yourself. Ask why they’re here and what they’re enjoying most. Find out where they’re from and what their specialty is. Tell them your goals and ask if they have advice. Ask them what their tech stack is and share your struggles with your choices and vendors and all the things. We will never run out of topics to talk about with each other, because there is so much to learn in our industry. Plus, chances are that these are folks who are as passionate about what they do as you are, or they wouldn’t be here in the first place.
See you next week at QuickBooks Connect!
If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.
QuickBooks ProAdvisors are first nominated, and then go through a lengthy vetting process, before eventually opening up to a public vote. Applicants for this prestigious award are ranked based on their performance across various categories, measuring everything from QuickBooks knowledge and continuing education, to utilizing the best tools and partner apps within the QuickBooks ecosystem. Real-world experience with clients is a requirement. Winners have said the Top 100 recognition by peers and their industry has opened doors and provided inspiration and new perspectives.
I would love to express great appreciation to Gary DeHart and the entire Insightful Accountant team for their hard work evaluating the nominees — it’s quite special to receive an award from a publication that has been a trusted go-to resource for so many years. And special thanks to all those who voted, in particular my esteemed colleagues and valued clients. It’s extremely exciting to share space with luminaries in the Intuit QuickBooks world such as Alicia Katz Pollock, Lynda Artesani, Michelle Long, Caleb Jenkins, Marnie Stretch, Stacey Byrne, and Veronica Wasek. Looking forward to the formal announcement at Scaling New Heights. If you see me there, please come on up and introduce yourself!
If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.
With one week left before year-end, it’s possible that you are among the folks who received an email (below) back in October but hasn’t yet reported to the SBA on the eligible expenses incurred so far. This blog post (with a 20-min video walking you through the whole process) is our suggestion of how to translate the info you already have in QuickBooks into a format that will easily conform to the Restaurant Revitalization Award Portal requirements.
Sample email from SBA regarding RRF year-end reporting.
Spoiler alert: the process takes more than 5 minutes. It can easily take an hour or more. The actual entering of data into the SBA RRF portal is the part that only takes 5 or so minutes.
Our recommendation is to download the free Restaurant Revitalization Fund Tracker from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) website (like their PPP Forgiveness Calculator, you do have to register for an account, but there’s no charge). However, instead of entering each individual transaction on the form (as it’s designed for you to do), our suggested shortcut is to take the information you already have in your QuickBooks file and enter each category as one line — then subtract all the non-RRF grants and assistance received, so that you’re not double-dipping.
The RRF period runs from February 15, 2020 — the very beginning of the pandemic — to March 11, 2023. The year-end reporting is just a progress report of what you’ve spent so far that is eligible for RRF program fund allocation. So we suggest you run a Profit & Loss for your company for the period of February 15, 2020 all the way through November 30, 2021 (or whatever your most recently reconciled month-end is), and use those numbers to report what has been spent so far. Then enter the non-RRF grant funds as negative numbers on the same Expense Tracker tab, so that they net against each other. The result will be the data you submit to the SBA at restaurants.sba.gov once you log in to your portal.
Step 1 – download the AICPA RRF Tracking Tool Step 2 – enter the name of your company in the Summary tab, cell A9 Step 3 – enter the RRF amount in the Expense Tracker tab, cell C6 Step 4 – run your Profit & Loss from 2/15/2020-11/20/2021 Step 5 – export to Excel and save to your RRF file folder Step 6 – on the Expense Tracker tab, enter summary amounts from the Profit & Loss for Payroll, Rent, Utilities, Food & Beverage, Maintenance, Supplies, Covered Supplier Costs, and Business Operations Expenses
Tip: for now, skip Mortgage Payments, Debt Service, Outdoor Seating Construction, and Depreciation, or ask your accountant for help with these, as they are usually on the Balance Sheet or in the Non-Operating Expense section of the Profit & Loss, and are therefore harder to DIY.
Tip: Business Operations Expenses are all operating expenses that are not already accounted for in one of the other categories.
Step 7 – IMPORTANT: enter all the non-RRF grants and financial assistance as negative amounts on the Expense Tracker tab — this is to prevent any double-dipping Step 8 – go to restaurants.sba.gov and log in Step 9 – enter your name, address, EIN, phone, and email (if this information is not already there) Step 10 – enter the amounts from the Summary tab — Note: you cannot enter more than the total RRF grant, so you may need to reduce one or more of the categories so that you don’t exceed the total. Step 11 – if you have allocated all the RRF funds, certify as such — you will not be required to repeat this progress report next year; if you have not allocated all the RRF funds, you will be able to “Save” but not “Submit”.
If you have not allocated all the funds yet, then follow this same process next year by December 31, 2022 — you can run the Profit & Loss from 12/1/2021-11/30/2022 at that point and follow the same approach. Most folks will have sufficient eligible expenses from 2/15/2020-11/30/2021 to “use up” the whole RRF grant, but after subtracting other grant income from expenses, may find that they still have a balance left over that they can allocate costs to when reporting at the end of 2022.
You have until March 11, 2023 to allocate all the funds (aka spend them on operating expenses, and until April 30, 2023 for final reporting. If it turns out you didn’t have enough eligible expenses from 2/15/20-11/30/21 using Profit & Loss Operating Expenses, then take some time to work with your accountant to determine if you have debt service, mortgage payments, capital expenses for outdoor seating, or depreciation that counts. You can report these in next year’s RRF Program Post-Award Report, along with next year’s Profit & Loss Operating Expenses. In all cases: make sure to subtract all other grant income from expenses so you are not double-dipping!
23-minute video walking you through the whole process — Merry Christmas!
If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.
As is the case every year, we’re hearing from lots of folks confused about when to send a 1099 form or other “information returns” to someone. It is true that over time, these forms have continued to change, and the rules have become more specific… but the basics remain the same. The most important point is that only businesses need to issue 1099s — if you paid someone for personal purposes, you are not (yet) required to send them or the IRS a Form 1099.
Here’s a crash course for each type of form, followed by an FAQ.
1099-NEC This form was new for 2020 and replaces the old Box 7 of Form 1099-MISC. “NEC” stands for “non-employee compensation”. It is due to recipients and the IRS by January 31st (or the first business day after that, if 1/31 falls on a weekend).
If you paid: 1) a NON-corporation (*see below); 2) for services (not products); 3) via check, cash, ACH, or wire transfer — but not merchant services or electronic payments (such as credit & debit cards, PayPal Business, Venmo Business (**see below) — and starting in 2022 Zelle/QuickPay, CashApp, personal Venmo & PayPal); 4) $600 or more in a calendar year; then you need to send them a 1099-NEC.
(*) A lot of folks get confused and think the rule is if you paid an “individual,” but really the rule is a “non-corporation,” which means that partnerships and LLCs are included. Just because they have a business name doesn’t mean they’re incorporated. You cannot depend on the company’s name to determine corporate status, nor can you rely on the state LLC/Corp database, as it only indicates the entity type at the state level — almost any type of entity may elect corporate status with the IRS.
So, keep in mind that a company can be an LLC but be taxed as a corporation. In this case, you would not need to send them a 1099, because in the eyes of the IRS, they are incorporated. Here’s an example of a W-9 showing an LLC that is taxed as an S-Corp:
This is one of many reasons you should collect Form W-9 from all service vendors before giving them their first check, just to be safe. The person filling out the W-9 will indicate their entity type and whether or not they are taxed as a corporation.
There’s also an exception to the incorporation rule for attorneys and law firms. You must issue a 1099 to a lawyer or law firm regardless of whether they are incorporated. (Law firms and attorneys have so many specialized 1099 issues, they get their own blog post.)
(**) There’s a lot of confusion over Venmo and PayPal, because there are personal-use “Friends & Family” versions as well as business versions of both platforms. Legally, no business should be using the non-business versions of these payment types… but in real life, many do. It’s very hard to distinguish which payments were made using which method — in theory, a 1099-NEC would need to be issued to a vendor who was paid via a personal Venmo or PayPal method, but I’m not sure how this would be tracked. My recommendation (for many reasons) is to only use the business versions, and then the 1099-NEC is a non-issue (because Venmo and PayPal will issue a 1099-K instead). It also sounds like, starting in 2022, even the personal versions of these programs will be required to issue a 1099-K if $600 and over.
I know, that’s all very confusing. Here’s a nice decision-tree provided by our friends over at Bookkeepers.com, courtesy of Bookkeeping Buds.
1099-MISC
Items such as rent payments, royalties, attorney settlements (as mentioned above, not payments for legal services), and medical healthcare payments will still be reported on Form 1099-MISC, though the form has been redesigned and the boxes renumbered.
Report prizes and awards of $600 or more that are not for services performed in Box 3. Include the fair market value of merchandise won. And be careful here, as it is easy to accidentally include these on Form 1099-NEC if the recipient also provided unrelated services.
Rent paid ($600 or more) (Box 1)
Royalties paid of at least $10 or more (Box 2)
Prizes and awards and certain other payments ($600 or more, see instructions for Form 1099-MISC, Box 3 for more information)
Backup withholding or federal income tax withheld (any amount) (Box 4)
Amounts paid specifically to physicians, physicians’ corporations, or other suppliers of health and medical services ($600 or more) (Box 6)
Direct sales of at least $5,000 of consumer products to a buyer for resale anywhere other than a permanent retail establishment (Box 7)
Gross proceeds paid to an attorney ($600 or more whether or not incorporated) (Box 10) – “made to an attorney in the course of your trade or business in connection with legal services, but not for the attorney’s services”; for example, a settlement agreement.
The deadline for providing this form to recipients is the same as above, January 31st. However, the deadline for filing 1099-MISC with the IRS is February 28 if filing on paper, and March 31 if filing electronically.
1099-K
It’s unlikely that anyone reading this will be in the position of issuing Form 1099-K to vendors — but you should know about this form, for a few reasons: 1) You are likely to receive one. 2) It’s the reason you don’t have to issue 1099-NEC to anyone you pay via credit card/debit card, Zelle, QuickPay, a business PayPal account, or a business Venmo account. 3) You may need to reconcile this form against the amount of sales income you report on your tax return.
Form 1099-K is for payments made in settlement of “reportable payment transactions”, which is any credit card, payment card or third-party network transaction. So if you receive payments in this way (unless you only accept checks, e-checks, ACH, or zelle/QuickPay, you probably do), then you’ll get a 1099-K for this total.
But because these amounts are reported to the IRS for you, you don’t need to issue 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC forms to vendors whom you paid using one of these methods. In that case, the recipient could end up having the same income reported to the IRS twice.
As a bookkeeper, accountant or tax preparer, it’s important to protect your small business clients by making sure all taxable income is being reported on their books/returns. If the 1099-K is for an amount that is lower than what’s on the income section of the Profit & Loss, it’s not likely to be an issue. But if it’s higher, you’ll need to do a reconciliation to show that the difference was due to non-taxable receipts such as sales taxes collected, tips collected, refunded sales, and the like.
1099-INT
This form is issued to anyone who lent your business money, and your business paid them at least $10 of interest in the past calendar year. It includes owners, partners, and shareholders.
Note: do not issue this form for accrued interest; it is only for actual payouts of interest in cash or trade.
The form is due to recipients by January 31 (February 1 in 2021), but isn’t due to the IRS until March 1 if filing on paper and March 31 if e-filing.
If not e-filing, you can use the IRS’s fill-in pdf Copy B for the recipient copy, but for the version that goes to the IRS, you have to order an official form with special scannable ink — they’re free, but they take a while to be mailed, so fill out your request early. Make sure to mark the year you are filing for, not the current year — an easy mistake to make.
Another note: I have had clients reach out confused by the language “You are not required to file Form 1099-INT for interest on an obligation issued by an individual”. This means if the loan were TO an individual rather than FROM one, and the individual paid interest to the company. (This is not usually the case.) In that situation, the individual would not have to issue the company a 1099-INT (although the company would still have to declare the interest income).
1099-DIV
This form is issued to a shareholder of a C-Corporation for dividends or other distributions paid in the past calendar year.
Most folks don’t think this applies to them — but if you own a business that is taxed as a C-Corp, and you took money out that wasn’t W-2 or loan repayments, then you may have issued yourself dividends. (And if it was for a loan repayment, did you pay the required amount of interest? If so, see the “1099-INT” section above.)
The form is due to recipients by January 31 (February 1 in 2021), but isn’t due to the IRS until March 1 if filing on paper and March 31 if e-filing.
If not e-filing, you can use the IRS’s fill-in pdf Copy B for the recipient copy, but for the version that goes to the IRS, you have to order an official form with special scannable ink — they’re free, but they take a while to be mailed, so fill out your request early. Make sure to mark the year you are filing for, not the current year — an easy mistake to make.
1098
This form is to report mortgage interest and real estate taxes. You may not think it applies to you, but if you do the bookkeeping for or are a member of a housing cooperative, you may find that it does. This needs to be issued to housing co-op members for their allocated portion of mortgage interest and real estate taxes paid by the cooperative, so they can deduct them on their personal tax return, Form 1040, Schedule A. If not e-filing, you can use the IRS’s fill-in pdf Copy B for the recipient copy, but for the version that goes to the IRS, you have to order an official form with special scannable ink — they’re free, but they take a while to be mailed, so fill out your request early. Make sure to mark the year you are filing for, not the current year — an easy mistake to make.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do if the vendor will not give me their Tax ID Number, which I need to file the 1099?
First off, it’s the business’ responsibility to obtain this number. That’s why I recommend getting the W-9 from the vendor before giving them their first payment. But in the case where it’s 1099-time and you still don’t have that TIN for some reason, respectfully let the vendor know that not having their info will not prevent you from filing the 1099. It just means the IRS will receive it with “REFUSED” written in the field where the number should be (or if you use an e-filing program, you will check the box that the number is unavailable). This will almost always trigger an audit for both the business and the recipient, which no one wants. Presented with this information, I find that most non-compliant vendors are suddenly able to fill out that W-9 form after all.
Do I really have to send one to my landlord? They get angry when I bring it up.
If your landlord is not incorporated, yes, you do. If it makes them mad, then consider why… are they trying to avoid declaring it as taxable income? Is that the type of person you want to rent from?
What if you forgot to issue a 1099 to someone?
It’s never too late! Since the statute of limitations never starts if you don’t file a return, penalties and interest can continue to accrue forever. If you noticed that you forgot to file a 1099, even for a prior year, reach out to the recipient in question and make sure they declared and paid taxes on the income you inadvertently forgot to remind them about — and hopefully they have. In this case, no amended return will be required on their end, and the form’s arrival will not come as an unwelcome surprise. If not, then that’s a bigger concern. It is the responsibility of each recipient of income to declare it on their return, regardless of having received the 1099. Not getting the form does not exempt a taxpayer from declaring the income they earned. So, the business owner needs to evaluate the risk involved to their company in knowingly refusing to comply with tax law, versus the recipient’s desire to evade taxes.
What do you do if you receive a 1099 that is incorrect or unnecessary?
If you receive a 1099 that has incorrect information on it, simply reach out to the issuer to ask for a corrected 1099. Do this as soon as possible, as it will help them to fix it before it is submitted to the IRS.
If they will not correct the total, then declare the full amount on your tax return, but “back out” the incorrect amount as a negative, with an explanation to the IRS for why this amount was inaccurate. If you receive an audit notice, provide the IRS with the documentation showing why your calculation is correct, and the support showing you reached out to the issuer when you realized the form was not right.
If you should not have received a 1099 at all, follow the same advice as above. A good example of this would be if you received a 1099-K for credit card payments, but also received a 1099-NEC from the company that paid you (this is quite common… it is extremely challenging in most bookkeeping software to distinguish how a bill was paid in most reports). In this case, if the customer will not void the 1099 form for some reason, simply declare the full amount on your business’ tax return and “back out” the amount that was double-issued, with the explanation that it was already declared in income via 1099-K or some similar wording.
However, if the reason you should not have received the 1099 was that you are taxed as a corporation, and you’ve already declared this income on your tax return, then you can ignore the form — it will have no effect on anything and was just a waste of time on the part of the issuer.
How do I run the 1099 report in QuickBooks? Won’t it tell me who needs a form from my company?
Most bookkeeping professionals don’t use the 1099 report that QuickBooks generates — it’s too prone to user error when setting up the vendors, accounts, and dollar-thresholds. Instead we run the detail of the cash accounts and filter by transaction type – Check, Expense, Bill Payment… then sort by Name. The problem may be that there is not a name in there, or it is not a Vendor Name: another great reason to make sure you’re setting up bank rules and being careful about data entry to include vendor information on all transactions.
How does PayPal work?
Oh my goodness, is this ever complicated.
If you pay a business using your personal bank or Paypal account, or pay through “Friends & Family” PayPal you do need to send a 1099 (if over $600), because PayPal thinks this was a personal transaction — because, as I mentioned at the top of this post, personal transactions do not require 1099 forms. If you had used “Business” PayPal, then PayPal would send the 1099-K and there would be no reason to issue a 1099-NEC.
A colleague of mine recently called PayPal support about this and here was their response: If the transaction detail says “money sent”, those qualify as Friends & Family transactions. However, if the transaction says “invoice paid” or “payment”, then it is a business payment — even if it’s within a personal Paypal account.
What about Venmo?
According to Venmo’s term of service, using it for business is a violation, and they can seize whatever money you have sitting in your Venmo account if they catch you using it for business.
However, we know sometimes this is the best way to collect money from folks, or that customers will send you Venmo funds without thinking about it, or that you’ll do the same with your vendors.
Venmo is considered a “peer-to-peer transfer service”, and not a third-party network. Therefore, treat these like cash payments from a business and send a 1099 form to your vendor.
(Side note: Venmo is starting to accept applications from a number of businesses for a new “Business Venmo”, but it’s brand new and very limited. Be careful with this. The problem with Venmo, PayPal, Bento, and other similar companies like that is that they don’t act like they’re banks — and their staff doesn’t realize that banking is actually the primary function of the company they work for — they don’t get the same kind of intensive training that bankers do. I recommend avoiding Venmo for business payments as much as possible.)
The short version here is that not all states have the same rules. Some allow the IRS filing of certain information returns to substitute for state filing requirements, and some don’t. Some require e-filing and some allow physical mailings. In past years, the IRS offered state-filings with the 1099-MISC, but didn’t bring that into the modern era when they released 1099-NEC. So please, do your homework when it comes to state filings.
Where can I find more info on due dates, penalties, and real-life scenarios?
If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. This allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.
