I think for whatever reason you believe that billable expenses is superior to your current system, it is not! Manager treats billable expenses very differently from Quickbooks and is not automated in the way QBO does per customer. I would advise you to quickly setup a test business and see how billable expenses work in Manager. Given your situation it is really not worth bothering about it.
@eko Okay then! I’m ready to implement your suggestions. The only thing that’s throwing me is your advice to avoid using invoices. Although I get paid the day I complete a job the majority of the time, and client is happy with a sales receipt, I have a significant number of valuable clients that do require a proper invoice and a delayed payment.
Obviously you can use invoices. In cash accounting they only will shown as income and expense once a payment is made or receipt recorded. Given your situation that is fine, but also a bit redundant. However, if it helps your customer or supplier there is nothing standing in the way of using them.
@eko Sounding good. Yes, the invoices are really only to satisfy my customers. Often they go through a formal process where the client’s bank issues me a check that arrives in the mail.
That is not what I said. My comment was directed toward your plan to add the total of uninvoiced billable expenses to your starting balance for your bank account. In other words, you said you were going to artificially increase your bank account beyond what it actually was on the day you began using Manager.
Now you have changed the playing field, @Bizman. If you are getting paid weeks later, particularly if those paying later are homeowner’s associations likely to have bigger jobs, I would recommend accrual basis accounting and the use of the built-in capability for billable expenses. (This is why it is important when asking questions to give full information.)
Both Billable Time and Billable Expenses will work very conveniently for you. One of my own businesses functions essentially as you describe, although the nature of services is different. But I incur expenses, including mileage (which are handled with Expense Claims), buy materials for projects with a card, bill for time, send sales quotes, and create invoices that get paid anywhere from immediately to several weeks later. The only thing I do not do with that business is record taxes, because in my jurisdiction the specific services provided by that business are not taxable. (But, if they were, Manager would handle them easily.) I use accrual basis accounting, record all project materials and travel expenses as billable expenses, record all time as billable time, issue sales invoices, etc. Using the necessary functional tabs, I often have the feeling that Manager was custom designed for that specific business.
Two things to be aware of:
- Since you are in the USA, to switch accounting methods you will need to file Form 3115 with the Internal Revenue Service.
- Your first year, you may see a jump in taxable income, because you may be reporting income you have earned, but not yet received. However, that will be made up for the following year when you receive payments, because the income will already have been reported.
I don’t want to artificially change my bank balance. I’m really just looking for a way to transition from QBO to manager in a way that accurately portrays my actual business beginning with the new year. I would even be okay creating a new business in Manager and re-entering the data if that would help.
Since I provided a summary of my business activities and received some different direction from you, however, I’m now trying to understand how much of @eko advice I should incorporate…or if I should scrap the idea of creating a Expense>reimbursable expense account in my chart of accounts. 
I think I’m understanding the difference between cash and accrual basis pretty well. Your second point is as I would expect. The first point is super helpful, though, as I wouldn’t have thought of that. 
First, you’ve got to decide whether you are going to use accrual or cash basis. I’ve described the steps for cash. If doing accrual, you would enter the uninvoiced transactions, dated when they actually occurred before your beginning date. Adjust your starting balances to make things match your closing balances in QB. Set your new reporting period to start the date you began using Manager and the old entries will be ignored for the P&L. But they will be correct on the balance sheet. Experiment and you’ll see how intuitive it really is.
You can’t mix and match. Either do it all @eko’s way or all through Billable expenses.
That’s why you still need to consult your accountant periodically. While you can do most of the work yourself with Manager, the program tells you nothing about national tax regulations.
Got it! I think I’ll go with your method using accrual basis and the billable expense module since your business sounds so similar to mine. And, yes, I had planned to get periodic professional accounting help.
Thanks so much for diving into this with me. It’s a lot to process but I’m getting there. Thanks to @eko and the others too!