Quicken issues

[taxmandan]

Sorry if this is a little off topic but I have a new business client who will be using Quicken Deluxe for his bookkeeping (no, he's not a bookkeeper or he would know better), and we can't figure out how to set up an "Owner's Draw" account correctly. There seems to be no way to do so except as an expense account. This of course makes the balance sheet all wrong but I cannot find any way to create an Equity adjustment for the Draws. Anyone have experience with the current Quicken and can offer suggestions?

Thanks,
Daniel

[BOB W]

Quicken

Dan> I don't know anything about Quicken, but the clients that use it do have "draw as an expense. I really don't mind because I just pull the info that I need and put it where it belongs. I never try to keep a client's general ledger on their system up-to-date. I never need their g/l or financial statements for any other purpose than extrapilating catagories. I actually prefer to get their disbursement listing and re-enter all data including c/r in my system.

But to "each his own". Yes it looks like Draw will always be an expense with Quicken.

[RLymanC]

RLymanC

Can't answer your question on Qucken Deluxe, however I would suggest if he is in business to use QuickBooks, it's set up for business, Quicken is more personal I believe.

If you can't create an equity account I would debit opening balance equity for owners draw.

Can't imagine not being able to create various accounts, I'm sure you can create bank accounts, various expense accounts, you would create and equity account in the same manner.. Try typing in "Owners Draw" without the quotation marks in the account field of a check or using the check register. It may force you to create a new account, if yes, create it as an equity account.

Again, I suggest he switch to quickbooks, or quickbooks pro.

[abby]

abby

Gosh it's been years, but I remember a similar problem, and I recall this much - that the solution was in creating the reports - there was a way to isolate certain accounts into a balance sheet even if they were otherwise categorized as expense or income.

[Lion]

Quicken

Quicken is more of a check-writing program. Recording income and disbursements as you make deposits and write checks will keep an Income Statement up to date. But, I don't think it's built to have transactions update a Balance Sheet as you go. For just $99 they could get the basic QuickBooks, $79 if you're a certified QB expert. Or, you can take their reports and create a Balance Sheet if you only have to do it once per year for their tax return. They'll get an incorrect view of their bottom line if they're including draws with their expenses; if they don't include those checks, they won't be able to reconcile their bank statements.

[taxmandan]

Quicken

Thanks for the replies, I suggested Quickbooks but he didn't want to spend the extra money. (?) Anyway, Quicken deluxe claims to be for small business use, so one would think it would do bookkeeping correctly and provide for an accurate Balance Sheet, seems not to be the case. There is no way to create a sub- account in the equity category. The software arrives at equity by subtracting liabilities from assets, period.

I'll have him use Owner's Draw as an expense and remind him that it is not deductible and does not reflect an accurate income statement or balance sheet unless adjusted for this problem.