Practice tools for accountants

Practice in the left menu holds the tools for someone who looks after the books of other people. It has six tabs: Clients, Review notes, Workpapers, Jobs and time, Reports and Accountant's copy. Nothing here sends anything or files anything.

Clients

The client list is one row for each company file on this computer. It shows the period end, when you last opened it, open review notes, unreconciled bank lines, last backup, the date the books are locked through, and your tags. Search by name or tag. A file that cannot be read still gets a row, with the problem. This list works only in the Mac and Windows apps, because only they hold all the company files.

The accountant's copy

This lets a client keep working while you make year-end adjustments.

1. Client: choose Make an accountant's copy. Pick a dividing date and a passphrase. The copy holds every posted entry up to that date and the chart of accounts, and is locked with the passphrase.
2. Accountant: choose Open an accountant's copy in a new, empty company file. Post adjusting entries or reclassifications. Then choose Export my changes.
3. Client: choose Preview a change file, then Apply a change file.

Nothing is posted if the file is for a different copy, an old entry changed after the copy was made, an entry falls in a locked period, an account is missing, an entry does not balance, or the file was already applied. A change file can be applied only once.

Limits:

• The accountant can use only accounts the client already has.
• Only entries are carried. Documents, contacts, tax codes, pay runs and the registers (stock items, fixed assets, loans) are not. A change that moves an account those registers keep is refused.

Review notes, workpapers, jobs

• Review notes: a note about an entry or a report, assigned to someone, and resolved when done.
• Workpapers: a standard checklist for a period, with your own rows. Tick items, attach evidence, and sign off as Preparer, Reviewer and Partner. The Reviewer must be a different person, and the Partner signs after the Reviewer. A signed item cannot be ticked again. Export the binder as PDF saves it.
• Jobs and time: tasks with due dates, a timer or manual time, and a list of work in progress with unbilled time.

Reports and consolidation

• Contractor totals lists suppliers paid at or above a threshold in a year, with their W-9 status. It is for your own filing. It does not file anything.
• Adjusting entries lists the entries flagged as adjusting.
• Consolidation combines the profit and loss and balance sheet of several files that share one currency, and removes matching amounts between companies. It exists in the Mac and Windows apps, and the screen only explains it. You type the pairs each time. Saved pairs are not built yet.

Good to know

• Contractor and adjusting reports appear as plain text on the screen, not as the usual report grid.
• These screens were tested by automatic tests. They have not yet been clicked through by a person.
• The Practice edition is off sale. These tools are included for Pro Preparer keys.