2. 25 QuickBooks Tips Page 2 of 14
What is QuickBooks?
QuickBooks is bookkeeping software developed by Intuit. It combines a variety
of accounting processes into one user-friendly system. The software's primary
function is to alleviate the use of multiple tables, spreadsheets, and tracking
sheets necessary to document and maintain accounting tasks at a company.
Accounting figures are also easily reconciled for tax purposes with QuickBooks.
The software can be customized to suite your business needs.
QuickBooks is used by more than 4.5 million companies, making it by far the
most widely used accounting system in the world. Right from accounting firms,
CPAs, lawyers to small businesses, everyone uses them.
But are you using QuickBooks efficiently and getting the most you can out of
the product? Let us present you a list of 25 tips for by which you can use
QuickBooks more effectively for your business.
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25 Tips for effectively using QuickBooks
1. Know your Business well before choosing any Accounting Software
Before purchasing an Accounting Software, think about:
� Your Service and Products
� Business Needs
� Accounting Requirement of your Business
� Size of the Company
Depending on this evaluation, choose an accounting software that is user
friendly, easy to operate, and has the ability to run your business
smoothly.
2.2.2.2. Choosing appropriate QuickBooks version for your business
Well, it all depends on your size of your business or individual needs like
� Do you work on a MAC or a PC? There is a special version of
QuickBooks for both MAC and PC. But majority of clients choose
between the different PC versions.
� The PC versions of QuickBooks are Simple Start, Pro, Premier,
Enterprise Solutions, and Online. They are all very similar to each
other with each higher version offering additional features.
QuickBooks Simple Start
The QuickBooks Simple Start is especially helpful for first-time small
business accounting software users and new entrepreneurs. Later as
your business grows, you can transfers the data to any of the higher
versions.
QuickBooks Pro
The Pro version allows you to create invoices, track sales and manage
your basic business accounting needs. It is made for the small business
that needs a basic accounting package.
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QuickBooks Premiere
The Premiere version is for larger businesses that may have more than
one person doing the bookkeeping work.
QuickBooks Enterprise
This version is for the large company with many departments, cost
centers, products and employees. It includes advanced inventory control
functionality and payroll.
QuickBooks Online
The Online version means you have no software to install; it’s all done
through the Internet. All of the applications and data is store on the
QuickBooks servers so you don’t have the overhead.
3. Desktop, Online or Hosted QuickBooks
When deciding between QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and
QuickBooks Hosting accounting solutions, you will need to consider the
pros and cons of each platform, the various features available, as well as
what will work best for your business. Here is a little comparison:
QuickBooks Desktop
Pros
� No Internet connection required to access the software
� Once you buy it, you own it! No monthly fees involved
Cons
� Allows only one user at a time per license
� You need to install, run the updates, perform backups and fix it if
anything goes wrong
QuickBooks Online
Pros
� Does not require Installation & anytime, anywhere access
� Automatic updates, backups and upgrades
� Direct integration with online banking and third party applications
Cons
� Involves Monthly fees
� No access to company file in case of no payments made
� Migration to online version is time consuming process
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QuickBooks Hosted
Pros
� Can access from anywhere, anytime
� Multiple users access
� Decreases Downtime
� Automatic upgrades and backups and ensures security of client data
Cons
� Internet Connection required
� Monthly subscription fee
Though there are pros and cons of each, the hosted version of
QuickBooks is the most preferred one as it increases the business
productivity, decreases the downtown and gives you flexibility to work
from anywhere, anytime.
4. Purchase from a reputed Company or Store
Always purchase your QuickBooks software from a trusted store or
secured online merchant.
5. Use the latest version of QuickBooks
Use latest version of software to have the latest updates and newest
features available. Else upgrade your version of QuickBooks on a regular
basis.
Note: Intuit after a certain period of time stops offering services and
support to some of its old products, for which they have their "sunset"
policy in place.
6. Watch QuickBooks tutorial for better understanding
QuickBooks offers a tutorial which you can view for better understanding
of the functionality and features available.
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7. Set up Program Preferences
QuickBooks has a setup wizard that helps you lay the groundwork for
your company, but it's not comprehensive: There are many more
decisions you need to make that aren't covered by the wizard.
To do so, click Edit Preferences to open the Preferences window. Please
refer to the snapshot below to see the options you can set here:
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8. Know Keyboard shortcuts to Save Time
Knowing the keyboard shortcuts helps you complete the task much
faster and on time. Here are some essential QuickBooks keyboard
shortcuts you must use:
Ctrl+ I Create invoice
Ctrl+ E Edit transaction selected in register
Ctrl+ Q QuickReport on transaction or list item
Ctrl+ M Memorize transaction or report
Ctrl+ N New invoice, bill, check, or list item in context
Ctrl+ T Open memorized transaction list
Ctrl+ W Write new check
Ctrl+ F Find transaction
Ctrl+ J Open Customer Center
9. Use Right- Click Menus
Right-click menus are present everywhere throughout QuickBooks. It is
a useful alternative to relying only on the toolbar. For example,
highlighting an entry on the employee roster helps you perform number
of operations, such as, editing & deleting the account, customizing the
specific employee column or getting a QuickReport. Using this option
changes can be applied to one employee, instead of applying it to all
employees.
10. Customize the Icon Bar
You can customize the Icon Bar depending upon your needs. You can
select the necessary functions and exclude the ones that could possibly
confuse the user or disrupt any data already in use.
� To Remove, Add or Modify an icon
� Go to View menu
� Click Customize Icon Bar
� Select the icon you want to remove or add or modify.
� Make changes you wish to make in case of editing option
� Click Delete or Add or Edit
� Click OK once you are done
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11. Use the QuickMath Calculator Inside Fields
You may have used the QuickBooks calculator under the Use Calculator
button, but very few QuickBooks users know that QuickBooks also has a
“QuickMath Calculator”. The QuickMath Calculator allows you click inside
a field (for example, the amount field on an invoice) and if you press the
equal key on your keyboard (=), a mini-tape will appear. You can then
use the calculator directly in the field to perform your arithmetic and then
enter the amount in the field.
12. Use the Find Feature to Locate Transactions Faster
To find a particular transaction in QuickBooks, do you open the form and
click "Previous" until the transaction you are searching for appears on the
screen? This is a very long and time consuming process. But now you can
use the FIND feature to locate the transaction easily. This is a powerful
tool will search for almost any transaction-level data, depending on your
filters. You can add this feature to your Icon bar also to start using it.
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13. Use Classes for better tracking
When you're working with Preferences, make sure Classes is turned on
by
(Edit Preferences Accounting Company Preferences Use class
tracking)
Using class tracking in QuickBooks is your own way of categorizing and
tracking business activity. Assigning class to transaction allows you to
report on each class separately. For example you can create separate
class for Marketing, Advertising or region A. Then you'll be able to run a
Profit & Loss by Class report.
This allows to isolate areas that have discrepancies, and allow the user to
fix them separately without compromising or affecting the other
information. Refer the snapshot below for details:
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14. Customize Your Chart of Accounts
QuickBooks will generate a Chart of Accounts based on the type of
business entered at the time of initial setup wizard. It will also
automatically generate various assets, liability, revenue, and expense
accounts. Review the chart of accounts to add, delete, or modify; to
better suite your business requirements. Consult with your bookkeeper
and Certified Public Accountant to make sure that the Chart of Accounts
has all the items required to meet financial reporting and tax needs.
15. Automate Bills And Income( Memorize Transactions)
QuickBooks has the capability to memorize recurring transactions. This
feature lets you automate all the bills, incomes and savings. Simply enter
the bills into QuickBooks through memorized transaction. Only change
the amount and date then the transaction will automatically post to the
correct credit card or bank account.
16. Vendor list Organization
There are always a certain types of vendors with whom you have
frequent interactions. All these vendors can be grouped in one section on
your vendor list. An easy way to apply this is by using use a numeric digit
as first part of the vendor ID.
For example, if you are processing an expense report every week for
employees, put "1" in front of all expense report vendor IDs. By using "1
Henry Smith" as the vendor ID, Henry Smith is listed at the top of all the
vendor list in QuickBooks, and his check will be printed first. Do not
forget to edit the "Print on Check" field to simply have "Henry Smith"
show up on the printed check.
17. Customer Notes
In QuickBooks the Customer Center has a notes section. It is a great
place to save all the customer interactions and collection calls. This
allows you to make notes on all your communication.
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18. Saving Time by Adding Filters Before Generating any Report
When you generate reports in QuickBooks, default information is used
and the report is displayed on the screen. How often do you change the
information and then generate the report again? In QuickBooks, you can
have the Modify Report screen come up before generating any report.
For this you have to choose Edit Preferences from the Menu and then
select the Reports & Graph option. On the My Preferences tab, check the
checkbox entitled "Prompt Me To Modify Report"options before opening a
report.
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19. Export reports to Excel
QuickBooks reports are highly customizable but limiting the type of
operations that can be performed. Excel offers the flexibility to perform
various types of financial analysis. If you export the data to excel , more
detailed analysis can be performed than you can in QuickBooks. Also, if
you find that the same report has to be exported to excel frequently, then
you can memorize the report so that it is easily exported to Excel in the
format you need to perform analysis.
20. Set a Closing Date Password to Protect Data
Make sure you set a closing date password for QuickBooks file before
sending it to the accountant. This safety measure will prevent users from
changing the closing date periods by requiring anyone trying to make a
change to enter the password.
21. Create a QB Download folder on your desktop
As we all know, it is easy to forget where we downloaded a file, so it is
wise to set up a folder on your desktop for QuickBooks downloads so you
can quickly find and access the files to be imported.
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22. Expand Functionality with QuickBooks Add-ons
QuickBooks has many add-on products that you can use to expand the
functionality. For example, Bill.com for QuickBooks Online enables you to
view the electronic bills and pay the bills from your desktop or mobile
device with transactions automatically entered into QuickBooks Online.
There is another useful add-on, Transaction Pro Importer, a web enabled
service that helps you to easily import an Excel or CSV file into
QuickBooks online.
23. Download Data Whenever Possible
One of the best ways to maximize efficiency is to download banking and
credit card activity directly into QuickBooks. There will be some initial
set-up time, and you will still want to review the information for accuracy,
but in most cases, this step will save you a tremendous amount of time.
Downloading data minimizes the chance of human error and records
activity in a fraction of the time it takes to input manually.
24. Use Intuit's Free support options
Intuit charges for phone support if you have an issue involving more than
installation or certain bugs and errors. But the company offers plenty of
free assistance online. Have a look at various forums present online to
check if some one else has also faced similar problems. If it is not there,
click Help Live Community.
QuickBooks program-based help is also quite comprehensive. Click
Help QuickBooks Help (or press F1) to search.
If that doesn't work, click Help Support to search the QuickBooks
KnowledgeBase.
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25. Backing up Data on a Hard Drive or in Cloud
We all have experienced a time when we had our computer crash and for
whatever reasons did not have a data back up. Resulting in permanent
loss of all valuable information and data. Fortunately in case of
QuickBooks the set up Wizard offers a guide to backing up your data to a
removable hard drive. The type of data back up depends on the
complexity and size of the business, with a small business needing only
a few files on a thumb drive and others needed of all data to a cloud
service, for which QuickBooks offers a data backup service in the cloud,
but there are other services also available for small businesses.
It is advisable to choose any of the options mentioned above to be on a
safer side to avoid any dire consequences of data loss on your business.
In fact, research shows that approximately 4.7 million U.S. business
suffer some type of data losses annually.
QuickBooks are a great accounting software and it can save a lot of time. These
tips will certainly add ease to using the software's any version, either on your
desktop or hosted online.
References:
� http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/QuickBooks.html#ixzz2a3I9h4in
� http://www.onthenetoffice.com/QuickBooks-hosting.html
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software/
� http://www.onthenetoffice.com/blog/2013/06/QuickBooks-hosting-solution/
� http://www.hhcpa.com/blogs/income-tax-accountants-cpa/which-version-of-Quic
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� http://www.ehow.com/how_2057401_use-QuickBooks.html#ixzz2a8qhff4w
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