QuickBooks Setup
We configure QuickBooks to match how your business actually operates. Chart of accounts, bank connections, invoice templates, and reports set up right from day one.
What This Is
QuickBooks is good software, but it doesn’t know your business. When you create a new file, it gives you generic categories and default settings that work for nobody in particular. A general contractor needs to track costs by job. A consulting firm needs to separate billable work from internal time. The software can handle all of this, but only if someone configures it that way.
We build your QuickBooks file from scratch to match how your business actually operates. The chart of accounts reflects your real revenue streams and expense categories. Bank feeds connect properly and transactions land where they should. Invoice templates include your terms and payment options. Reports show numbers that mean something to you, not generic totals that don’t help with decisions.
The Technical Setup
The Technical Setup
Designing a chart of accounts that fits your business. Connecting bank and credit card accounts so transactions flow in automatically. Setting up products, services, and customer types. Configuring invoice templates with your branding, payment terms, and online payment links. Building the reports you will actually use each month.
The Walkthrough
The Walkthrough
We don’t hand you a configured file and disappear. We walk through how to create invoices, record payments, and categorize the transactions you see regularly. We show you where to find reports and what they are telling you. You leave the setup knowing how to use the system, not hoping you figure it out later.
Why This Matters
A poorly configured QuickBooks file creates problems that multiply over time. Every transaction that comes in gets categorized somewhere. If your chart of accounts doesn’t match your business, those transactions end up in the wrong places. Your Profit and Loss doesn’t reflect reality. You can’t see which services are profitable or where the money is actually going.
The frustrating part is that these problems compound. Six months of miscategorized expenses means six months of cleanup work before your accountant can file taxes. A year of incorrect job costing means a year of decisions made on bad data. Starting with a proper setup avoids the snowball effect entirely.
The Default Trap
The Default Trap
QuickBooks creates a default chart of accounts when you start a new file. These defaults are generic. They don’t distinguish materials from labor. They don’t track by job or project. They don’t separate the expense categories your business actually needs to watch. Working with defaults means adapting your thinking to the software instead of the other way around.
The Cleanup Cost
The Cleanup Cost
We see business owners who tried setting things up themselves and now have a year of messy data. Fixing it takes longer than doing it right the first time. The accountant bills extra hours to sort through confusion. The business owner never quite trusts the numbers because they remember how the data got there.
What Changes
Your QuickBooks file works the way your business works. Reports make sense because they are organized around your actual operations. When you pull a Profit and Loss, you see categories that matter to you. When you look at job reports, costs are broken down the way you think about them. The software becomes a tool instead of an obstacle.
Day-to-day bookkeeping gets simpler because the system is designed for it. Bank transactions import and land in sensible categories without constant manual correction. Invoices go out with professional formatting and clear payment instructions. You are not fighting the software or second-guessing whether things ended up in the right place.
Reports That Mean Something
Reports That Mean Something
Your chart of accounts is built around how you actually run the business. If you need to see labor versus materials, you see it. If you have multiple service lines, they are separated. Monthly reports tell you something useful instead of showing generic categories that don’t map to your operations or help you make decisions.
Ongoing Support
Ongoing Support
Questions come up after setup. You hire a different type of employee and need to categorize their wages separately. You add a service line and need a new income category. We are available to make adjustments and answer questions as your business evolves. You are not calling a generic support line and explaining your situation from scratch every time.
Greater Boston's Trusted Bookkeeping Partner
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
We'll ask a few questions, figure out what you need, and give you a straightforward quote.