Our business is for-profit but we have received some cash donations to support our work. How should these donations be entered into our QBO? Assume I'm a QB beginner.

I'm here to help enter your donations, @peterschr.

You can create a sales receipt for the donations made to support your work. Let me show you how.

1. Go to the +New button.
2. Under CUSTOMERS, select Sales Receipt.
3. Select a customer and an item of the donation.
4. Enter the amount you received.
5. Click Save and close.

In the same manner, here's an article you can read to learn more about creating a sales receipt: Create and send sales receipts in QuickBooks Online.

On top of that, I've also included this reference for a compilation of articles you can use while working with us: Sales and Customer for QuickBooks Online.

If you have any other questions aside from entering donations, please let me know by leaving any comments below. I'll be here to lend a hand. Stay safe!

Hello - thank you for the answer. I'm not sure what is meant by selecting "an item of the donation." Can you tell me more? 

It is important that these "donations" are not referred to as donations.  Donations only refer to money given to a non-profit organization.  A for-profit business receives a "gift" and it is not tax-deductible for the gifter.

To record it, set up a non-inventory item called "Gift Income" (or something similar) and map it to an income account.  It's probably best to map it to "Other income" as gifts are not considered part of operating income.

Hi there,

If I may ask, when setting up the gift as a non-inventory item, do I check off "I sell" or "I purchase" this product /service? Both seem strange, but I'm assuming "I sell" would be my choice since it is just for record keeping? I am new to QB, so I apologize for my questions. But then there's no invoice needed. Just categorize the payment received and then send a receipt? I know the gifter won't get a tax receipt for it, but they would still like a receipt for their expense. Thanks for your time.