Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Frequently asked questions about the Goldenseal accounting software, estimating software and project management software.

General | Accounts | Transactions | Reports

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General Questions
What is Goldenseal?
Who can use Goldenseal?
How does it compare to Quickbooks or MYOB?

Frequently Asked Accounting Questions
Can I add a new data field to an account?
Can I use numbers instead of account names?
Do I need a customer account for every project?
How can I tell an employee from a subcontractor?
How can I tell an other cost from a subcontractor?
How do I enter a bank escrow account for a project draw?
How do I handle more than one account at the same bank?
How are Goldenseal accounts different from "classic" bookkeeping accounts?
What about a supplier who is also a customer?
Why are overhead accounts listed as jobs instead of costs?

Frequently Asked Business Transaction Questions
Can I add a new data field to a transaction?
Can I control who enters transactions?
Can I get Goldenseal to warn me before I change an old record?
How can I change the date on a locked record?
How can I leave the Job field blank?
Why can't I change a transaction? Everything is locked.
Why can't I choose some items in the Status field?
Why can't I enter payment terms in a sale?
When should I enter expenses?

Frequently Asked Report Questions
Why can't I change the date range, item range or breakdown?
Why don't I see the right type of accounts in the Match field?
Why don't my labor hours match my payroll hours?

What is Goldenseal?

Goldenseal is an integrated estimating, accounting and business management program for anyone who owns or runs a small business. It uses simple "real world" concepts that make it very easy to understand and use. You don't need to be an accountant to understand how to run it.

Despite its simplicity, Goldenseal is a full-featured accounting system with all the security of a double entry system. It keeps a complete audit trail, generates all necessary financial reports, and has all the features that your accountant will want you to have.

Goldenseal can be easily customized to suit your business.

You probably won't use all of Goldenseal's features. You can use just the features that apply to your business, and ignore the ones that don't. You can also start out using just the features that you need most urgently, and then add other functions step by step as you have time for them.

Who can use Goldenseal?

Goldenseal is designed for any small business that needs accounting, estimates, job costs or project management.

It is especially good for businesses that work with projects.

How does Goldenseal compare to Quickbooks or MYOB?

Goldenseal automatically handles many business details with its specialized accounts and transactions. You don't need to create "artificial" accounts to make things work.
Goldenseal includes job cost features that are "built in". You can create your own system of categories and cost locations, and then allocate expenses to them, and to individual jobs.
Goldenseal uses an object database which retrieves data quickly.
Goldenseal includes integrated estimating and unit cost management.
Goldenseal includes many project management features, including allowances, change orders, chargebacks and contracts

Can I add a new data field to an account?

Sure! Click here for details.

Can I use numbers instead of account names?

We suggest that you name your accounts with their name, as text. It's much easier for most people to remember words rather than numbers. For most people it's also quicker to type the first few letters of the name into clairvoyant fields when you do data entry, rather than type a number.

However Goldenseal doesn't care what you use for account names-- numbers will also work. If you've been entering numbers for years, we won't make you switch.

HINT-- If you do use numbers, it's a good idea to put the account name after the number, to make it easier to catch typos.

Most accounts also have a "full name" field. This is the text that appears on checks, invoices and other documents. You'll definitely want to put the full account name there.

Do I need a Customer account for every project?

You can enter Project accounts directly, but it often works better if you create a Customer account first. You can send marketing materials to customers, and if you do multiple projects for the same customer, having a separate account makes it easier to track them.

How can I tell an employee from a subcontractor?

If you provide benefits, pay employer taxes or collect withholding, the person is definitely an Employee.
If you don't do the above but the person is a partner or owner, also enter them as an Employee account.

Hourly workers whom you consider as subcontractors should be entered as Subcontractor accounts instead.

WARNING-- Tax authorities may find you liable for back taxes and insurance if a subcontract worker is too much like an employee. Check the IRS web site (www.irs.gov) for guidelines about employee and subcontractor status.

How can I tell an other cost from a subcontractor?

If you file a 1099 form for the person or company, enter them as a Subcontractor account.
If you must track their use of worker's comp or liability insurance, enter them as a Subcontractor account.
If they bill you on an hourly basis, enter them as a Subcontractor account.
If you pay them for payroll taxes or sales tax that you have collected, enter them as an Other Cost account.

Otherwise it really doesn't make a difference.

How do I enter a bank escrow account for a project draw?

If the account is for money that you are borrowing, enter it as a Loan account.
If the money is held on behalf of a customer and you track its balance, enter it as an Escrow account.
If the money is held on behalf of a customer and you don't track its balance, there's no need to enter it as a separate account. Just credit deposits directly to the Customer account.

How do I handle more than one account at the same bank?

If the accounts have a separate account balance, enter them as separate Checking, Investment or Savings accounts.
If the accounts share a balance, you can consider them as just one account.

How are Goldenseal accounts different from "classic" bookkeeping accounts?

Many transactions and business operations are handled automatically by Goldenseal, and do not need to have an account created for them. Generally you only need accounts for tangible items.

For job costing, you need to set up accounts only for each customer or project. Cost breakdowns within the job are handled automatically, so you do not need accounts for:
Cost categories or divisions (e.g. Framing, Advertising, Repairs)
Cost types (e.g. Labor, Materials, Equipment)
Different locations, branches, divisions or phases

Many basic business quantities are tracked automatically by Goldenseal without need for "artificial" accounts. You do not need to create accounts for intangibles such as Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Pre-paid Expenses or Taxes, Undeposited Funds, Depreciation or Work in Progress.

Although you probably don't need them, you can use Utility accounts to create "classic" accounts for expenses, revenues or other items.

What about a supplier who is also a customer?

You may sometimes need two accounts for the same person or company. Some examples:

If you purchase materials from a vendor and also sometimes sell things to them, enter them as both a Material Supplier and as a Customer.

If you sometimes do subcontract work for another company, and they sometimes subcontract for you, enter them as both a Subcontractor account and as a Customer.

If you pay payroll taxes to your bank (who then passes them along to the tax agency), enter them as both a Checking account and as an Other Cost account.

Why are overhead accounts listed as jobs instead of costs?

In Goldenseal you assign each expense to a job. If an expense can't be assigned to a specific customer or project, you assign it to an Overhead account. That makes Overhead just another job.

You can cover your overhead costs in any of several ways:
    For retail sales, the markup that you include in a Markup System covers overhead and profit.
    You can also add markup to Assemblies and Cost Items that you include in Estimates.
    For project Estimates, you can include Overhead as a specific line item.
    If you don't use Cost Items, you can still cover overhead by adding markup manually to the items you sell or the work you do.

Can I add a new data field to a transaction?

Sure! Click here for details.

Can I control who enters transactions?

You have complete control over access to transaction records.
To do that, create different Passwords, each for a different employee or group of employees in your company. Each password has its own level of access to different types of transactions and accounts.

Can I get Goldenseal to warn me before I change an old record?

Sure. Choose Preferences from the Options menu, choose Interface from the submenu.
Then turn on the Ask Before Revising Transaction checkbox.

How can I change the date on a locked record?

Choose Preferences from the Options menu, choose Data Entry from the submenu.
Then turn on the Can Change Locked Dates checkbox.

How can I leave the Job field blank?

Choose Preferences from the Options menu, choose Data Entry from the submenu.
Then turn off the Require Job Accounts checkbox.

Why can't I change a transaction? Everything is locked.

When a transaction is locked, you can no longer change its status, amount or certain other fields. That happens when you pay for a transaction, deposit funds from it, use it in time and materials billing, or use it in an awarded Estimate.

To change a transaction that is locked, you'll need to cancel the transaction that uses it. For example if you void the Bank Transaction that pays for an item, you'll be able to change the original again.

A transaction may also be locked if the record is older than what is allowed by the time lock-out in your password.

Why can't I choose some items in the Status field?

Some Status choices can only be set when Goldenseal posts other transactions.

For example, a transaction is marked with Paid status when you enter a Bank Transaction to pay for it. You can't enter that status directly.

Why can't I enter payment terms in a sale?

Each Payment Method allows you to control the payment terms that it allows. If it does not have the Allow Variable Terms option turned on, you won't be able to enter different payment terms in each Sales transaction. You can either change the Payment Method, or make sure you have the correct payment terms in the Customer account.

When should I enter expenses?

Enter expenses as soon as you know about them. That way your job cost information will be as up-to-date as possible.

When you pay for an expense by cash, check or credit card, enter it as soon as you can after the payment was made.

When an expense will be billed later, enter it as soon as you have a delivery ticket or other indication of the amount owed.

Why can't I change the date range, item range and/or breakdown?

For some reports, it doesn't make sense to change the date range, item range and/or breakdown, so Goldenseal allows those report controls to be disabled.

To change that, follow these steps:

Choose Custom Layouts from the Options menu, and choose Reports from the submenu.
Locate the Report you'd like to change.
Choose Report Display from the Options menu. In the submenu, turn on the items you'd like to show in the Report window. When you choose a submenu item, it switches between 'on' (with a checkmark) and 'off' (no checkmark).

Why don't I see the right type of accounts in the Match field for a Report?

Change the Account Class field-- it controls what types of accounts are shown in the Match field.

Why don't my labor hours match my payroll hours?

There are often differences between values in the Employee Hours report (which is based on workdays) and the payroll and deduction reports (which are based on paydays). For example, the total wages earned during a month in the Employee Hours report usually will not match the wages in the deduction reports for the same month, since one report includes four or five weeks (depending on the number of paydays in the month) and the other includes an even month.