Quickbooks Tips

To close all open QuickBooks Windows quickly, click on Window on the menu bar, and then Close All.

• The History button shows you all the transactions related to the one you are currently viewing.
• For example, view any invoice that you know is paid, then click on the History button.
• Then you'll see the payment details on your screen instantly.

KEYS THAT HELP YOU SAVE LOTS OF TIME WHEN WORKING WITH DATES

(Just type the key shown in the date field.)

T = today's date
M = First day of the month you are working in
H = Last day of the month you are working in
Y = First day of the year
R = Last day of the year
+ = Move the date forward by one day
- = Move the date backward by one day

CTRL+A brings up the Chart of Accounts right away

ALT+F4 closes QuickBooks software

When working in a register, you can use the = to bring up the calculator when adding or subtracting from an account

CTRL+T will bring up your Memorized Transaction list immediately

Edit fields in a flash

Typically you use the Tab key to move between fields, but it might be more efficient to change the setting and use the Enter key instead. To do so, choose Edit, Preferences, and then General. Select Pressing Enter Moves Between Fields, as shown in Figure 1. Keep in mind that if you change this setting, you'll have to either press Ctrl-Enter to save a record, or navigate to the Save & New button and then press Enter. While setting that option, make sure to also choose Automatically open drop-down lists when typing. This will allow you to type the first couple letters of a list item, and then use the arrow keys and Enter key to choose the desired item.


Figure 1: You can set QuickBooks to use the Enter key to move between fields.

Sometimes you may need to make revisions within a field, such as a description. You can navigate from word to word within a field by using Ctrl-Left Arrow or Ctrl-Right Arrow. You can also press the End key to jump to the end of a field, or the Home key to jump to the beginning.

Most other shortcut keys that you'll use with fields are contained on the Edit menu, as shown in Figure 2.


Figure 2: The Edit menu contains a veritable treasure trove of keyboard shortcuts.

Speed up everyday tasks

Press Ctrl-W to display the Write Checks window, or Ctrl-I to display the Invoice window. Within a transaction window, press Ctrl-N to create a new transaction, or Ctrl-P to print. Ctrl-Q allows you to create a QuickReport on a selected transaction or list item. Ctrl-J will display the Customer Center, although for some reason the Vendor and Employee centers don't currently warrant their own keyboard shortcuts. As you work in QuickBooks, you may encounter a stack of open transaction, list, and report windows, as shown in Figure 3-simply press Esc repeatedly to clear the decks.


Figure 3: Overrun with QuickBooks windows? Press the Esc key as needed to close extraneous windows.

Try these Register tricks

Press Ctrl-R to display the Use Register window, and then press Alt-Down Arrow to display the full list. If you simply press the Down Arrow, then your cursor will jump to the OK button. Within a register, press Ctrl-PgUp to move to the first previous month in the register, or Ctrl-PgDn to move to the next month in the register. Press Ctrl-O to copy an entire transaction within a register, and then press Ctrl-V to paste a duplicate of the copy. Or, press Ctrl-E to edit a transaction in the register. Conversely, Ctrl-D allows you to delete transactions.

You can also press Ctrl-G for certain transfer transactions to view the register of the corresponding account. QuickBooks doesn't maintain a register for income and expense accounts, but you can use this to follow transfers between bank accounts, for instance. Similarly, you can press Ctrl-H on certain transactions to view their transaction history, as shown in Figure 4, or press Ctrl-Y to display a transaction journal. This is a report that shows you the debits and credits that comprise the transaction, as shown in Figure 5.


Figure 4: Press Ctrl-H within a register to view transaction history.

Level your lists

Only two lists have their own shortcuts: Ctrl-A for the Chart of Accounts, and Ctrl-T for the Memorized Transaction List. You can use Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn to navigate to the top or bottom of a list. Press Ctrl-E to edit a record within a list, or Ctrl-P to print the entire list. As with transactions, Ctrl-D will delete a list item-you'll receive the warning shown in Figure 6 if you attempt to delete an account that has a balance, though.


Figure 6: Accounts with open balances cannot be deleted.

Make a date

Incremental dates (and check or invoice numbers, too) can be moved up or down by pressing the + and - keys. Even better, laptop users can press the = key, instead of Shift-Equal to access the + sign. Navigate forward and backward in time by keeping these three words in mind: week, month, and year. Press W to move back one week, or K to move forward one week. Do the same with M or H and Y or R to move forward or back one month or year at a time. Within a date field, press Alt-Down Arrow to display the calendar without having to click with your mouse. Other date tricks you may find helpful are pressing [ or ] (the square bracket keys) to move to the same date in the previous or next week, or ; and ' (the semicolon and apostrophe keys) to move to the same date in the previous or next month. If all of these date tricks are making your head spin, just press T in a date field to return to today's date.

Customize your start-up

Usually QuickBooks automatically opens the last company that you accessed, but it won't do so if you hold down the Ctrl key while you open QuickBooks. Also, if you share a computer with a coworker that frequently leaves many windows open, hold down the Alt key while you open QuickBooks to start with a clean desktop. You can also press the F2 key to display a dizzying array of data about your QuickBooks company, as shown in Figure 7.


Figure 7: Press F2 to display a wide array of technical details regarding your QuickBooks company.

Data entry and modifications in QuickBooks can be tedious. Beginning with QuickBooks 2010 Pro Edition and above, that job got a lot easier. The Add/Edit Multiple List Entries tool does just what its name implies: It lets you add entries to your lists of customers, vendors, services, inventory parts, and non-inventory parts. It also makes changing one or several of them quick and easy.

Using this feature, you can:

• See customized views of your list data
• Enter missing information
• Create new entries from duplicates of existing ones
• Do a mass change of a whole column
• Copy and paste records from Excel

There are myriad applications for this tool. You could use it, for example, when you're changing Preferred Vendors for a group of items and you don't want to have to edit each individual item record. Or, when the area code for select customers or vendors has changed. You could use it if you're adding an inventory item that's just slightly different from another, or when your accountant tells you to change the name of an account.

BUILDING THE PERFECT VIEW

To get started, click Lists | Add/Edit Multiple List Entries. In the screen that opens, click the arrow next to the List box and select the type of data you want to see, like Customers. Then select the group that you want displayed by dropping the View list down. Click the Customize Columns button. This window opens:


Figure 1: Make sure your columns are correct and in the right order.

The list on the left represents all possible column labels. To make the list on the right reflect what you want to see in your table, highlight the correct item and use the Add or Remove buttons and the Move Up or Move Down buttons. When you're satisfied, click OK. The table will change to display those columns in that order.

TIP: You may have a lot of empty space between columns. To close those gaps, put your cursor on the faint vertical line that separates two column names. A cross-like symbol will appear. Drag it left or right until the columns are positioned well.

Let's say that a customer commissions a new job. Since so much information will remain the same as in previous jobs, you can duplicate her record. Highlight the last entry in her list of jobs and right-click. Select Duplicate Row. The new entry will contain her default information, except the name will change to DUP [NAME OF PREVIOUS JOB]. Change that phrase to the name of the new job and click Save Changes if you're done.


Figure 2: It's easy to duplicate an entry's information.

MASS CHANGES

You may occasionally want to make the same change to a subset of records. Say a city's zip code changed and you want to find the customers affected. You'd open the Customers list, click on the View arrow and select Custom Filter. Then:

• In the Search list, choose from All, Active, etc. • In the For box, enter the common attribute, like the zip code. • Click on the arrow next to the in box, and tell QuickBooks where you want to search (address fields, all common fields, etc.).


Figure 3: You can search for a group of entries that share a common characteristic.

• Click Go. QuickBooks will display a list of all of the matching entries.
• Make your change to the entry at the top of the list, then right-click on it. You'll see this menu:


Figure 4: The Copy Down command changes all entries in a column to match the top one.

When you select Copy Down, all of the entries duplicate the first one in the list.

SOME HOUSEKEEPING

Anything you change in these views, as long as you click Save Changes, will be reflected throughout QuickBooks, wherever that record appears. If you've made an error, like using a dollar sign, you'll get a message telling you to fix it.

You can use Add/Edit Multiple List Entries in other ways. For example, it's a good way to see how thorough your recordkeeping is. Take a look at your lists occasionally to spot missing data. Or say you were at a trade show and signed up new customers, but you didn't have QuickBooks on your laptop so you entered them in Excel. Once you've made sure that your column names and order in Excel match those displayed in Add/Edit Multiple List Entries, you can just copy and paste the new customers in.

This feature is easy to use, but be cautious. We can help with complex modifications. Add/Edit Multiple List Entries is one of the ten best features QuickBooks has incorporated in recent years. It's an easy way to get a birds' eye view of your lists, and a great time-saver.

Payday. You look forward to it when you're young and working at your first part-time job.

But as a grown-up who needs to start processing payroll for your employees, you probably anticipate it in a different way, perhaps even with a sense of dread. QuickBooks handles the real grunt work once you've done the initial setup, but those early hours you spend preparing to print your first paycheck can be challenging.

Fortunately, QuickBooks' payroll setup tool can guide you through the process. Once you've signed up for payroll, open the Employees menu and select Payroll Setup.


Figure 1: The QuickBooks Payroll Setup tool tells you'll what information you need to supply in order to start paying employees. EASY OPERATIONS

The first screen you'll see in this step-by-step, wizard-like setup guide contains a link to QuickBooks' payroll setup checklist. You don't have to assemble all of the information you'll need about your company, your employees, and your payroll taxes, but we recommend that you gather as much as you can before you start.

You'll advance through setup by completing the information requested and then clicking the Continue button in the lower right (or, sometimes, Next; there's also a Previous button available often). If you don't have a particular detail immediately at hand, you can continue on and come back later. You'll be able to edit your work then.

To back out of the whole process and return at another time, click the Finish Later button in the lower left.

BUILDING A FRAMEWORK

QuickBooks first wants to know about the various types of compensation and employee benefits your company offers. To start adding your Compensation options, click Add New. Click in the box in front of any pay types you support (Salary, Hourly wage and overtime, Commission, etc.) to create a check mark. When you click Next, this window opens:


Figure 2: It's easy to indicate the types of compensation your company offers.

Keep clicking Next after you've completed each screen until you come to a page that lists all of the compensation types you've defined. To make any changes, first, highlight the type and click Edit to modify or Delete to remove, and then click Continue when you're finished.

The next section is probably the most difficult: Employee Benefits. Here, using similar interface conventions to enter information and navigate, you'll provide information about your company's:

Insurance benefits
Retirement benefits
Paid time off, and
Miscellaneous items (cash advance, wage garnishment, mileage reimbursement, etc.).

It's absolutely critical that you set these up accurately, or you'll have unhappy benefits providers--and employees. If you're not absolutely confident of an answer, it's better to leave an item unfinished and come back later. You may want to ask us to work with you as you complete this section.

PEOPLE AND TAXES

QuickBooks will then ask you about your employees. Have your W-4 forms handy for this section, as you'll need to know Social Security numbers, birth dates, etc.

Figure 3: On this screen, you'll tell QuickBooks what type(s) of compensation and their dollar amounts apply to the employee.

All of those details you entered earlier about company benefits comes into play here. Once you've defined an employee's compensation types and amounts, the next screen will display the additions and deductions that your company supports. You will have set up defaults for some of these, but you can modify them for individual employees.

There are numerous other details that you'll have to supply for your staff, like how vacation and sick hours accrue, what state will want to collect taxes from them, and what their filing status is.

Unless you've worked with payroll before, you're going to want our help in completing the payroll tax section. Once it's done correctly, QuickBooks will calculate taxes due and help you pay them.

Finally, QuickBooks helps you determine whether you'll need to enter any previous payroll data from the current year before you start to process your payroll in the software.

Whether you're switching from manual payroll or a payroll service, or simply getting ready to pay your first employee, QuickBooks payroll-processing tools can help you save time and foster accuracy--as long as you get the details from the start.

QuickBooks was designed to serve the needs of millions of small businesses. To do that, it had to include the tools and processes suitable for a wide variety of companies. But Intuit recognized that every organization is unique, so your copy of QuickBooks can be customized in ways that make it work best for you.

You could just dive in and start adding records and transactions but doing some setup first is highly recommended. If you don't, you may run into some issues later, such as finding that some features you need haven't been turned on, for example, or that QuickBooks is simply not doing some things the way you do. The good news is that you can change many of these.

GETTING THERE

QuickBooks refers to these options as Preferences. You will find them by opening the Edit menu and selecting Preferences.


Figure 1: To start customizing QuickBooks so it works best for you, open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.

As you can see, the left vertical pane contains a list of Preference types. Click on any of these to change the option screens to the right. Always click the tabs labeled My Preferences and Company Preferences to make sure you see everything that is displayed for each type (sometimes one will have no choices).

SETTING UP REMINDERS

Let's look more closely at one set of Preferences: Reminders. It's very important that you visit these screens when you begin using QuickBooks. Depending on how big your company is and how complex your accounting processes are, there may be things you need to do every day, like pay bills and follow up on overdue invoices. It would be nearly impossible for you to do everything on time if you did not ask QuickBooks to keep track of critical dates and remind you of them.

Click Reminders in the left vertical tab. You will see one option under My Preferences. Do you want QuickBooks to show Reminders List when opening a Company file? If so--and this is a good idea--click the box in front of that line if there is not a check mark there already, and then click Company Preferences.

Here is where you will tell QuickBooks whether you want to see summaries or lists for each reminder, or neither. You can also specify how much advance notice you want for specific tasks by entering a number of days. QuickBooks comes with default settings, but you can easily change these.


Figure 2: QuickBooks comes with default settings for Reminders, but you can enter your own Preferences here.
As you can see, it is easy to specify your Company Preferences. Click the appropriate button under Show Summary, Show List, or Don't Remind Me. If you've requested a reminder, delete any number that appears in the box in front of days before or days after and then enter your own.

CRITICAL AREAS Make sure that you look through all of QuickBooks' Preferences and change any that don't fit your company. Some simply have to do with the way QuickBooks displays information and how it functions, but others have direct impact on your accounting work. As always, call the office if you have any questions.

You will probably want to visit many of the options under Preferences because each may have numerous options. Here are several examples of what you might want to consider:

Accounting. Do you want to use account numbers and classes?
Checking. Which accounts should QuickBooks automatically use for tasks like Open the Pay Bills, Open the Make Deposits, and Open the Create Paychecks?
Finance Charge. Will you be assessing finance charges on late payments from customers? What is the interest rate, minimum finance charge, and grace period?
Items & Inventory. Do you want inventory and purchase orders to be active?
Multiple Currencies. Does your company do business using other currencies?
Payments. Can customers pay you online? What methods can they use?
Payroll & Employees. Will you be processing payroll using QuickBooks?
Sales & Customers. Do you want to use sales orders? How should QuickBooks handle invoices when there are time and costs that need to be added?

You can see why it is important to study QuickBooks' Preferences early on. It will help you avoid unnecessary roadblocks and ensure that your company's needs are reflected well in the software.

Your customer list is gold. That's why it is so important to protect those Social Security and bank card numbers in your payroll, client, and vendor records from intruders and make sure they are only viewed by authorized employees.

It's not just large corporations and financial institutions that get hacked. That's what the bad guys want you to think. In reality, small businesses are often the victims of data breaches because their owners think they're immune from data theft and destruction.

Even if you're password-protecting your PCs and running antivirus and anti-malware software, there's more you need to do when it comes to your accounting records. Let's take a closer look.

RESTRICT ACCESS BY SETTING UP USER PERMISSIONS.

If you have multiple staff members using QuickBooks, don't share the same user name and password. That obviously gives everyone access to all data and activity. If something goes awry, you have no way of knowing when or how it happened, and who was responsible. To protect yourself and everyone else who logs in, it's critical that all users have their own unique logins. They should only be allowed to access information and functions that relate to their job duties.


Figure 1: You can restrict QuickBooks users to certain screens and activities.

To assign these permission levels, open the Company menu and click on Set Up Users and Passwords, then Set Up Users. This opens the User List window, where you should be identified as the Admin. Click Add User. Enter a user name and password for an employee who needs access (this can be changed later). Check the box in front of Add this user to my QuickBooks license.

Tip: Not sure how many users are allowed under your current license? Click F2 and look in the upper left corner. If you need to add licenses, please call.

Click Next. The next screen lists three options. You can grant access to all areas or to selected areas. You can also create a login for us as your external accountant, which lets us see everything except sensitive customer data. Select the second option and click Next. You can see in the image above that you can give the employee different levels of responsibility. When you've made your choice, click Next. The subsequent nine screens deal with different areas of QuickBooks and their related activities.

Tip: When you need to change your password, which you should do at a minimum every three months, go to Company | Set Up Users and Passwords | Change Your Password.

SAVE YOUR COMPANY FILE ELSEWHERE

You should always be backing up your company file to an external storage device (like a CD or thumb drive). To set this up, open the File menu and select Back Up Company, then Create Local Backup. This window will open:


Figure 2: The Create Backup window

Make sure Local backup is selected, then click the Options button below (not pictured here). Click Browse to see a directory of your PC and select the correct destination. Leave the two boxes below it checked; this will add the backup date/time to the filename and limit the number of backup copies to three.

By default, QuickBooks will remind you to back up your file every fourth time you close your company file; you can change this number if you prefer. Leave the Complete verification option checked and click OK, then Next. Specify when you want to save your backup copy and click Next again. You can schedule regular backups of your company file on the next screen if you'd like. When you've completed this screen, click Finish.

You should also consider saving a copy of your company file to the cloud. Intuit offers its own service for this; it costs $9.95/month or $99.95 annually, but it gives you 100 GB of storage space, so you can back up other critical business files, too. If you can't swing this financially, at least store your backups to a portable device that you can carry offsite.

Warning: If you already pay for cloud storage from another vendor, don't assume you can just copy your QuickBooks file to it. Please call if you have questions about this.

OTHER STEPS

There are other things you can do to protect your QuickBooks data, including

• Insist on strong passwords. Yes, itâ??s a pain to create and remember them, but it's critical here.
• Keep everything updated. That includes your operating system and anything else that requires updates.
• Minimize web browsing on work computers and remind employees about smart email behaviors.

While the software's instructions are straightforward with regard to setting up any kind of backup system for QuickBooks, please don't hesitate to call if you are worried about jeopardizing the integrity of your company files.

Do not pay your payroll liabilities from the "Write Checks" window. If you use this window, QuickBooks will warn you to use the "Pay Liabilities" window, but will let you write the check. However when you print the 941, it will not reflect any payments that you made using the "Write Checks" window.

Use the "Pay Liabilities" window to create checks for all tax liabilities. Using this window will ensure that the payments are reflected accurately on the 941 report and that your liability accounts are properly reduced.

If you have customers who are also vendors you may decide to trade some or all of your services / products in exchange for payment.

To record such a barter transaction, invoice the customer for the goods provided or services performed as you normally would. To record the "payment" use the "Receive Payment" function to apply the barter amount against the invoice the same as you would when receiving cash or a check as follows:

Go to Customers: Receive Payment. Payment Amount will be the barter amount (the amount of the invoice you received from your vendor). Pmt. Method will be Barter. Check the radio button for "Group with other undeposited funds". Save this transaction.

Go to Banking: Make Deposits. The payment you just received will come up in the Payments to Deposit screen. If there are also other payments to deposit, make sure you select only the payment(s) being recorded for the barter exchange. When you hit OK the Make Deposits screen will come up with the barter deposit(s) showing. Before recording the deposit make a negative deposit entry on the next blank line below the barter deposit for the amount of the barter as follows:

Deposit To is your normal operating checking account. Date is the date you would have normally paid your vendors invoice. Memo should be changed from Deposit to Barter.

If you have entered the vendors invoice as a bill for payment, Received From is the vendor name and From Account is Accounts Payable.

If you have not entered the vendors invoice as a bill for payment, leave Received From blank. In the From Account column select the expense account you would charge the vendors invoice to, the same as if you were entering it for payment. In the Memo column note the vendors invoice number.

In the Amount column enter the vendors invoice amount with a negative sign first. This negative amount should exactly offset the deposit amount above, resulting in a "Zero" deposit transaction. Save the "deposit" and the transaction is complete.

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