Hi ConnectStratJamison,
Sounds like you got a lot going on. While I’m sure it will not solve all your challenges, I’m happy to offer my thoughts on the situation.
1
If you use the Invoice or Sales Receipt forms to record the monthly fee, you will have to create a Customer. As a workaround, you record the fees using Deposits, which will allow you to record under the Vendor name. Note that for Invoices/Sales Receipts, you are tracking the fee as a product or service; with Deposits, you are recording the fee directly to the income account.
2
I have some experience with BillPay, and you can use it to for payments to 1099 contractors. You just have to be sure that the consultants should be treated as 1099 contractors rather than a statutory employee (https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/statutory-employees)
3
You can use Projects if you do various specific jobs/projects for each client. However, if the engagement is ongoing, you don’t necessarily need to use the Projects feature. Instead, you can use the setting Track expenses and items by customer. This feature will allow you to allocate expenses by customer when creating Bills/Checks/Expenses.
- Select Gear icon at top right corner -> Accounts and Settings
- In the Expenses tab, select the pencil icon in the Bills and expenses section
- Select the checkbox to Track expenses and items by customer
- If you want to include expenses in invoices/sales receipts to customers, also select Make expenses and items billable
- Select Save and Done
To view profitability by customer, run a Profit and Loss report and date it for the period you want to review. In the Display columns by dropdown above the report, select Customers.
The Class feature can be considered an option to track profitability (income and expenses) by consultant.
- Select Gear icon at top right corner -> Accounts and Settings
- In the Advanced tab, select the pencil icon in the Categories section
- Check box to Turn on classes
- You have the option to assign classes to each row of a transaction (i.e., each line item) or to the entire transaction. Since work for each customer is typically done by one consultant, you may want to select the option to assign class to the entire transaction. Select Save and Done
- Select Save and Done
- Select Gear icon at top right corner -> All Lists
- Select Classes
- Select New button to create classes; you will create one for each consultant (since you have a Plus subscription, you can create up to 40 classes)
The Class section will now appear on sales and expense transaction forms. To allocate the income and expense to a certain consultant, simply select the appropriate consultant (class) from the Class dropdown in the transaction form.
To view profitability by consultant (class), run a Profit and Loss report and date it for the period you want to review. In the Display columns by dropdown above the report, select Class.
Regarding, “classes don't appear to cover labor”, is this referring to payroll? I believe you can use class tracking for payroll. Admittedly, my experience with Gusto is limited, but if you’re syncing it with QBO, I think you can use map Gusto departments to QBO classes.
Best regards!
