Lakeshore Ledger Co.

QuickBooks cleanup & reconciliation. Books that finally tie out. Free assessment, fixed quotes. Chicago, serving clients nationwide.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

Landlords: set each tenant up as a customer in QuickBooks and record rent against them, not as one lump deposit. Then a Customer Balance report shows exactly who's paid and who's behind, without digging through bank statements. #landlord #realestate #bookkeeping

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@multifamjunk Duplicate vendor bills are more common than people think, especially with split work orders. Simple habit: require an invoice number on every bill and flag the same vendor + amount within 30 days. Did the landscaper pay it back?

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@JacobMetaX Before you cancel QuickBooks: make sure your version can reconcile to bank statements, lock closed months, and keep an edit history. That's what a CPA or lender will check. And export a trial balance as of the cutover date so the opening numbers match

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@FredsDaily Catching up a few months at once? Do them in order and reconcile each month to the bank statement before moving on. If July doesn't tie out, August won't either, and your accountant will bill you to find out why.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@simonswiss Nice. One thing to keep from the old setup: a full export of invoices and payments, plus proof your books tie to the bank each quarter. If the ATO ever asks, that history is what matters, not which app made it.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@jportukalian Switching before year-end is good timing, since starting a new system on a clean month makes everything easier.
Whatever you land on, reconcile the old books through the cutover month and bring over opening balances instead of years of history.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

Receipts tip: don't save them for a shoebox at year-end. Snap a photo and attach it to the transaction in QuickBooks the day you spend. When a question comes up months later, the proof is one click away, not lost in a glovebox. #smallbusiness #bookkeeping #QuickBooks

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

Salon owners: if stylists' tips are sitting in your income, your profit might be fake. Tips you pay out are money you owe, not money you earned. Book them as a liability.

Full Short: https://t.co/sD7CTq1WIj

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

Year-end is closer than it looks. Before January, open your QuickBooks vendor list, mark the contractors you pay as 1099 vendors, and make sure you have a W-9 on file for each. Chasing tax IDs in late January is no fun. Your tax pro can confirm who needs one. #bookkeeping

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

Cleaning business owners: are you missing these 5 tax deductions? Miles, supplies, helpers, booking software, insurance. Track it all in 15 min a month with the 15-Minute Books Kit, $24 👇
https://t.co/gnPGhveI6E

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

Booth renters: are you missing these 5 tax deductions? Rent, products & color, education, booking app fees, miles. Track them in 15 min a month with the 15-Minute Books Kit for booth renters, $24 👇
https://t.co/beNXJXOWpv

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

Sales tax you collect isn't your income. You're holding it for the state. If it lands in a sales account, revenue looks bigger than it really is. In QuickBooks, track it as a liability and check each month that the balance matches what you owe. #bookkeeping #smallbusiness

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@GraingerJoan Chasing invoices is the worst part for a lot of owners. What helps most: put an actual due date on the invoice instead of "Net 30," send a reminder the day after, and check your unpaid invoices every Friday. Boring, but it works.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@contractorkeith @SlowBooksPro For anyone switching: reconcile every account in QuickBooks first, then export a trial balance, P&L, and balance sheet as of your cutover date. If the old file doesn't tie out, the import just carries the mess into the new system.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@PrimeCoCreator @BobbyBizScout Usually not. Most owners only watch the bank balance, so they never see the duplicates, missing deposits, or personal spending sitting in the books. Quick test: does last year's P&L match the tax return? If not, that's what the buyer will find.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@BobbyBizScout Number 2 is so fixable if sellers start early. A year out, reconcile every bank and card account monthly and make sure the P&L ties to what was filed. If the books and the returns disagree, buyers assume the lower number is the real one.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

Most owners only look at the Profit & Loss. Glance at your Balance Sheet once a month too: a negative bank balance, a loan that never goes down, or a strange 'Opening Balance Equity' amount are red flags that something was booked wrong. #Bookkeeping #QuickBooks

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@thepremierpt And the other side: principal payments come out of your cash but aren't deductible. So you can have low cash flow and still owe tax. Tracking income and expenses per property each month makes that gap obvious long before you
file.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@TheREDevGUY Before choosing, pull 10 years of real numbers per property: repairs, capex, vacancy and depreciation taken. Lots of landlords find their “cash flow” is lower once capex is counted, and depreciation recapture changes the sell math a lot unless it's a 1031.

[Lakeshore Ledger Co. @lakeshoreledger]

@PhDStudentTales I'd add: set aside a fixed % of each stipend check in a separate savings account the day it lands.
Pay the Q4 estimate by Jan 15.
And keep a simple log of dates and amounts paid, because you'll need those totals when you file in April.