1099 Preferemces
In this True Joe Ways, Joe Woodard gives you the answer to solving the problem of unauthorized changes to your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts.
In QuickBooks Pro and Premier, any user with the ability to create/modify “sensitive accounting activities” can change account numbers, account names, merge accounts, change the type of accounts, etc. The changes to the chart of accounts that have the most far reaching (and historical) changes on financial data are 1) merging accounts – an action that is irreversible and 2) change the type of an account – an action that you can usually reverse if you can find the change. The Closing Date and Password does not protect the file from these changes or track these changes, even though the changes almost always impact previous financial years.
To prevent users from making these changes in QuickBooks Pro and Premier you can associate every account on the chart of accounts with the 1099 form in Company Preferences. Once you associate an account with a 1099 form, you cannot change the type of the account or merge the account with another account. It is best to use a 1099 form that you do not actually create and send to contractors or vendors.
- Even if you select every account from the 1099 list some account types do not show on the list (e.g. Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable). Inactive accounts may also not show.
- Many of the account types that do not show on the 1099 list (like AR and AP) do not allow you to change the type or to merge them.
- If you create new accounts, you will need to add each new account to the 1099 preferences.
Joe Woodard
"Of course, these Pro and Premier Users could just go ahead and send Intuit the money to migrate up to QB-Enterprise, and all of this would be naught..." (Murph)