QuickBooks Questions – How do I do this and that???

[Kelly Cruz]

Hello – I’m getting started with QuickBooks Pro. Many of my questions I find answered online, but there are some  I can’t find answered anywhere. I'd like to open a discussion about some of the questions I have and hopefully the answers would be helpful to others that come across this post.

Current issue I'm dealing with: There are three partners in our LLC. The profits are based upon each of our equity position at time of purchase. That can change per property depending on capital investment and draws by each partner. How do I show each partners equity position at any moment in time?

Also after I have entered a property sale into QB, what is the best way to record each partners profit for the sale?

Any input would be helpful…thank you!

[Linda Weygant]

@Kelly Cruz - I think what @Caleb Heimsoth is getting at is that setting up multiple properties with different ownership percentages is a nightmare to report all in the same set of books, much less a tax return. You'd have probably been better off showing each property that has different ownership percentages in its own LLC.

I imagine its also a legal nightmare, but I am not a lawyer and all I'll really say is that you should probably check with one.  

While it may be pretty easy to track each property and then calculate out owner payouts that way, I guess what I'm wondering is what you're going to do with general business expenses.  When you buy a box of paperclips, or a lawnmower to use on all properties or take a vendor out to lunch, how are you going to distribute those kinds of expenses across the various partners?  That's probably what Caleb means by a nightmare.

I agree with the others that QuickBooks will not do this calculation for you.  Nor should you transfer amounts to Owners Profits accounts more often than at the end of the year.  If you're wanting to show owners profits periodically throughout the year, you'll either want different software or you'll want to do it in Excel.