New QuickBooks 2012 Feature – Period Copy
Jan
6
Written by:
1/6/2012 2:07 PM
Blog written by Lisa McCarthy, Co-Founder of Out Of The Box Technology
This blog will be posted during the busiest time of the year for CPAs and Accounting Professionals, so I’d like to give you some insight on a new QuickBooks® feature that should make life easier. It’s called the Period Copy and it’s found in the 2012 Premier Accountant Edition of QuickBooks and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 12.0.
The Period Copy allows you to share data for a specific time period with other entities and institutions such as banks, investors or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Until this new feature, businesses had to hand over a copy of the entire QuickBooks file to interested parties. Not a first choice for many business owners. The Period Copy now makes it possible to drill down into your file and choose a specific time period to share.
Let me give you an example. The IRS is requesting an audit of your books for the year 2009. Until now you had no other choice but to create a backup of your entire QuickBooks file and send it to the auditor. That file would, of course, include financial information from years 2008 (or earlier), 2009, 2010 and 2011 – years not even pertaining to the audit! Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks, listened to its customers (and their many frustrations with trying to isolate transactions) and thus added the Period Copy feature.
Here’s how it works. The Period Copy is part of the Condense Data Feature, which you gain access to from the File Menu under Utilities. You can also find it in the Accountant Menu. As with any Condense Data activity, budget information may be removed during this process. For the purposes of the Period Copy this is not an issue. To create the Period Copy, select the transaction dates outside of the date range you want to keep in the Condensed Data window.
In other words, enter the date range of the data to be kept, and then click “Next.”
Select the Preferred Summary Journal Entry format-- A Single Summary Journal entry is recommended but monthly entries can also be created. There is also an option to bypass the creation of Summary Journal entries although this is not recommended as it will result in inaccuracies in the company’s carryforward financial results. You can also elect to summarize Inventory Transaction information or keep the details within the Period Copy. By default all transactions outside the date range are removed but you can elect to keep certain types as needed. I’d highly recommend removing all unused list entries to ensure a cleaner, smaller file.
Once you’ve indicated the settings of the Period Copy click “Begin Condense” to create the new file. NOTE: the original working file is not affected. Be patient. It can take time to create the file. Once the process is complete, the new Period Copy file will be open. You can access and use the original complete company file at any time.
So, your smaller Period Copy is now available to share with the IRS as in the example above. I’ve even come across clients who would use the Period Copy as their working file going forward. It’s a really nice option for business owners who want to keep just one or two years of data in their working file.
Click here to watch a video of how the Period Copy works.
I can tell you from experience the Period Copy feature will be of real benefit to business owners – their CPAs and Accounting Professionals as well. I’ve had CPAs hire me to extract the data in question and build a file to send to interested parties. Now the feature is built right into the software.
I think I can hear a collective sigh of relief from Accountants and business owners everywhere. Here’s to a less stressful tax season!