Setting Up RoboDebit (Beta Testing)
The beta version of RoboDebit is available here
Login:
You can either create a new account using your email or you can login with your Intuit login. I recommend using your Intuit login as it will prevent you from having to re-enter your Quickbooks Online login information to connect to Quickbooks companies.
Creating an account:
(This step only applies if you are not using the Sign In with Intuit option)
If you choose to create a new account, select the “Create an account” link under the Login button.
After hitting the Send Code button, you will receive an email with a verification code.
Enter the code from your email on the next screen and hit the Verify Code button.
On the next screen, you can select your password. Click the Sign Up Button when done.
You’ll be returned to the login screen where you can enter your email and password created above. Click the Login button to continue.
Firm Name:
Once you have created a login or used your Intuit login for the first time, you will be asked to enter a firm name. Use any name you wish- it just acts as a way to identify the collection of company connections you will create. Most accountants will only have one firm and I recommend just using your firm name.
RoboDebit will eventually support multiple users and at that time, a user can be a user under multiple firms.
Setting up a Subscription:
Select the Subscriptions link on the left menu. On the subscriptions page, press Subscribe button on RoboDebit Tier 2.
You will be taken to the Stripe payment screen to enter credit card information. Since we are Beta testing, you can use a test Credit Card number of 4242 4242 4242 4242, any expiration date in the future and any CSV code. Once complete, you will have a beta subscription to RoboDebit.
Adding a Company Connection:
RoboDebit needs to be connected to a Quickbooks company to function. If you are not on the Client screen, select Clients on the left side. Use the Connect New Client button in the upper right to connect your first Quickbooks company.
If you used the Sign in with Intuit option, you will immediately be taken to the select your company screen in Quickbooks Online. If you did not use that option, you will be taken to the Quickbooks Login screen, where you will need to login to Quickbooks to proceed.
This is the standard Company Connection screen provided by Quickbooks. If you are using the Accountant version, you will need to select the firm first and then the client company within that firm.
Selecting the Client’s Time Zone
When you connect to a Quickbooks Company, you will be asked for the time zone for that connection. This is important for the calculation time. If you have users all over the United States, your California accountant’s 11:00 am is your New York accountant’s 2:00 pm. So select the time zone for that connection so every user within that Client is using the same time zone. I recommend using the time zone of the company’s headquarters. Click Create to complete the client connection.
You are now able to create a Journal Template for that Client (QBO Company Connection).
Creating a Journal Template
Overview of Variable Recurring Journal Templates
The big difference between Quickbooks Online Recurring Entries and RoboDebit is that RoboDebit can compute the debit and credit amount of your journal entry, instead of entering a constant amount to post. That adds some complexity to the template because the template has to manage a few more variables:
- which account balance to use for the computation, called the Reference Account
- on what date to retrieve the balance (Calculation Date) and for what period (Calculation Period)
- the percentage rate to multiple the balance by
- what date to put on the entry, commonly known as the Posting Date. This date affects the financial reporting period and can be different than the date on which the journal entry is calculated.
Another goal of RoboDebit is to ensure you have a good audit trail. RoboDebit allows you to set a journal entry prefix for each template, does not reset your journal entry document numbers, and clearly shows in the Journal Entry Memo what computation RoboDebit made.
One note on RoboDebit numbering of your journal entry documents–Quickbooks only allows us to not reset the numbers if we use a text only number. Therefore, if you look at the audit log in Quickbooks, you will see the original entry with a Document Number of “RoboDebit”. We then edit the entry and assign the more meaningful JE Prefix and sequential numbering.
Create a Journal Template:
To create a new Journal Template, select Clients from the left menu and then click on the Client Name for which you want to create the template.
You can create a new Journal Template from the Template screen by clicking Create Template in the upper right.
Journal Entry Template Field Detail
The Create Template screen is broken into these sections:
- Template Info– this is for your internal reference, including Notes where you can track the purpose of the entry, any changes / updates and other information. None of this information will be posted to Quickbooks Online.
- Journal Entry– This is the basic journal entry information- the debit and credit account, the entry number prefix and the description that will be included in the journal entry. The journal entry prefix can be up to 6 characters and a sequential 3-digit counter will be appended to that prefix. This information is what will be posted to Quickbooks Online.
- Template Dates– when the template should be active. A Start Date and End Date, or No End Date are available.
- Calculations– RoboDebit multiplies an account balance times a percentage to arrive at the debit and credit amount of your entry. Here you specify what account balance to use for the calculation, called the Reference Account. You also enter the percentage to use in the calculation. NOTE: This is the percentage PER journal entry. For example, if your loan interest rate is 12% and you are accruing interest monthly, enter 1. RoboDebit will multiple the balance by 0.01. Finally, select the Accrual or Cash balance. Most of the time, you will use the Accrual Balance.
- Frequency– How often to calculate and post the journal entry. Daily, Weekly (not yet available for Beta testing), or Monthly.
- Calculated and Submitted On– this is where things get a little tricky. This is not what is traditionally known as the posting date. This is the actual date and time when you want RoboDebit to obtain the balance of the reference account (the Calculation Date) and perform the calculation.
If entries are made in your Quickbooks Online company throughout the day, the balance of the reference account will change throughout the day. So the calculation date and time allow you to pinpoint when you want Quickbooks to obtain the balance of the reference account.
EXAMPLE: Your template is using sales as the reference account. Your company has a deadline for all invoicing to be completed by 2:00 pm EST on the 10th of the month. Set your calculation time to 2:15 pm EST or later on the 10th to ensure that you have included all sales in your calculation. - Calculation Period– Much like previous period / current period in Quickbooks Online, this refers to which period you would like the balance of your reference account retrieved.
- Daily- Yesterday ; Today
- Weekly- Current (even if it has not ended); Previous is the previous week
- Monthly- Last Month is the previous month; This Month is the current month (even if it has not ended)
EXAMPLE: My calculation date is the 25th at 5:00 pm CST. For May’s calculation:
Daily: Yesterday is the balance on May 24th; Today is the balance on the 25th as of 5:00 pm CST.
Monthly: Last Month is the previous period, April 1 – April 30. This Month is the balance for the current period, the May 1st – May 25th.
- Days After Calculation for posting- you do not have to “post” your journal entry on the same date/date that it is computed. Most of the time you will, and you will just check the box Same as Calculation Date. But RoboDebit allows you to either date the entry before or after the calculation date.
EXAMPLE: I create a template to calculate sales commissions on the 31th of the month at 5:00 pm EST. I use the sales account balance from the current period. My company’s policy is to accrue those commissions in the following period. I would then set my Days After Calculation for Posting to 1, to post the commissions on the first day of the next period.
EXAMPLE: I create a template to calculate sales commissions on the 5th of the month at 5:00 pm EST. I use the sales account balance from the previous period. (My company is sometimes slow to bill, so I wait until the 5th of the following month to ensure I have all of the month’s sales.) My company’s policy is to accrue those commissions in the same period as the sales. I would set my Days After Calculation for Posting to -5, to post the commissions on the last day of the previous period.
Auditing a Journal Entry
Your journal entries will appear in Quickbooks Online within seconds of the calculation date and time. However, don’t forget that the entry date can be different than the calculation date.
You can use the Clock icon in the upper left of Quickbooks Online to to list your most recent journal entries and identify the journal entry by the prefix.
Note that the memo field at the bottom of your journal entry will contain all the information RoboDebit used to post the entry, so you verify its computations.
Posting a Test Transaction
RoboDebit allows you to immediately post a Test Transaction so that you can ensure that your journal template is set up properly. Click this button and then look at your journal entry in Quickbooks, which will have a TEST prefix. You will want to delete this entry in Quickbooks Online after you review it.
Reposting Last Transaction
This feature is not yet functional, but will allow you to repost the last journal entry in case a change is made to the reference account affects RoboDebit’s calculation.
Example Cases
Here are some ideas of how you can use RoboDebit to automate your variable recurring entries:
Accrue Interest on Notes Payable
Stop editing the loan payment each month to allocate the money between principal and interest. Just post the entire payment as principal and then increase the loan balance with the accrued interest. That’s how it’s done with credit cards- not sure why we (me) still feels compelled to split that payment.
Reclass Balances Automatically
Sometimes you have to use an account during the month that you have to “clean up” at month end. For example, I had a payroll application that forced you to use a Liability account for the employee’s portion of insurance, instead of just reducing the Insurance Expense. So at the end of each month, there was a an amount sitting in Health Insurance Payable that needed to be moved to Insurance Expense. You can use RoboDebit to post an entry to move 100% of the balance to another account.
Accrue Cost of Goods Sales Estimate based on Daily Sales
Automation is good, but daily automation is excellent! So many businesses have trouble accurately tracking COGS (often because their inventory system is manual and/Health Insor burdensome and tedious). But if you know that your COGS averages approximately 30% of your sales, how great to keep your financials accurate on a daily basis and then make any necessary adjustments at period close.
