Callling Quickbooks users. Client using Quickbooks online. Profit in balance sheet does not agree to profit in P&l. I have checked the period dates which are correct. Balance sheet balances!!
I have tried Quickbooks help twice but they don't understand accounts. Latest adviser said the figures will be different because one page includes expenses but the other does not. He emailled some steps to take but the headings do not appear on the screens I can see, so presumably intended for a different product and no help to me.
I have looked at Chart of Accounts which I find very confusing. I know Sage (for example) chart of accounts has a feature which tells you if any nominal account has been omitted . Does Quickbooks have the same.? Can anyone suggest some checks I can do?
Thanks for all answers.
Replies (23)
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Profit.... Depends on what you are looking at.
Did you screen share with QB support
How many years data in QB
Perhaps export to excel the following
Do a tb for current year to date
Check the retained profit bfwd
Also run pl current year
Look at last financial year
Same exercise.
The profit figure you are expecting to see may be confused by corporation tax and dividends.
QB support. Not good. They are not bookkeepers!
Check out the QB community
Use some key phrases... may give you a heads up
I would run a detailed balance sheet report which will provide line by line detail of how the P&L figure on the balance sheet is made up. Sometimes there is a rogue posting.
I would run a detailed balance sheet report which will provide line by line detail of how the P&L figure on the balance sheet is made up. Sometimes there is a rogue posting.
I would run a detailed balance sheet report which will provide line by line detail of how the P&L figure on the balance sheet is made up. Sometimes there is a rogue posting.
I would run a detailed balance sheet report which will provide line by line detail of how the P&L figure on the balance sheet is made up. Sometimes there is a rogue posting.
I would run a detailed balance sheet report which will provide line by line detail of how the P&L figure on the balance sheet is made up. Sometimes there is a rogue posting.
A bit of rogue posting going on here! ;-P
You mention no brought forwards, but is that just because you are not expecting any, have you checked the software (dont want to assume!).
Try running a P&L on custom dates say 01/01/2018 to day before actual start and see if there is anything lurking.
Or a random one, not sure if it will work as I dont know my way round QBO. Run P&L for the financial year dates. Then run a Balance Sheet for end of financial yeat, click on the 'profit for the year', which will then take you to your P&L (but the report shows as custom dates) - are these figures on a line by line the same for each P&L? If not you can then drill down.
Failing that, push it up the line at QBO - insist the issue is escalated!
Are there any entries dated before the start of the financial year?
If the P & L is being run for a full 12 month period, there may be entries dated prior to the start of the 12 month period that would be included in the profit shown on the Balance Sheet but not on the P & L report.
Can you run a report each month to try to track down when the error occurred? It will reduce the number of transactions you need to check to locate the difference.
OP
any success?
Have you allowed QB suppourt to see your screen.
Personnally, I do not believe this is a bug type error.
error with a transaction date falling out side pl year, and you not spotting the effect on bal sheet of the outside year dated transaction.
I am not going to replicate this myself, to test how and where QB picks this up.
You could, try with a £10,000 dummy transaction.
Many AWEBers would be interested to learn the out come .
Bug?
No bug?
There is no bug its likely your mistake, as per matrix check that both reports are accriak. If it is an early period of trading and the first period of trading is less than 12 months then this will happen on many programs
I am really surprised that any accountant cannot see that the only foolproof way of going about this is the old-fashioned manual way - print out a TB, check it balances and then agree the balances to the P&L and BS and see which is missing something. The result of that exercise will point you in the right direction to correct it.
You may find that it does what some setups of Xero do. It may have a "Director's Drawings Account" that nets off to retained earnings and doesn't show on the balance sheet. That way you end up with, for example, a profit of £1,000 and retained earnings of £0 as the dubious account nets off the withdrawls by the director instead of showing them as dividends.
QBO certainly doesnt do anything like that. Its pretty clear what has happened all would become crystal clear if we were given the company start date and the periods concerned
Quote the time spent on this job is already too high
This is because you don't know how to use the program
You should investigate further so if it arises again you know how to deal with it
It appears that if payments have been posted to tetained earnings then they are being treated as quasi dividends. Using accountants tools reclassify these to directors loan account so that an appropriate adjustment can be made at year end for dividends salary etc as agreed by board