Sometimes our clients get brave and decide they want to create a whole bunch of different accounts in the chart of accounts, which leads to a lot of categorization errors as well as a massive amount of clutter.
Some recent updates to the functionality of the chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online will help mitigate these issues. This also will help reduce the amount of cleanup and confusion at period end for us as accountants.
Batch Actions Option
One of the changes enables you to make several accounts inactive at once. On the Chart of Accounts tab, check the boxes next to the accounts you want to make inactive. From the Batch actions dropdown, select Make inactive.
More changes have been made, but will only be active in new QuickBooks Online subscriptions. Additionally, some of the changes in the Accountant view might not show up just yet, but should be visible soon.
New Clients Now Can Only Add a Sub Account to Existing Parent Accounts
This change is only active in a new QuickBooks Online subscription. For a client to assign a transaction to a new category, they will have to select a parent category and create a sub account for it.
They will no longer have the ability to add parent categories. There is one exception, and this is if it is a new bank account or credit card account.
This change only applies to clients using the Business view. If they switch over to the Accountant view, they can create parent accounts as before.
Renaming of Undeposited Fund Account
The name of the default “Undeposited funds” account now has been changed to “Payments to deposit” because clients often get confused about what the Undeposited Funds category means. I am sure we have all heard the question, “What is the undeposited fund account for?”
These changes hopefully will close the gap of confusion and help keep a tidy chart of accounts in place for our clients.
Liz Scott is a multi-business entrepreneur working to bring together technology and accountants through her business, Liz Scott Consulting. A member of Intuit Trainer/Writer Network, she authored and taught Master level courses, including Advisory Guides and Consulting Tools for Accountants. In addition to Liz Scott Consulting, she also owns Accounting Lifeline, a firm to serve small businesses with their financial needs. Liz is a co-host of the "Appy Hour," which helps other accountants learn about the different tools and apps for small business needs. Holding a high passion for real estate investment, she owns properties throughout Oklahoma.
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