How to enter liability using items

Our company pays a flat rate workers comp, then after audit we pay or get back the difference.

I have a database I use for payroll that will tell me how much debt I am accruing for the workers comp each week, and also it will tell me how much is in what construction category (drywall, foundations, framing, etc.).

In QB (contractor 2006) I use items to categorize into these construction categories.

I'm trying to figure out how I can enter these debt accruals into a liability account using items so it keeps track of the construction categories. When I use a general ledger entry I can't use items.

I don't want to enter them as bills, because it shows it as being due now, but it isn't really.

I could show it as a bill due well into the future, but I'd rather show it as just an entry to a current libility account so it doesn't show up in my bills.

Any suggestions?

G Chapp

Reply to
Chips
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Why do you need to use items?

Reply to
Allan Martin

GL sub accounts by category perhaps?

Reply to
David Smith

I use items to categorize into construction categories. The items all dump into the same COGS account, but QB Contractor can spit out reports that show your income/expenses and so on by item. So this is useful.

I think what I really need to do is ask our accountant if I need employer taxes to show up in thier own expense accounts, or if I can dump them into COGS or overhead expenses with other things.

GC

Reply to
Chips

I would keep the payroll wages and taxes to their own accounts even if as a COGS subaccount. This helps reconciling payroll reports easier.

Reply to
Laura

Asking your accountant is step number 1. If you were my client I would say yes you should. I still have no idea what you are talking about with the item thing.

Reply to
Allan Martin

When I got QB Contractor I was very newbie at bookkeeping and with QB. I was trying to figure out what was the best way to be able to be able to keep track of and make reports on how much was spent or earned on a job in different categories, like drywall, carpentry, concrete work, etc. This was asked for by the company owner.

QB Contractor comes with an example where they used "Items" to make these categories. Like if you look in help under "item". I used this method. I use classes to show labor, material, expendibles, etc. I have most items for expenses going into the 5110 COGS account. So for instance an expenditure would be entered as a drywall item, and the class tells if it was paid out for materials, or labor, or to a contractor. QB Contractor can spit out reports on items. I'm not sure other versions do that, but maybe they do.

But since my items for these categories all point to the 5110 account, that means that if I use items to show where the money was spent for empoyer taxes, then that won't show up in it's own employer taxes expense account, and so won't show up on a P&L as a separate line.

Employer taxes are a part of the expense that goes into a particular job. They are based on how much payroll you pay out. So I want to be able to include this in the different categories.

I may just make a class for employer taxes, or payroll taxes.

But anyway, I still need to ask our accountant, who is notoriously hard to get hold of.

GC

Reply to
Chips

When your accountant looks at your books at the end of the year and sees that you classified all your expenses to only one GL account I'm sure he/she will regret they were hard to locate.

Reply to
Allan Martin

It might also be worth the $$ to have a QB pro advisor look at your file to give you some suggestions. If you have everything pointing to 5110 then you are lacking a lot of useful information via your limited COA.

Reply to
Laura

That could be. Once I know what he wants, It's very fast to change. I can make the accounts he wants and re-point items to those accounts as needed, and they will all update.

I'll just ask him.

GC

Reply to
Chips

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