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QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop For Therapists

QuickBooks for Therapists

Tag: Bookkeeping

QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop For Therapists

by Alicia Bishop

I highly recommend using QuickBooks for your private practice bookkeeping because it makes your life so much easier, and your bookkeeping beautiful! But, one of the decisions you need to make is whether you want the Desktop or Online version of QuickBooks.

The main difference is that QuickBooks Online is cloud-based and you can access it from anywhere, while QuickBooks Desktop is installed onto a computer and can only be accessed from that computer.

I know, I know it sounds technical. But there are other differences between them that you need to think about before choosing what’s the best fit for you and your private practice. But I’m breaking it down to help you out!

Here’s what you need to know:

Price

The pricing structures are different because QuickBooks Desktop is done on licensing and a yearly subscription. While QuickBooks Online is done on a monthly subscription, you can pay for QuickBooks Online as an annual subscription fee as well to save some money!

QuickBooks Online

Starts at about $20 per month depending on your plan (without payroll)

QuickBooks Desktop

Starts at about $299.95 paid yearly for one user (without payroll)

Features

Both options share the basic accounting functionality, but the overall features of each, are very different and play an important role in which you decide to use for your private practice:

QuickBooks Online

  • Access from anywhere and any device (hello sofa bookkeeping!) 
  • A lot of automation to make your life easier
  • Monthly pricing; so less of a price commitment
  • No software updates or back-up’s
  • Easily share online access with multiple users
  • Let’s be honest – it’s the 21st century – online is just more modern!

QuickBooks Desktop 

  • Access only from where it’s downloaded
  • Lead management and sales orders included
  • Can use it when you’re offline
  • Important to always make back-ups of your data
  • Not easily shareable with others like bookkeeper or CPA to give them access to data
  • Have to update the software each year

QuickBooks for Therapists: Which should you get?

I will always recommend QuickBooks Online versus QuickBooks Desktop for all my therapists and private practice owners.

Why though? In full transparency, like I mentioned above – it’s the 21st century… cloud and online is just the way things ‘happen’ now. More specifically, though, QuickBooks Online is so much more versatile than Desktop, and it works perfectly for all of TBK’s clients (so therapists and private practice owners).

With online, you’re not tied to just that home computer desk to do your books. You can access it from any device. This also means you have more flexibility with your bookkeeper and tax professional. With online, you simply invite them via email to look at your books. And that means they can instantly access your books from their own devices/office, etc. With Desktop, they have to physically come to your computer, or you have to create and download a backup of the Desktop files, send them the file, make sure they can access the file, etc, etc.

Or you can setup and pay for a software for them to ‘remote in’ and view your computer. It’s cumbersome, to say the least. With Desktop, there is also a lot more manual data entry versus being able to sync accounts and have it automatically pull the data in from those accounts so you can get to work immediately on the data entry.

And lastly, the big one for me, I absolutely LOVE knowing my financials and data are backed up into the cloud.. because if my office burns down, gets broken into, or my computer crashes…. I don’t lose years and years of data and pertinent information!

If you’d rather not even deal with the headache of choosing and setting the software up or managing your bookkeeping, we at Therapeutic Bookkeeping can do all of those things for you! Therapeutic Bookkeeping is a virtual accounting firm working exclusively with therapists all across the United States!

Also, if you’re not quite ready for a full blown accounting software, a spreadsheet can work great, too! I created one specifically for therapists in private practice and you can find it in The Bookkeeping Cure™️ for Therapists!

Can I be on payroll if I’m an LLC filing as an LLC?

by Alicia Bishop

Despite all your hard work, there’s something you need to know about an LLC having employees and being on payroll.

Not all LLCs are created equal! And depending on the filing status of your LLC, will determine how/if you should have payroll.

And you need to decide which one you need to be taxed as. So let me break down the different filing statuses of an LLC:

  • Sole proprietorship (single-member LLC) – cannot have employees, only members. 
  • Partnership (multi-member LLC) – same as above.
  • Corporation (single or multi-member LLC) – these can have employees.

Sole proprietorship and partnership LLCs are pass-through business entities and the business members will benefit from pass-through taxation: (taxation that enables the profits and losses to be passed on to the members.) 

With me still? 

Once profits/losses are passed through, they must be reported to the IRS in the following ways:  

  • For a single-member LLC, it goes on the owner’s personal federal tax returns on Schedule C to Tax Income Form 1040. 
  • For a partnership LLC, it means filing an information return on Form 1065 and then a Schedule K-1 that shows the share of the profit/loss of the partnership for each partner. This K-1 is filed with each partner’s individual return and shown on Form 1040.

Since these two filing statuses can’t have employees, there are no wages for LLC members and owners and no contributions for health insurance systems or social security that are withheld.

So basically, you can’t be on payroll in this type of LLC and you must pay the so-called “self-employment taxes” on your share of profits directly to an IRS. 

However, if you decide to file Form 8832, you can request the LLC be treated as a corporation. That way you can be treated as an employee, be on payroll and receive W-2 income.

 

What’s the Difference Between a Bookkeeper and an Accountant?

by Alicia Bishop

Bookkeepers vs. accountants, it’s all numbers at the end of the day right?!

Unfortunately, nothing is ever that easy. Think of it like a line cook and a pastry chef, it’s all food but drastically different principles.

As a private practice owner (and business owner in general), you’ll need both a bookkeeper and an accountant/tax professional (You could also have a cook and a pastry chef too, I’m not judging!) so it’s important to understand the differences.

Here’s what you need to know:

Bookkeepers vs. Accountants? The Simple Answer:

Bookkeepers = day to day recording of income, expenses, liabilities, equity, assets, etc, in a business. (The keeper of the records!)

Accountants = AKA a tax professional/tax preparer/CPA. They use the Financial Reports that come from your bookkeeping to complete your private practice tax return and provide additional tax services which we’ll get into below.

But naturally, there’s a little more to it than that, so here’s the long answer too:

The Role of A Bookkeeper

A bookkeeper handles ALL of the day-to-day organizing and record-keeping of your business finances. When a client makes a payment to your private practice, you give gifts to your employees or contractors, you have payroll taxes, or you purchase a bunch of office furniture, those all have to be recorded, categorized, and reconciled on your books to ensure your data and numbers are accurately captured for tax time. A bookkeeper ensures the recording, categorizing, and reconciling are done correctly, and in alignment with how your business is formed as well (LLC, Corporation, etc). And a great bookkeeper will be able to turn that day to day data into killer financial reports for you that show you exactly how much you’re making, spending, and have left over each week, month, quarter, year, etc (whatever you’d like). And an amazing bookkeeper is going to be able to help you evaluate those financial reports so you can really learn about the financial health of your business and make sound business decisions.

The Role of An Accountant

Now, an accountant takes all of that data and work the bookkeeper has compiled for you on the books, and prepares your annual business and personal taxes, without pulling their hair out with a messy stack of papers! A great accountant will be well-versed in your industry, state, and filing status (LLC, Corporation, etc), so that they can help you with any tax planning for your private practice (and even your personal taxes). An amazing accountant will always be on top of the ever changing tax rules and regulations, and be proactive about making sure you’re doing what’s best for your business, tax wise – even if that means changing things to align with new tax rules & regulations.

Another point to note is that bookkeepers and accountants are both financial professionals and have very different skill-sets. Sometimes there is an overlap but they generally handle two drastically different parts of your private practice! More often than not, I’ve found that my colleagues who are strictly tax preparers loathe any type of bookkeeping and have no desire in handling it because they just love preparing taxes! The day to day, nitty-gritty work though? Not so much!

Can A Bookkeeper File My Taxes For Me?

Unless they have the qualifications and licenses to prepare taxes, then no. A bookkeeper also can’t give you tax advice (unless licensed) – so you need to consult a licensed tax professional for this. Taxes are complicated and there can be serious consequences for filing incorrectly (read: lots of fines).

So, bookkeepers or accountants. Which does your private practice need?

So, I mentioned earlier it’s a good idea to have both a bookkeeper and an accountant. There’s a reason for this! When you have a great bookkeeper making sure your finances are in order, correctly, then they can provide you and your accountant with beautiful financial reports that tell your financial story and the accountant then uses those financial reports to seamlessly prepare your taxes. This organization saves you time and money on tax prep services and gives you the peace of mind that you have everything covered, plus keeps your financial story clear throughout the entire year because you always know how much you make, how much you spend, where the money was spent, and what was left over!

You can focus on what’s important in your private practice to you, plus have financial control!

Therapeutic Bookkeeping is a virtual accounting firm working exclusively with therapists all across the United States providing professional bookkeeping and accounting services!

5 Ways to Avoid Burnout as a Therapist

by Alicia Bishop

You might be reading this wondering why on earth an accountant is making suggestions to therapists and private practice owner’s about avoiding burnout! What could a number nerd possibly know?!

Well, if you’re new around here, and you don’t know me (Alicia) yet, you wouldn’t know that I operate your not so average accounting firm. We don’t just ‘classify transactions’ and ‘reconcile bank accounts’ and ‘prep taxes’ – I see your eyes glazing over already with that stuff! We create a really strong relationship… no.. relationship isn’t the word I’m looking for here. Community! That’s truly a perfect way to describe my team and clients.. we’re a community.

We talk to each other… and I mean actually talk, and listen, and learn, and grow, and struggle together – because the reality is, we’re all humans, business owner’s, parents, aunts, uncles… you get the point!

Is it all ‘warm & fuzzies’ with no business talk or number dissection or analysis? Heck no – we get shit done for sure, and we’re really good at what we do. But we do make time for the real you as well – that person you are outside of the boss babe mode.

So my point is, I listen. I listen to all my therapists who are #bossbabes I have the pleasure of working with. We celebrate the wins and push through the tough times… together. So you see, I’m not just an introverted accountant with my head down crunching numbers all the time (although often). After many absolutely amazing conversations with my clients who are therapists and private practice owner’s – I can confidently say WE have collaborated on many ways to avoiding the inevitable burn-out you’ll feel at some point (and if you never have, then we need to connect STAT and chat about your secrets).

From what I’ve found in discussions with therapists, burnout tends to sneak up on you a bit.

You’re spending a lot of your time working through things with your own clients, celebrating their own growth and successes, figuring out ways to help them even more, and you can easily forget about yourself! And that’s not even mentioning the fact that outside of being an amazing therapist, you also have your own life!

But you can’t pour from an empty cup. (yes, I know I know it sounds cliche, but it’s a cliche because it’s true!)

Experiencing burnout as a therapist and private practice owner 

We all know being burnt out doesn’t discriminate by profession. And it doesn’t mean a full-on breakdown either. It can be small things like feeling overwhelmed with all the admin work, missing appointments, lots of cancellations or no-shows, having a giant wait-list but finding a talented clinician to take clients is exhausting, or no longer enjoying your work – dare I say you could even resent it a bit? Resent how much time you’re spending away from home, family, friends, hobbies, etc?

And as you know better than anyone when it comes to emotional and mental health, it’s better to be preventative than try to deal with it after the fact! 

Preventative – keep that word in mind every day, as this is the #1 thing that comes up in conversations with therapists, clients, team-members, and my colleagues when we have these conversations about being burnt-out.

How can you – as a therapist – be preventative in avoiding the slow burn of burnout? Here’s what we’ve come up with. 

#1 Turn off the noise.

You probably already know what I mean here. The noise being the phone, the email, the laptop – whatever you have that can create the ‘work noise’. ‘Ping’ – “oh that was my work email”. While you may not physically open the email – you heard the ping and now you’re thinking about work.

I call it unplugging, as I’m sure you’ve heard it called that before as well – I’m super original, I know!

I personally use to struggle with this a LOT – my phone could literally be in another room, I’d be in the kitchen mid conversation with my husband, and I hear the ‘Ping’ of a work email – and I’m instantly not listening to what my husband was saying or stop saying what I was saying, mid-sentence, and think to myself ‘That could have been a client or a team member needing me. I better go check it’ – as if my business is just going to absolutely burn down if I don’t drop everything I’m doing!

The solution; Turn off that damn racket. Better yet – remove the apps and or notifications from your phone – instant access, instant gratification, whatever you wanna call it, right at your fingertips- is a dangerous thing! Probably the number 1 piece of advice I ever received from a business coach was ‘Alicia – you really need to remove the Gmail app from your phone’. I was very resistant at the time because I had an infant that nursed like I was a 24/7 diner, and a not even 2 year old exercising her ever growing need for independence in every life threatening way she could think of like climbing up stairs or onto the kitchen counter – so sitting down in the office was very difficult. Or so I thought. Once I removed the app from my phone, and didn’t have the constant ‘Ping!’ it really opened up my headspace and allowed me to STRUCTURE a plan of managing both Momming and office time.

I didn’t stop with the Gmail app either – I removed Facebook messenger from my phone. The biggest noise cancellation for me and the biggest one – I keep my phone on silent almost 24/7. Game changer for me! On the weekends, I literally keep my phone on silent and it stays in my bedroom. Out of sight, out of mind!

#2 Manage your time & calendar!

You might be thinking “I already have a scheduler and calendar” – No, this isn’t what I mean.

Literally manage your time by scheduling events on your calendar and then setting a timer for said event when you start it.

For example, Friday’s are my CEO days. I block off my schedule so people can’t book meetings that day. I don’t see clients, I don’t schedule meetings with my team, and my work IN the business is minimal. This is my scheduled time to work ON my business.

Another great example that just so happens to involve Friday’s, is, I have a client that does ‘Finance Friday’s’. Similar to what I do, she blocks that day off so she doesn’t see any clients, and she works on her finances, reviews the weekly reports we send her, etc.

And the timer aspect of it? I easily get carried away for far too long on a task that I’m really into, or feel like ‘just 5 more minutes’, but again and again. So I set the event on my calendar for the amount of time I want to spend, so say 1 hour. Then when the event comes up, I’ll make sure I set a 1 hour timer on my watch. When that timer goes off – the work goes off, too, and it’s time to be done! Works well for me!

Managing your time and calendar is NOT only for work related things.. it’s so important to follow this same model for yourself personally as well. Which brings me to the next tip!

#3 Make time for the ‘other you’!

You’re an amazing therapist and/or private practice owner.. but that’s not all you are! Sometimes it’s so easy to be ‘working’, even when we’re not working, because our thoughts are still about work, but you must also find the time for yourself to be 100% off of work, and more importantly, find time for your interests and hobbies, too. 

Everything that you may suggest to your clients, you can apply to yourself: paint, cook, write, find a sport that’s interesting, read books, knit, whatever makes you feel good. 

It truly will help YOU be better all around! Like I mentioned, literally schedule in ‘you time’ on your calendar so you actually commit to it! Believe me, it works! Otherwise it’s far too easy to continue to let you go by the way-side.

#4 Don’t skip your vacation.

Having your own private practice often means you won’t have paid vacations, particularly if you’re just establishing yourself. Losing money, am I right?! But not taking a break is exactly what leads to burnout.

Instead of looking at it as a financial loss, think of your vacation as an investment in your own mental well-being. It doesn’t have to be an all out “I’m going to the Bahamas for 2 weeks” either. It could be as simple as a weekend mini-getaway where you book a hotel only an hour or 2 away, and hang out in the pool and hot-tub all weekend! You just do you!

#5 Lean on your network & delegate!

Don’t be afraid to reach out to your own network; when you find yourself with challenging, complex, or otherwise draining cases, support from your colleagues and other professionals in your network can give you a fresh pair of eyes on a situation and support when you need it. Even if you can’t discuss case specifics you can be pointed in the right direction and it gives you the mental push you need! Or book in an appointment with your own therapist!

As for delegating; I’m going to assume that 80% of your ‘to-do list’ doesn’t need to be done by you. And I imagine it can be done quicker, and more efficiently by someone else. Anndd… I imagine those 80% of things are actually costing you more money when you do them because it’s removing you from the money making parts of your practice, the CEO tasks.

Write a list of everything you do in a day, week, month, and year. Professional and otherwise.

Now go through the list and take everything off of your plate that you don’t need to be doing. Why make your life harder? Whether it’s hiring the assistant you need in your practice or handing off bookkeeping & taxes (obviously going to get that one in!) Unburden yourself with the mundane things, free up your time and energy for the CEO tasks and just…life!

Ultimately, none of us are immune to burnout, no matter what profession – and for therapists it tends to creep up! You’ll find when you can turn off the noise, manage your time and calendar around what works for you, focus on the things you love, and have a COMMUNITY you can lean on, you’ll be less susceptible to burnout and feel more passionate about what you’re doing in the moment!

A non-boring bookkeeping newsletter?! Is that even possible?! Of course it is with a little TBK attitude added!

Are you a therapist needing all the bookkeeping resources and tips you can get for your practice, that don’t make you want to fall asleep?! We’ve got you covered! Subscribe to our non-boring newsletter, and we’ll send you all of our best bookkeeping resources for you and your private practice, without spamming your inbox!

Psst…. if you have any bookkeeping resources or topics you’d just love for your private practice… shoot us an e-mail and we’ll add it to the list!