QuickBooks Review List Changes Tool: Track Data Edits
Worried about any changes made to the financial data in QuickBooks? QuickBooks Review List Changes Tool helps you track and review all the changes made in the company file transactions.
The QuickBooks Review List Changes tool is specially designed to track all the changes in your lists, like Item List, Payroll Items, Fixed Asset Items, and Chart of Accounts. The tool helps you review the changes regularly, which ensures accurate financial records, safeguards you from discrepancies in the financial data, and ensures the monetary calculations in QuickBooks are in compliance with the legal standards.
This blog takes you through the procedure to use the Review List Changes tool in QuickBooks, what you can review, and the scope of changes that are tracked. Just by reading this blog till the end, you’ll get familiar with the workflow of the tool and aware of the key considerations to use the Review List Changes Tool for maximum effectiveness. Let’s dive in!
Note: The tool is only available in QuickBooks Desktop Accountant & Enterprise.
Key Review Areas and Prerequisites for Using the QuickBooks Review List Changes Tool
This section of our blog sheds light on what changes you can review using the QB Desktop tool and some essentials that you must perform before using the tool. This ensures you get a proper understanding of what you are stepping into:
Changes You can Review
Following are the lists you can review using the QuickBooks Desktop Review List Changes Tool:
Chart of Accounts, Payroll Items, Fixed Asset Items, and Items:
You can use the tool to view added, changed, deleted, and merged items in the accounts used by your business, tangible assets you own, and payroll items (Earnings, Deductions, Taxes, Company Contributions, etc.) used to manage your employees.
Customers, Vendors, Review Item Setup and Change Other Name Types:
These lists refer to the existing features you have on your QuickBooks Desktop Accountant. You can change a new item or view the items already changed in different item types, Vendor & Customer info, and other entities like Employees, Contractors and other businesses you collaborate with.
Fundamental Tasks
These are some prerequisites you must follow to ensure client data review in QuickBooks becomes a smooth process for you:
- Backup your QuickBooks Data: It is vital to create a full data backup before you make any changes in your financial data. Go through the attached article to find out how to create a full data backup in QuickBooks.
- Generate an audit trail report before and after using the tool: An Audit Trail report helps you to check all the modifications made to your company file transactions. If you find any issues after using the Review List Tool, you can simply restore QuickBooks backup to get back where you started from.
- Update your QuickBooks Desktop: Download and install the latest QuickBooks updates before using the tool for maximum efficiency and fixing any issues that might become a problem later.
- Assign admin rights to QuickBooks: You must always run your QuickBooks in admin mode while using the Review List Changes tool to prevent the bookkeeping software from getting restricted while accessing the company file or utilizing the system resources. Right-click on the QuickBooks icon (QuickBooks.exe) and select Run as administrator.
- Repair company file issues (optional): In case your QuickBooks shows error messages while using the tool or you are unable to access the file. Running the QuickBooks File Doctor tool is always helpful to repair the company file.
Having completed all the above prerequisites, let’s now move forward to the steps to access the QuickBooks Review List Changes tool.
Accessing the QuickBooks Desktop Accountant Review List Changes Tool
Here’s the procedure for client data review in QuickBooks Desktop:
- Launch your QuickBooks Desktop and access the Accountant menu.
- Select Client Data Review (again, select the same option if necessary).
- Go to the Review List Changes Section and select the list you want to review. You can also modify the status of each list as mentioned below:
- In progress
- Completed
- Not Started
- Not Applicable
- Review all the changed, added, deleted, and merged items in the list you selected, and click Mark all as Reviewed when done.
Note: You can revert and change the status of all the reviewed items to unreviewed. Select the Include Reviewed Items checkbox to view all the items.
What type of changes can be tracked?
You can track these changes using the QuickBooks Desktop Accountant Review List Changes tool:
Chart of Accounts
- Account number, name and type
- Tax line mapping
- Changes in the account or subaccount
- Status, whether Active or inactive
Items
- Item type
- Asset account, income, expense and cost of goods sold
- Sales tax code & Sales tax rate
- Unit of measure
- Status, whether active or inactive
- Changes in items or sub-items
Fixed asset items
- Account number, name and type
- Tax line mapping
- Date of purchase & cost
- Date of sales & cost
- Sale expense amount
- Status, whether active or inactive
- Changes in account or sub-account
Payroll Items
- Agency
- Accounts linked with the rate of items
- Limit
- Tax tracking type
- Payment schedule & frequency
- Status
Summary
This blog elaborates on the QuickBooks Review List Changes tool, which is essential for ensuring precision, transparency, and control over your financial data. As an accountant, you’ll get to know the changes you can review and track in your client’s company file, as well as the correct procedure for doing it. Following all the prerequisites and instructions in the blog will help you to employ the Review List Changes tool in QuickBooks to retain the integrity of the financial data and help your clients drive better business decisions.
FAQs
How do I mark items as reviewed in the Review List Changes tool?
Select the items in the Review List Changes Section (Accountant > Client Data Review) and click the Mark as Reviewed checkbox.
Can I unmark items as reviewed after marking them?
Unfortunately, once you view all the changes in your lists and mark them as ‘Reviewed’, you cannot switch their status back to ‘Unreviewed’. However, you can mark (✔) the Include Reviewed Items checkbox to view the items.
Is the Review List Changes tool available for all QuickBooks products?
The Review List Changes feature is only useful for accountants and business owners, so it is only available in QuickBooks Desktop Accountant & Enterprise.
Can I customize lists using the QuickBooks Review List Changes Tool?
No, the tool allows you to categorize your lists using different filters (data range, user, transaction type, etc.), but you’ll have limited options for modifying the actual data in your client’s financial records.
What are the limitations of the QuickBooks Review List Changes Tool?
Here are some of the things that can’t be done using the QuickBooks Desktop Accountant Review List Changes tool:
- You can’t track or review the changes in real time.
- You can only review the list changes made in a specific time period and not too much older.
- You can’t track all types of lists using the tool. For example, the QuickBooks Review List Changes tool doesn’t include non-financial entries, customized reports, or adjustments in the settings. Apart from that, you also can’t track user activity or which user made the changes.
- The tool is dependent on data size and might not be accurate if you have a sheer volume of transactions in QuickBooks.
- It isn’t available for basic QuickBooks Desktop versions as well as QuickBooks Online. However, you can use the Audit Log feature in QuickBooks Online to do the same.
