Converting from Quickbooks

QB Switch-- Chart of Accounts

Goldenseal accounts are slightly different than Quickbooks accounts. We only use accounts for "real" people, businesses and bank accounts.

Financial Accounts

Instead of a Quickbooks Bank account, you'll use a Goldenseal Cash account, Checking account, Investment account, Loan account or Savings account, depending on the specific type of account it is.

A Quickbooks Credit Card account is duplicated with a Goldenseal Credit Card account.

A Quickbooks Equity account is duplicated with a Goldenseal Owner Equity account.

A Quickbooks Fixed Asset account is duplicated with a Goldenseal Equipment, Investment or Real Estate account.

A Quickbooks Other Asset account can be duplicated with a Goldenseal Equipment or Investment account. Goldenseal handles intangible assets automatically.

A Quickbooks Liability account is duplicated with a Goldenseal Loan account.

Instead of a Quickbooks Expense account, you'll use a Goldenseal category or location to identify your expenses.

All other Quickbooks accounts are handled automatically by Goldenseal-- you don't need to create accounts to handle accounts payable, accounts receivable, cost of goods sold, income or other "intangible" accounts.

Customers

In Quickbooks, you put customers and projects (jobs) in the Customer list.

In Goldenseal, you create Customer accounts for people or businesses, and Project accounts for any type of work. You can create a project for a customer, or for your own work (assign it to a Real Estate or Overhead account).

Vendors

Quickbooks groups all vendors together, while Goldenseal uses four types of cost accounts- for Equipment, Material Suppliers, Subcontractors and Other Costs.

When you import from Quickbooks, Goldenseal will ask you which type of account to use for each Vendor Type.

Here's how to use each type of Goldenseal cost account::

Equipment-- Use Equipment accounts for vehicles, machinery, large tools and similar productive units.
Material Suppliers-- Use Material accounts for those who provide you with tangible items.
Subcontractors-- Use Subcontractor accounts for those who provide you with services. HINT-- If you need to file a 1099 form for a vendor, include them as a subcontractor.
Other Costs-- Use Other Cost accounts for insurance, advertising, tax agencies and similar items that are not materials or subcontracted services.

Expense Accounts & Revenue Accounts

To track expenses by job, enter the job account into each expense record— you do not need to set up any accounts except for the Project account which covers the work you are doing.

To track expenses by type, enter a cost category into the Category field in each expense record. To change cost categories, choose Category Setup from the Costs menu, and choose Cost Categories or Category Systems from the submenu.

You do not need to set up any accounts to track expenses or revenue— Goldenseal handles that automatically with the job cost categories.

Accounts Payable & Accounts Receivable

Goldenseal automatically tracks Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Unpaid Taxes and many other expense categories. You do not need to add them to the Chart of Accounts, since Goldenseal automatically includes them (and posts transactions to them).

To view these 'intangible' accounts, choose Utility Accounts from the Accounts menu. However you do not need to look at or change these accounts, because Goldenseal will keep track of them automatically.

Chart of Accounts Window

The Goldenseal chart of accounts window shows all of your "tangible" accounts. It uses a graphic approach so it is easier to find your records. You can change the icon size and sorting order for each column. You can also start transactions by dragging from one account to another.

Goldenseal automatically tracks 'intangible' items such as Accounts Payable. You don't need to set up any accounts for that, since it happens automatically in the background.