Banking

Set up a bank-type account for your checking account.
Set up a current liability type account for the Line of Credit.
Do not enter any opening balances when creating the accounts.
Use the checking account for all deposits and checks/debits/bill payments as usual.
When the bank draws from your Line of Credit, use the transfer funds screen to post the transaction.
When you make a payment to the Line of Credit, write a check (put 'autopay' in the number field if the bank debits it).
On the first line of the check account, enter the principle amount, off-setting the Line of Credit. On the next line, hit an expense type account called Interest Expense (you only need one expense account in your Chart of Accounts for any interest that you pay) for the interest portion of your payment.
If there are any fees incurred for using the Line of Credit, use the Write Checks screen with the appropriate account, and enter "fee" in the number field and the amount which will show up on your bank statement.
When you get your bank statement from the checking and the Line of Credit, you will reconcile them both using Banking --> reconcile.

1. Click on the Banking menu and choose Make Deposits
2. Check the deposits that are erroneous and click OK
3. In the next window, on the first blank line click in the “From Account” column
4. Select the income account that was overstated by the duplicate deposit
5. Enter in the amount field, the negative amount
6. Click Save & Close

QuickBooks 2009 does allow you to use multiple currencies. Although QuickBooks 2008 and Older (U.S.) versions do not support multiple currencies, QuickBooks uses the currency symbol specified in your Microsoft Windows Control Panel on printed forms. To change the currency symbol

1. From the Windows Start menu, choose Settings, and then choose Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Regional Settings icon. (In Windows 2000, double-click Regional Options.)
3. Make sure the correct location is selected to give you the correct currency symbol.
   • In Windows 95, 98, Me, and NT, select the correct location for International Settings on the Regional Settings tab.
   • In Windows 2000, click the General tab, and then select the correct location for Your locale (location) from the drop-down list.
4. Click OK to save the new setting.
5. You must restart your computer for the settings to take effect.

Keep in mind that QuickBooks 2008 and Older do not support multiple currencies, nor does it perform calculations. If you switch from one currency to another, the exchange rate will not be calculated, only the currency symbol will change.
NOTE: QuickBooks 2009 is the first US version of QuickBooks that will allow you to use multicurrency.

QuickBooks does not print check numbers or account information directly to your checks. This is due to banks requiring MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) to be used on checks for security reasons. However, you can order checks with this information pre-printed at the following link: http://www.intuitmarketplace.com.
Another solution is to purchase a program to print MICR encoded checks. You can find several programs compatible with QuickBooks by going to the following link: http://marketplace.intuit.com and searching for MICR.

There are a couple restrictions for changing fonts on checks. The font for the numeric dollar amount is preset by QuickBooks to Arial 10 point font, and can't be changed. Also, text fonts printed on your checks can't be in color.
These restrictions ensure that your checks comply with banking industry and Check 21 requirements.

You can turn on or off the auto-recall feature in QuickBooks in the General preferences. To do this:

1. Click on the edit menu
2. Select Preferences
3. Choose General on the left
4. Click on the My Preferences tab at the top
5. Check or uncheck Automatically recall last transaction for this name
6. Click OK

View screenshot

The check template is not editable like the invoice template is. Because of the size of checks, the logo is not resizable, and will automatically be displayed in a square format.

See the PDF file that I created to help you set up your loan in the loan manager.

A balloon payment loan is a formalized loan with a final payment that is larger than the regular payment amount. Balloon payment loans usually have a lower interest rate than a standard loan to compensate for the larger, final payment. Most balloon payment loans have fixed monthly principal and interest payments with a defined payback period.

In some balloon payment loans, each payment covers only the accrued interest (without affecting the principal), and the entire, original loan amount is due at the end of the repayment period. This type of balloon payment loan is also referred to as a non-amortized loan, an interest-only loan, or a one-payment loan. This one-payment type of loan cannot be tracked in the Loan Manager.

If your loan terms include a balloon payment, it will appear as the final payment in your Loan Manager Payment Schedule. The Loan Manager automatically calculates the amount of this payment using the information you entered when you added the loan to the Loan Manager and to the current balance of your QuickBooks liability account. (If a balloon payment appears that was not part of your loan terms, check your journal entries and the Loan Manager loan details for accuracy.) Small discrepancies can occur due to calculation methods.

Why should I pay my loans through the Loan Manager?

Any payment that you set up from this window applies only to the specified payment number. The information you change from your standard payment – payment type, principal amount , interest amount, etc. – is reset to the standard payment information the next time you set up a payment for this loan (i.e., for the next payment number). Also, if you have not set up an opening balance for the loan account, you will not be able to set up a payment for it.

1. From the Banking menu, choose Loan Manager.
2. From the list of loans, select the loan you're setting up for payment. What if I don’t see the loan I’m looking for? There are two reasons that a loan might be missing from the Loan Manager list:
   • You made the loan inactive in your Chart of Accounts list. To fix this problem, return to the Chart of Accounts, reactivate the loan, then close and then reopen the Loan Manager window to update list of loans.
   • You added a new loan liability account after you had already opened the Loan Manager window. To fix this problem, close and then reopen the Loan Manager window to update the list of loans.
3. Click Set Up Payment.
4. Select a Payment Type. What’s the difference between a regular and an extra payment?
   • Regular payments are your scheduled payment amounts of principal, interest, and escrow (if any) per your loan terms. An extra payment is made in addition to regular payments.
   • When you set up a payment through the Loan Manager, you can specify how much of the extra payment is to be applied to the principal, the interest, and/or to the fees and charges on your loan.
5. Review the Account Information. You can change any incorrect information by editing the liability account for the loan.
6. Review the Payment Information, and make any adjustments or entries. If you need assistance with filling in any of the fields, click Help.
7. Choose a payment method, based on how you pay your vendors.
   • Choose "Write a check" if you write checks for your loan as the payments are due.
   • Choose "Enter a bill" if you track your expenses by first entering bills for them. What is the difference between tracking bills and writing a check?
8. Click OK.

This could be caused if the payment was not made through the Loan Manager. When a payment is made through the Loan Manager the loan acknowledges that payment has been made and will set the alert date to the next bill date.

If the loan has not been paid you can:

1. From the Alert click on the link
2. Highlight the loan and choose Setup Payment.
3. Save the payment.

Or:

1. From the Alert click on the link.
2. Highlight the loan and choose Edit Loan Details.
3. Click next on Enter Account Information About this loan.
4. At the bottom of the Enter Payment Information for this Loan deselect the checkmark for Alert me 10 days before payment is due
5. Click Next
6. Finally OK

Undeposited Funds is an account that holds your received payments until you are ready to deposit them. There is a preference in QuickBooks that allows you to automatically use this account in the received payments screen. But the important thing to remember; is that if you receive a payment to this account, you then need to make the deposit in the Make Deposits screen to your bank account.

Click here to access a discussion that outlines the process of using this account.

If you want even more information, click here.