Small Church setting up from scratch

Let me welcome you first to the Community, Susie.

I know how important it is for your company to set up the correct accounts. This guarantees that your financial records are accurate. Let me point you in the right direction on how to properly handle your concerns. 

The online program automatically customizes your chart of accounts based on the nature of your business when you first set up your company. Also, there are specific default accounts that are created for you (based on the industry type). For a detailed list, check out this article: Manage default and special accounts.

You can input the value in the Balance field to designate amounts to specific accounts. If there are any transactions associated with the categories, you'll no longer be able to enter the amount. Thus, let's create a journal entry to show the starting figure.

I also recommend consulting with your accountant for further guidance. They can advise you on how to handle your accounting concerns, including the category to utilize for your debit and credit.

In case the Tax form type is incorrect on the Account and Settings page, you'll have to edit it and choose the right one. Here's how:

1. In QuickBooks Online (QBO), head to the Gear icon and choose Account and settings. 
2. This action will open a page that shows the list of the company preferences. 
3. Head to the Company menu on the left panel and click the Pencil icon for Company type.
4. Click the Tax form drop-down and select the appropriate business type. For example, Nonprofit Organization (990).
5. Click Save and Done. 

For the accounts created by QBO, inactivate the ones that you'll no longer use. If you wish to set up new categories, head to the Chart of accounts page. 

Let me share these resources that tackle the importance of the chart of accounts as well as various account and detail types:

• Learn about the chart of accounts
• Learn about account types and detail types

You browse the links below to help you get started in using the online program:

• QuickBooks guide
• How to videos

Reach out to me again if you have additional concerns about adding accounts to the register and other product-related questions. I'll get back to help you the best that I can.