Reports in QuickBooks generally use one of two lists. The chart of accounts is used for most reports accessing the general ledger. Trail Balance, Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss.
Some reports use the item list. Most sales reports, sales tax reports, and job reports.
If expenses associated with a job are entered using an account rather than an item, you get a job report that looks like this.
The dreaded “No item” line appears at the bottom of the report. These expenses could be anything that was assigned to this job. But the person who entered the transaction used an account rather than an item.
Forms like checks, bills and credit card charges have the capability to record a transaction using either, an account or an item.
This problem can be created by an inexperienced data entry person that needs training. A common occurrence is when banking and credit card transactions are downloaded from the financial institution’s web site.
These transactions download with accounts assigned, not items. So, what to do.
One option is to go through and edit each transaction like this, deleting the amount posting to an account and using an item. That can get tedious if there are more transactions than just a couple.
To correct amounts coming from multiple transactions, there is a shortcut to correct the job report.
In the case of our sample company, Rock Castle Construction, let’s say the job shown on the report above is one that requires travel out of town. These costs, of course, will be part of the cost of the job.
To correct the job report, we will create what we will call a ‘zero-check’.
Note the circled area on the stub portion of the check form above. The expense account used for posting the original transactions has been used on the Expense tab. The detail on that tab is hidden in the screenshot.
The amount to be posted to that account is a negative $1422.00, the amount we are trying to re-assign from our job report.
The tab that can be seen is the Items tab. On it we use the item that should have used in the first place. The amount is the $1422.00.
Be sure to include the job name on both tabs.
Note the arrow in the graphic. This entry should result in a check amount of zero. If it doesn’t, something is entered incorrectly.
When this transaction is saved, the impact to our job report shows below.
Notice that, in our new job report, the No Item line shows zero. A new line shows on the report now, Travel. Our $1422 shows on that line, which is the correct posting for those travel items.
Hector Garcia, CPA
Certified Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor
12401 Orange Drive #136
Davie, FL 33330
954-414-1524
hector@garciacpa.com
