nonprofit - proper recording of art sales

I can help you record your art sales and artist payment, @AKAK-SAGA.

First, you can create a sales receipt for the money you receive from the exhibit, then create a journal entry to pay the artist for the remaining account. The journal entry should be from your income account to the expense account. However, we recommend consulting your accountant for further guidance during this process.

Here's how:

1. Click the + New button, then choose Sales receipt.
2. From the Customer dropdown, select a customer.
3. From the Select a product/service dropdown, choose the sold product or service.
4. Fill out the other necessary fields in the sales receipt, then hit Save.
5. Go to the + New button, then select Journal entry.
6. On the first line, select an account from the Account field. Enter the amount in the correct column depending on whether you need to debit or credit the account.
7. On the following line, select the other account you're moving money to or from. If you entered a debit or credit on the first line, enter the same amount in the opposite column.
8. You should have the same amount in the Credit column on one line and the Debit column on the other. This means the accounts are in balance.
9. Enter information in the memo section to know why you made the journal entry.
10. Select Save and new or Save and close.

In case you want to run reports to get helpful insights on the things you buy and sell and the status of your inventory, you can check out this article for guidance: Use reports to see your sales and inventory status.

You can always get back to this thread if you have follow-up concerns with recording your art sales. The Community is here to help you out.

Thank you so much for your quick reply, Jean.  I have been recording the sales with Sales receipts, as you recommend, and it looks like the journal entry is created automatically from that.  Would I record the sales receipt, and then split it between artist's payment ( or COGS?) and org commission in the journal?

With apologies in advance for the overall dumbness of this next bit: although I set up many relevant categories in my Chart of Accounts, the sales receipt system seems to have bypassed them - I have a big pile of sales receipts to sort through, and my reports come up blank. I'm trying to get things into a more workable format for this year.

Thanks again,

Andrea

We appreciate your immediate response, Andrea. We can see your eagerness to ensure the accuracy of your financial data. We'll route you to the next best help to further guide you in recording your art sales. 

We recommend consulting your accountant to help you with your journal transaction. This way, they can guide you on what accounts to use and give you advice tailored to your business needs.

Additionally, QuickBooks offers a range of financial reports that can provide an overview of your business. To run, customize, and print one, you can refer to this article: Pull up reports in QuickBooks Online.

Don't hesitate to comment below if you have other concerns about managing nonprofit sales in QuickBooks. We're always here to help you out.