sql-ledger-users

[SL] Service company; ad-hoc parts, parking/fuel expenses

[Alan M. <li...@mu...>]

Hello.

I run an IT service company (well, just myself, really).  I don't keep an inventory, but do buy hardware and software for my clients on an as-needed basis.  I am wondering if the following workflow is correct?

First, I created two parts: "HARD001 - Hardware" and "SOFT001 - Software".  My idea is to use just those "parts" for hardware and software, rather than creating a seperate part for every piece of hardware and software I purchase.  I would then just change the descriptions as appropriate (e.g., change "Hardware" to "Dual-head video card" or change "Software" to "Microsoft Office 2007 Profession", etc.)

Once I purchase a part, I would then create a purchase order.  From the purchase order I then create a vendor invoice, which I then issue a payment on after it has been posted.

This should, I believe, do the following:

  1.) Place the part into inventory
  2.) Balance out any amount owing to "0"

Once the part is in inventory, when I add it to a Sales Order, I am assuming that the inventory will be reduced accordingly?

Is this a good way to go about it, or is there a better way?  The only reason I am wanting to mess around with POs and vendor invoices is because I need to make sure I track the taxes that I pay on goods I am then reselling to my clients, and I don't know of another way to do that?

While on the topic, I also keep track of other expenses like parking and fuel.  What is the best way to do that?  Should I enter them in individually as a GL transaction, or do a PO/vendor invoice thing?  I wouldn't want to do a PO/vendor invoice for each individual fuel and parking expense, as I have quite a few of them in the course of a month.  Is this what "Vouchers" are for?  I am thinking a "cleaner" way to do this is to track my fuel and parking for each month seperately, but in a spreadsheet (one for each month) which keeps a total of each expense, plus any taxes paid on it.  I can then maybe create a "dummy" vendor for these sorts of expenses and do the PO/vendor invoice thing; I wouldn't mind doing it once per month, or is a GL transaction best?  Can you input taxes paid and have them go into the appropriate tax account by doing a GL transaction?

I hope that makes sense?

Thanks for your tips!

-Alan

Re: [SL] Service company; ad-hoc parts, parking/fuel expenses

[Michael H. <mh...@it...>]

Responses inline...

On Apr 2, 2009, at 4:08 PM, Alan Murrell wrote:

Hello.

I run an IT service company (well, just myself, really).  I don't  
keep an inventory, but do buy hardware and software for my clients on  
an as-needed basis.  I am wondering if the following workflow is  
correct?

First, I created two parts: "HARD001 - Hardware" and "SOFT001 -  
Software".  My idea is to use just those "parts" for hardware and  
software, rather than creating a seperate part for every piece of  
hardware and software I purchase.  I would then just change the  
descriptions as appropriate (e.g., change "Hardware" to "Dual-head  
video card" or change "Software" to "Microsoft Office 2007  
Profession", etc.)

Once I purchase a part, I would then create a purchase order.  From  
the purchase order I then create a vendor invoice, which I then issue  
a payment on after it has been posted.

This should, I believe, do the following:

   1.) Place the part into inventory
   2.) Balance out any amount owing to "0"

Once the part is in inventory, when I add it to a Sales Order, I am  
assuming that the inventory will be reduced accordingly?
==================================
Yes, and you can probably skip the PO and SO steps and just do  
invoices directly unless there is such a great length of time between  
events that you need the intermediary steps for your own tracking  
purposes.  (Inventory won't care either way).



Is this a good way to go about it, or is there a better way?  The  
only reason I am wanting to mess around with POs and vendor invoices  
is because I need to make sure I track the taxes that I pay on goods  
I am then reselling to my clients, and I don't know of another way to  
do that?

While on the topic, I also keep track of other expenses like parking  
and fuel.  What is the best way to do that?  Should I enter them in  
individually as a GL transaction, or do a PO/vendor invoice thing?  I  
wouldn't want to do a PO/vendor invoice for each individual fuel and  
parking expense, as I have quite a few of them in the course of a  
month.  Is this what "Vouchers" are for?  I am thinking a "cleaner"  
way to do this is to track my fuel and parking for each month  
seperately, but in a spreadsheet (one for each month) which keeps a  
total of each expense, plus any taxes paid on it.  I can then maybe  
create a "dummy" vendor for these sorts of expenses and do the PO/ 
vendor invoice thing; I wouldn't mind doing it once per month, or is  
a GL transaction best?  Can you input taxes paid and have them go  
into the appropriate tax account by doing a GL transaction?
==================================
GL entries are fine.  You'll probably need to create a couple of  
different expense accounts for fuel vs meals etc depending on the tax  
laws in your region.  A few minutes, (literally), with a bookkeeper  
will tell you what you need to know in that regard.






I hope that makes sense?

Thanks for your tips!

-Alan

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Re: [SL] Service company; ad-hoc parts, parking/fuel expenses

[Rich S. <rsh...@ap...>]

On Thu, 2 Apr 2009, Alan Murrell wrote:

> I run an IT service company (well, just myself, really).  I don't keep an
> inventory, but do buy hardware and software for my clients on an as-needed
> basis.  I am wondering if the following workflow is correct?

Alan,

   I run an environmental consulting company that's primarily me. I set up
inventory items for various types of professional services and for each
travel item (e.g., air fare, vehicle rental, lodging, parking and fuel,
meals & entertainment). I have regular expense categories for work done by
colleages (Outside Services).

   While I'm neither an expert on accounting or using SL for Purchase Orders,
I encourage you to create a slew of hardware/software inventory items. They
could be generic (e.g., system board, video card, optical drive, memory,
keyboard; word processing, RDBMS, backup, etc.)

   I create sales invoices only for those clients who insist on detailed
time-and-expenses invoices (e.g., lawyers who hire me as an expert witness).

   Perhaps you should check with your accountant and ask her how she wants
you to keep records.

Rich

-- 
Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D.               |  Integrity            Credibility
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc.        |            Innovation
<http://www.appl-ecosys.com>     Voice: 503-667-4517      Fax: 503-667-8863

Re: [SL] Service company; ad-hoc parts, parking/fuel expenses

[Jeff R. <je...@jr...>]

Hello Alan

There is no need to go through all the trouble of keeping inventory just 
to track taxes. I do the same thing as you as far as buying stuff for 
clients but I just enter the purchase under "AP/Add transaction". I 
chose my expense account for "parts expense" and write a little memo if 
I need to. When I sell it I have a part called "misc part sale". It's 
got a price of "$0.00" and is linked to "Part sales revenue". Once I've 
got it in the invoice on a line, I type over it with a correct 
description and fill in the price I'm selling it for.

The purchase becomes a direct expense and the sale becomes a direct form 
of income, nothing is ever in stock more than a few days here so I'm not 
worried about the balance sheet showing any inventory.

The taxes will be recorded properly and you can run a taxes paid and 
taxes collected report from the AP and Ar sections to reconcile them at 
remittance time.

Jeff


Alan Murrell wrote:
> Hello.
>
> I run an IT service company (well, just myself, really).  I don't keep an inventory, but do buy hardware and software for my clients on an as-needed basis.  I am wondering if the following workflow is correct?
>
> First, I created two parts: "HARD001 - Hardware" and "SOFT001 - Software".  My idea is to use just those "parts" for hardware and software, rather than creating a seperate part for every piece of hardware and software I purchase.  I would then just change the descriptions as appropriate (e.g., change "Hardware" to "Dual-head video card" or change "Software" to "Microsoft Office 2007 Profession", etc.)
>
> Once I purchase a part, I would then create a purchase order.  From the purchase order I then create a vendor invoice, which I then issue a payment on after it has been posted.
>
> This should, I believe, do the following:
>
>   1.) Place the part into inventory
>   2.) Balance out any amount owing to "0"
>
> Once the part is in inventory, when I add it to a Sales Order, I am assuming that the inventory will be reduced accordingly?
>
> Is this a good way to go about it, or is there a better way?  The only reason I am wanting to mess around with POs and vendor invoices is because I need to make sure I track the taxes that I pay on goods I am then reselling to my clients, and I don't know of another way to do that?
>
> While on the topic, I also keep track of other expenses like parking and fuel.  What is the best way to do that?  Should I enter them in individually as a GL transaction, or do a PO/vendor invoice thing?  I wouldn't want to do a PO/vendor invoice for each individual fuel and parking expense, as I have quite a few of them in the course of a month.  Is this what "Vouchers" are for?  I am thinking a "cleaner" way to do this is to track my fuel and parking for each month seperately, but in a spreadsheet (one for each month) which keeps a total of each expense, plus any taxes paid on it.  I can then maybe create a "dummy" vendor for these sorts of expenses and do the PO/vendor invoice thing; I wouldn't mind doing it once per month, or is a GL transaction best?  Can you input taxes paid and have them go into the appropriate tax account by doing a GL transaction?
>
> I hope that makes sense?
>
> Thanks for your tips!
>
> -Alan
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> sql-ledger-users mailing list
> sql...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sql-ledger-users
>
>
>   

Re: [SL] Service company; ad-hoc parts, parking/fuel expenses

[Jeff R. <je...@jr...>]

Ooops forgot the second half of your question.

I put all of my gas and parking in using AP/Add transaction. I have an 
account in the GL for gasoline expense and another for parking expense. 
I just put the purchase in under Chevron and separate out the taxes. I 
also set up a bank account named "Amex" and I enter it as paid the same 
day from that account. that way it's closed and done with. Then at the 
end of the month when I pay the Amex card I do a single transfer from 
the business chequeing account to the Amex bank account and it zeros it 
out. This has the added benefit of allowing me to easily see how much 
business expenses I've charged onto the amex at any time during the 
month. Again, the taxes all go where they are supposed to and show up on 
the taxes paid report.

Jeff

Alan Murrell wrote:
> Hello.
>
> I run an IT service company (well, just myself, really).  I don't keep an inventory, but do buy hardware and software for my clients on an as-needed basis.  I am wondering if the following workflow is correct?
>
> First, I created two parts: "HARD001 - Hardware" and "SOFT001 - Software".  My idea is to use just those "parts" for hardware and software, rather than creating a seperate part for every piece of hardware and software I purchase.  I would then just change the descriptions as appropriate (e.g., change "Hardware" to "Dual-head video card" or change "Software" to "Microsoft Office 2007 Profession", etc.)
>
> Once I purchase a part, I would then create a purchase order.  From the purchase order I then create a vendor invoice, which I then issue a payment on after it has been posted.
>
> This should, I believe, do the following:
>
>   1.) Place the part into inventory
>   2.) Balance out any amount owing to "0"
>
> Once the part is in inventory, when I add it to a Sales Order, I am assuming that the inventory will be reduced accordingly?
>
> Is this a good way to go about it, or is there a better way?  The only reason I am wanting to mess around with POs and vendor invoices is because I need to make sure I track the taxes that I pay on goods I am then reselling to my clients, and I don't know of another way to do that?
>
> While on the topic, I also keep track of other expenses like parking and fuel.  What is the best way to do that?  Should I enter them in individually as a GL transaction, or do a PO/vendor invoice thing?  I wouldn't want to do a PO/vendor invoice for each individual fuel and parking expense, as I have quite a few of them in the course of a month.  Is this what "Vouchers" are for?  I am thinking a "cleaner" way to do this is to track my fuel and parking for each month seperately, but in a spreadsheet (one for each month) which keeps a total of each expense, plus any taxes paid on it.  I can then maybe create a "dummy" vendor for these sorts of expenses and do the PO/vendor invoice thing; I wouldn't mind doing it once per month, or is a GL transaction best?  Can you input taxes paid and have them go into the appropriate tax account by doing a GL transaction?
>
> I hope that makes sense?
>
> Thanks for your tips!
>
> -Alan
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> sql-ledger-users mailing list
> sql...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sql-ledger-users
>
>
>   

Re: [SL] Service company; ad-hoc parts, parking/fuel expenses

[Alan M. <li...@mu...>]

Thanks to everyone for their replies and own experiences :-)

Based on the feedback, I have created a new "Expenses" category that I have entries for "Fuel", "Parking", and "Meals".  I will add to it as necessary if I come across any other expenses I may need (such as paying a deposit for a client to drop a hard drive off for recovery, etc.).  I will just use GL transactions (which I think is the same as "AP/add transaction"?  I am not in front of PC I can check that form at the moment)

I am going to keep my "Aftermarket hardware" and "Software" parts items, and just not worry about whether it shows a negative inventory balance or not since I don't really sell hardware; I only pick up hardware I need to complete a job, and just overtype the description with whatever the part is on the invoice.

This looks like it will be easier than I anticipated.

-Alan

Re: [SL] Service company; ad-hoc parts, parking/fuel expenses

[Rich S. <rsh...@ap...>]

On Mon, 6 Apr 2009, Alan Murrell wrote:

> Based on the feedback, I have created a new "Expenses" category that I
> have entries for "Fuel", "Parking", and "Meals". I will add to it as
> necessary if I come across any other expenses I may need (such as paying a
> deposit for a client to drop a hard drive off for recovery, etc.).

   I get the impression that you do not have a Chart of Accounts set up. If
that's correct, I encourage you to do so.

> I will just use GL transactions (which I think is the same as "AP/add
> transaction"?  I am not in front of PC I can check that form at the
> moment)

   Not really. Accounts Payable is a journal. Transactions in journals are
also posted to the General Ledger. You use Accounts Payable to enter
invoices you receive from vendors, and you pay them using the Cash module.

   Your local library probably has a basic accounting book that could be
useful to  you.

Rich

-- 
Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D.               |  Integrity            Credibility
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc.        |            Innovation
<http://www.appl-ecosys.com>     Voice: 503-667-4517      Fax: 503-667-8863

Re: [SL] stock

[Omar <ob...@ab...>]

How Can I prevent Sql-ledger from making invoice if the stock in the warhouse 
is less than the invoice quantity
best regards
Omar

Re: [SL] stock

[<la...@cl...>]

don't think that you can...you can always check the onhand before
invoicing...tim

> How Can I prevent Sql-ledger from making invoice if the stock in the
> warhouse
> is less than the invoice quantity
> best regards
> Omar
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> sql-ledger-users mailing list
> sql...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sql-ledger-users
>

Re: [SL] size and color

[Omar B. <o...@ab...>]

Hi All,
Does anybody know how to make size and color in the items numbers,

Re: [SL] size and color

[<la...@cl...>]

code it in the partnumber...it works for us for 4 years now. we also added
an unique index to the partnumber column of the parts table...

for ex. 9999/Black/S

tim

> Hi All,
> Does anybody know how to make size and color in the items numbers,
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> sql-ledger-users mailing list
> sql...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sql-ledger-users
>