Bookkeeping

[John McNeal]

I am so undecided on what to do, use QuickBooks or create a spreadsheet to manage expenses, rental payments, and investments, etc...  Any Thoughts

-thanks, John

[Account Closed]

The reason QuickBooks seems so intimadating, or any software program for that matter, is because we are using a computer to enter in our income and expenses instead of a piece of paper and a pen. 

Once you get your head wrapped around the concept of what you are doing, instead of viewing QuickBooks as the dastardly accounting software program where you need to be an accounting guru, you will become more relaxed.  

Yes there is a way to set things up in QuickBooks.  But QuickBooks is all about filling out forms.  If you can sit in a doctors office and fill out all their forms, filling out forms in QuickBooks is a piece of cake. 

QuickBooks wants to know what the name of your company is. What is your address. Are you a Sole Proprietor. Are you in a Partnership. Are you an LLC? Just answer the questions and QuickBooks does the rest.

After you fill out the Questionaire regarding your company name and all that, then you will want to enter in all your properties.  And the Questionaire for that is located in the Class Feature of QuickBooks.  Type in the address of your first rental.  Then type in the second rental and third, etc.  If you have an apartment building, type in the name of the apartment building (or address) and then type in the apartment numbers.  (Wow really hard right? This is so easy even a Cave Man can do it. 

Okay when you're done logging in all your properties, you will go to the customer center and enter in all your customers. Questionaire again. But this time QuickBooks needs a little more information regarding your customers.  A longer form to fill out.  Just fill out the form and QuickBooks does the rest.

Pay a vendor (pay a bill)? Click on the vendor, click on write check, fill it out as though it were your checkbook sitting on your desk, and print it out.  

Nothing is hard in QuickBooks.  It's getting to know where to find the Questionaires.  Then just fill them out.  

A Profit and Loss Report gives you your total income minus your expenses, giving you your bottom line. 

A Profit and Loss Report by Class gives you your total income per property minus your expenses for that property giving you your bottom line.

So relax !!!  Focus your brain on the fact that QuickBooks is just a piece of paper on a monitor, and your keyboard is your pencil.  The good thing about QuickBooks too is that you don't to have a calculator as QuickBooks does all this for you. 

You will be spoiled by the time you are through and you will never want to go the old fashion way again. 

Nancy Neville