Group home with multiple residents need help on attributing deposits

James, 

Thank you so much! That really helped me figure this out. I have one question though in this step. 

1. In the Account column, select the appropriate income account (e.g., Resident X SSA Income or Resident X SSI Income).

If I'm reading this right, I would still need to have an account line in the chart of accounts for each resident? 

Thank you for keeping us updated, Michael. On behalf of my colleague, JamesAndrewM, you're welcome.

Generally, you don't need to have separate account lines for each resident since you're moving to a new workflow where they're set up as customers in QuickBooks Desktop. You can handle their deposits and receivables directly through the Customer Center, eliminating the need for individual accounts.

By following the steps above, we'll be able to streamline your accounting tasks, accurately track balances, and reduce the bloated COA you mentioned earlier. For more tips on managing your cash flow, sales, and profitability, feel free to read this article: Get started with customer transaction workflows.

If you have any other concerns about the program or want to share your thoughts, the Community is always here to support your growth. Keep the questions coming!

Thank you so much for the clarification. I've been using QB for a number of years, and still learning new stuff every day! 

Sincerely, 

Michael Fay
Accountant

Public Notary
The Angelus Inc.

[removed by moderator]

An update.

I followed this workflow for the month of October 2023. 
I created a Credit Memo for their beginning balance. For example.

Client X - Credit Memo $800.00 Dated 10/01/2023.

This gave them a balance of -800.00. 

When Client X's SSA deposit came in I went into make payments added the $1,200.00 payment. And then deposited it into the Rep Payee account. 

Client X new balance of  -2,000.00 

At the end of the month I created an invoice with all the billable charges. Of those charges $1,000 of them were made from our operations account and $500.00 was made from the Rep Payee Account itself. 

The Invoice total was 1,500.00 

I applied a $500.00 credit to the invoice leaving the total balance sue $1,000.00

I went into receive payments Checked the invoice and made the payment. 

I deposited the payment into our Rep Payee account, then transferred it into out Operations account. 

Now the Customer Balance Detail is showing 

10/01 - Credit Memo: -$800.00
10/03 - Payment SSA: -$1,200.00
10/31 - Invoice #12345: $1,500.00 - Added Credits of $500.00 to bring total to $1,000.00

10/31 - Payment: -$1,000.00
Total Balance: -$1,500.00
By my calculations this total should be $500.00 correct? If their total balance was -$2,000.00 and they were charged $1,500.00 they should have $500.00 left? 

What am I missing here?
I appreciate any help anyone can provide. 

As a secondary question, when I make all the payments, what is the best way to show the money being moved from the Rep Payee Account to the Operations Account for payment?

Hi, Michael.

We appreciate the update and the detailed information regarding your concern. I'm here to explain why the Customer Balance Detail shows a Total Balance of $1,500.00. Typically, the total balance on a customer's account means that there are either outstanding payments or credit memos that have not been applied to the customer's account. 

Based on your provided information, the total invoice amount was recorded as $1500, with two separate payments comprising the sum. One payment of $1000 was made, with an additional $500 payment derived from the Rep Payee account. Upon payment, a credit of $500 was applied to the invoice, effectively reducing the total amount owed to less than $1000. Subsequently, a payment of $1000 was processed, effectively covering the remaining outstanding balance of the invoice. 

However, it's important to note that you had a credit of $2000 in your account. Out of this amount, you only applied $500 to the invoice for the credit. Thus, the remaining credit balance of $1500 remains in the account even after payment of the invoice has been processed.

To ensure that this issue is resolved, we need to make sure that we apply the correct credit amount to the customer's account. This would involve carefully reviewing the details of the customer's account to ensure that we accurately apply the appropriate credit amount that should be applied.

Additionally, I suggest adding screenshots of the steps you have performed to ensure we provide clear and detailed information to help ensure that you receive the best possible assistance. Screenshots can help convey detailed information about the problem you're experiencing, allowing us to understand the issue better and provide more accurate solutions.  

Regarding your secondary inquiry, I recommend seeking the assistance of an accountant to ensure that your accounts are recorded accurately. They are skilled and have the knowledge and expertise to accurately handle bookkeeping and accounting tasks. They can provide valuable insights and advice on optimizing your financial management. 

Once everything is in order, I recommend reconciling your account. This involves comparing your account records with the corresponding bank statements to identify discrepancies between the two. By reconciling your account regularly, you can ensure that your financial records are up-to-date, accurate, and consistent. Here is a helpful resource that provides more information on how to do so:  Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Fill me in if you need further assistance while working on your transaction. I'm always here, ready to help. Have a wonderful day.

I will add some screenshots tomorrow when I return to the office. If I'm understanding you correctly, the payment applied to the invoice doesn't alter the balance of the resident's account? How would I go about doing this? The invoice reduced the overall total, but the payment pushed it right back up. Maybe I'm making a mistake in my workflow? 

Thanks for getting back to the thread, @Michael_Fay.

Let me jump into this thread and provide you with further clarification with regard to your customer's balance in QuickBooks Desktop. 

Any payments you've made will automatically affect your customer's balance and receiving bank's account. Based on your scenario, it seems that your customer's total balance is -2000. 

Since you only applied the -500 credits to your customer's invoice and paid the remaining balance using the other bank, their total remaining balance will be -1500. 

However, if you use your customer's credit balance to pay the full invoice, then they have a -500 balance on their account. Please note that how your customer's balance reflects in the system depends on how you record the transactions in QuickBooks. If you can add a screenshot of your concern, we'll appreciate it.

Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions with regard to your customer balance in QuickBooks. I'll be here to help you out.

Raymond, 

Thanks for getting back to me. I have attached a report for Client X the first part is the way we were doing it prior to 10/01. Starting balance, any income and expenses added, final balance at the end of the month. The Second page is What the system looks like now. 

Reimbursable Expenses - Expenses were paid out of the Operations Account by our Residential Director. 
Non-Reimbursable Expenses - These expenses were paid through the Rep Payee Account. 

At the end of every month I have to balance account totals with Our Client Service Rep who tracks resident expenses on their side as well. Once we balance I would transfer the amount of Reimbursable expenses from the Rep Payee Account and put it into Operations. 

System worked fine, but we currently have 25 clients, and we have about another 10 that over the years have left, passed away, or were exited. Some of those have balances remaining. As you can see with the first page, my Chart of Accounts was bloated to say the very least. 

I need to know how I can get the new system to accurately display their balance so I can balance with the CSR at the end of the month.  

I hope this all made sense. 

I appreciate you sharing detailed updates, Michael. Allow me to provide additional information about this matter.

Please ensure you have correctly posted all of your transactions in the program. To achieve a 500 credit balance for the customer in question, you need to create a Receive payment and apply the 1,500 to the available credits of 2,000.

To do this, click on the Credits Applied option and check the 1,200 and 800 credits that you have previously created. This will automatically offset 1,500 credits, leaving a remaining balance of 500.

Furthermore, based on the QuickReport you've shared, I suggest you don't deposit the credit yet, as you will use the amount to be applied to the customer's invoices. It would be best to contact our Live Support Team for further assistance. They are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to initiate a screen-sharing session and review your account. Here's how you can reach them:

1. Click on Help, then select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
2. Choose Contact us.
3. Type your issue, then hit Continue in the description field.
4. Click Message an agent.

You can visit this reference in handling your chart of accounts: Work with the chart of accounts in QuickBooks Desktop.

Kindly get back to the Community space if you have further questions. I am always available to lend a helping hand with managing sales transactions. Keep safe.

Just an update. I finally got this conundrum figured out. Thank you to everyone who commented, messaged, and helped me. Great community.