Bookkeeping FAQs

What happens after I purchase a dedicated bookkeeping service?

You will receive a message from your bookkeeper who will help set everything up and conduct an onboarding bookkeeping appointment. We recommend linking business accounts and completing your business profile before the appointment. If you aren’t able to link your business accounts, your bookkeeper will assist you during your onboarding appointment.

What categories should I be using for various transactions?

Assets are the things the business owns such as cash account, accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets.

Liabilities are what the business owes. This would include short term and long term liabilities such as accounts payable and loans payable.

Equity is an account that tells a business owner the net worth of the business. It is the total value of assets minus the business liabilities. The equity account also breaks down the owner’s investment and distributions.

Revenue is any income earned by the business after selling products and services.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) refers to any money spent to purchase or manufacture the product or services the business has already sold. For example, if I spent $100 in wood + $50 in metal to create a table, after the table is sold, you would have $150 in cost of goods sold.

Expenses are any money used to run the business, excluding COGS.

How do I add journal entries?

Login to your 1-800Accountant portal, and select Bookkeeping in the left navigation. From there, select Journal Entries and create a new journal entry. Speak to your bookkeeper if you experience further difficulties. If you do not have full-service bookkeeping with 1-800Accountant, you’ll need to speak with your Tax Advisor if you have questions about adding journal entries.

Add Journal Entry

How do I reconcile an incorrect balance on my bank account or credit card?

Reconcile the account on a monthly basis to prevent an incorrect balance from displaying. This can be helpful in discovering transactions that weren’t pulled in while the account was linked to your bookkeeping software with 1-800Accountant.

How do I generate reports?

Login to your 1-800Accountant Portal, and go to the bookkeeping section in the left navigation. From there, select reports generate a variety of reports. You are able to customize date ranges and download the reports.

Generate My Reports

I’ve noticed a few mistakes in my bookkeeping, how can I get this fixed?

Login to your 1-800Accountant Portal, and either send a message to or make an appointment with your bookkeeper to review your books. If you do not have full-service bookkeeping with 1-800Accountant, you’ll need to schedule an appointment with your Tax Advisor.

Message My Bookkeeper

How do I sync my bank account in the portal?

After you’ve set up your business details for your business account, login to your 1-800Accountant Portal, and go to the “Bookkeeping” section. From there, select Banking, click the “Connect my bank” button, and follow the steps to search for, log into, and connect the bank.

Sync My Banking Account

Why do I have duplicate transactions in my bookkeeping software (Clientbooks)?

Duplicate transactions occur when a bank account has been connected multiple times or the bank has provided transaction data with duplicates. All transactions have an option to be excluded if it has been determined to be a duplicate. There is an exclude option when selecting a single transaction or in bulk.

How quickly do I get paid when I invoice a client through the invoice tab in the portal?

After signing up for and being approved for online invoicing, payments typically take 2-3 business days. The exception would be for the very first payment as the merchant side has to validate some things for the very first payment.

Is there a fee to use the smart categorization feature?

There is no charge to use the smart categorization feature as a part of our bookkeeping software. If you would like to hand your books off to us at any point, we also offer full-service bookkeeping.

What is smart categorization used for?

This enhancement saves time by quickly categorizing your business expenses when you select sync. Whether you have a handful of expenses to categorize or many, transactions are unlimited.

How do I use smart categorization?

Launch our bookkeeping software. Smart categorization is built right in and automatically enabled. Make sure your business bank accounts are connected before use. From the Transactions tab, select “sync” and your expenses will automatically start to categorize.

A couple of my transactions weren't categorized after a sync. What should I do?

Some expenses may still need to be recognized by the system. If you encounter an uncategorized transaction, use the “categorize similar transactions” feature to route these expenses to their proper category during future transactions.

What should I do if smart categorization isn’t turned on?

Smart categorization is automatically enabled for all accounts, however if you notice it’s not turned on in your account, select the Categorizations settings wheel and enable the feature by toggling on ‘smart-categorize’.

What types of transactions are categorized using smart categorization?

The smart categorization bookkeeping feature is exclusively for expense transactions and does not currently categorize positive amounts/income.

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