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How Does QuickBooks Attached Documents Handle Security?

Chief Mechanic · March 19, 2011 ·

QuickBooks Attached Documents Manage Users
QuickBooks Attached Documents addresses the need for security by providing 4 levels of application permissions across 8 areas of QuickBooks functionality under an account overseen by a single user.

Users log into Intuit’s secure servers using an email address and password. While we’re on the subject of security, there’s one small drawback: the password is not case-sensitive and is therefore not considered a strong password.

A QuickBooks Attached Documents subscription is managed by a Company Administrator, the sole pre-defined role supported by the service. A user with the role of Company Administrator can:

  • Edit the business profile
  • Add other Attached Documents subscriptions
  • Update the current subscription

Here’s a screenshot of the screen to add a new user, which shows the range of security settings. After a user is added, security settings can be modified by clicking on the Manage Users button in the upper right of the browser screen, followed by editing a specific user. You can only manage users from a browser-based interface, not from within QuickBooks itself. The Setup and Manage Users menu selection will only open browser access to Attached Documents.

Quickbooks Attached Documents Add User

The service supports 4 levels of application permissions:

  • Administrator: can perform all functions and manage users
  • Full Access: can perform all functions but cannot manage users
  • View Only: can view any attachment in any area but cannot add new attachments and cannot modify or delete existing documents
  • Custom Access: controlled access across 8 functional areas

Necessarily, the user with the role of Company Administrator must have Administrator application permissions, but other users can have Administrator application permissions as well. While those users will have powerful capabilities, they won’t have the powers specific to the role of Company Administrator, such as editing the company profile.

The Custom Access permission is used to control access to documents in functional areas of QuickBooks. Custom Access supports 8 functional areas:

  1. Sales and Accounts Receivable
  2. Purchases and Accounts Payable
  3. Checking and Credit Cards
  4. Time Tracking
  5. Payroll and Employees
  6. Inventory
  7. Sensitive Accounting Activities
  8. Company Documents

Within these 8 areas, there are 4 capabilities:

  • Add: this is a global permission; if a user can add an attached document, he can add it to any area
  • View: this permission allows a user to look at but not modify or delete a document
  • Modify: this permission necessarily includes the View permission
  • Delete: this permission is only available to a user with Modify permissions in the same area

Users assigned a Custom Access level can make use of their capabilities (i. e., Add, View, Modify, or Delete) on lists and transactions associated with that area of accounting. A user can be assigned to more than one area, a necessity in a small firm that still wants to set some restrictions on document access.

Before examining how Custom Access applies in specific areas, it’s important to understand how access to files in the Document Inbox is controlled. Any user with View permission in any area can see all unattached documents in the Document Inbox. Custom Access can’t take affect until after a document is attached and put into a specific area. Therefore, for documents requiring controlled access, care must be taken to start the upload process by attaching them from within QuickBooks. If you elect to upload a document to the Document Inbox and attach it later, it is viewable by any user with View permissions until it is attached to a list item or transaction.

8 Functional Areas

Let’s review which lists and transactions are associated with specific areas. Note that a list or transaction type can appear in more than 1 area. For example, the Other Names list appears in both the Sales and Accounts Receivable and the Purchases and Accounts Payable areas.

Sales and Accounts Receivable: Customers, Other Names, Fixed Asset Item List, Estimates, Sales Orders, Invoices, Sales Receipts, Credit Memos, and Payments.

Purchases and Accounts Payable: Vendors, Other Names, Fixed Asset Items, Bills, Bill Credits, Bill Payments, Credit Card charges, Credit Card credits, and Purchase Orders. Note that Checks – which represent a different transaction type – cannot be seen unless the user has View permissions in the area of Checking and Credit Cards.

Checking and Credit Cards: Vendors, Other Names, Fixed Asset Items, Checks, Deposits, Credit Card charges, and Credit Card credits. Note that users with View permission can see documents attached to transactions in bank or credit card accounts but cannot see documents attached to the bank or credit card accounts themselves. Note also that Transfers are not included in this area.

Time Tracking: Other Names and Timers.

Payroll and Employees: Employees, Other Names, Paychecks, Payroll Liability Checks, Liability Adjustments, and Year-To-Date Adjustments.

Inventory: Items, Vendors, Other Names, Fixed Asset Items, Bills, Bill Credits, Bill Payments, Purchase Orders, Item Receipts, Inventory Adjustments, and Build Assemblies.

Sensitive Accounting Activities: Accounts, Journal entries, and Transfers. Note that users with View permission can see documents attached to general ledger Accounts, but to also see documents attached to transactions in a particular area, View permission for that area is required. For example, to view a document attached to a Check, a user must have View permissions in the Checking and Credit Cards area.

Company Documents: Documents attached to the company file itself via the Company Information window.

This last area is not an accounting function similar to managing A/R or A/P. Instead, it includes more general corporate documents that are connected to accounting and recordkeeping. Documents here include those attached to the Company Information via the Company->Company Information… menu selection. A screenshot of this point of attachment is shown below. Examples of documents that might be attached here include corporate organization documents such as articles of incorporation, bylaws, or meeting minutes.

QuickBooks Attached Documents Company File

A few examples of how applying security in QuickBooks Attached Documents will illustrate the power and flexibility of this security model. First, consider the need to upload bank statements but to restrict access to selected individuals. Bank statements attached to the Account are only viewable by users with access to Sensitive Accounting Activities, so the specific bank account to which the statement applies is the best point of attachment. We don’t recommend bank statements be attached to other list entities, such as Other Names, because documents attached to those lists are accessible to other areas.

Next, consider the need to upload payroll tax forms. If every user requiring access to the payroll tax forms will also have access to the Sensitive Accounting Activities area, one good point of attachment might be the liability account to which the tax form relates. Another approach might be to treat these forms as Company Documents, and attach them to the Company Information. A workable but slightly less desirable method would be to create employees representing the tax agency as placeholders and attach tax forms to the relevant placeholder employee. However, even though a tax form is often accompanied by a payment to a Vendor, we don’t recommend attaching a tax form to a Vendor because documents attached to that list item would be accessible to other areas, such as Purchase and Accounts Payable.

Both of these examples illustrate an important concept in making use of security in Attached Documents. Start by attaching a document to an area with the greatest restrictions and only attach it to other areas as required. If you attach a document to areas that include lists or transaction types that overlap, you may end up making the document available to a wider audience than you originally intended.

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What General Ledger Account Types Does QuickBooks Support?

Chief Mechanic · September 7, 2010 ·

QuickBooks supports 16 total general ledger account types in its Chart of Accounts.  Each account is assigned a single account type, which can be changed, subject to certain restrictions.

5 Income/Expense Account Types for the Profit & Loss (P & L) Statement

  • Income
  • Expense
  • Cost of Goods Sold
  • Other Income
  • Other Expense

11 Asset/Liability/Equity Account Types for the Balance Sheet

  • Fixed Asset
  • Bank
  • Loan
  • Credit Card
  • Equity
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Other Current Asset
  • Other Asset
  • Accounts Payable
  • Other Current Liability
  • Long Term Liability
QuickBooks Premier 2009 GL Account Types

The Chart of Accounts can be accessed by one of several menu selections, Company->Chart of Accounts and Lists->Chart of Accounts, or by clicking Ctrl + A.

If account numbers are used, the numbers should follow certain broad account types.  See our article on assigning general ledger account numbers based on the account type.

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What Should I Do If My Accrual Basis Balance Sheet Is Out Of Balance?

Chief Mechanic · September 5, 2010 ·

A balance sheet in QuickBooks can be produced on either a cash or accrual basis.  A balance sheet that’s in balance is one where total assets are equal to the sum of total liabilities plus total equity.  Sometimes, if your company file (.qbw) has become damaged, this fundamental accounting relationship can be broken because of data damage to individual transactions.

Intuit has several troubleshooting steps to attempt to resolve problems with a balance sheet that’s out of balance.  These steps depend on which reporting basis balance sheet is out of balance.  In this article, we’ll summarize the steps to address an accrual basis balance sheet that’s out of balance.  See our related article on resolving problems with a cash basis balance sheet.  There are also other ways to use reports to assist rebuilding a damaged company file.

The most likely cause of an out-of-balance accrual basis balance sheet is an income or expense account with an account balance but without transactions that add up to that balance.  To fix this problem, Intuit recommends a multi-step process that involves:

  1. calculating the amount by which the balance sheet is out of balance
  2. identifying the problem account
  3. testing your account identification
  4. recording a check for $.01 to that account
  5. running the Rebuild Data utility
  6. deleting the check for $.01 previously recorded and testing the outcome

Step 1 – Calculate the Amount Your Balance Sheet is Out of Balance

Produce a standard balance sheet (Reports->Company & Financial->Balance Sheet Standard) and calculate the amount your balance sheet is out of balance.  Be sure to click the Modify Report… button and set the Dates to All and the Report Basis to Accrual.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Modify Report Balance Sheet All Dates Accrual Basis

Step 2 – Identify the Problem Account

First, export your chart of accounts.  From the File->Utilities->Export->Lists to IIF Files… menu selection, choose Chart of Accounts in the Export window and click Ok.

QB_Premier 2009 Export Chart of Accounts

This export procedure will produce a delimited IIF file.  Open this file in Microsoft Excel.  Intuit recommends deleting the first 2 lines of this file, but we’ve kept them in the file in the screenshot below so you can see how the file will appear when you first open it in Excel.  Note that Name is in Column B and OBAMOUNT is in Column F.  Find the out-of-balance amount you calculated in the previous step in Column F, OBAMOUNT.  There are 2 ways to do this: a) use Excel’s Find capability or b) sort all rows below the first 3 rows in the original Excel file (below the first 1 row if you choose to delete the first 2) and scroll through the sorted list of numbers to locate the out-of-balance amount you previously calculated.

Write down the account name from Column B that matches the OBAMOUNT you locate.

Excel Chart of Accounts OBAMOUNT

Step 3 – Test To See If the Account You Identified Is the Problem Account

Return to QuickBooks and open your chart of accounts (Company->Chart of Accounts or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + a).  Locate the account you identified in the previous step and double click on it to produce a QuickReport.  Be sure to set the Dates setting to All dates.  If there are no transactions in this account, then the identification process in Step 2 was successful.  You’ve located an account with a balance in the chart of accounts but without transactions that add up to that balance.

Step 4 – Record a Check For $.01 To The Problem Account

Record a check to the problem account for $.01 from the Banking->Write Checks menu selection or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + w.  On the Expenses tab of the Write Checks window, enter the problem account previously identified.

Step 5 – Run the Rebuild Data Utility

From the Files->Utilities->Rebuild Data menu selection, run the Rebuild Data utility.  This utility will attempt to match the transactions in an account with the account’s balance, thereby resolving the out-of-balance problem on the balance sheet.

Step 6 – Delete the Check Previously Recorded and Test the Results

Delete the check you recorded in Step 4.  Open your chart of accounts (Company->Chart of Accounts or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + a) and locate the problem account.

If the account you identified was a balance sheet account (accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank, credit card, equity, fixed asset, loan, long-term liability, other asset, other current asset, or other current liability), double click on the account to QuickZoom into that account’s register.  Locate the check for $.01 and delete it by clicking the Edit->Delete menu selection or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + d.

If the account you identified was an income statement account (income, expense, other income, other expense, or cost of goods sold), double click on the account to produce a QuickReport.  Be sure to change the Dates setting to All.  Locate the check for $.01 and double click on that entry on the QuickReport.  Delete the check by clicking the Edit->Delete menu selection or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + d.

Repeat the steps in Step 1 to produce a standard balance sheet and verify that the balance sheet is in balance.  Be sure to confirm your Dates setting is set to All and your Report Basis is set to Accrual.

Sometimes, if you have several problem accounts, repeating this entire series of steps can restore balance to your balance sheet.  For more serious data problems, send us an email.

To follow Intuit’s discussion of these steps, consult this Intuit knowledge base article.

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How Does QuickBooks Calculate and Record a Home Currency Adjustment?

Chief Mechanic · September 2, 2010 ·

In QuickBooks the home currency adjustment is calculated based on the difference between the exchange rate recorded with each transaction and the exchange rate as of the home currency adjustment.  It’s calculated on:

  1. Open Accounts Payable transactions in a foreign currency
  2. Open Accounts Receivable transactions in a foreign currency
  3. Balance sheet account balances for which transactions in a foreign currency are supported (i. e., bank accounts and credit cards)

It’s important to note that income and expense accounts, as well as other asset and liability are always recorded in the firm’s home currency.  Therefore, home currency adjustments do not apply to these account types.

Home currency adjustments are recorded on the Company->Manage Currency->Home Currency Adjustment menu selection.

A home currency adjustment represents the unrealized gain or loss from holding balances in a foreign currency after the original transaction date (for open transactions) or after the date the transaction was closed.  For example, if a firm did not extend credit to customers (i. e., it has no Accounts Receivable), did not receive credit from vendors (i. e., it has no Accounts Payable), and had no bank or credit card balances, its home currency adjustment would be zero.

From the Home Currency Adjustment window, QuickBooks automatically posts home currency adjustments by a General Journal entry to the Exchange Gain or Loss account that is automatically created by QuickBooks as an Other Expense account type.  Therefore, debits to this account will represent exchange losses and increase this expense; credits will represent exchange gains and decrease this expense.

Home currency adjustments are normally recorded to prepare financial statements, so that balances held in foreign currencies can be converted to the exchange rate as of the financial statement date.  If foreign balances were not adjusted to current exchange rates, the balances reported on the balance sheet could materially mis-state a firm’s financial position.  The home currency adjustment records an exchange gain or loss to reflect the change in the value of a firm’s balance sheet accounts.

Transactions in a foreign currency involve both realized and unrealized gains/losses.  For closed Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable transactions in a foreign currency, the difference between the exchange rate recorded with each transaction and the exchange rate at the time the transaction was closed (i. e., the vendor bill or the customer invoice was paid) represents a realized gain or loss.  Thereafter, holding foreign account balances (i. e., bank and credit card balances) that result from closing such foreign transactions produce unrealized gains or losses.  Holding open Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable balances similarly produces unrealized gains or losses.

The Exchange Gain or Loss account automatically created by QuickBooks records both realized and unrealized gains/losses.

A few examples will better illustrate how QuickBooks calculates and records home currency adjustments.  In all cases, the home currency is the US Dollar (or simply, USD).

Example 1 – Home Currency Adjustment for an Open Customer Invoice

An customer is invoiced for 10,000 € (Euros, or simply EUR) on 12/15/2012 and the invoice is unpaid.  The exchange rate recorded with the transaction is 1 EUR = 1.5 USD.

The exchange rate later became 1 EUR = 1.75 USD; after this exchange rate change, the open customer invoice was more valuable in USD.  The result would be an unrealized gain of $2500, or the difference between the converted value as of the home currency adjustment date ($17,500) and the converted value as of the transaction date ($15,000).

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Multicurrency Home Currency Adjustment 1

The Home Currency Adjustment records a General Journal entry as a debit (increase) to the foreign balance Accounts Receivable asset account and a credit (decrease) to the Exchange Gain or Loss other expense account.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Multicurrency Home Currency Adjustment General Journal

Example 2 – Home Currency Adjustment for a Closed Customer Invoice

An customer is invoiced for 10,000 € (Euros, or simply EUR) on 12/15/2012 and the invoice is initially unpaid.  The exchange rate recorded with the transaction is 1 EUR = 1.5 USD.  A short time later, the customer paid the invoice in full after the exchange rate changed to 1 EUR = 1.6 USD.

Immediately upon recording the customer payment at the new exchange rate, QuickBooks records a realized exchange gain for $1000, or the difference between the converted value as of the date the transaction was closed ($16,000) and the converted value as of the original transaction date ($15,000).  This realized gain is not the home currency adjustment.  Because both realized and unrealized exchange gains/losses are recorded in the Exchange Gain or Loss account, that’s where we’ll find this gain.  Here’s a QuickZoom report of the Exchange Gain or Loss account after recording the customer payment.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Multicurrency Home Currency Adjustment Realized

After the customer payment, the company’s foreign bank account transacting in Euros has a balance – the funds just received from the customer.  If the exchange rate then changed to 1 EUR = 1.75 USD, this would represent an unrealized gain that occured as a result of holding a foreign bank balance.  However, only part of the overall gain is unrealized: the difference between the converted bank balance as of the home currency adjustment date ($17,500) and the converted value of the transaction as of when it was closed ($16,000).  The home currency adjustment is only the unrealized portion of the overall gain, or $1500.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Multicurrency Home Currency Adjustment 2

The overall exchange gain from this series of transactions is the same as the first example – a gain of $2500, because in both examples the exchange rate changed from 1 EUR = 1.5 USD to 1 EUR = 1.75 USD.  Here’s the QuickZoom report for the Exchange Gain or Loss account showing the overall exchange gain/loss:

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Multicurrency Home Currency Adjustment Report

The first line is the realized portion of the exchange gain; the second line – the General Journal entry – is for the unrealized home currency adjustment.

This second example illustrates another aspect of foreign exchange gain/loss reporting: if every transaction were recorded using the same exchange rate, there would be no realized gains or losses.  All exchange gains or losses would be unrealized and result from the difference between the converted value on the financial statement date and the converted value as of the transaction date for each foreign balance on the balance sheet.  These foreign balances can include Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, bank accounts, and credit cards.  If you do not record transactions using accurate exchange rates as of the transaction date, you’ll magnify the amount of the unrealized exchange gains or losses shown on financial statements when you do decide to perform a home currency adjustment.

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