Basic Accounting for QuickBooks

Basic Accounting Concepts Every Business Owner Should Understand

In this episode of QuickBooks Mastery for Small Business Success, Lee Davis and Erica Northrup break down some of the most important basic accounting concepts business owners need to understand.

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For many entrepreneurs, accounting terminology can feel intimidating. But understanding these foundational concepts makes it much easier to properly set up and use QuickBooks.

It can also help business owners:

Make better financial decisions
Understand reports more clearly
Avoid costly tax mistakes

Why Basic Accounting Matters

Even if you are not an accountant, having a basic understanding of accounting helps you:

Organize your books correctly
Communicate more effectively with your accountant or bookkeeper
Better understand your financial reports
Save money by handling transactions correctly

The more familiar you are with these concepts, the more confidence you’ll have managing your business finances.

Bookkeeping vs. Accounting

Although people often use these terms interchangeably, they are not the same.

Bookkeeping

Bookkeepers:

Record transactions
Organize financial information
Reconcile accounts

Their role focuses on maintaining accurate records.

Accounting

Accountants:

Analyze financial information
Prepare taxes
Explain the financial story behind the numbers

They help business owners understand what the data means and how it impacts the business.

Income

Income refers to how your business makes money.

This could include:

Selling products
Providing services
Rental income
Job income or contracts

Understanding your different income streams is essential for accurate reporting and business planning.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Cost of Goods Sold includes the direct costs associated with creating or delivering a product or service.

This may include:

Materials
Direct labor
Production-related costs

Tracking these costs accurately helps business owners better understand profitability and pricing.

Expenses

Expenses are the costs required to operate the business.

There are two primary types:

Fixed Expenses

These stay relatively consistent each month, such as:

Rent
Insurance
Subscription services

Variable Expenses

These fluctuate depending on business activity, such as:

Supplies
Shipping
Utilities

Understanding the difference helps with budgeting and cash flow planning.

Owner’s Draw

An Owner’s Draw is not considered a business expense.

Instead, it represents money the owner takes out of the business for personal use.

This distinction is important because owner compensation is treated differently depending on business structure.

Net Profit

Net Profit is what remains after expenses are deducted from income.

This includes considering:

Cost of Goods Sold
Operating expenses
Depreciation and other business costs

Net profit is one of the clearest indicators of overall business performance.

Assets

Assets are anything your business owns.

There are different types of assets:

Liquid Assets

Assets that can quickly become cash, such as:

Cash itself
Accounts receivable

Fixed Assets

Long-term items used to generate income, such as:

Equipment
Vehicles
Machinery

Erica and Lee also note an important guideline:

Purchases over $2,500 are generally treated as assets
Purchases under $2,500 are often treated as expenses

Liabilities

Liabilities are anything your business owes.

Examples include:

Credit cards
Loans
Accounts payable

There are two primary categories:

Short-Term Liabilities

Debts due relatively soon, such as credit cards.

Long-Term Liabilities

Debts repaid over longer periods, such as business loans.

Importantly, liabilities are not expenses—they represent obligations the business still owes.

Equity

Equity represents what remains after liabilities are subtracted from assets.

$Assets - Liabilities = Owner’s Equity$ Assets−Liabilities=Owner’s Equity

Equity can include:

Retained earnings
Owner contributions
Owner draws
Current year profit

This number reflects the owner’s financial stake in the business.

Profit & Loss Statement

The Profit & Loss Statement shows financial performance over a period of time.

It includes:

Income
Expenses
Cost of Goods Sold
Net profit
Depreciation

However, it does not show how much debt the business has.

The Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet provides a snapshot of the business at a specific point in time.

It shows:

What the business owns (Assets)
What the business owes (Liabilities)
The overall value of the business (Owner Equity)

Together, the Profit & Loss Statement and Balance Sheet provide a more complete picture of financial health.

Gross Income

Gross Income is calculated by subtracting Cost of Goods Sold from total sales.

$Gross Income = Total Sales - Cost of Goods Sold$ Gross Income=Total Sales−Cost of Goods Sold

This helps business owners understand profitability before operating expenses are considered.

Cash vs. Profit

One of the most important concepts business owners need to understand is the difference between cash and profit.

Cash

Cash can change quickly depending on:

Payments received
Bills paid
Timing of transactions

Profit

Profit reflects:

Income minus expenses
Overall business performance over time

A business can have cash in the bank and still be unprofitable—or be profitable while experiencing temporary cash flow challenges.

That distinction is critical when evaluating business health.

Final Thoughts

Accounting is the basis for QuickBooks, so with this short overview of accounting terms, you should have a better understanding of the fundamentals needed to master your QuickBooks. This is the first of two episodes that will be on basic accounting, so stay tuned for the next episode.

If you liked the podcast, you will like our training course. Click on the link below to join our upcoming course.

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The Three QuickBooks Workflows

The Three QuickBooks Workflows Every Business Owner Should Understand

In this episode of QuickBooks Mastery for Small Business Success, Lee Davis and Erica Northrup discuss three essential workflows that help keep your QuickBooks organized and accurate.

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According to Erica and Lee, one of the biggest reasons QuickBooks becomes messy is that people often learn bookkeeping processes incorrectly from others. Over time, those small misunderstandings create larger financial problems.

The key is finding a system that works—and using the correct forms consistently.

Why Workflows Matter

Your financial workflows determine how money moves through your business and how accurately that activity is reflected in your reports.

If workflows are inconsistent:

Transactions get duplicated
Reports become inaccurate
Cash flow becomes harder to track
Decision-making becomes more difficult

That’s why understanding the structure behind QuickBooks is so important.

1. The Money In Workflow

The first workflow focuses on money coming into your business.

This process includes:

Invoices
Sales receipts
Customer payments
Deposits

To manage this correctly, it’s important to use the proper QuickBooks forms throughout the process.

Common Mistake: Forgetting to Receive Payment

One issue Erica and Lee frequently see is business owners sending invoices but forgetting to properly record the customer payment afterward.

This creates:

Outstanding invoices that appear unpaid
Bank feed mismatches
Confusion in accounts receivable

What a Clean Money In Workflow Looks Like

A clean workflow may involve several QuickBooks forms, including:

Purchase orders
Invoices
Sales receipts
Payment entries
Deposits

Each form plays a role in ensuring the transaction flows correctly through the system.

Signs the Money In Workflow Is Broken

There are several warning signs that this workflow is not functioning properly:

The bank feed doesn’t match correctly
Payments appear duplicated or missing
Transactions are incorrectly assigned to payroll expenses or other unrelated accounts

When the money in workflow breaks down, income reporting becomes unreliable.

2. The Money Out Workflow

The second workflow focuses on money leaving the business.

This involves understanding the difference between:

Bills
Checks
Expenses

According to Erica and Lee, one of the biggest mistakes happens when users misunderstand how bills work in QuickBooks. Check out Episode 22 for more information on bills, checks and expenses.

A Common Problem With Bills

In QuickBooks:

You enter the bill
Then you pay the bill

However, many users:

Enter the bill
Then separately create a check instead of using the “Pay Bills” function

This duplicates the transaction and creates reporting issues.

Red Flags in the Money Out Workflow

One major warning sign is confusion between:

An invoice (money owed to you)
A bill (money you owe someone else)

When these forms are misunderstood, expense tracking and payables quickly become inaccurate.

3. The Month-End Process Workflow

The final workflow focuses on month-end financial review and reconciliation.

This process acts as the quality control system for your bookkeeping.

According to Erica and Lee, financial administrators need clear checks and balances to review financial information regularly.

Bank Reconciliation Matters

One of the most important month-end tasks is bank reconciliation.

Reconciliation helps identify:

Missing transactions
Duplicate entries
Incorrect balances

Without reconciliation, it becomes difficult to trust your reports.

Reviewing Financial Reports

A strong month-end process should also include reviewing:

Profit & Loss Statements
Comparative reports from prior periods
Cash Flow Reports

Erica and Lee emphasize that the Cash Flow Report may be one of the most valuable tools in QuickBooks—yet many business owners rarely use it.

Why These Workflows Work Together

These three workflows are interconnected.

If your:

Money in workflow is inaccurate
or
Money out workflow is incomplete

Then your financial reports will also be inaccurate.

That’s why consistent systems and proper workflows are so important for maintaining reliable financial information.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, QuickBooks is an accounting software, so it is a foreign language to many business owners, but with the right training, these workflows will work for you.

If you liked the podcast, you will like our training course. Click on the link below to join our upcoming course.

Join our Zoom Class

Choose the Right Form in QuickBooks

Choosing the Right QuickBooks Form: Why It Matters More Than You Think

In this episode of QuickBooks Mastery for Small Business Success, Lee Davis and Erica Northrup discuss an important—but often misunderstood—part of using QuickBooks correctly: choosing the right form for your transactions.

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At first glance, forms like Bills, Checks, and Expenses may seem interchangeable. But using the wrong form can create inaccurate reports and confusion in your financial records.

Why the Correct Form Matters

Choosing the right form affects how your transactions appear in your reports—especially if you are using the accrual basis of accounting.

Under the accrual method:

Expenses are recorded when they are incurred
Income is recorded when services are performed

It’s not about when money changes hands. It’s about when the transaction actually happened.

That’s why using the proper form is so important.

Understanding the Bill Form

One of the biggest areas of confusion is the difference between a bill and an invoice.

As Erica and Lee explain:

When you receive an invoice from someone else, it becomes a bill to you
A bill represents money you owe for services or products already received

Bills often have:

A service date
A due date
A payment date that happens later

In QuickBooks, the process typically works like this:

Enter the bill
Pay the bill later

This workflow is essential for accurate accrual accounting.

When to Use the Check Form

The Check form is used when money is leaving your account immediately.

This includes:

Physical checks
ACH payments
EFT payments

If the payment is happening right now, you generally do not need to create a separate bill first.

Even online payments are often recorded using the Check form because the money leaves the account immediately.

When to Use the Expense Form

The Expense form is commonly used with:

Credit cards
Debit cards
Bank feed transactions

This form works well for recurring or automatic payments where the money is withdrawn immediately.

For example:

Subscription charges
Debit card purchases
Automatically imported bank feed transactions

In these situations, the Expense form helps streamline the recording process.

A Simple Way to Decide

Erica and Lee offer a practical way to determine which form to use:

Are You Paying Now or Later?

Paying later? → Use a Bill
Paying now with a check, ACH, or EFT? → Use a Check
Paying now with a credit or debit card? → Use an Expense

Keeping this framework in mind can simplify transaction entry significantly.

What Happens If You Use the Wrong Form?

Using incorrect forms can lead to:

Inaccurate reporting
Confusing financial statements
Problems with accrual accounting
Difficulty tracking payables and cash flow

Over time, these mistakes can make it harder to trust your reports and understand the true financial position of your business.

Understanding Accrual Accounting

A major takeaway from this episode is understanding what accrual accounting actually means.

Under the accrual method:

What matters is when the expense or income was incurred
Not necessarily when payment was received or made

For example:

A service performed in March should be recorded in March—even if payment happens later

Using the correct QuickBooks forms helps ensure your records reflect that timing accurately.

Final Thoughts

Today, Lee covered a very practical lesson: Choosing the correct form in QuickBook. If you do this correctly, your books will tell the story you intend to show. It is critical for accrual based accounting that you do this right. Stick with this podcast for more practical lessons on QuickBooks.

If you liked the podcast, you will like our training course. Click on the link below to join our upcoming course.

Join our Zoom Class

Fix this First in QuickBooks

What Should You Fix First in QuickBooks?

In this episode of QuickBooks Mastery for Small Business Success, Lee Davis and Erica Northrup discuss one of the most common questions business owners ask when their books feel messy or overwhelming:

Where do I even begin?

When bookkeeping problems start piling up, it’s easy to feel stuck. But according to Erica and Lee, the best place to start is often the issue that’s causing the most stress or uncertainty.

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Start With What Feels Wrong

Many business owners first notice a problem when something obvious doesn’t look right—such as a checking account balance in the chart of accounts that seems completely off.

That discomfort is usually a signal that something needs attention.

Rather than ignoring it, start there.

Why Google Isn’t Always the Best Solution

When bookkeeping issues arise, many business owners immediately search online for answers.

While online resources can sometimes help, QuickBooks problems are often tied to the specific way your books were set up. Generic advice may not fully solve the issue—and in some cases can make things more confusing.

The key is understanding the why behind the problem, not just applying a quick fix.

1. Start With the Chart of Accounts

According to Erica and Lee, one of the first places to review is the Chart of Accounts.

If the structure of your accounts is incorrect, everything connected to those accounts can become inaccurate as well.

Common issues include:

Accounts classified incorrectly
Too many unnecessary accounts
Accounts that don’t fit the business properly

One practical tip is to use your Schedule C as a guide when cleaning up your chart of accounts.

Most importantly, your chart of accounts should be customized to your specific business—not copied from someone else’s setup.

2. Review the Bank Feed

The bank feed is another area where problems often begin.

Common mistakes include:

Duplicate transactions
Incorrect account assignments
Automatically accepting suggested categories without review

While automation can save time, it still requires oversight and accuracy checks.

3. Check Your Reconciliation

Reconciliation issues are another major source of frustration.

Often there are:

Transactions sitting unreconciled
Duplicate entries
Missing or incorrect transactions

When reconciliations are inaccurate, your reports become unreliable.

Reviewing and cleaning up reconciliation discrepancies can significantly improve confidence in your books.

4. Improve Categorization

Categorization mistakes can affect nearly every financial report in QuickBooks.

Erica and Lee recommend:

Using bank statements to verify transactions
Matching entries carefully
Categorizing transactions intentionally

One important reminder:
Don’t automatically trust QuickBooks’ suggested categories.

When setting up products and services, it’s also essential to connect them to the correct income accounts so sales are recorded properly.

How Do You Know the Cleanup Is Working?

Bookkeeping cleanup can feel overwhelming, so it’s important to recognize progress along the way.

According to Erica and Lee, once that first major issue is resolved, you’ll often feel like you’re finally moving in the right direction.

A good way to measure success is by reviewing:

Your Profit & Loss Statement
Your Balance Sheet

When those reports begin making sense and reflecting reality more accurately, you know the cleanup process is working.

Final Thoughts

Fixing your book is crucial to gaining control of your business. Lee has been in the business of cleaning up messy book for over 10 years, and entrepreneurs usually have similar problems.

You could hear it in the tone of his voice during the podcast – this is old hat to him. He has looked at enough books to instantly spot the problems. If you are needing help, don’t hesitate to reach out.

If you liked the podcast, you will like our training course. Click on the link below to join our upcoming course.

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Why is QuickBooks Confusing?

Why QuickBooks Feels So Confusing for Business Owners

In this episode of QuickBooks Mastery for Small Business Success, Lee Davis and Erica Northrup discuss a frustration shared by many business owners: why QuickBooks can feel so confusing.

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For many entrepreneurs, the challenge is not a lack of effort—it’s that QuickBooks combines software with accounting concepts that may already feel unfamiliar.

QuickBooks Is More Than Software

One of the biggest reasons QuickBooks feels difficult is that it’s built around the language of accounting.

As Erica and Lee explain, it can feel like learning a foreign language:

Debits and credits
Assets and liabilities
Reconciliation and accrual accounting

Even simple tasks can become confusing if the underlying accounting concepts are unfamiliar.

Choosing the Right Version Matters

One of the first steps toward reducing confusion is selecting the right version of QuickBooks for your business.

Choosing software with features you don’t need can make the system feel unnecessarily complicated.

On the other hand, choosing a version that’s too limited can create workflow problems later.

Finding the right fit helps simplify the learning process from the beginning.

Many Business Owners Don’t Have an Accounting Background

Another major challenge is that many entrepreneurs are experts in their industry—not in bookkeeping or accounting.

They may be:

Great at sales
Skilled at operations
Strong leaders

But financial software requires a completely different skill set.

That disconnect often creates frustration and uncertainty.

“Limping Along” Creates Bigger Problems Later

According to Erica and Lee, many business owners try to push through without fully understanding the system.

They “limp along” by:

Avoiding bookkeeping tasks
Guessing at categorizations
Ignoring reports
Hoping everything works itself out by tax season

Unfortunately, these problems usually grow over time.

When tax season arrives, clean and accurate books become essential—and unresolved issues can create stress, delays, and costly mistakes.

Avoiding the Books Is Common

Many business owners begin avoiding their books altogether once the process feels overwhelming.

That avoidance can lead to:

Missed transactions
Inaccurate reports
Cash flow confusion
Increased anxiety around finances

The longer bookkeeping is ignored, the harder it becomes to regain control.

Start by Identifying the Problem

Rather than trying to fix everything at once, Erica and Lee recommend starting with a simple question:

What specifically are you struggling with?

It may be:

Bank feeds
Reconciliation
Invoicing
Reports
Categorization

Identifying the exact pain point makes it easier to find the right solution.

Professional Help Can Make a Difference

Getting professional support doesn’t just solve problems—it can also help business owners build confidence.

A knowledgeable advisor or trainer can:

Explain how QuickBooks works
Simplify accounting concepts
Create better systems and workflows
Help business owners feel more comfortable with their numbers

The goal isn’t just cleanup—it’s understanding.

It’s Not Just You

One of the most important takeaways from this episode is simple:

QuickBooks is not naturally intuitive for many people.

The frustration many business owners experience is common, especially without accounting training. The good news is that with the right support and education, it becomes much easier to manage.

Final Thoughts

You got into business not to do bookkeeping, but you ended up doing bookkeeping. Now you are in over your head and looking for help. Lee Davis and Company can help you with your book by training you or just by managing your books.

If you liked the podcast, you will like our training course. Click on the link below to join our upcoming course.

Join our Zoom Class

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