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Year-end guide for QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•467• Updated about 21 hours ago

Review your books, run reports, and prepare your tax returns in QuickBooks Online at year-end. This helps you balance your accounts and prepare your business for the next year.

Check the first month of your fiscal year

  1. Go to Settings Settings gear icon. , then select Account and settings.
  2. Select Advanced.
  3. In the Accounting section, select the First month of fiscal year â–Ľ dropdown, then select the month you start your fiscal year.
  4. Select Save, then select Done.

Review reports, deposits, and account balances

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product
  2. Select + Management report.
    a. Enter a name in the Management report name field.
    b. Fill out the info as needed.
  3. Select Reports and charts. 
  4. Enter Balance Sheet in the Report ▼ dropdown, then select the balance sheet report you need to run. 
  5. Select a date range in the Report period field.
  6. Select Report from the Add ▼ dropdown. 
  7. Enter Profit and Loss in the Report â–Ľ dropdown, then select the profit and loss report you need to run.
  8. Select a date range in the Report period field. 
  9. Select Save and Close.

Note: Your net income may not match what you see in your reports. Find out its causes and how to fix them.

You can check and run other reports you need. You can also create a management report to see how much you’ve made

Note: QuickBooks includes undeposited funds in the income. You still need to move the funds to the bank register that receives the payments or deposits.

Note: You can find these reports in QuickBooks Online Advanced, Plus, and Essentials.

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product
  2. In the Find report by name â–Ľ dropdown, select Accounts payable aging summary or Accounts payable aging detail.
  3. Review the report and check for outstanding balances.
    Note: If you find outstanding balances, send a statement to your customer.

Note: You can find these reports in QuickBooks Online Advanced, Plus, and Essentials.

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product 
  2. In the Find report by name â–Ľ dropdown, select Accounts payable aging summary or Accounts payable aging detail.
  3. Review the report, then check for any outstanding bills.
    Note: You can make bill payments to settle any outstanding bills to your vendors.

Reconcile accounts

Prepare to reconcile your accounts for the year end. Get help to understand the reconciliation workflow.

Important: Reconcile all your accounts monthly. This keeps your data balanced and accurate at year-end.

Distribute profits

Your accountant can help you distribute retained earnings among partners.

Set up an owner’s equity and draws account to track payments and withdrawals over the year.

Prepare sales tax returns with your accountant

Your accountant can help you with your year-end process. You can invite or add your accountant to QuickBooks Online, if you haven’t yet. This lets them prepare and file taxes on your behalf.

Reclassify transactions

You can also let your accountant review your accounts and reclassify transactions. They can help you manage your transactions and organize your books.

Close your books

When you finish the year-end review of your financial data, you can close your books. This prevents unwanted changes that could affect your reports before you file your sales tax.

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