About ClerkBooks | ClerkBooks

ClerkBooks Municipal Accounting System converts Intuit QuickBooks® (the world’s number one small business accounting software) into a full Fund-based accounting system to help simplify municipal financial management. ClerkBooks is designed to offer standard accounting features, plus easy, time-saving tools to meet the unique needs of Local Government.

What Is ClerkBooks?

ClerkBooks is a scalable accounting solution designed for City Clerks, and Finance Officers, working in municipalities with populations ranging from 50 up to about 2,000. This means smaller cities won’t need to pay for all the bells and whistles they don’t use, yet larger cities can get the performance and reliability they need.

ClerkBooks uses QuickBooks®: the world’s most popular accounting software package, for the core accounting tasks. This means the system is easy to learn and easy to use.

ClerkBooks has converted QuickBooks into a complete fund accounting package for local government including: a customized chart of accounts as suggested by your State Auditor’s Office; utility billing (electric, water, sewer, garbage and recycling) compatible with hand-held reading systems; automated payroll; and customizable reporting (with budgets)!

Key Benefits

Organizes all your finances in one place
Easily keeps track of all your receivables, including liens
Complete fund accounting package, including utility billing and custom reports – all in one system
Uses the power of QuickBooks: the world’s most popular accounting software package

Made in Rural America, for Rural America

ClerkBooks was created in a small town of 370. Our headquarters is currently located in Garner, Iowa, a town of 3098 people. We are approximately 120 miles south of Minneapolis and 120 miles north of Des Moines, just 20 miles west of Interstate 35. We also have Support Representatives who work from their homes in a separate location in Iowa, South Dakota and Mississippi.

While ClerkBooks works great for cities up to a population of approximately 2,000, ClerkBooks was designed from the ground up for City Clerks with limited accounting experience located in smaller cities.

The Founder and CEO of ClerkBooks has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He has over 30 years of accounting and management experience in wholesale, retail, non-profit and governmental activities. He was a City Clerk for 8 years. He has completed the course work for both the Certified Municipal Clerk and the Certified Municipal Finance Officer certifications through the Municipal Professional’s Institute, Sponsored by the Iowa League of Cities and The Iowa State University.

In fact, all of our support representatives have formally been City Clerks, City Treasurers and/or City Auditors and have attended the Municipal Professional’s Institute. We are also Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisors.

Therefore, ClerkBooks has been designed with a full understanding of what your City faces every day.

While ClerkBooks started in Iowa, it has now been customized for 24 states. Be the first city in your state to use ClerkBooks and receive 30 days unlimited support at no extra cost!

Q: Why is ClerkBooks Better Than Manual Bookkeeping?

Answer:

The manual approach is time consuming, tedious and difficult to balance. ClerkBooks automates your entries and will not let you save a transaction unless it balances. Your books are balanced after every transaction!
Reports in a manual bookkeeping system can take up a lot of your time and energy. ClerkBooks allows you to run reports, on the spot, for any given time period, even previous fiscal years!
Ever get tired of thumbing through pages and pages of big bulky ledgers to find linked information? QuickBooks reports allow you to “drill-down” from any report to the orginal transactions on that report!
QuickBooks also has a comprehensive search tool allowing you to quickly find everything you need.
Spreadsheet formulas are hard to learn and easy to break. The built-in accounting functions of ClerkBooks organizes and calculates your finances for you.
The manual approach puts your financial records into multiple ledgers or spreadsheets. ClerkBooks organizes all your accounting into one uniform system.

Q: Why is ClerkBooks Better Than QuickBooks Alone?

Answer:

QuickBooks is the world’s #1 small business software, but it isn’t made for Municipalities. ClerkBooks adds full fund-based accounting to QuickBooks.
ClerkBooks adds fund tracking and the chart of accounts recommended by your State Auditor.
ClerkBooks adds utility billing for water, sewer, garbage and electricity.
ClerkBooks adds over 50 custom reports tailored for cities including: council reports, utility billing reports and state reports.
ClerkBooks adds custom payroll items and employee templates specific to City Government.
ClerkBooks adds a Journal Entry Tool which automatically splits your payroll taxes and benefits into the proper expense account and fund. The tool also closes out your month by transferring net income/net loss into the appropriate fund balance.
ClerkBooks adds a User Support Site with a searchable and printable set of step-by-step “cheat sheets”, hours of video training and various resource links specifically for your state.
Our staff supports the ClerkBooks modules and QuickBooks. We also offer general accounting and audit support.

Q: Why is ClerkBooks Better Than Our Competitors?

Answer:

Many of our competitors offer “add-ons” for QuickBooks. Our system is completely integrated with and is designed specifically for QuickBooks.
ClerkBooks is designed by a former City Clerk who has faced the same situations you face on a day-to-day basis.
We live in Small-Town Iowa. We built ClerkBooks to work for small towns and have added the features and stability for larger cities. We don’t try and make small towns fit into the larger city model.
Hey, did I mention that we use QuickBooks? That means:
- You get to use the world’s #1 accounting system.
- You can get help from just about anywhere: local accountants, local colleges, online classes and videos, and of course, through us.
- Most auditors are already familiar with QuickBooks. They love the features, and really love our additions.
Before we hand-off the system to you, we streamline and customize the system specifically for your City and your State. We enter all of your customer information. We enter all of your beginning balances (customer, payroll, bank, loans/bonds, funds, etc.) We enter all your employee and payroll information. We set-up your utility billing rates. We enter all this, and more. When we hand the system off to you, you can use it right away!

Q: Who Uses ClerkBooks?

Answer:

ClerkBooks is now in use by over 170 cities in 24 states. Contact us for a list of cities you can call for references.

Q: Why Do City Councils Love ClerkBooks?

Answer:

Initial price includes everything your City Clerk needs to get started right away, including: software, installation, configuration and orientation. We set-up your beginning bank, customer, vendor, employee and fund balances. We set-up your utility billing rates and beginning meter readings. We even reconcile the first month’s bank statements!
You get the up-to-date information you need, including: Bank Reconciliations, Voucher Forms & Claims for Approval Summary, Budget vs Actual, Fund Balances, Departmental reports and much more!
Your City Clerk can “drill-down” each income or expense line and give you a report of every transaction in that account, at any time!
Historical reports give you a “Red Flag” for any altered financials. Giving you confidence that your reports are consistent!

Download a summary flyer for your Council or your Auditor!

Q: Why Do City Clerks Love ClerkBooks?

Answer:

Easy to learn, easy to use!
Organizes all your finances in one place!
Easily keeps track of all your receivables, including liens and other assessments!
Saves valuable time by automating common transactions and streamlining processes!
Dedicated User Support website with training videos, state specific resources and printable sets of step-by-step cheat sheets.
Share Screen support, where we can see your screen and walk you through any software or accounting questions you have.

Download a summary flyer for your Council or your Auditor!

Q: Why Do Auditors Love ClerkBooks?

Answer:

ClerkBooks has added the Chart of Accounts as recommended by the State Auditor’s Office, including: Funds, Revenue Sources, Expense Activities, Functions, and Objects.
ClerkBooks builds both a Profit & Loss by Fund and a Balance Sheet by Fund, accurately.
ClerkBooks has added a Closing Tools module which warns City Clerks when they attempt to change a closed period and makes it easy to see if any closed period has been altered.
Provides a list of check numbers to highlight any duplicate or missing check entries.
Includes Audit Trail and Voided/Deleted Transactions reports.
Coupled with QuickBooks Statement Writer, can create GAAP compliant reports.
Can accurately run and report as: Pure Cash Basis, Modified Cash Basis, Modified Accrual Basis, or Pure Accrual Basis.

Download a summary flyer for your Council or your Auditor!

Q: What can I print out for our Council?

Answer:

Feel free to print out any of the pages on the website. You can also download a summary flyer for your Council or your Auditor!