6.8 Cash-Basis & Accrual Accounting Tax Data

Printavo gives you the data you need whether you use cash or accrual accounting. This article explains how each method works and which reports to export depending on how you track your finances. It walks through where to find the right reports in Printavo and what information they include, so you can prepare accurate tax data based on how your business records income and expenses.

Whether your business runs cash-basis or accrual accounting, Printavo's got you covered for exporting tax data.

There are two primary methods of accounting: cash-basis and accrual.

Cash-basis accounting is the practice of reporting revenue and expenses when cash is exchanged. 

Cash-basis accounting is a good method to keep track of how much actual cash you have on hand at any given moment, though it does not paint an accurate picture of expected cash flow.

If you record customer transactions when they pay for their order, or if you record your expenses when you pay your bills, you are using cash-basis accounting.

The relevant information you'll want to export from Printavo is the Payments/Expenses report under My Account > Import/Export Data as this file contains both transaction date and sales tax information.

Accrual accounting is the practice of reporting revenue and expenses when a transaction is earned - often before cash is exchanged. A relevant industry example would be recording your expenses for blanks when you receive the bill.

Accrual accounting is a good method for understanding the bigger picture of your profitability as it accounts for future incoming and outgoing cash, though this is a more complex method with more to keep track of.

If you record customer transactions when they agree to the job, or if you record your expenses when you receive your bills, you are using accrual accounting.

The relevant information you'll want to export from Printavo is the Quotes/Invoices report under My Account > Import/Export Data as this file contains both invoice date and sales tax information.