The best way to learn QuickBooks, accounting and bookkeeping
I got a couple of email questions about using credit cards so I thought that would be a good topic for this week. It’s very similar to the process of entering bills and the credit card account can be thought of as another accounts payable account. You enter all of your credit card transactions and can then reconcile your QuickBooks against the credit card statement to make sure you haven’t missed anything.
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
I’m attending 3 live seminars from Intuit tomorrow. The nice part is that they are free and I usually pick up one or two good pieces of information that make it worth the drive into Boston. The bad part is that they don’t provide lunch and parking at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport really sucks! This is the third year in a row in that location and for the past two years many of the attendees have complained but I guess nothing has changed. The first year it took me 1/2 hour to park and 45 minutes at the end of the day to pay for parking to get out. Last year was a little better but it there was still about a 20 minute wait to pay for parking. If anyone at Intuit reads this, please change the location next year!!!
Here’s a quick overview of the seminars that are being presented tomorrow:
2010 What’s New for Accounting Professionals from Intuit Proline
Intuit QuickBooks Premier Accountant 2010 from Intuit ProLine helps accounting professionals save time, save money and grow your practice! QuickBooks 2010 is designed to make you and your client’s work easier, faster and more accurate. Your suggestions inspired new features and big improvements. Discover in this course how QuickBooks 2010 can help you work more efficiently with your clients data and enable them to get more from QuickBooks.
Innovation for Accounting Professionals
Technology is constantly moving at a lightening pace. Innovation for Accounting Professionals is designed to give you the latest information on changes in technology and how these trends can impact both small businesses and accounting professionals. You will also get to see the latest and exciting offerings from Intuit designed to help you be more productive in this fast-paced environment.
2009 Lacerte Annual Update Seminar (Lacerte is the tax preparation software that my firm uses and is owned by Intuit)
Lacerte program features and functionality changes that are focused on making Lacerte run faster and you more productive. We also update you on the basics like changes to tax law and e-filing. Find out why Lacerte is now part of the new Intuit ProLine, designed to help you improve your productivity and achieve your goals for growth.
I’ll let you all know what nuggets of wisdom I pick up tomorrow. If you’re in the Boston area and want to attend you might still be able to register at the Intuit site here.
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
Microsoft once tried to buy Intuit in the 1990′s but was unsuccessful. Then they came out with a product to compete directly with QuickBooks. Today they announced that they are discontinuing that product. Here is a blurb from their website:
Microsoft Office Accounting will no longer be distributed after November 16, 2009.We would like to thank the many dedicated users and partners who have been enthusiastic supporters of Office Accounting over the years
I wish I could say that I am surprised by this, but I’m really not at all. In my 12 years of working in public accounting, working directly with small businesses I have never once encountered a business that used the Microsoft accounting products. Intuit owns this space and it will take a company more focused than Microsoft to unseat it as the King of small business accounting software.
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
As I mentioned last week, the Accountant’s Copy feature of QuickBooks is very useful and is very different than a regular backup. It allows you to keep working in your QuickBooks data file while your accountant has a copy to work on also. Then your accountant can export the changes they have made and you can merge those changes back into your data file. This is the first recording since installing Windows 7 and I think my microphone level was a little too high so I apologize if the audio is a little off.
If you have any questions about this episode please leave them in the comments section below the video. Thanks!
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
Just got an email from Intuit that they have identified a security vulnerability within QuickBooks related to the use of ActiveX technology. Versions affected are: Quickbooks 2007 through 2009 Simple Start, Pro, Premier and Enterprise Solutions 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0.
If exploited, this vulnerability could allow a hacker to access the data on the user’s computer.
TWO FILES NOW PROTECTED
With current releases, two ActiveX controls are now protected that would otherwise retain potential vulnerabilities:
1. HtmlHelper.dll
2. QBInstanceFinder.dll
For the identified versions of QuickBooks, enabling and approving automatic updates, or manually downloading the update and then applying the updates, will eliminate potential risk.
WHERE TO FIND THE QUICKBOOKS UPDATES
For information on the most recent updates available for QuickBooks 2007, 2008, and 2009, including access to manual downloads, can be found at this link; users are asked to identify the product they need to update:
http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/productupdates.aspx
They included a lot of questions and answers in the email which I have copied and pasted below:
________________________________________
FAQ1. Are any other Intuit products subject to this vulnerability?
A1. At this time and to the best of our knowledge, other Intuit products do not have this vulnerability. If we learn otherwise, we will provide further guidance as soon as possible.
________________________________________
FAQ2. Does this issue affect QuickBooks 2010?
A2. No. Neither QuickBooks 2010, nor Enterprise Solutions 10.0, released in September 2009, are exposed to this vulnerability. Of course, we still encourage users to accept the most current releases for the software.
________________________________________
FAQ3. What are the updates or releases that are required for 2007, 2008, and 2009?
A3. Releases are cumulative in nature, and over time the most current release will have even a higher number. But for each of the following versions of QuickBooks, the release number shown marks the first introduction of the resolution of the security vulnerability:
• QuickBooks 2009: R8
• QuickBooks 2008: R10
• QuickBooks 2007: R13
The updates are also requested for the following versions of Enterprise Solutions: 7.0, 8.0, and 9.0.
________________________________________
FAQ4. What if I have multiple Intuit products? Do I need to download and install the patch for each one?
A4. If you have installed more than one of the identified versions of Quickbooks (2007-2009), you should apply patches for each version. This is because there are unique updates for each version to address the HtmlHelper.dll file. (The QBInstanceFinder.dll file is in the Common Programs folder, and one update will update all installed versions for that DLL file.)
________________________________________
FAQ5. Are older versions of QuickBooks, that is, QuickBooks 2006 or earlier, subject to the ActiveX vulnerability?
A5: Yes. Because these earlier versions are no longer supported, Intuit is unable to provide a tested solution to the vulnerability. See also the next two related questions.
________________________________________
FAQ6. What if my client is still running an earlier, nonsupported version of QuickBooks?
A6. Intuit strongly recommends that all users move to a currently supported version of QuickBooks. This recommendation will be clearly stated in the Intuit communications going to your clients on the topic. The Frequently Asked Questions that are meant to be posted for the benefit of QuickBooks users will also identify this need in the face of the potential vulnerability of QuickBooks 2006 and earlier.
This means that there is no good solution to recommend to clients who continue to run QuickBooks 2006 and earlier, and the ProAdvisors who may grudgingly support them. Possibly the potential vulnerability will encourage such clients to upgrade at this time.
So-Called “Kill Bit” Solution Not Recommended. In the case of systems administrators of networks where QuickBooks may have once been installed but is no longer used, Intuit has prepared some instructions that involve editing the Registry to disable calls to the Internet Browser. See here. Sometimes this approach is informally called the “kill bit” solution.
• NOT Recommended for Clients. This solution is not recommended for clients running an earlier version of QuickBooks. Besides the riskiness of editing the Windows registry, the kill bit solution has not been tested in earlier versions and could possibly interfere with some areas of functionality.
• Especially NOT Recommended for ProAdvisors. For ProAdvisors running multiple versions of QuickBooks, including QuickBooks 2006 and earlier, the kill bit solution is not recommended for the above reasons and also because the solution would also disable one of the DLL files used by ALL versions of QuickBooks, including those otherwise updated.
Developing: Please understand that Microsoft continues to work on security updates for its ActiveX implementation, so more general solutions may be forthcoming from that source. If so, those general solutions may address vulnerabilities in QuickBooks 2006 and earlier.
________________________________________
FAQ7. If I run an update for QuickBooks 2007, 2008, or 2009, won’t that resolve the problem for ALL versions using the ActiveX controls? Including 2006 and earlier?
A7. No. Of the two ActiveX control files identified above, one is maintained in common across versions of QuickBooks, but the other is specific to each QuickBooks version.
Therefore running an update for one of the recent versions of QuickBooks does not remove the potential vulnerability for an earlier version of QuickBooks.
________________________________________
FAQ8. I have one or more clients who are using a version of QuickBooks from outside the United States. What should I do?
A8. The U.S. version of QuickBooks has cousins developed for local markets in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa. The security issue is being addressed for these versions too; for more information, see the Support websites for these versions. See also the list of versions in the question below, on “How do I make sure I have the patch?” In the answer, we list specific versions from these countries.
Websites for downloading the update for several countries are shown above. The following phone numbers are also available:
• Canadian customers: 1-888-829-1722
• U.K. customers: 0845 606 2161
Anticipated Questions Posted for All Users
For your reference, here are the FAQs posted for all users by Intuit about the security updates.
________________________________________
Q1. What if I’ve uninstalled one of these products and no longer use it? Do I still need the patch?
A1. If you have uninstalled QuickBooks, you should not be vulnerable to these vulnerabilities. If you have installed multiple versions of QuickBooks, you will be vulnerable if any affected version is still installed. Uninstalling all affected versions of the software will remove the vulnerability from your system.
________________________________________
Q2. How do I download and install the update?
A2. All users of an identified version of QuickBooks should download the security update at:
http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/Support/ProductUpdates.aspx. Canadian users can also download the update from: http://support.intuit.ca/quickbooks/en-ca/kb/update/update-quickbooks-to-new-product-update/Update_main.html
When the page appears:
1. Choose your product by clicking the product selector link.
2. Click the Update button to start the download and click Go.
3. Select Open or Run This Program from its Current Location to begin installing the update immediately. Restarting your computer is not required.
4. If you don’rt have time to install the update, you can select Save or Save This Program to Disk and the update file, called qbwebpatch.exe, will download to your hard drive. You’ll need to open that file to run the update.
________________________________________
Q3. How do I check that the security update has been applied?
A3. To make sure the patch has been applied and is installed on your system, open QuickBooks, and press the F2 key. In the display, you should see the product version information in the first line. Versions of QuickBooks with the patches applied are the following:
• QuickBooks 2009 R8 US
• QuickBooks 2008 R10 US
• QuickBooks 2007 R13 US
• QuickBooks 2006 R12 UK
• QuickBooks 2008 R12 UK
• QuickBooks 2009 R6 CAN
• QuickBooks 2008 R8 CAN
• QuickBooks MC R24 CAN
• QuickBooks 2009 French R6 CAN
• QuickBooks 2007 French R7 CAN
• QuickBooks 2009/10 AU (v18)
________________________________________
Q4. What operating systems are supported?
A4. The security update is available for all operating systems used by any identified versions of the Quickbooks applications: Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 2000.
[If you are running Windows 98 or Windows ME, you need to have Internet Explorer 6.0 or later installed before you can install the update. Go to the Internet Explorer 6 Downloads Web page to install a more recent version of IE. ]
Note: Intuit products for Apple MacOS X are not affected.
________________________________________
Q5: What if I have multiple Intuit products? Do I need to download and install the update for each one?
A5. If you have installed more than one identified version of Quickbooks, you should apply an update for each version.
________________________________________
Q6. I still have a trial version of Quickbooks installed on my system. Do I still need to apply the security update?
A6. Yes. If you have any trial versions of one of the identified versions of Quickbooks installed on your system, you should download and install the security update.
________________________________________
Q7. I only use the Internet on a periodic basis. Do I still need to download the security update?
A7. Yes. If you installed an identified version of Quickbooks on your computer, the vulnerability poses a security risk regardless of whether you are currently connected to the Internet. We recommend that all users of an identified version download and install the security update.
________________________________________
Q8. How do I ensure that my computer has not already been compromised?
A8. If you have anti-virus software installed and have updates run automatically, the anti-virus software should detect the presence of any malware on your computer. If you want to determine if your computer has malware on it, run a complete scan of your computer using an anti-virus software product.
________________________________________
Q9. I’m the administrator of my office network. Some machines have had QuickBooks installed at some point but don’t any longer, and aren’t getting automatic updates. What should I do to secure my network?
A9. If you have had QuickBooks installed on some computers at some point, and are no longer running QuickBooks on those machines and receiving automatic updates, you can secure these machines by following these steps to edit the Windows Registry. Please back up the Registry before you implement the following changes:
1. Copy the following text to a file with the “.REG” suffix.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX
Compatibility\{596801D8-2C9D-4627-9C67-195CB81B655A}]
“Compatibility Flags”=dword:00000400
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX
Compatibility\{03C3A013-02F2-4e56-87A8-B74A7C5DC75B}]
“Compatibility Flags?=dword:00000400
2. Import this into the registry by double-clicking on the .REG file and it will automatically be imported. This will disable the affected ActiveX controls.
________________________________________
Q10. What if I use QuickBooks 2006 or a previous version?
A10. Intuit wants your data to be safe. We recommend you upgrade to a newer version of QuickBooks (2007 or later) as soon as possible and follow the instructions to update that version. QuickBooks 2006 and prior versions are no longer supported and Intuit does not release updates for these products.
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
In this episode I walk through the process of backing up and restoring your QuickBooks data. I also take a look at the Portable Company File which is similar to a backup. You should take great care in developing a good backup strategy for your QuickBooks file. The built-in backup and restore functions are pretty good and well thought out, but it tends to scare people because there is a lot of information and instruction included along the way. Hopefully by watching this I can help those people that are unsure of how to make a backup because it is so important to have a backup so that you don’t lose all of your data to a computer catastrophe. I mention the Intuit QuickBooks Online Backup Service too, but I have never used it. If you have any experience with it, please let me know in the comments section on the website.
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
I got 2 questions this past week both asking about the same issue – how to account for expenses that get paid by the owner out of his/her own pocket. It’s fairly common for a small business to not have a lot of money in the bank during the start up phase and the owner tends to pay for business expenses on their personal credit cards. You want to make sure that you get these expenses recorded on the company books and show that the company owes the money back to the owner. I go over how to record this in QuickBooks and how to record the check when the company finally pays that money back.
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
Join me as I explore one of the most intriguing new features of QuickBooks 2010, a built-in document management system. This new feature allows you to scan a document (a bill from a vendor for example) and attach it to a transaction in QuickBooks (the bill as entered into the program). It then allows you to pull up that original source document that was scanned in directly from the transaction screen. It’s a great idea, but did Intuit get the implementation right? Watch the video and then let me know what you think of this new feature.
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
You can get a credit from a vendor for a number of reasons. The most common is probably for returning merchandise, but it may also be for a rebate or pricing error on the original bill. No matter what the reason for the credit is, you should always make sure you use those credits and apply them against bills from that vendor. Applying credits from vendors is one of those things in QuickBooks that confuses a lot of people. Even thought it’s a pretty simple process, they way the program is designed and laid out makes it a little difficult to figure out on your own.
How many of you have had a problem in this area? Tell me your story in the comments below the video!
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
I just got episode 5 of the podcast out today and I finally have a good system down as far as recording and producing the various file formats. It’s always been my plan to release a new episode every week, on a set schedule and now I can finally do that.
My initial thought was to release a new episode every Monday, but I usually have a lot of family activities on the weekends so I would probably have a hard time keeping up with that schedule. I teach a live QuickBooks class on Monday nights, so Tuesday is out. So Wednesday is the next logical choice! As a comic book geek, Wednesday holds a special place in my heart as new comic book day so now the day has new meaning for me.
So from this week forward, new episodes will come out on Wednesday. I can’t commit to any particular time yet but I will attempt to get it out before Noon (Eastern Time in the U.S.). As I gain more experience and get even more proficient at this I’ll have a more strict release schedule. All of my favorite podcasts come out on a regular schedule and I feel like it’s a sign of a quality show.
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
Hi there! I'm Mike. I am a CPA and an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. I teach QuickBooks locally in classrooms and do one-on-one training sessions. I created this site so I could extend my teaching to more people and offer them the best support possible.
Learn more...
