QuickBooks Asia

Does the outsource bookkeeper has the rights not to release the accounting data file to you?

A client of mine was using an outsource bookkeeper for the past two years, this outsource bookkeeper brought back their documents such as Invoices, Bills and Payment Voucher to their own office to do the data entry into QuickBooks Pro 2003 version.

Now, the business has grown to a size that they require real time information. They need the Book to be keep in-house so that they can check the information such as Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Bank balances in real-time. Besides, they need this information to prepare their budget and to make business plan.

They recruited a new Account Assistant to record day-to-day transactions such as invoices, bills and payments. They still need the outsource accountant to be back monthly or quarterly basis to do the review of their accounts.

The easier way to start up the company file is to get the backup copy from their outsource bookkeeper, restore and migrate it to the current version of QuickBooks; then, they can continue doing the data entry immediately without wasting time to re-enter the past transactions or opening balances. So both the management and the outsource bookkeeper can work on one single data file.

When my client requested a backup copy of their QuickBooks company file from their outsource bookkeeper, the outsource bookkeeper refuse to release the information to my client. They told my client that the data file was their ‘property’ and could not be release and they can only provide the opening figure for the balance sheet (without breakdown).

Is it right that the company data was a ‘property’ of the outsource bookkeeper and not the business owner?

In legal point of view, I am not sure about it. I am not a lawyer; I could not answer this question.

However, in business point of view, If I am the outsource bookkeeper, I will release the data to my client. 

Why my past invoices was not updated when I amended the item description?

I have this interesting case that I would like to share. I received this support email stated as below:

“… The first time when I entered this item was with no description. Due to without description, I have amended the item description in item list. The Description column of those past invoices with this item in the Sales by Item Detail report was not updated with the amended item description … ”

There is nothing wrong with QuickBooks 2009/10 (Asia). Past transactions should keep as a historical data and should not be allowed to amend automatically. I will use the example below to further illustrate my point.

Example:

On 20 Feb 2009, you sell a copy of QuickBooks Accounting 2009/10 software to customer ABC Pte Ltd with a 30 days payment terms. In this invoice, your item code was ‘QBac0910’ and your item description was ‘QuickBooks Accounting 2009/10’.

In the month of Mar 2009, you decided to do a promotion for QuickBooks Accounting 2009/10. You decided to bundle a 16 GB USB drive for every purchase of QuickBooks Accounting 2009/10 software.

Thus, you edited your item from your item list. Item code remains as ‘QBac0910’ and the item description you amended to ‘QuickBooks Accounting 2009/10 (with a free 16 GB USB drive)’.

On 30 Mar 2009, you did not receive any payment from ABC Pte Ltd, you decided to give them a call to chase after the payment.  ABC Pte Ltd informs you that they have loss the original invoice and would like you to send them a duplicated invoice. Hence, you simply reprint the original invoice from QuickBooks and send it to them.

When the item description was being amended and if QuickBooks allows item description to be updated in all the past invoices; this will be the possible issue:

When ABC Pte Ltd received the invoice, they may question you why the invoice’s item description stated that ‘QuickBooks Accounting 2009/10 (with a free 16 GB USB drive)’, but they did not receive the free 16 GB USB drive earlier on?

Therefore, what QuickBooks 2009/10 did was correct. When the Item Description was amended, it should not automatically update the past transactions. If they do that, it may confuse both the QuickBooks user and the client. Besides, Invoices are official document; it should not be amended automatically.

How to import an invoice template from one company file to the other company file?

Sometime as a business owner or an Accountant, you are requiring managing more than one company files within a business group. In some cases, the layout of the templates such as Invoice, Credit Note, Statement of Account and Purchase Order form are similar within this group of companies. So to cut down the time spend in creating templates, usually, we create a “Master” template in one main company file; then, duplicate it for the rest of the company files that we manage.

After you have created a “Master” template, you can export this template and import it into the other company file.

To export a template, go to the List menu and select Templates List. In the Template List window, select the template that you like to export, and click the Templates button that located below the window and select Export (Template files are having an extension of *.DES).

To import the template, go to the List menu and select Templates List. In the Template List window, click the Templates button and select Import. Browse to your exported template location and select your template that to be import.

If you did add some custom field in your original “Master” template, and if these fields are not supposed to bring over to the new company file, you may have to remove it before exporting. In this case, usually, from the original company file, I duplicate this template and edit it before exporting. To duplicate a template, just select the template that you want, click the Templates button, and select Duplicate.

QuickBooks file type

I have this information regarding QuickBooks QBi (QuickBooks Asia 2009/10) file type. I couldn’t recall where I found this information. It could be either from Reckon’s web site or the QuickBooks help file. I think this information is useful for user who likes to know a little bit more on what’s in their QuickBooks folder.

Extension	File Type	Description
.IIF	Intuit Interchange Format file	You can import and export lists and/or transactions using text files with an .IIF extension.
.ND	QuickBooks Network Data File	A configuration file that allows access to the QuickBooks company file. Do not delete this configuration file.
.QBA	Accountant’s Copy working file	When you export your QuickBooks data for your accountant to review, the accountant restores the export file on his or her computer as a file with a .QBA extension.
.QBA.TLG	Transaction log file (for Accountant’s Copy)	When you backup an Accountant’s Copy, QuickBooks starts a log of transactions that you’ve entered since the last time you backed up. In case of accidental loss of data, Quicken Technical Support can use your most recent backup in conjunction with the transaction log file to recover your data.
.QBB	QuickBooks backup file	When you backup your company file, QuickBooks save the backup file with a .QBB extension. To open a .QBB file, go to the File menu and click Restore.
.QBM	QuickBooks portable company file	When you want to email or move a company file, QuickBooks creates a compressed version of the company file with a .QBM extension.
.QBW	QuickBooks for window company file	When you create a company file, QuickBooks saves the file with a .QBW extension. For example, If you enter MyBusiness as the company name, QuickBooks save the file as MyBusiness.QBW
QBW.TLG	Transaction log file (for QuickBooks company file)	When you backup your company file, QuickBooks starts a log of transactions that you’ve entered since the last time you backed up. In case of accidental loss of data, Quicken Technical Support can use your most recent backup in conjunction with the transaction log file to recover your data.
.QBX	Accountant’s Copy (export file)	When you export your QuickBooks data for your accountant to review, QuickBooks creates an Accountant’s Copy with a .QBX extension.
.QBY	Accountant’s Copy (import file)	When your accountant has finished making changes in a Accountant’s Copy, he or she provides you with an .QBY file to be imported into your company file.

 

For more information on file type, do visit Reckon’s  or Intuit’s web site.