Intuit is constantly developing and improving QuickBooks, particularly the online version. And while it’s still not nearly as robust as some of the more complex accounting software solutions that are geared specifically toward government contractors (nor should we expect it to be with the price point difference), it will still get the job done, particularly for small to mid-size contractors that don’t have a bunch of overly complex contracts.
One of the features of QuickBooks Online (QBO) that I think is useful is the Receipt Capture functionality. It’s not brand new – Intuit released it in 2019, but most QBO users don’t know it exists and aren’t using it. While this is not something that specifically benefits government contractors, tracking receipts, particularly credit card receipts, is a significant headache for practically every business. It’s even worse for government contractors due to the higher level of scrutiny and oversight and lack of a defined materiality threshold from DCAA.
In QBO, under the Banking section, there is now a “Receipts” option. This screen allows you to bring receipts into the books by dragging and dropping them, uploading them from Google Drive, or via email forwarding (which you can set up automatically!). Employees that have access to QBO can snap pictures of their receipts and upload them directly to their mobile device. Or, if they don’t have QBO access, you can create a Google Drive location for all employees to submit their receipts to and link this location to QBO. Alternatively, employees could all forward their receipts to one accounting point of contact within the company that does have access to QBO – and that person’s email address can be set up utilizing the email forwarding option.
Once the receipts come in, QBO automatically reads the data and attempts to determine relevant details such as date, vendor, amount, account, etc., creating a transaction. You don’t have to worry about posting something incorrectly – all transactions created in this manner still need to be reviewed and accepted within the system. Still, much of the legwork is complete, and the receipt is already attached to the transaction. Having those receipts in the system record is convenient, and this overall functionality significantly improves individual receipt scanning, naming, and manual input of credit card transactions.
Amanda White is a Senior Managing Consultant within Redstone GCI’s Collaborative Accounting Solutions Group based in Huntsville, AL. She is a Certified Public Accountant with almost two decades of progressive experience in the accounting and government contracting industry. Her experience includes a combination of internal and external accounting support where she has assisted both government contractors, as well as a diverse range of other industries. Her unique collection of experience and knowledge on a wide range of accounting software, coupled with her practical experience and focus on process improvement and efficiency provides a strong skillset for support of our government contractor clients. Her role includes leadership of ongoing collaborative accounting engagements where she provides controllership support of Redstone GCI clients. She additionally serves as a subject matter expert on accounting process improvement, implementation of internal controls and other areas as part of the firm’s support of the DFARS Business Systems. Professional Experience Amanda first started working in industry accounting for a large commercial service provider while in college. She gained early experience as a regional billing manager and managed payroll for hundreds of employees, while also handling a dual role as an operations manager. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she went to work in public accounting where she gained additional exposure in GL accounting, as well as tax, audit, and consulting. Following her initial time in public accounting, Amanda served as the Business Operations Manager for an engineering services company supporting the defense and aerospace industry. She wore many hats in that position and not only maintained and closed the books, but also handled all CFO‐level financial reporting and budgeting, indirect rate calculations, provided bid and proposal support, implemented internal controls, developed processes and procedures to help ensure DCAA‐compliance, etc. Although she left that role to start her own practice in 2011, she has continued to work with that company as a contractor and has now supported them for more than 10 years. Amanda spent the next 6 years building her own local practice supporting local small businesses. Her team provided startup support, ongoing accounting, income tax planning and preparation, and consulting to both commercial entities and small government contractors. In addition to completing her MBA during this time, she successfully grew that business, and her practice was acquired by a local CPA firm in 2017. She then took over the task of heading that firm’s Accounting Services Dept, and most recently served as a Senior Manager. In that role, Amanda managed a team of accountants providing all levels of GL accounting support to clients across the country in numerous industries. In addition to providing review and oversight to her team of 12 accounting staff members, Amanda was responsible for developing and delivering training content not only to the team but also for clients, implementing processes and procedures both internally and externally, and functioning as a subject matter expert. In this capacity, she executed process improvement projects to help clients maximize accounting efficiency, leverage their accounting systems to provide accurate and effective financial data to facilitate management decision‐making, and increased profitability. Amanda’s operations exposure, and extensive background in GL accounting in numerous industries, combined with her experience starting and growing her own business enables her to provide robust guidance and support to our clients. Education Amanda earned an Associate of Science in Entrepreneurial Management from Calhoun Community College. In addition, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Affiliations Certified Public Accountant – State of Alabama QuickBooks Pro Advisor Alabama Society of CPA’s (ASCPA) American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)