Cash vs. Accrual issue

Hello there, @byomtov,

You can check the posting accounts for these transactions and verify why it's showing on a cash basis. From there, make any changes as necessary, so the sales will now on the accrual basis of your report.

Also, make sure that report is set up as Accrual in the Preference tab. In case the report doesn't default to Accrual, you can change it by following the steps below:

1. Click on Edit at the top menu bar.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click on Reports & Graphs from the left pane.
4. Go to the Company Preferences.
5. Select Accrual under Summary Reports Basis.
6. Click OK.

To learn more about the difference between cash and accrual basis, you can check this article: Differentiate Cash and Accrual basis.

For more details about running reports and how to generate them base on your preference, you can check out these articles for guidance:

• Understand reports
• Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop

If you have other questions, just let me know. I'm always happy to assist you further. Have a great day ahead.

Thank you.

How do I check the "posting accounts," and what should they be?

The reports I'm referring to are just the standard P&L statements, where I can select either cash or accrual.

Shouldn't a sale turn up on the accrual P&L when billed, and on the cash P&L when paid?

Thanks for getting back to us, byomtov.

You can check the transaction's posting accounts using the Transaction Journal. However, I'd suggest consulting your accountant to help you verify what accounts they should be.

Here's how to check the posting accounts:

1. From the Profit & Loss report, open the transaction by clicking the amount.
2. Double-click the invoice to open it.
3. On the invoice screen, press CMD+T altogether.
4. This will show the debits and credits of amounts and accounts not visible from the transaction itself.

Once verified that the posting accounts are correct, performing the recommended basic troubleshooting steps will resolve the problem. You can verify and rebuild your data to better isolate the issue.

An accrual method will report the data on the date the transaction was recorded, whereas a cash method will report when the payment transaction is dated.

I recommend customizing the report to get the specific details you need. You can also memorize it to save its current customization settings. It serves as your record and helps you quickly access it for future use. 

Let me know the result of this troubleshooting in the comment below. I need to make sure this is resolved and you're back to running your normal business processing. All the best!

This is not the problem.

Apparently, if I enter a sale other than by issuing an invoice and creating a receivable QB assumes it was  a cash sale, regardless of what account I debit, even if I set up a separate A/R account.

What I need is to be able to enter a sale that way that shows up on the accrual statement and not on the cash statement.

Hi there, @byomtov.

Allow me to chime in and share additional inputs about the sales showing as cash basis in your Profit and Loss report.

To isolate this, I recommend re-sorting your Chart of Accounts. This will help you fix odd behavior in your company file. Here's how:

1. From the Lists menu, select either Chart of Accounts.
2. Select the All Names checkbox.
3. Select Edit at the top left of QuickBooks.
4. Select Re-sort List.
5. Select OK.

For more details on how to resort lists in the COA, items, or classes list, you can refer to this article: Re-sort lists in QuickBooks Desktop.

However, if the issue persists, I'd suggest contacting our Customer Support Team. They can pull up your account securely and provide other troubleshooting steps to resolve this matter.

To ensure we address your concern, our representatives are available from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM on weekdays and 6:00 AM - 3:00 PM on Saturdays, PST. See our support hours and types for more details about this one. Here's how to reach them:

1. Click Help at the top menu and select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
2. In the Have a Question? window, enter a topic.
3. Click Contact Us.

For additional reference, I'm including these articles below: 

• Accounts
• QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2019 User’s Guide

Keep me posted for additional questions or other concerns. I'd be more than happy to help.

I did not get the answer I need.

What I need is simple.

A way to enter a sale other than by invoicing that does not make the sale show up as a cash sale. When I use a journal entry the software seems to assume it is a cash sale, even though I have a separate (not cash) asset account set up for recording the transaction.

Thanks for getting back to us, @byomtov.

Creating a journal entry bypasses cash or accrual reporting. At the moment, the only way to record accrual sales is through invoices. Other transactions will be treated as cash in QuickBooks. It is also a great idea to consult with an accountant to properly record your accrual sales.

I'm attaching this guide to help you along the way: Get started with customer transaction workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

In case you need help with other tasks in QBDT, you can browse this link to go to our general topics with articles.

Keep me posted if you still have questions or concerns with invoices. I'm always here to help.

I have a similar issue.   How do I post an Invoice to the correct billing period ?    In other words I send out invoices the first week of the month for work performed the previous month.   I do not see a field on the invoice entry to tell it which period to bill the sales to. 

Thanks for following this thread, @JTinVB. I'm here to give you additional insights about posting an invoice to the correct billing period. 

When you create an invoice and the time when you receive cash may be two separate events in accrual basis accounting. While a cash basis, you treat income or expenses as occurring at the time you receive a payment or pay a bill. 

For additional insights, read through this article to learn the difference between Cash and Accrual accounting: Differentiate Cash and Accrual basis in QuickBooks.

For future reference, you'll want to consult your accountant about handling adjusting journal entries in your books. 

Feel free to visit and ask more questions in the Community. We're always around to help in any way we can.  

Katherine-  I clearly know and understand the difference between Cash and Accrual.   So from your response QB does not have the ability to truly handle accrual based accounting without numerous Journal Entries each month ?

Good morning, @JTinVB. 

Thanks for reaching back out to the Community. I appreciate you adding the extra clarification. 

To ensure that you're getting the best answer for your business, I recommend consulting with your accountant and contacting our Customer Support Team if need be. Either way, you'll get the answer you're looking for. 

Let me know how it goes and what details you receive. It's my priority that you're able to get back to running your business. I'm only a few clicks away if you need me. Have a great rest of your morning!

I AM an accountant and a Federal Contractor that has to comply with DCAA requirements.   I am not asking whether or not to accrue items.  I am saying I HAVE to post items to the period the cost was incurred , NOT the date the customer invoice was dated.     The issue is with QB, not an accounting issue. 

HOW do I post an item to the period the cost or revenue was incurred  besides several manual Journal Entries each month?    You advertise QB can be DCAA compliant with the correct process.  Well the correct process is to post an item to the period it was incurred or the revenue was earned. 

Thank you for the additional details, JTinVB.

I'll continue to help you with the posting dates of your transactions.

Since your item was acquired in the previous month and sold this month, you can record both transactions. To do this, you can record a bill or a check on the date the item was incurred and make it billable to your customer. Then, turn that billable expense into an invoice and date it accordingly.

Item was acquired in the previous month:

Item is sold this month:

If you need more help with your transactions, you can always go back to this thread.