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Goldenseal Accounts

Goldenseal accounts are designed for the people, businesses and money that relate to your business. They are an important part of the Goldenseal accounting software.

HINT-- You'll enter many accounts when you first start using Goldenseal. After that you probably won't need to add many new accounts, but you'll refer to the existing ones frequently.

For a list of all Goldenseal accounts, click here.

ACCOUNT BASICS-- general account information

Types of Accounts | List of all Accounts | Using Accounts in Transactions
FAQ-- Frequently Asked Account Questions | Browser Controls

WORKING WITH ACCOUNTS-- how to use accounts day to day

Creating Accounts | Closing Accounts | Changing Account Icons
Setting the Default Icon | Payments On Account | Deposits On Account

ACCOUNT DATA FIELDS-- record data that applies to all accounts

Status Field | Flag Button | Printer Flag | Form View
Current Balance | Minimum Balance | Starting Balance

RELATED TOPICS

Chart of Accounts Window | Lists | Transactions | Utility Accounts | Website Main Page

Basic Types of Accounts

JOBS-- Job Accounts consume costs, and generate income for you (either directly or indirectly)
        Customers | Overhead | Projects

ASSETS-- Asset Accounts are for money and things that you own
        Cash | Checking | Equipment | Inventory | Investments | Real Estate | Savings

LIABILITIES-- Liability Accounts are for money that you owe to someone else
        Credit Cards | Escrow Accounts | Loans | Owner Equity

COSTS-- Cost Accounts are for people or things that cost you money (expenses)
        Employees | Equipment | Other Costs | Materials | Subcontractors

UTILITY ACCOUNTS--  Utility Accounts are Bookkeeping accounts for abstract items like Accounts Payable

List of all Goldenseal Accounts
Account Name Used For Type
Cash Accounts Petty cash and other cash on hand Asset
Checking Accounts Bank accounts with sequential check numbers Asset
Credit Cards Credit cards (see also debit cards) Liability
Customers People or businesses that are listed in Sales or Projects Job
Employees People on your payroll. Cost
Equipment Vehicles and large tools. Equipment is also listed as an asset. Asset & Cost
Escrow Accounts Money that you don't own, but that you manage for others. Liability
Inventory Accounts Goods that you hold for resale or for use in projects. Asset
Investments Any assets that don't fit in one of the other categories. Asset
Loans Any debts that are not credit cards. Liability
Material Suppliers Suppliers of materials for resale or for use in projects. Cost
Other Costs Cost accounts that are not materials or subcontractors. Cost
Overhead Accounts Internal accounts, used to allocated overhead expenses. Job
Owner Equity Ownership shares in the business. Asset
Projects One-time jobs that you do for a customer. Job
Real Estate Real property that you own or manage. Asset
Savings Accounts Bank account that don't have sequential checks. Asset
Subcontractors People or businesses that provide services to you. Cost
Utility Accounts Abstract "bookkeeping" accounts. Utility

How to Create an Account

To create a new customer account, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Customers from the Accounts menu
  2. Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
  3. Enter information about the new customer.
  4. For more about data entry in the account, click one of the links above to see specifics for that account.
To create a new account that is similar to an existing account, follow these steps:
  1. Find the account you'd like to duplicate.
  2. Choose Duplicate Record from the Edit menu.
  3. Type in a new account name, and change any items that are different in the new account.

HINT-- You can create accounts only if your password allows full access to account setup .

Changing Account Icons

To change an account icon, follow these steps:

  1. Open an account window, and find the account you'd like to change.
  2. Double-click on the icon (upper left corner).
  3. You'll see a list of icons. Click one, then click OK.
  4. The new icon will appear in the Chart of Accounts (and in the account window).

Setting Default Icons

To set the icon that Goldenseal uses for new accounts, follow these steps:

  1. Open the account window.
  2. Double-click on any account's icon. (upper left corner).
  3. You'll see a list of icons. Click one, then click the Use as Default Icon button at the bottom of the window.
  4. Click OK.

Using Accounts in Transactions

Use Goldenseal transactions to record any kind of interactions you have with each account.  Some transactions involve money and some don't.

For each type of account, here are the transactions you will most frequently enter:

Cash Accounts-- Cash Transactions
Checking Accounts-- Checking Transactions
Credit Cards-- Credit Card Transactions
Customers-- Appointments, Contact Log, Estimates, Leases, Payment Receipts, Sales
Employees-- Labor Hours, Payroll Records
Equipment-- Equipment Hours
Escrow Accounts-- Escrow Transactions
Inventory Accounts-- Inventory Transfers, Inventory Used
Investment Accounts-- Investment Transactions
Loans-- Loan Transactions
Material Suppliers-- Material Purchases
Other Cost Accounts-- Other Costs
Overhead Accounts-- Labor Hours, Material Purchases, Subcontractor Costs
Owner Equity Accounts-- Equity Transfers
Projects-- Bids, Billing Records, Change Orders, Labor Hours, Material Purchases, Project Log
Real Estate-- Labor Hours, Material Purchases, Subcontractor Costs
Savings Accounts-- Savings Transactions
Subcontractors-- Appointments, Bids, Chargebacks, Subcontractor Costs

Closing Accounts

You can delete any account which has not been used in transactions.

Once an account has been used, you can't delete it.  But you can close it, so it won't appear in menus.

To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Open the account window, and find the account.
  2. Click on the Status popup menu and change it to Closed.

Job Accounts

Use Job Accounts for your customers, projects and other sources of income.
Job accounts consume expenses, and generate income (either directly or indirectly).

Use Customer accounts for any people or businesses that pay you money for sales, rentals or projects. Use Project accounts for specific jobs you do that are big enough for separate job costs. Use Overhead accounts for any expenses that can't be assigned to a customer or project.

NOTE-- Equipment, Investment and Real Estate accounts are asset accounts, but they can also be used as jobs when you enter expenses or income.

Asset Accounts

Asset accounts handle any tangible or intangible thing of value in your business. The value of each asset account will be included in the balance sheet as a positive item.

Equipment, Investment and Real Estate accounts can also be considered as job accounts, and Equipment accounts are also listed as cost accounts.

HINT-- Goldenseal automatically includes accounts receivable as an asset on the balance sheet-- you do NOT need to create an asset account to track it.

Liability Accounts

Liability accounts handle debts or other financial obligations. The value of each liability account will appear on your balance sheet on the 'minus' side.

We also include two account classes here which are not really liabilities:

Escrow Accounts do not appear on either side of the balance sheet- they are for accounts that you manage, but do not own (or owe).
Owner Equity is listed as a liability since it appears on the 'minus' side of the balance sheet.  You can consider it as money that the business 'owes' to the owners for their original investment.

HINT-- Goldenseal automatically includes accounts payable, unpaid payroll taxes and unpaid sales tax as a liability on the balance sheet-- you do NOT need to create liability accounts to track them.

Cost Accounts

Just about any person or business to whom you pay money should be entered as a Cost account.
Cost accounts are used for Employees, Equipment, Material Suppliers, Subcontractors, and Other Costs.

HINT-- In the Chart of Accounts you can list Equipment accounts as assets, as cost accounts, or as both.

Current Balance

Every Goldenseal account has a current balance.  When you enter transactions that involve the account, the current balance changes.

Job Accounts-- the current balance for Customers and Projects is they owe you for unpaid sales and project bills (accounts receivable).
Asset Accounts-- the current balance is the asset value of the account.
Liability Accounts-- the current balance is the asset value of the account, which is generally negative.
Cost Accounts-- the current balance is the amount you owe for unpaid purchases or services (accounts payable).

Minimum Balance

Goldenseal bank accounts have a minimum balance.

If you enter transactions which reduce the current balance to less than the minimum, Goldenseal will warn you.

NOTE-- For credit card and loan accounts, or asset accounts with overdraft protection, the minimum balance is a negative number.

Starting Balance

Every Goldenseal account has a starting balance. It is the value of the account when you start to use Goldenseal (also known as a Trial Balance).

Job Accounts-- the starting balance for Customers and Projects is always zero.   If you have prior Accounts Receivable, enter them as Sales or as Project Bills.
Asset Accounts-- the starting balance is the initial asset value of the account.  If you don't know the exact starting balance for an existing account, enter a guess.   When you reconcile the account for the first time, you can calculate the correct starting balance and adjust it then.
Liability Accounts-- the starting balance is the asset value of the account, which is generally negative.  If you don't know the exact starting balance for an existing account, enter a guess.   When you reconcile the account for the first time, you can calculate the correct starting balance and adjust it then.
Cost Accounts-- the starting balance is always zero.  If you have prior Accounts Payable, enter them as Labor Hours, Material Purchases, Other Costs or Subcontractor Costs.  Goldenseal will add them to the starting balance for each cost account.
HINT-- You can also enter prior expenses with Job Cost Only status.  They'll be included in job costs, but not in Payables.

If you create a new asset or liability account after you start using Goldenseal, use a Starting Balance of zero, and then enter a Bank Deposit to cover the first deposit of funds into the account.

HINT-- After you've finished entering your existing bank accounts, you can 'lock' the starting balance fields-- choose Preferences from the Options menu, choose Data Entry from the submenu, and turn on the Lock Starting Balance Fields checkbox.

Payments On Account

Goldenseal allows you to pay money to Cost accounts "on account"-- enter On Account into the Transaction Paid field of a Bank Check or Bank Payment.

Goldenseal subtracts the on account from the amount owed for purchases, the next time you use the Pay Bills command.

HINT-- It is not hard to identify specific bills when you make payments, so the only time you need to use the Paid On Account option is when you make a payment before any purchases have been entered.

To pay cash to a vendor on account, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Cash Transactions from the Bank menu, then choose the account that is the source of the cash.
  2. Click the New button.
  3. Enter Payment into the Type field near the top of the window.
  4. Enter the payee type, and the account being paid.
  5. Enter Paid On Account into the Transaction Paid field.
  6. Enter the payment amount into the Amount field.

Deposits On Account

You can also receive money from Job accounts "on account"-- enter On Account into the Transaction Paid field of a Bank Deposit.

Goldenseal stores the credit in the job account, and subtract it from the next bill amount when you use the Billing command.

HINT-- It is not hard to credit deposits against specific billing records or sales, so the only time you need to use the Paid On Account option is when you receive a payment before you've entered the transaction that it applies to.

To  accept a check from a customer on account, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Checking Transactions from the Bank menu, then choose the account where the money will be deposited.
  2. Click the New button.
  3. Enter Deposit into the Type field near the top of the window.
  4. Enter Customer into the Received From field, and enter the customer in the Account field.
  5. Enter Paid On Account into the Transaction Paid field.
  6. Enter the payment amount into the Amount field.

Include in Starter File

Each account record has an Include in Starter File checkbox.  Use the checkbox to determine which accounts to keep when you make a 'clone' of your company file.

You can use the Find and Replace All commands to determine which accounts to include in a clone.  For example, to include all active customers (and not inactive ones), follow these steps:

  1. Choose Customers from the Accounts menu.
  2. Choose Find All from the Edit menu.
  3. Turn on the Include in Starter File checkbox for the active record.
  4. Choose Replace All from the Edit menu.
  5. Choose Include in Starter File, and click OK.  All customers will now be included in the clone file.
  6. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
  7. Click on the Status popup on the left side of the record window, and choose Closed.
  8. Turn off the Include in Starter File checkbox for the active record.
  9. Choose Replace All from the Edit menu.
  10. Choose Include in Starter File, and click OK.  Closed accounts will no longer be included in the new file.
  11. Repeat steps 6 to 10 for Inactive status.