The QuickBooks Online EOFY guide | Accountants and Bookkeepers

1. Log into QuickBooks Online Accountant, select Go to QuickBooks, and select the client file you want to enter
2. Select Books Review from the left-hand navigation menu
3. In each of the 4 Books Review tabs, navigate to the Shortcuts section at the end of the screen
4. Select the + Add button
5. Fill in the following information:
   1. Item
      1. The name of the report/task you’re describing.
   2. Link name
      1. The action/word you want the hyperlink to sit within— for example, Review.
   3. Details
      1. Any extra information you want to include for the task.
   4. QuickBooks page link
      1. The web page’s URL of the QuickBooks section that you want to link to.
6. Select Save.

The Transaction Review tab shows an overview of uncategorised transactions, transactions without payees, transactions without GST, duplicate transactions, undeposited funds, and unapplied payments.

Step 1. Review and clean up any outstanding transactions.

If data is missing, you'll see a blank line in the column. Select a transaction to open it and make corrections. You can also collaborate with your clients to get further information.

1. Select one or more transactions. In the Action pop-up that displays, select Ask client.
2. The Create a request form automatically fills out a name and description along with the request for missing transaction-level details. You can edit these fields, such as the due date when you’d like a client response, or add additional documents.
3. Select Share. Your client is sent an email notification to open QuickBooks Online and respond with additional details for the transaction(s).
4. Have your client log into QuickBooks, then go to My accountant, then the Requests tab. Here, they can open each request to explain what they bought and why.
5. Once your client has responded to the request, you can find the reply in Books review.
6. Select Client requests ▼ dropdown, then View all requests.

Step 2. Review your open shortcuts/tasks and mark as done.

After you’ve organised the transactions and made sure they’re all in order, you can move onto reviewing your shortcuts (like a task list).

These are the shortcuts/tasks we suggest you set up and complete within this tab.

1. Review loan payments
2. Review personal transactions - No GST
3. Review pre-paid deposits
4. Review inter-equity loan accounts
5. Review PAYG

If anything stands out, you might want to dig a little deeper into that area.

Step 1. Ensure all bank, credit card, loan, clearing accounts, and all balance sheet items are balanced and reconciled.

The Account reconciliation tab presents a clear list of accounts requiring reconciliation. By using the Select accounts function, you can filter the list to focus on specific accounts. 

Choose an account to start the reconciliation process, and note any outstanding transactions in the Unreconciled column.

Important to note: You can reconcile any balance sheet item in QuickBooks Online, including the PAYG Withholdings Payable account and Payroll Clearing account. 

Step 2. Review your open shortcuts/tasks and mark as done.

These are the shortcuts/tasks we suggest you set up and complete within this tab.

1. Review bank reconciliation report
2. Ensure profit and loss (P&L), suspense, uncategorised, and discrepancy accounts are Nil

Step 1. Review and action unanticipated amounts

In the Final review tab, you will find a record of any unanticipated amounts that may require modifying, along with financial statements that should be reviewed at the end of the financial year. 

Scroll down to the Reports section and select Review to open a report.

Step 2. Review your open shortcuts/tasks and mark as done.

These are the shortcuts/tasks we suggest you set up and complete within this tab.

1. Ensure accounts receivable (A/R) reports are current - confirm with client and write off bad debts if required
2. Ensure TPAR checks to P&L and suppliers
3. Review TPAR report
4. Review accounts payable (A/P) report - confirm with client
5. Review assets - office furniture and equipment at cost
6. Review inventory account
7. Review inventory stock take
8. Ensure detailed activity report reconciles to the P&L

Step 1: Complete summary tasks

Complete the first two summary tasks in the Wrap up tab by following the hyperlinks: 

1. Generate reports
2. Send report packages

The third and fourth summary tasks, Prepare to lodge and Close the books, will be handled later in the EOFY guide.

Step 2. Review your open shortcuts/tasks and mark as done.

These are the shortcuts/tasks we suggest you set up and complete within this tab.

1. Check GST, PAYG withholding, and super accounts in balance sheet
2. Review GST summary report
3. Review PAYG report
4. Review super contributions report - payroll centre
5. Review annual profit and loss report with annual wage and super amounts
6. Review annual GST Summary report
7. Review annual gross wages - PAYG and Super
8. Review annual leave outstanding report

If your client records their kilometres using the Mileage section in QuickBooks Online, you can generate a Mileage report to review the mileage deductions. 

To generate a mileage report as an accountant user:

1. Select Expenses from the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Select the Mileage tab.
3. Select the tax year you want to download from the drop-down menu.
4. Select Download – this will download the report as a CSV file to your computer.

Keep these guidelines in mind when reviewing the client’s kilometres:

• You can claim deductions for the business kilometres you've travelled on up to 3 vehicles, including motorbikes
• Your deductions stop once you reach 5,000km per vehicle. You can continue tracking your kilometres reaching the limit, but it won't give you any additional deductions

For more information, visit the ATO’s website.

Before you start, ensure that you’ve reconciled all payroll accounts in Task 4 before lodgin the pay event.

If the company uses QuickBooks Payroll to lodge pay events to the ATO under Single Touch Payroll (STP), you will have to lodge a Finalisation Event to send the final year-to-date (YTD) figures to the ATO. 

To start this process:

1. Select Payroll from the left menu.
2. Select the Reports tab, then select Single Touch Payroll.
3. Select Start Finalisation Process and follow the steps in the wizard to confirm YTD payroll data, reportable fringe benefits amounts (RFBA), and request client authority.
4. Download the YTD Pay Event (Excel spreadsheet) by selecting Download before confirming your payroll data.

Notes: 

• If employees have been paid on multiple pay schedules throughout the financial year, you DIf an employee has received payment on different pay schedules during the financial year, it is not necessary to complete a finalisation event for each pay schedule. Only complete a finalisation event for the employee, not for each pay schedule.
• If you need to make amendments to the payroll figures after lodging a Finalisation Event, you MUST create an amended Finalisation Event to update the ATO.

Here's more help on how to create, lodge and amend a Finalisation Event.

The final Business Activity Statement (BAS) for the financial year is due on 28 August for BAS agents.

For further information, follow our guide on lodging your BAS or IAS in QuickBooks Online.

If the Retained Earnings need to be divided among owners or partners for your client then you can create a Journal Entry for this. 

It's good practice to have previously set up an Owner's Equity and Draws ledger for any payments or withdrawals from the company during the year by the key people who founded the company.

For detailed information about creating journal entries, see how to create a journal entry.

Once you have finalised your client's books, you can effortlessly transfer them to the appropriate sections on tax documents using the Prep for taxes tool in QuickBooks Online Accountant. It helps speed up the process of compiling your client's tax information, which you can export the organised tax forms with QuickBooks Tax powered by LodgeIT.

1. Open your client’s QuickBooks Online company. 
2. Select the briefcase (Accountant Tools) icon. 
3. Select Prep for taxes.
4. Edit the reporting period. 
5. Use the drop down to select whether you’re accounting on a cash or accrual basis.

The Review & adjust area simplifies the preparation of year end accounts by being able to see key information on a single screen. For example, you can easily review this year’s values compared to last year’s values along with the variance and quickly identify any anomalies.

You’ll also be able to add, edit, view, and annotate documents from your chart of accounts in this section.
Once everything is final, select Export to LodgeiT to prepare your clients’ necessary documentation.

After finalising all the reports, you’ll want to make sure that your client doesn't delete or edit any of the transactions in the last financial year. A simple way to prevent this is to set a closing date, also known as closing the books.

1. Go to the Gear Icon in the top right.
2. Select the Account and Settings.
3. Select Advanced from the navigation menu. 
4. Under Accounting, select the toggle to Close the Books.
5. Make sure the closing date is 30 June.
6. Select the drop-down button under the Closing Date field and select Allow changes after viewing a warning and entering password.
7. Enter a password, then re-enter it to confirm.
8. Select Save.

Notify your client repeatedly, verbally and in writing, that they are not to make any changes to closed periods and explain to them what that means. Furthermore, explain to them that if they do so, they will incur increased bookkeeping and accounting fees to undo the mess they created despite the warnings.