How To Backup Your Quickbooks Files (The Easy Way)
As the saying goes, hope for the best but prepare for the worst, holds true in the realm of accounting. Hopefully nothing will ever happen to your important files and documents, but if it does, you should a second copy ready to get your business back online. Quickbooks offers a simple solution that allows users to backup their files, which we’re going to discuss further in this blog post.
Do I Really Need To Backup My Files?
There’s no rule stating that you must backup your Quickbooks files, but doing so will give you the peace of mind knowing that your data is safe in the event of hardware failure, software failure, device theft, flood, or a countless number of other disasters. Furthermore, Quickbooks makes it easy to create backups, with the entire process consisting of just a few simple steps.
Creating a Backup of Your Company File
To create a backup of your company file, open Quickbooks and choose File > Create Backup, at which point the self-help Wizard should launch. You can then click the Options button to specify things like the destination of your backup company file, how often you want to be reminded to backup your file, and whether or not to check your company file for damage before the backup is created. When you are finished with these options, click OK to proceed to the next step. Here, you’ll be asked to save the backup now, save the backup now and schedule future backups, or only schedule future backups.
If you wish to save the backup to a USB flash drive, CD, DVD or some other external storage device, insert it into your computer and click Next. If you wish to save the backup file now, change the name of the backup in the file window and click Save. Quickbooks will then begin creating your backup file.
It’s important to note that backup company files don’t contain all elements found within Quickbooks. They contain all of the essentials that you’ll need to recreate the company file, including templates, letters, logos, images, Financial Statement Designer, Cash Flow Projector, etc.
How To Find a Company File In Quickbooks
Your company file is essentially the life blood of your Quickbooks account. It contains all of the information pertaining to your business’s accounting, including (but not limited to) payments received, payments sent, employee payroll, taxes, expenses, and more. If you want to access and use Quickbooks on another computer, you’ll need to transfer your company file to the new computer. But what if you are unable to locate your company file?
Quickbooks — like most programs and applications — has a default location in which it automatically stores users’ company file. Assuming you didn’t change this location, your company file “should” still be located here. Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows Vista users can access the default location by navigating to C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Company Files. Windows XP users can access the default company file location by navigating to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\(Shared) Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Company Files.
For Windows Xp users, you’ll notice the Company Files folder is a Shared Document. However, Quickbooks and Windows shows this folder as a Documents in the paths and addresses. So even though it is named as a Shared Document, no one else will be able to see it, unless you give them permission of course.
Hopefully, you can find your company file neatly tucked away in one of these default locations. If it’s not here, however, you can still find it, although it will take a few additional steps.
If you are running Windows 7, click the Start button followed by Search. If you are using Windows 8, scroll to the Chams bar in the upper-right-hand corner and click Search. Once you’ve opened the Search bar, enter the full or partial name of your company file. Here’s a tip for those of you who don’t remember what your company file name is: you can search for all files with a particular extension by entering the extension into the search bar. Being that company files use the .qbw extension, you should search for *.qbw, at which point Windows will reveal all files with the .qbw extension.
Qbw is an extension that’s used exclusively for Quickbooks, so this technique should find even the most well-hidden company files. Once you open it, try to remember where you save this time, or at the very least save an extra copy somewhere on your desktop.
Did this tutorial work for you? Let us know in the comments section below!
Intuit Launches PayPal Integration App
Quickbooks maker Intuit has launched a new app that allows users to sync their PayPal and Quickbooks Online accounts together. Dubbed Sync With PayPal (for obvious reasons), it’s intended to streamline the activities of Quickbooks Online users, allowing them to automatically update their accounting information with data harvested from their PayPal accounts.
PayPal remains the world’s largest and most popular online payment processor, boasting more than 165 million active users as of the first quarter of 2015, according to Statista.com. Of course, there’s good reason for this trend: PayPal is simple, easy to use, accepted at thousands of different stores, and it’s free to receive money. It only makes sense for Intuit to leverage the power of PayPal by integrating it into Quickbooks Online.
It’s estimated that nearly 1 out of every 4 Quickbooks users also uses PayPal. Up until now, these users have been forced to manually transfer PayPal data to their Quickbooks account. While this wasn’t necessarily difficult, it was still time consuming and tedious, whic his why Intuit has taken steps to simplify the process with its Sync With PayPal app.
Roughly 25% of Intuit Quickbooks users use PayPal and now they can use an app to import PayPal sales and transaction data directly into QuickBooks Online in real time. It’s called Sync with PayPal.
Sync With PayPal is currently only available to Quickooks Online users in the U.S. However, Intuit said it has plans to launch the app in the U.K., Australia and Canada by the end of the year. The app uses Intuit’s API capabilities to include both PayPal and Square as payment processing sources.
“Say goodbye to manual entry and hello to more time in your day with Sync with PayPalTM for Intuit QuickBooks Online. The Sync with PayPal app for QuickBooks Online is free and getting started is easy. How you choose to spend the hours you’ll save – on your business, your family, or yourself – is up to you,” wrote Intuit.
What do you think of Intuit’s new PayPal app?
Don’t Let Credit Card Debt Take Over
Want to know how to get out of credit card debt? No matter how bad your debt situation is, I’m here to tell you that you can get out of debt. It’s not going to happen quickly or easily, but if you remain dedicated and focused on your goal, you’ll find yourself no longer in the clutches of debt.
Credit card debt is one of the worst types of debt you can have. With annual interest rates reaching 30% and other fees tacked onto your account, it can simply become too much for some people to handle. Imagine if you have $20,000 in credit card debt with a 30% APR. That’s an extra $6,000 a year in interest alone! And that’s not even including the fees they’re going to hit you with.
The first step in getting out of credit card debt is to take all of those evil plastic cards and cut them up into little pieces. Never again will you fall victim to these credit card companies. Once you’ve thrown away all of your cards, you’ll need to see how bad your debt situation is. If you file all of your credit card statements, then you can take them out and see the details on your account. For those who are less organized, you may have to pull a credit report to check on your debt situation. If you need a credit report, you can pull one for free at annualcreditreport.com. This is the only site which allows consumers to receive a free credit report from all three credit bureaus once per year.
With your credit card information on hand, go through each account and find the one with the highest interest rate. To pay off your debt in the fastest manner, you should focus your efforts on the credit card with the highest interest rate first. Once you’ve eliminated this one, move on to the credit card with the second highest interest rate.
For some individuals, paying off their credit cards based on their original terms and conditions is simply not an option. When you’re only treading water and just making minimum payments, it can take some people decades to get out of credit card debt. Thankfully, credit counseling is available to help individuals in similar situations. They’ll talk with you and try to come up with a budgeting plan that will set you on the right path. If this doesn’t work, they may be able to provide set you up with a debt management plan. If this sounds like something that could help you get out of debt, find a reputable credit counselor and give them a call.
Having a large amount of credit card debt and knowing you cant pay it off is a dreadful feeling. If you’re in this situation, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Credit counseling agencies are readily available to help people just like you. Find a reputable one either online or locally and see what type of professional advice they can give you.
Intuit Hosts ‘Small Business Big Game’ Contest
Intuit has announced plans to host its Small Business Big Game Contest for the second year. 2014 marked the first time the Quickbooks maker held the contest, attracting hundreds of thousands of participants from across the country. To learn more about Small Business Big Game and what it entitles, keep reading.
In case you missed it last year, Small Business Big Game was a contest in which small businesses compete for a chance to win a free ad during the most watched professional sporting event on television — yes, the Super Bowl. With the average cost of 30-second ad now exceeding $4 million, and the cost for a 60-second ad exceeding $8 million, that’s a pretty substantial reward to say the least. Intuit lived up to its promise by rewarding Quickbooks user Goldiblox a free ad spot.
Many people were asking how Intuit could afford to give away a free ad spot during the Super Bowl. After all, they are still required to pay for the ad. The general belief, however, was that it was a one-time deal, with Intuit closing the doors on its contest after the 2014 Super Bowl.
It appears this isn’t’ the case, however, as Intuit is planning to bring back its highly popular Small Business Big Game contest for a second time this year. The rules are pretty much the same: the campaign will be open to entries and voting starting on June 1st. The top 10 finalist based on number of votes will be revealed on Sept 3rd, all of whom will receive a paid tip to Intuit’s Quickbooks Connect Conference where the top 3 winners will be publicly announced.
One key difference with this year’s Small Business Big Game is that both small business owners and accountants are allowed to enter. So if you’re an accountant who’s looking to nab an ad spot during the Super Bowl, sign up on June 1st!
“It takes courage every single day to be a small business owner, and it’s important that we celebrate their determination and recognize their ongoing contributions as the backbone of our economy,” said Rancic, small business author, advocate and co-owner of Xo, G Wine and RPM restaurant group. “The return of QuickBooks Small Business Big Game fuels small business success while giving them a voice to be heard on a national platform that will inspire, educate and connect them in a big way.”
What do you think of Intuit’s Small Business Big Game contest?
How To Print Form 1099-MISC In Quickbooks
Can’t seem to find the “print” button for a 1099-MISC form in Quickbooks? The 1099 Form is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax return document that’s used by small business owners and independent contractors to report miscellaneous income earned during the respective calendar year.
To print a 1099 Form in Quickbooks, you must first sign in as single-user mode. If you are signed in as multiple-user mode, you won’t be able to print this key tax return document. Once you are signed into Quickbooks as single-user mode, verify all of your 1099 forms using the software’s built-in Wizard tool. This is done by accessing Vendors > Print > E-file 1099s, at which point the Wizard will verify all of the information within your 1099s, including vendors, accounts, amounts, etc.
Use the QuickBooks 1099 Wizard (Vendors > Print/E-file 1099s) to verify all your 1099 information (vendors, accounts, and amounts) before printing the forms. Next, double-check your printer to ensure it’s powered up. I know this probably sounds like common sense, but it’s often the little things that leave users stumped when attempting to print forms.
Rather than using plain white paper to print your forms, it’s recommended that you use pre-printed 1099-MISC forms. These can be purchased from most office supply stores as well as through the IRS.
As noted on the official Intuit website, users with page-oriented printers should print copies separately rather than all at once. Furthermore, do not attempt to collate your pre-printed 1099-MISC forms before placing them in the printer. Load all of the Copy 1 forms, and once they are finished printing, load the Copy 2 forms for print.
After following the steps mentioned above, click the “Print 1099s” to initiate the built-in Wizard. You’ll need to choose a filing method and time period for which the forms were received, at which point you can click OK to begin printing.
Before Quickbooks actually prints your forms, it will ask you to review the current 1099 vendor limits. You can do this by clicking the “Preview 1099” button, allowing you to check and verify the vendor’s address. If necessary,. click the magnifying glass icon to zoom in one the forms. Assuming everything is correct, click “Print 1099.”
Did this tutorial work for you? Let us know in the comments section below!
Money Management Tips To Eliminate Debt
When credit cards and other bills start piling up, it’s easy to feel like there’s no hope. You dread checking the mailbox out of fear there’s a new bill waiting for you and you avoid answering the phone when you see a number you don’t know. If this sounds like your situation, then you should take note of what I’m about to tell you. I’ll reveal the secrets on how to get out of debt fast.
If you want to get out debt fast, you have to start acting now. Chances are you’re still the wrong mentality with the wrong spending habits. Make today a turning point in your life by deciding that it’s now or never to get on your path to having zero debt. Only then will you be able to take the steps necessary to get out of debt.
Changing ones spending habits is a lot harder than you probably think. As someone whose been in that situation before, I can tell you that the human mind is wired to do things in a certain way. If you’ve been purchasing unnecessary items and making impulse buys for the past 10 years, chances are you’re going to find it difficult to change. To help you change your spending habits, you should cut up all of your credit cards and only carry a small amount of cash on you for food and emergencies. Yes, this means you also have to leave your debit card at home where you wont be tempted to use it.
With your spending habits now changed, you see try to increase your income through any means necessary. Perhaps you could work overtime, pick up an extra job, sell off some of your assets or unused equipment laying around your house.
You can work on paying off your debt by contacting and negotiating payment plans with your credits, but this usually isn’t the fastest route. To speed up the process, you should consider hiring a credit counseling agency to work on your behalf and handle the negotiations. Typically, they’ll charge you either a percentage of your debt or a flat rate fee for their services. The benefits to hiring an agency is that they’re trained in dealing with creditors and will likely be able to get you a better deal worked out with paying them back.
Many debt-ridden consumers throw in the towel and file for bankruptcy when their debt becomes too much to handle. This option can certainly help you get out of debt, but there are usually smarter and easier options available. Something not many people realize is that bankruptcy will linger on your credit report for past the 7 year mark. Instead of rushing into a credit-damaging bankruptcy, see if budgeting or a debt settlement can help you out. If you’re unsure of where to start, call a credit counseling agency and ask them for help. There are dozens of agencies, both profit and non-profit, who will consult with you and offer their advice at no charge to you.
Intuit Now Servicing 80% of US Small Businesses
Intuit remains the undisputed leader of accounting and financial services for small business owners. According to a recent report, it services approximately 80% of all small businesses in the U.S., which is far more than any other financial software provider.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates there to be some 27.9 million small businesses operating in the U.S. — a number that’s expected to grow even higher in the years to come. Running a successful small business isn’t an easy task, as many entrepreneurs struggle to keep up with their revenue and expenses. Intuit aims to make this process a little easier with its wide range of software and services like Quickbooks Online, Quickbooks Desktop, etc.
In a recent interview, Jim McGinnis, Vice President of the Accountants and Advisors Group at Intuit, gave some insight into two key markets targeted by Quickbooks: the 400,000 accountants who work directly with small business owners to help them with their finances, and the five million or so small business owners who are currently using the Quickbooks software. Even so, this means roughly 15 million small businesses are not using Quickbooks, meaning there’s plenty of room for Intuit to grow even larger and more dominant.
Quickbooks has launched a new tool to help reach these 15 million small business owners — Quickbooks Online Self Employed. Located at http://quickbooks.intuit.com/self-employed/, it’s optimized specifically to meet the unique needs of self-employed workers.
But Intuit’s services aren’t limited strictly to the U.S. As noted by Nikhil Arora, India as a prime market for Intuit, as it attracted 100,000 new Quickbooks users just last quarter. This means Intuit now has a total of 841,000 paying Quickbooks users worldwide — an impressive number to say the least!
“The rapid year-on-year traction that Intuit QuickBooks has experienced in India is indeed very encouraging. Intuit is the world leader in cloud financial management solutions, available in over 124 countries. Last quarter we added 100,000 new QuickBooks subscribers and now we have 841,000 paying subscribers worldwide,” said Nikhil Arora, Vice President and Managing Director of Intuit India, in a recent press release. “Our vision is to become the operating system behind Indian small business success by delivering powerful solutions on the cloud. We will continue to work on empowering small businesses in their journey to success. Today we serve one out of five practicing chartered accountants in India and by 2020 we are looking at one in four small businesses to be using Intuit products and services.”
Tips To Eliminate Debt
Do you want to know how to eliminate debt? First and foremost, you have to realize that you aren’t alone with your battle against debt. There are millions of people across the country who are in your exact same shoes and feel like there’s no way out. However, the fact is that there many different ways which can help you eliminate your debt once and for all.
When you own credit cards, you can be placed in a dangerous situation. For instance, you get laid off or your salary drops and you have no way to pay the bills. So what do you do? Most people in this situation will use their credit cards to pay their bills. Unfortunately, this can put you even greater danger than before, as you wont have the income to pay off the cards and your debt will continue to grow.
Debt can quickly turn into a downwards spiral with no way out. When you start paying your credit cards or other bills late, they up your interest rate and charge you even more fees. Logically, this should be the other way around, but it isn’t. If you’re having trouble paying your bills, you’ll probably only find it more difficult as time goes on.
To eliminate your debt, you have to first change your spending habits. This means you have to stop making impulse purchases and cut back on unnecessary expenses. Sure, going out to the bar or clubs with your friends is enjoyable, but is it really worth spending the extra $50 to $100 a week? The fact is that a lot people could gain 30 to 50% more income simply through budgeting and making smarter purchasing decisions.
Most of us have heard of the dreaded “B” word before. Bankruptcy is always an option, but it should only be used as a last resort. While you file for bankruptcy, you’re essentially telling your creditors you’re unable to pay them back, and while it can wipe your debt clean of most unsecured debt, it will tarnish your credit for at least 6 years. During that time, you probably wont be able to purchase a house, get a new car, take out a loan, or even get a credit card.
Instead of filing for bankruptcy, you should contact your creditors and see if they are willing to work out a more suitable payment plan with you. A lot of consumers in large amounts of debt simply avoid talking to their creditors. After all, they’re the ones who constantly call their phone all day and night trying to collect their debt. I recommend picking up the phone and talking to them. Who knows, you might be surprised at what they have to say. You don’t have to agree to anything right away, but just be honest and let them know how much you CAN pay right now. A lot of credit card companies and other credits are willing they are to work with you on trying to get you out of debt.
How Debt Consolidation Works
If you’ve searched for ways to help you get out of debt, you’ve probably come across debt consolidation. This is one of the most common and widespread methods used for helping individuals with large sums of debt. But, how does debt consolidation work? And what are the advantages of it?
Essentially, debt consolidation is a process which involves paying off ones debt by taking out single loan or lump sum amount. For instance, if you have 5 credit cards totaling $18,000 in debt, you could take out a debt consolidation loan for this amount and use it pay off all of your credit cards. Now, instead of having to make 5 monthly payments to your credit cards, you’ll only be required to make one payment towards the loan.
There are many benefits associated with debt consolidation, which is why so so many people in debt seek this solution. One of the most attractive advantages is the lowered interest rates associated with a debt consolidation loan. No longer are you forced to pay those ridiculously high interest rates with your credit cards. Just be sure you get a good interest rate on the loan before accepting it.
Because you’ll only have one payment to make with a debt consolidation loan, you’ll likely find it much easier to keep up with the payments. When you have half a dozen credit card and other bills sent to your mailbox each month, it can become quite difficult to keep up with all of them. However, when there’s only one bill for the debt consolidation loan, it will be easier to stay on top of.
Credit consolidation is an excellent alternative to filing for bankruptcy. It will likely still negatively affect your credit score, but not as severely or long as bankruptcy will. For this reason, you should check and see if you qualify for a debt consolidation loan first.
Debt consolidation works for all types of unsecured debt, such as credit cards, personal loans and other unsecured loans. Although, it wont work for secured debts, such as mortgages, auto loans, boat loans or any other type of debt which has something backing it. If you have unsecured debt, you’ll either have to pay this off separately or consider forfeiting the item.
When choosing a type of debt plan to take, you should always look into debt consolidation. While it’s not always as feasible option for some, it’s helped millions of people get out of debt. You’ll still have to pay back the loan, so only take out the loan if you have the ability to pack it.
There are dozens of financial institutions that offer debt consolidation loans. I recommend first checking local banks where you have open accounts with. Not every financial institution will offer you a loan. They’ll look at your credit history, ability to pay, bank accounts, and they may still have you back it with some form of collateral, such as the title to your car or vehicle.