QuickBooks Statement Writer 2012

QuickBooks Statement Writer 2012 –
Your Financial Statement Solution

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Copyright 2012 Intuit, Inc. Intuit, Inc.
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QuickBooks Statement Writer 2012 – Your Financial Statement Solution

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Author ............................................................................................................................ 4

About this Course .......................................................................................................................... 5
Learning Objectives ................................................................................................................... 5

How QuickBooks Statement Writer can Help You in Your Practice ......................................... 6
Benefits of using QuickBooks Statement Writer........................................................................ 6
Example 1: CPA firm with multiple staff members an several medical/dental practice clients
............................................................................................................................................ 7
Example 2: Bookkeeper with small business clients .......................................................... 7
Key Differences Between QSW, QuickBooks Reports, and Excel............................................ 8

Recent New Features and Enhancements................................................................................. 10
Existing Features of QuickBooks Statement Writer ................................................................ 11
Improved Report Designer ...................................................................................................... 12

How to Create Three Common Reports and Statements ......................................................... 13
Example 1 – Financial Statements with Compilation Report .................................................. 14
Follow along in a Sample file ............................................................................................ 14
Create new report (Report Content) ................................................................................. 14
Report Designer ................................................................................................................ 15
Customizing the Balance Sheet ........................................................................................ 17
Customize the Income Statement ..................................................................................... 19
Review & Finish ................................................................................................................ 20
Customizing the Compilation Report ................................................................................ 21
Memorize the Report Group for Reuse ............................................................................. 23
Print to PDF ....................................................................................................................... 24
Example 2 – Nonprofit Organization........................................................................................ 25
Create New Report ........................................................................................................... 25
Using the Report Designer ................................................................................................ 26
Customize the Budget vs. Actual Report .......................................................................... 28
Customize the Header/Footer ........................................................................................... 29

1


Create Report .................................................................................................................... 29
Customize the Income Statement to Filter by Class ......................................................... 30
Print to PDF ....................................................................................................................... 32
Example 3 – Financial Statements with Charts/Graphs for Small Business Owner .............. 33
Create New Report ........................................................................................................... 33
Using the Report Designer ................................................................................................ 34
Customize the Cash Flow Statement................................................................................ 36
Create Report .................................................................................................................... 37
Create Worksheet for Calculating Ratios .......................................................................... 37
Create Charts and Graphs ................................................................................................ 39
Print to PDF ....................................................................................................................... 40

QuickBooks Statement Writer Features .................................................................................... 41
Memorize Customized Templates or Report Group for Reuse ............................................... 41
Document Actions Panel and Statement Writer Toolbar ......................................................... 42
Report Properties .............................................................................................................. 43
Statement Properties ........................................................................................................ 44
Refresh from QuickBooks ................................................................................................. 45
Manage Accounts and Rows on Financial Reports .......................................................... 45
Row Properties.................................................................................................................. 46
Insert Rows and Columns for Manual Calculations and Formulas ................................... 50
Column Properties and Adding Columns to Statements ......................................................... 51
Adding Calculating Columns to Financial Statements ...................................................... 52
Adding a % of the Whole Column to a Financial Statement ............................................. 53
Adding a Variance Column to a Financial Statement ....................................................... 55
Adding Additional Columns with Summary Total and Grand Total Columns to a Financial
Statement .......................................................................................................................... 57
Filtering for Class or Customer:Job Columns on the Income Statement.......................... 61
Cell Properties ......................................................................................................................... 65
QuickZoom from QuickBooks Statement Writer to the QuickBooks General Ledger ............. 66
Editing the Appearance of Financial Statements .................................................................... 67

2


Setting Report Preferences ..................................................................................................... 68
Diagnostics for Network Problems .......................................................................................... 72
Saving and Creating a PDF of the Financial Statements and Report ..................................... 73

Attaching and Customizing Microsoft Word Documents ........................................................ 74
Using QuickBooks Statement Writer Help ............................................................................... 80

Appendix: Sample Compilation Report (without Disclosures) with SSARS 19 wording ..... 81

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle L. Long, CPA, MBA

Long for Success, LLC
www.LongforSuccess.com

Michelle L. Long, CPA, MBA is the owner of Long for Success, LLC specializing in QuickBooks consulting
and training, coaching small business owners. Michelle has a unique relationship with Intuit as an elite
national trainer and presents “What’s New for QuickBooks” to accounting professionals nationwide. She
is a member of Intuit’s Trainer/Writer Network and a consultant for product development. She is an
Advanced Certified ProAdvisor with other certifications too.

Since 2000, Michelle has taught hundreds of QuickBooks seminars to thousands of QuickBooks users
and accounting professionals. She has recorded QuickBooks courses that are sold as online training,
DVDs and iPad apps. In addition to seminars, Michelle has conducted numerous webinars for Intuit and
webcasts for Office Depot.

Michelle is the author of two books: Successful QuickBooks Consulting: The Comprehensive Guide
to Starting and Growing a QuickBooks Consulting Business and How to Start a Home-Based
Bookkeeping Business and numerous courses for Intuit Academy.

Michelle was named a Financial Services Champion of the Year by the Small Business Administration in
recognition of her dedication to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners. Michelle has been
mentioned in the New York Times, Business Week, Investor’s Business Daily, Accounting Today
and various blogs. She was named as one of “10 Worth Watching: Women who Inspire a Profession” by
Accounting Today. Accounting Today also named her blog (www.longforsuccess.com/blog) one of ’10
Worth Watching Accounting Blogs.’

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ABOUT THIS COURSE
If you haven’t looked at QuickBooks Statement Writer lately, you’re missing out on the new and improved
features and functionality that can revolutionize how you prepare compilations, write-ups, and
management reports. Learn how QuickBooks Statement Writer utilizes templates to bridge QuickBooks
with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. Create your own templates based on your clients’ needs or use
pre-defined templates to create industry-compliant statements. Create professional accounting reports
with flexible formatting that will improve the productivity and efficiencies within your firm.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this course you will be able to use QuickBooks Statement Writer to:

 Create common reports and statements including financial statements:
o with a compilation report
o for nonprofit organizations
o with charts and graphs for management

 Create templates that you can reuse across clients month-after-month

5


HOW QUICKBOOKS STATEMENT WRITER CAN
HELP YOU IN YOUR PRACTICE
You can create a Balance Sheet, Income Statement and numerous other reports within QuickBooks.
However, many times these standard reports do not meet the needs of you or your clients. As a result,
many accounting professionals export the report to Excel1 to make modifications and customizations to
the report. Then, if the data changes in QuickBooks you have to export the report to Excel again and
make the modifications and changes all over again. Plus, you have to do this for each client each time.
This is a very inefficient workflow.

Using QuickBooks Statement Writer once you customize your statements and documents, you may
simply refresh them month after month to reflect the latest numbers in your report. You can eliminate the
inefficiencies and allow you to produce customized financial statements and reports quicker than ever.

BENEFITS OF USING QUICKBOOKS STATEMENT WRITER
QuickBooks Statement Writer combines the best of QuickBooks with the best of Excel to give you
financial statements more efficiently than ever. There are numerous benefits to using QuickBooks
Statement Writer for:

 CPAs who prepare reports for Compilations or Write-ups
 CPAs who prepare reports for Reviews or Audits
 CPAs who need to ensure compliance with SSARS 19 and for peer review purposes
 Bookkeepers or accounting professionals who want to differentiate themselves and add value to
their services by providing custom reports and/or graphs for management or small business
owners
 Bookkeepers or accounting professionals who prepare reports for the Boards of Directors of
Nonprofit organizations
 Bookkeepers or accounting professionals who prepare custom reports for small businesses for
other compliance needs

1
Requires Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 or 2010. Does not work with 2003 Microsoft Office Student Edition, Standard
or Small Business Editions. Does not work with the 64 bit versions of Microsoft 2007 and 2010.

6


Example 1: CPA firm with multiple staff members an
several medical/dental practice clients
Susie Senior uses QuickBooks Statement Writer to customize the financial statements and reports
according to her firm’s guidelines and specifications for a client that is a medical practice. In just a couple
of hours, she has financial statements and a Compilation report that complies with SSARS 19 and will
meet peer review standards. After printing the financial statements and compilation report to a PDF,
Susie saves it as an QuickBooks Statement Writer template on the firm’s network.

Now, Sam Staff Member needs to create the financial statements and report for another medical practice
client. He can use the template created by Susie that has already been customized. When he opens the
template, he receives a message about accounts that are not included in the statements so that he is
aware of them and can add them to the financial statements. In just a few minutes, he has completed the
report and printed a PDF which includes the Cover sheet, Compilation Report, financial statements and
graphs of key ratios.

If other staff members need to create statements and reports for an engineering firm (or architects, law
office, or other service based business), they can use the same template Susie created for the
medical/dental practice clients and modify and customize it as well. This is much more efficient than
starting from scratch.

Creating templates with QuickBooks Statement Writer can really help save time and improve productivity
especially when all members of the firm can access the templates from the network.

Example 2: Bookkeeper with small business clients
Betty Bookkeeper does the monthly bookkeeping for several small business clients using QuickBooks
Accountant 2012. She wants to add value to the reports she gives the owners every month and help them
see how their business is doing. Using QuickBooks Statement Writer, she customizes the financial
statements and adds a new sheet in the workbook for charts and graphs. She includes graphs of key
ratios and a trend line showing sales by month for the past year. The owners really like being able to
quickly see financial information from the charts and graphs. The last bookkeepers they had just provided
the standard reports with a bunch of numbers that the owners never really understood; they really
appreciate the added value of the charts and graphs from Betty.

Betty is able to use the same template each month in a few minutes. She helps differentiate herself from
other bookkeepers by adding value for the client.

When you create custom templates using QuickBooks Statement Writer, you can re-use the template in
the future and for other clients. This saves you time and improves your efficiency and productivity.
Specific benefits include the following.

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KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QSW, QUICKBOOKS REPORTS, AND EXCEL
A new feature in QuickBooks 2012 allows you to save your Excel worksheet formatting when you export
QuickBooks reports to Excel. Now when you export your QuickBooks reports to Excel, refresh the saved
worksheet and your formats will be applied to the new report. QuickBooks remembers your Excel formats
so you can work seamlessly. This is a nice complementary feature to use along with QuickBooks
Statement Writer.

This chart shows the key differences between QuickBooks Statement Writer, reports in QuickBooks and
using Excel. It makes it easy to see the benefits provided by QuickBooks Statement Writer.

QSW QB Reports Excel

Ability to create reusable templates by industry or
business entity type that may be reused across clients Y N N
and engagements

Ability to refresh QuickBooks data, including statement
Y Y
headers, footers, and balances
Y

Prepare reports with cover letters and other
documents that automatically refresh and bring Y N N
QuickBooks data

Easily format statements to meet professional
Y N N
standards

Generate PDF reports combining statements and
Y N N
documents

Ability to change account names Y N Y

Easily combine or separate account groups Y N N

Share or backup reports and templates on the network
Y N Y
drive

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Using QuickBooks Statement Writer in your practice can enable you to:

 Expand Services to Your Clients
o Show your clients how their business is doing by preparing highly customized reports

 Date ranges that align with your client's business, including 4-week months or 13
week quarters (especially beneficial for restaurants, retail businesses and others)
 Reports can be created by one or more class and/or job, or combine classes and
jobs that fit your client's needs
 Leverage Excel features such as charts and pivot tables to help clients better
understand the numbers (graphs are easy, linked to the QuickBooks data and really
add value for clients)

 Customize Statements and Reports
o Generate statements that comply with industry standards

 Combine QuickBooks accounts into GAAP- or OCBOA-compliant names (for CPAs,
this helps ensure compliance with SSARS 19 and helps with your Peer Review)
 Add third-party or custom letters to your reports

 Increase Your Productivity
o Consistently create accurate statements quickly

 Eliminate data entry errors using our one click data update feature
 See the "numbers behind the numbers" from within your statements using
QuickZoom

o Generate supporting documents such as letters in Microsoft Word using bundled
templates

 Use our library of letters and documents or download more from our community site
 Create your own engagement and cover letters in Word
 Bring QuickBooks and statement data into your letters

o Work more efficiently using enhanced formatting features

 Zero balance suppression
 Show or hide inactive accounts, decimals, negative number formats, and more

9


RECENT NEW FEATURES AND ENHANCEMENTS
QuickBooks Statement Writer (QSW) uses Excel as its platform to generate professional and customized
financial statements for you and your clients. In 2012, the following features were improved or added:

 Improved Report Designer – The Report Designer now uses a more organized, step-by-step
approach, which is designed for better flow and overall ease-of-use.
 Design Button in Excel – In Excel, there is a Design button on the tool bar that allows you to
access the Report Designer with the current statement loaded.
 Real Data Now Shown – The Report Designer now displays real data from the currently opened
QuickBooks file.
 Easier Global Formatting – Customizing global styles is easier now with a formatting window in
the Preferences menu in Excel.
 New Total Row Types – There are four new total row types, all of which are customizable via the
Row Properties menu in Excel
 Balance Sheet Round-off Amount – On the Statement Properties menu in Excel, you can now
change the assigned round-off account for the Balance Sheet
 Temporary Cell Override – On the Cell Properties menu in Excel, you can override a cell value,
which will remain until the report is refreshed
 New Bubble Help – In an effort to provide quick help on certain QSW screens, look for blue text
that will display helpful information when you point to it

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EXISTING FEATURES OF QUICKBOOKS STATEMENT WRITER
 Print using continuous page-numbering
 Open and save QSW files to the network drive
 Ability to “Save As” another report
 Numerous financial statement templates such as the Cash Flow and Retained Earnings
statements
 Ability to work with up to 16 statements in one Microsoft Excel Workbook
 Documents such as cover letters and compilation reports created in QuickBooks Statement
Writer using Microsoft Word2can be attached to a Microsoft Excel Workbook
 Prepare financial statements for any arbitrary date range such as 4-week months,
13-week quarters, or crossing fiscal periods (beneficial for restaurants, retail and other clients)
 Entire financial statements can be filtered by Class and/or Customer:Job
 Combine classes and/or jobs together for even greater reporting flexibility
 Combine QuickBooks accounts by Account Name, Account Type, or Account Range
 Refresh one statement or the whole Microsoft Excel Workbook
 Easily add new rows and columns with QuickBooks Data, Formulas, Totals and More
 Customize Headers and/or Footers to meet firm or client-specific needs
 Change a variety of preferences including
o Show/hide inactive accounts
o Show/hide decimals
o Divide balances by 1,000, 100, or 10
o Show/hide and format zero balances
o Save print order
o Change document order

 Run QSW Diagnostics to identify any potential issues and resolutions
 Create charts and graphs within the QuickBooks Statement Writer template and refresh data as
needed
 Easily generate PDF3 reports containing your Microsoft Excel financial statements and Microsoft
Word documents

2 Requires Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 or 2010. Does not work with 2003 Microsoft Office Student Edition, Standard or Small Business Editions.
Does not work with the 64 bit versions of Microsoft 2007 and 2010.
3 With Windows XP or Vista, Adobe Acrobat 5 or greater required; with Windows 7, Adobe Acrobat 9 required.

11


IMPROVED REPORT DESIGNER
Now it is easier than ever to customize financial statements. Whether you are creating a new report or
modifying an existing report, the QSW Report Designer will help you customize the report to meet your
needs. The Report Designer allows you to easily drag and drop fields to columns, rows and the
header/footer area. This makes it easy to customize the statements to meet your needs. You can do all of
the customization from within the Report Designer.

Using the drag and drop feature of the Report Designer is quick and easy. In the three examples below,
you will see how easy it is to customize statements using the Report Designer.

Remember, after you design and customize the statements, then you should memorize the report group
to reuse templates for other clients.

12


HOW TO CREATE THREE COMMON REPORTS
AND STATEMENTS
In order to help you better understand how QuickBooks Statement Writer works we will share examples of
three common scenarios of financial statements and reports created by accounting professionals. Details
are provided so you can use the sample company file (Rock Castle Construction) to do these examples
on your own. These examples help you get an overview of the features and functionality of how QSW
works with each example focusing on different areas of QSW. After completing these examples, you
should be more comfortable working with QSW.

 Example 1 – Annual Financial Statements with Compilation Report
o Balance Sheet – Current and Prior Year
o Income Statement – Current and Prior Year
o Cash Flow Statement – Current and Prior Year
o Statement of Retained Earnings – Simplified
o Cover Letter
o Compilation Report without Disclosures – will modify for SSARS 19 wording

 Example 2 – NonProfit Organization
o Balance Sheet – showing 3 years
o Profit & Loss by Class and with Prior Year Actual
o Budget vs. Actual for current year and prior year actual

 Example 3 – Financial Statements and charts/graphs for Management
o Balance Sheet – Current and Prior Year
o Profit & Loss – Monthly with Prior Year Total
o Statement of Cash Flows – monthly
o Ratio Worksheet (not included in final report for client)
o Charts / Graphs with key ratios and trends

13


EXAMPLE 1 – FINANCIAL STATEMENTS WITH COMPILATION REPORT
In this example, we will prepare financial statements and a compilation report for a sample product-based
business that operates as a corporation. You will see how to customize and design the statements and
then save the template to be reused in the future or for other clients. Specifically, in this example will we
prepare the following:

 Balance Sheet – Current and Prior Year
 Income Statement – Current and Prior Year
 Cash Flow Statement – Current and Prior Year
 Statement of Retained Earnings – Simplified
 Cover Letter
 Compilation Report without Disclosures – will modify for SSARS 19 wording

Follow along in a Sample file
You can do this example using the Sample file for Rock Castle Construction in QuickBooks Accountant.
To access the sample file, go to File > Close Company, click on Open a Sample Company, and then
select Sample Product Based Business.

Keep in mind that QSW is similar to QuickBooks since there is more than one way to do the same thing.
Many times you can right-click, use an icon or use the menus, so feel free to use which ever method you
choose.

Create new report (Report Content)
1. Launch QSW from the Accountant or Reports menu or the icon bar from within QuickBooks
Accountant 2012 or QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 12.0.

2. Select Design New.

3. Select the Date and Basis for the report at the top (01/01/2013 to 12/31/2013 and Accrual
basis).

4. Double-click on the following reports to select them (or for each report, click to select and click the
right arrow).

o Balance Sheet – Selected and Prior Year
o Income Statement – Selected Period and Year to Date
o Cash Flow Statement – Selected and Prior Period
o Retained Earnings Statement – Selected Period – Simplified
o Cover Letter
o Compilation Report – Accrual Basis Compilation Report without Disclosures

5. Indicate the Report Name at the bottom.

6. Click on Next.

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Report Designer
The Report Designer is an easy to use tool to help you customize the statements to meet your needs.
Before you create the report you could memorize the report group as a template for reuse later. With the
Report Designer you can insert columns and rows, combine accounts, set up the header/footer and much
more. I would encourage you to use it to do the majority of your customization and then save the template
as explained later.

General Overview
On the tabs for the different statements and reports, use the arrows (pointed out in the image below) to
scroll through the statements and reports.

There are three areas to customize and design the statements and report as shown in the image below.

 Columns
 Rows/Accounts
 Headers & Formatting

15


16


Customizing the Balance Sheet
1. Click on the Rows/Accounts tab and Balance Sheet.

Rows/Accounts – Combine accounts
We want to show Cash and Cash Equivalents as one line so we need to group all the bank accounts and
Undeposited funds together and roll them up into one line item we can rename.

1. Click on Undeposited funds to select it (it will highlight the row) and drag and drop it next to the
other bank accounts. Or you could click on the icon to move the row up (see image below).

2. Click the first bank account (Checking in the screen shot below) and hold the shift key and select
Undeposited Funds which should be the last bank account so all the accounts in between were
selected (i.e. while holding down the shift key, click on the first and last account you want to
group or roll up together).

3. Right-click to select Combine Selected Accounts (or use the menu bar to click on Rows >
Combine Selected Accounts).

4. Click on the Account name to edit it – type in Cash and Cash Equivalents.

17


Modifying Fixed Assets and other Balance Sheet Accounts
1. Click on Accumulated Depreciation and drag and drop it to the bottom of fixed assets (or use
the icon for Move Down to move it).

2. To insert a row for a subtotal of Total Fixed Assets, from the left panel under Drag/Drop
Columns, Drag and drop Total 1 so you see a green line above Accumulated Depreciation and
below the fixed assets (drop it when you have the green line where you want to insert the row).
Finally, type in Total Fixed Assets.

3. Next, click to edit and type in Less in front of Accumulated Depreciation so it reads Less:
Accumulated Depreciation.

4. Edit Total Property and Equipment to be Net Property and Equipment (click on the field to edit it).

5. Continue to combine and move rows as needed.

6. Customize the equity section according to the type of entity for the business (i.e. Member’s
Contribution, Common Stock, etc.). For our example, it is a corporation so we will combine all
accounts except Capital Stock into Retained Earnings. Select the accounts; select Combine
Selected Accounts into one line named Retained Earnings.

18


NOTE: The row for Statement Out of Balance will not show in the report. If there is a rounding
difference, you will get a pop up window asking you to indicate which account to use for rounding
differences.

Customize the Income Statement
Next we will look at how you can customize and add columns to statements. We will customize the
income statement it to show the current period (month) and year to date totals.

1. Click the tab that says Income Statement and the Columns tab.

2. On the top, click the Columns tab. On the left panel under Drag/Drop Columns, Click on
QuickBooks Data and drag and drop it to the first column after the account names. You will see
the green line where the column will be added. Do this again so you have 2 new columns of
QuickBooks data (for the current month this year and last year).

3. Right-click on the first column heading (or under the Columns menu) Select Edit Column Date
Range and Custom Dates to enter 12/01/2013 through 12/31/2013 for the current month in the
practice file. Right-click on the second column heading to pull December from the previous year
(i.e. 2012).

4. Sub accounts are automatically rolled up to show only the main accounts, but you can make
changes to the accounts or rows if needed. You can modify the names of accounts or sections if
needed. For example, you could change it from Cost of Goods Sold to Cost of Services.

19


Headers/Footers Formatting
1. Click on the tab for the Balance Sheet (Selected and Prior Year) to customize the Header and
Footer and select the Headers & Formatting tab.

2. You can click on the fields in the header to utilize the Smart Headers and use the drop down
menu to customize it. Also, you can drag and drop fields from the left to customize the Header
and Footer as needed.

Review & Finish
1. When you finish customizing using the Report Designer, click Review & Finish.

2. If there are rounding differences, you will be prompted to indicate which account to use for the
Round-Off Account.

3. Optionally, you can Memorize Current Statement or Memorize Report Group for reuse as shown
in the image below.

4. Click Create Report.

20


Customizing the Compilation Report
CPAs need to prepare a compilation, review or audit report and comply with various standards. Effective
for reports and financial statements ending on or after Dec. 15, 2010, CPAs must comply with SSARS 19.
This new standard impacts compilations and reviews. If you are a CPA you need to learn about SSARS
19 to ensure you comply with the standard.

SSARS 19 includes changes to the wording of compilation and review reports. The wording may vary
depending on the industry, type of entity and accounting basis. The sample reports included with QSW
will not comply with the new SSARS 19 wording. Thus, you should modify the templates to comply with
the SSARS 19 requirements for your clients and save it as a template for future use. A sample
compilation report with SSARS 19 wording is included in the Appendix. You can see a comparison of the
previous compilation report wording compared to the new compilation report here:
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2010/May/20102466 and a sample compilation report here:
http://longforsuccess.com/?p=1667

This example will show you how to modify a compilation report, save it as a template so you can reuse it
in the future and for other clients.

1. On the Document Actions pane, in the Report Properties section, click on Documents and
open the Compilation Report. We will use it to customize as needed to comply with SSARS 19.

2. Edit the report for the new SSARS 19 wording as needed and save it as template with a different
name. (In Word, click Save As and select Template for the file type.)

21


3. To add the newly revised compilation report to the available templates, on the Document
Actions pane, click Edit and Add or Modify Documents and select Add to select the report
From My Computer.

22


4. Finally we need to delete the original compilation report. On the Document Actions pane, click
on Edit, Add or Modify Documents, select the standard Compilation Report and click Delete
to remove it.

5. To add the customized report to the list of templates, on the Document Actions pane, click on
Tools, Add or Modify Templates, click on the Documents tab, click Add and select the
template you saved in step 3.

Memorize the Report Group for Reuse
You need to memorize the report template (qsm file) to reuse it for future periods or other clients.

 From within the Document Actions pane there are several options to Save
o From Report on the menu bar
o From the Icons Save or Save As
o Keyboard shortcuts (Control+M to Memorize the Current Statement) or Control+G to
Memorize the Report Group)

In the future, when you launch QSW you can select Open Report to open the saved template.

23


Print to PDF
1. Click on the Document Actions pane, Report and select Save As PDF. For this exercise, we
will select all the reports and letters for the final PDF of the financial statements and report by
double-clicking on each one.

2. Click on Cover Letter and the up arrow to move it to be first. Then, move up the Compilation
Report to be second. At the bottom, indicate how you want the page numbering – continuous or
restart for each statement or document. You may also want to check the box to set as default
order.

3. Then, click Create to create the PDF of the financial statements and report.

4. If you choose to save as Excel, then you could send the Excel file to your client or others, but
they would not have the tools and functionality of Statement Writer or the link to the QuickBooks
data.

24


EXAMPLE 2 – NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
In this example, we will prepare financial statements for a nonprofit organization for the Board of
Directors. You will see how to customize and design the statements and then save the template to be
reused in the future or for other clients. Specifically, in this example will we prepare the following:

 Balance Sheet – showing 3 years
 Profit & Loss by Class and with Prior Year Actual
 Budget vs. Actual for current year and prior year actual
You can do this example on your own using the sample file for a sample business (Rock Castle
Construction) in QuickBooks. To access the sample file, go to File > Close Company and click on Open
a Sample Company.

Many times you can right-click, use an icon or use the menus so feel free to use which ever method you
choose.

Create New Report
1. Launch QSW from the Accountant or Reports menu or the icon bar from within QuickBooks


3. Select the Date and Basis for the report at the top (01/01/2013 to 12/31/2013 and Accrual basis).

4. Double-click on the following reports to select them or click on each report, and then click the
right arrow.

o Balance Sheet – Selected and Prior Year
o Income Statement – Selected Period and Prior Year (to show by class)
o Budget vs. Actual – Selected Period


6. Click on Next.

25


Using the Report Designer
as explained later.

General Overview


 Columns
 Rows/Accounts

1. Click on the Rows/Accounts tab and Balance Sheet.

Adding Additional Years / Columns
1. On the left panel under Drag/Drop Columns, click on QuickBooks Data and drag and drop it to
the column after the last column of data (i.e. 2012 in our sample file). You will see the green line
where the column will be added.

2. Right-click on the column heading (or under the Columns menu). Select Edit Column Date
Range and Custom Dates to enter the year – 2011. Or select Current Period/Prior Year and
drag the date range indicator to the right to select 2011.



2. Click the first bank account and hold the shift key and select Undeposited Funds which should
be the last bank account so all the accounts in between were selected (i.e. while holding down
the shift key, click on the first and last account you want to group or roll up together).



26


Modifying Fixed Assets and other Balance Sheet Accounts
1. Click on Accumulated Depreciation and drag and drop it to the bottom of fixed assets (or use
the icon for Move Down to move it).

2. To insert a row for a subtotal of Total Fixed Assets, from the left panel, Drag and drop Total 1
so you see a green line above Accumulated Depreciation and below the fixed assets (drop it
when you have the green line where you want to insert the row). Finally, type in Total Fixed
Assets.

3. Next, click to edit and type in Less in front of Accumulated Depreciation so it reads Less:
Accumulated Depreciation.

4. Edit Total Property and Equipment to be Net Property and Equipment.

Customize the Equity Section for a Nonprofit Organization
 To customize the equity section for a nonprofit organization, you can combine accounts as
needed – for example based on restricted or unrestricted funds. You can Combine Selected
Accounts as needed.
 Also, click and edit from Stockholder’s Equity to Net Assets and Total Liabilities and
Stockholder’s Equity to Total Liabilities and Net Assets.
NOTE: The row for Statement Out of Balance will not show in the report. If there is a rounding
difference, you will get a pop up window asking you to indicate which account to use for rounding
differences.

In Report Designer, we can customize and delete rows or columns as needed. Click the tab to select the
Income Statement.

For a nonprofit client, you may need to delete some rows (like for Cost of Goods Sold or Income tax, etc.).

1. Highlight Income (Loss) Before Taxes. Highlight Income Tax, right-click and select Delete
Row. Repeat with Income Tax.

2. Highlight Net Income (Loss) and change to Excess (deficit) revenues over expenses.

Adding additional period / columns
To add the columns for the classes click on the Columns tab on top:

1. On the left panel under Drag/Drop Columns, click on QuickBooks Data and drag and drop it to
the first column after the account names. You will see the green line where the column will be
added. Do this for each class – for example, Rock Castle Construction has 3 classes so we would
insert 3 columns. (We will filter by class later).

2. Right-click on the column heading (or under the Columns menu) Select Edit Column Date
Range and select the Current Period to pull the current year.

NOTE: You cannot indicate filter by class or specify the classes in the Report Designer. You need to
use the Document Actions pane in Excel to do it as explained later.

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Customize the Budget vs. Actual Report
We can see Budget vs. Actual for the selected year, but often nonprofit organizations would like to see
last year actual too. We can add a column for last year actual.

1. Click on Columns tab.

2. From the left panel, under Drag/Drop Columns, drag and drop QuickBooks Data – Actual to the
right of the last column.

3. Right-click on the top row of the column to select Edit Column Date Range to select last year
(2012).

After you create the report it will look similar to this:

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You should also customize the rows like we did for the income statement. Click on the Rows tab on top.

1. Click on first row of Cost of Goods Sold, hold down Shift key and click on Gross Profit. Right-
click and select Delete Row.

2. Highlight Income (Loss) Before Taxes. Highlight Income Tax, right-click and select Delete
Row. Repeat with Income Tax.

3. Highlight Net Income (Loss) and change to Excess (deficit) revenues over expenses.

Customize the Header/Footer
The first step is to select Headers & Formatting tab on the top. The Smart Headers make it easy to
customize the header/footer as needed. Click on the Headers & Formatting tab on top.

1. For the Balance Sheet, click on the Header to access the Smart Header and the information will
change to reflect the bracketed Header/footer fields.

2. Click on the statement name to access the drop down list and select Statement of Financial
Position.

3. If desired, click on the drop down menu for the date to change the appearance of the date.

4. Click in another box on the header to preview the header.

5. Do the same to customize the header on the other statements (i.e. change the Profit & Loss to a
Statement of Operations.

Create Report
After you are finished customizing using the Report Designer, click Review & Finish tab on top. You may
want to memorize the statement and/or report group. Then, click Create Report. You will be prompted to
indicate which account to use for the Round-Off Account when there are rounding differences.

NOTE: Now you will be in Excel where you primarily use the QSW Document Actions pane and menus.

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Customize the Income Statement to Filter by Class
We want to customize the income statement to Filter by Class. In order to do this, we need to be in QSW
in Excel (i.e. you can’t do it by class in the Report Designer).

1. At the top of column B (the first column to the right of the account names), click to select the
column.

2. Then, in Column Properties on the Document Actions panel click on Insert Column,
QuickBooks Data (change the width of the column if necessary).

3. Select column B again. In the Column Filters > Class, uncheck All and select the first class
(New Construction) for the report.

4. Continue to filter each column added for each class.

5. On the Document Actions pane, click on the Refresh from QuickBooks icon and select
Current statement only.

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As you can see below, we have a Profit & Loss by Class with Last year actual. Optionally you can include
the columns for variance and % too.




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EXAMPLE 3 – FINANCIAL STATEMENTS WITH CHARTS/GRAPHS
FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
In this example, we will prepare financial statements and charts and graphs for management. You will see
how to customize and design the statements and then save the template to be reused in the future or for
other clients. Specifically, in this example will we prepare the following:

 Balance Sheet – Current and Prior Year
 Profit & Loss – Monthly with Prior Year Total
 Statement of Cash Flows – monthly
 Ratio Worksheet (not included in final report for client)
 Charts / Graphs with key ratios and trends
You can do this example on your own using the Sample file for a sample business (Rock Castle
Construction) in QuickBooks Accountant. To access the sample file, go to File > Close Company and
click on Open a Sample Company and select Sample Product Based Business.

Many times you can right click, use an icon or use the menus so feel free to use which ever method you
choose.

Create New Report
1. Launch QSW from the Accountant or Reports Menu or the icon bar from within QuickBooks


3. Select the Date and Basis for the report at the top (01/01/2015 to 12/31/2015 and Accrual
basis).

4. Double click on the following reports to select them or click on it and click the right arrow:

o Balance Sheet – Selected and Prior Year with Variance and %
o Income Statement – Monthly Selected Period and Year to Date
o Cash Flow Statements – Selected and Prior Period
o Cover Letter


6. Click Next.

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Using the Report Designer
as explained later.

General Overview


 Columns
 Rows/Accounts


Make sure you are on the tab for the Balance Sheet (as shown in the screen shot above) to get to the tab
for the balance sheet and click the Rows/Accounts tab.



2. Click the first bank account and hold the shift key and select Undeposited Funds which should
be the last bank account so all the accounts in between were selected (i.e. while holding down
the shift key, click on the first and last account you want to group or roll up together).



5. Customize the equity section according to the type of entity for the business (i.e. Member’s
Contribution, Common Stock, etc.). For our example, it is a corporation so we will combine all
accounts except Capital Stock into Retained Earnings. Select the accounts, select Combine
Selected Accounts into one line named Retained Earnings.

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Next we will look at how you can customize and add columns to statements. We will customize the
income statement it to show last year actual.

1. Click the tab for the Income Statement and Columns tab.

2. On the left panel, under Drag/Drop Columns, click on QuickBooks Data and drag and drop it to
the right of the last column of data. You will see the green line where the column will be added.

3. Right-click on the column heading (or under the Columns menu). Select Edit Column Date
Range and Custom Dates to select last year (2012).

4. Sub accounts have been rolled up into the main accounts, but you can make changes to the
accounts or rows if needed. You can modify the names of accounts or sections if needed. For
example, you could change it from Cost of Goods Sold to Cost of Services.

After you create the report (later), it will be similar to this image (not all months are shown):

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Customize the Cash Flow Statement
We want a monthly Cash Flow Statement for management so we need to add columns for each month.

1. Click the tab that says Cash Flow.

2. Select the Columns tab, and then click on QuickBooks Data and drag and drop it to the right of
the account names. You will see the green line where the column will be added. Do this 12 times
(for each month).

3. Right-click on the first column heading (or under the Columns menu), select Edit Column Date
Range > Specific Month > January. Continue this for each month through December.

After you create the report (later), it will look similar to this (only four months are shown here):

Header/Footer
1. To customize the header and footer, click on the tab for the Balance Sheet (Selected and Prior
Year), and then select the Headers & Formatting tab.

2. You can click on the fields in the header to utilize the Smart Headers and use the drop down
menu to customize it. Also, you can drag and drop fields from the left to customize the header
and footer as needed.

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Create Report
After you are finished customizing using the Report Designer, click Review & Finish and then Create
Report. You will be prompted to indicate which account to use for the Round-Off Account when there
are rounding differences.

Create Worksheet for Calculating Ratios
In order to create charts and graphs to show key ratios and trends, we need a worksheet to calculate the
ratios. This worksheet is used for calculations and is not printed as part of the final report that is sent to
the client.

1. First, click on a tab for the Cash Flow Statement. Then, on the Document Actions pane, click
on Edit and select Insert Statement.

2. Select a Balance Sheet – Selected and Prior Year and OK.

3. Right-click on the tab that says Balance Sheet 1 and Rename to Ratios.

4. Scroll down to the blank lines under the balance sheet.

5. On one of the blank rows you can start calculating ratios – for example, type in Current Ratio.

6. On the Current Ratio row, in the column for 2015, we will calculate the current ratio (Current
Assets / Current Liabilities) select Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities. Repeat for
column 2014. (Optionally -- format the cells by clicking on the Decrease Decimal button – i.e. to
2 decimal places).

7. You can continue to calculate ratios with balance sheet accounts as desired – Quick Ratio, Debt
to Equity, etc. Some ratios require amounts from the income statement (such as Inventory or
Accounts Receivable Turnover, Return on Equity, etc.). We can add rows linked to the income
statement.

8. On another blank row, enter Total Revenue. In the column for 2015, type = click on the Income
Statement Tab to select total income for 2015 and enter. Repeat for 2014.

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9. You may also want to calculate the Gross Margin, Net Profit Margin or other key ratios. You can
continue to add rows of data linked to the income statement as described. See the image below
as an example of what it may look like.

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Create Charts and Graphs
Next, we need to actually create the charts and graphs to show key ratios and trends. These can be
included in the final report to the client, and charts can be inserted into a cover letter or word doc if
desired.

1. First, click on an unnamed tab to the right of the Ratios tab to create a new sheet in the
workbook. This sheet is not a QSW spreadsheet so the Document Actions pane and statement
writer menus will not function. It is a normal Excel worksheet.

2. Let’s add a chart to show the current ratio. On the Excel toolbar, click Insert > Column and
select the first 2-D column (or whatever you prefer). The Chart Tools menu appears at the top of
the window.

3. On the toolbar, click Select Data. The Select Data Source window opens.

4. In the workbook, click the Ratios tab and select the cells with the current ratio for both years.

5. In the Select Data Source window, in the Legend Entries (Series) area, click Edit. In the Edit
Series window, in the Series name field, type Current Ratio.

6. Still in the Select Data Source window, in the Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels area, click
Edit. The Axis Labels window opens.

7. In the Ratios tab, select the column headings with the years (i.e. 2015 and 2014 in our example)
and click OK. Now, when we reuse this template it will pull the correct periods. Your chart will
look similar to this:

Current Ratio
20.0000

15.0000

10.0000
Current Ratio
5.0000

0.0000
2015 2014

You can add charts and graphs as needed. For example, we created a monthly income statement sheet
so you could create a chart showing monthly – revenues, net income, gross profit margin, etc. Showing
monthly trends can help your clients see how their business is doing.

Remember, these are part of your QSW template, which is linked to the QuickBooks data file. So you can
make changes in QuickBooks, refresh the data, and it will update the charts and graphs, too. Once you
have created this template you can reuse it for future periods or other clients. It is a great way to add
value for your clients and you can do it quickly and efficiently too.

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QUICKBOOKS STATEMENT WRITER FEATURES
In the previous section, there were three examples demonstrating how to create many common financial
statements, reports, charts/graphs and more. When you start using QSW, you’ll soon find that it is the
perfect tool for quickly handling all of your reporting needs. This section goes over how to use
QuickBooks Statement Writer to create your own reports and statements and other details on how to do
specific things using QSW.

When you create a new report, use the Report Designer to do the majority of the customization. After
you’ve created the report or you open an existing report, then you may use the QSW features discussed
in this section.

When you launch QSW, you must select to Design a new report or open an existing report. If you are
creating a new report, you can choose statements (like Balance Sheet, Income Statement, etc.) or reports
(like a compilation report, review, etc.) from the numerous templates available. Or you can open an
existing report that you previously customized and saved for reuse.

The default templates are created to be more GAAP oriented as compared to the typical formatting used
for QuickBooks reports. For example, there is a single Current Assets section that includes all of the
current asset account types that QuickBooks uses: Bank, A/R, and Other Current Asset. Once the
templates are opened, you will be able to edit the design of the default template to meet your firm’s
specific reporting preferences and/or customize the statement format into tighter compliance with GAAP.

MEMORIZE CUSTOMIZED TEMPLATES OR REPORT GROUP FOR REUSE
After you have used the Report Designer wizard to customize the rows, columns, headers and footers
you want to make sure you memorize the template or report group. This allows you to reuse it in the
future for the same client or other clients as well.

 Memorize Current Statement – memorizes one statement only. For example, the profit and loss
or balance sheet. One statement or tab of a workbook will be memorized.
 Memorize Report Group– memorizes the entire workbook

Within QSW, when you finish all edits to a financial statement template, on the Document Actions panel,
click on Report drop down menu and select Save As QSW report or Template Group. You can save
templates (QSM files) in any folder on your computer or network – allowing other users in your company
to easily access the template. You can also email and upload templates to Intuit if you would like to share
your format with the larger QuickBooks user and accountant communities.

NOTE: You cannot use the normal Excel function to save a QSW template.

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DOCUMENT ACTIONS PANEL AND STATEMENT WRITER TOOLBAR
By default, the Document Actions panel will be on the right as shown below. You can click on the title bar
of the window to drag and drop it if you prefer to see it horizontally. If you close it, you can open it again
by clicking on Add-Ins.

Use the Document Actions panel on the right side of the spreadsheet to edit Report, Statement, Row,
Column, and Cell Properties as described in this section. You will use it to do almost everything in QSW –
not the usual Excel functions.

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Report Properties
To change properties for the entire workbook, select the Report Properties tab. This area allows you to
change the date of all the reports in the workbook, to edit the overall statement appearance/layout, to
change the basis of the statement between the accrual and cash basis, refresh the QuickBooks data for
the entire workbook and to attach additional Microsoft Word documents to the workbook. If you change
data in the QuickBooks data file, the changes will not automatically update QuickBooks Statement Writer.
Click the Refresh from QuickBooks button to update the workbook with any changes you made to
QuickBooks since opening QSW.

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Indicate Dates
QSW reports are not limited to the fiscal period in the QuickBooks file. You are able to filter the reporting
by any time period including 4-week months, 13-week quarters, and crossing fiscal periods.

Statement Properties
To change properties for just one statement rather than the whole workbook, select the Statement
Properties tab while in the report you want to update. This area allows you to change the date of the one
report that is selected, change the title of the report, and filter the report for Class and/or Customer:Job.
Additionally, you are able to refresh the QuickBooks data for just one statement at a time or delete the
statement from an entire workbook.

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Refresh from QuickBooks
Each time a template is changed with any formatting or amounts are changed in QuickBooks, the
financial statements can be refreshed from QSW. With multiple templates in one Microsoft Excel
Workbook, you have the option to refresh the data for the current statement only or all statements. You
can access the Refresh feature under the Report menu, on the Statement Properties tab or using the icon
on the icon bar.

Manage Accounts and Rows on Financial Reports
QuickBooks Statement Writer allows you to combine multiple General Ledger account balances as a
single row on a financial report. When you first open a default statement template, all sub-accounts are
automatically combined into their parent accounts. Each account group that is combined will have a red
notation mark in the cell. Hover your mouse over the notation to see which accounts are combined.

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Row Properties
To change the properties for any given row or rows, select the row(s) and then click the Row Properties
tab on the Document Actions panel. If you select a single row as shown on the following screen shot for
the Money Market account, the Row Properties tab allows you to change the label (name) of the
row/account, to delete the selected row, or to add a new row above the selected row. When inserting a
row, you have the option to insert a blank row, accounts from QuickBooks, totals, or column headers. You
are also able to combine accounts in a row or separate accounts out, format zero balances, and reverse
a positive balance to a negative balance, or vice versa, using Manage Accounts.

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Accounts
Accounts from the Chart of Accounts in the associated QuickBooks file can be combined on any row of a
financial statement by Account Name, Account Type, or Account Number in QSW.

To combine accounts in a row, follow the steps below:

1. Select each row you want to combine as one row.

2. Select the Manage Accounts button in the Row Properties section of the Document Actions
panel, then select Combine accounts from selected rows.

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3. QSW will consolidate all of the accounts in one line. You also have the option to rename the row
as well. In the example below, the Money Market account was renamed to Cash & Cash
Equivalents once all the accounts were combined.

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4. Undeposited Funds as of the statement date also represent cash on hand. When combining cash
accounts on the Balance Sheet you should also include the Undeposited Funds account. Select
Manage Accounts, then Add accounts, then By name.

5. Select Undeposited Funds from the Add Accounts by Name window, and then Add.

NOTE: You can also add accounts to a row by Account Type or Account Number. This allows you to
combine accounts by selecting a range of account numbers or an entire account type grouping.

49


6. If you want to separate the accounts back out into separate lines or remove a single account from
the combined row, select the consolidated row (e.g., Cash & Cash Equivalents) and select the
specific account you want to break out. Select Manage Accounts, then Separate accounts.

Insert Rows and Columns for Manual Calculations and Formulas

The QSW templates are no longer protected. Therefore, rows and columns can be inserted into the
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and formulas can be manually entered using the Row or Columns tools in
the Document Actions panel as explained below.

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COLUMN PROPERTIES AND ADDING COLUMNS TO STATEMENTS
When you select a column and click the Column Properties tab, QuickBooks Statement Writer allows
you to change the type of data contained in the column or insert a new column with the option to insert a
blank column, QuickBooks Data, Variance, % of the Whole, a Summary Total, or Grand Total. You can
also use the Column Properties tab to change the date of the QuickBooks data for the selected column
only (not the entire statement) or to filter the QuickBooks data in the selected column by Class or
Customer:Job. You can also delete a column from the statement as well.

NOTE: You can add columns for each class on a Balance Sheet template. However, doing so will
display limited information for each class. For example, if you write a check in QuickBooks, the credit
(reduction) in cash is not assigned to a class. If you debit or credit a bank account on a journal entry
and assign a class to the bank account line, that information is assigned to a class. Using the class
columns in QSW does not provide you with any additional class tracking benefit as compared to
internal QuickBooks reports, so the disbursement to cash in the example above would not affect the
column that is filtered by class and the journal entry would affect the column. The Balance Sheet by
Class in QuickBooks Premier 2012 and QuickBooks Enterprise 12.0 is not available as a template for
QSW reports.

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QuickBooks Statement Writer allows you to add as many columns as you want to your financial
statements. By using QSW, you are not limited to the comparison and variance columns in QuickBooks
reports. Examples of column information you can add to the financial statements include:

 Accounts from the QuickBooks Chart of Accounts
 Blank columns
 Variances expressed as percentages or dollars
 % of the Whole
 QuickBooks Data (account balances)
 Summary Total – summarize a group of columns
 Grand Total – summarizes the Summary Total columns

Adding Calculating Columns to Financial Statements
In QuickBooks Statement Writer there are 4 types of calculating columns you can add to a financial
statement:

 % of the Whole (i.e. % of Column)
 Variances expressed as either a percentage or amount
 Summary Total
 Grand Total

52


Adding a % of the Whole Column to a Financial Statement
To add a % of the Whole column to a financial statement, perform the following:

1. Select a cell in a column on a QSW template that you want to place a % of the Whole column in.
% of the Whole columns are used to calculate an account balance as a percent of a total value
such as Total Assets or Total Revenue.

2. Choose Insert Column(s) from the Column Properties tab on the Document Actions panel,
then choose % of the Whole.

3. The financial statement will now have a % of the Whole column inserted in the spreadsheet.
Select column B from the QuickBooks Data: field to choose which column to calculate the
percentage from.

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4. The financial report template will now have a % of the Whole column inserted for the Balance
Sheet as seen on the screen shot below. The spreadsheet is unprotected in QSW, which allows
you to change individual cells or change the header title for a column as well if you do not like the
default.

54


Adding a Variance Column to a Financial Statement
To add a Variance column to a financial statement, perform the following:

1. Select a cell in a column on a QSW template that you want to place a Variance column in.
Variance columns can be expressed as a percent change or dollar change between 2 columns.

2. Choose Insert Column(s) from the Column Properties tab on the Document Actions panel,
then choose Variance.

3. The financial statement will now have a Variance column inserted in the spreadsheet. You can
select whether you want the Variance column to be a Percent (%) or Amount. For this example,
select Percent (%). It is also important to select which columns you want to calculate the
variance for. In the example below, column C will be subtracted from column B.

55


4. The financial report template will now have a Variance column as a percent difference between
the columns as shown below. The spreadsheet is unprotected in QSW, which allows you to the
change individual cells or change the header title for a column as well if you do not like the default
title.

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Adding Additional Columns with Summary Total and
Grand Total Columns to a Financial Statement
One of the advantages of using QSW is that it has more reporting flexibility than using QuickBooks
reports. You have the ability to add additional columns to a financial statement and add subtotals as
necessary. In the following example, a Cash Flow Statement was selected from the QSW template list.

1. In the Column Properties tab on the Document Actions panel, choose the time period of the
data in the Period field as Specific Month, then select January from the Show data from: field.
Then, using the Statement Writer Menu, click Refresh from QuickBooks to update the data.

57


2. Click in the next blank column and select QuickBooks Data in the Type field under Column
Properties, then repeat these steps in each column for the entire year to create a cash flow
statement by month. See the screen shot below.

NOTE: The date ranges are flexible when choosing a time period for any report, column, or cell in a
financial statement report. You can choose 4-week months, 13-week quarters, and cross fiscal
periods. The following options are available as seen in the following screen shot.

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3. If you are interested in subtotaling a group of columns, you will insert a Grand Total column. To
create a Grand Total for the first quarter, click in the next blank column and select Insert
Column(s) from the Column Properties tab on the Document Actions panel, choose Grand
Total.

4. This will create a column adding up the columns preceding the Grand Total for January,
February, and March.

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5. To create a 2-column statement, a Summary Total can be used. For a Balance Sheet report,
place your cursor in the column after the year or time period, then choose Insert Column(s) from
the Column Properties tab on the Document Actions panel, then choose Summary Total.

6. The financial statement will now have a Summary Total column inserted in the spreadsheet.

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Filtering for Class or Customer:Job Columns on the Income Statement
QuickBooks Statement Writer allows you to filter a report by Class or Customer:Job or combine multiple
classes or customers in one column. In the following example, an Income Statement was selected from
the QSW template list.

1. In the Column Properties tab on the Document Actions panel, choose the Class field and
select as many classes as you want to filter the column for; or choose the Job field and select as
many customers as you want to filter the column for.

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2. The financial statements will now have a Class column filtered for New Construction and
Remodel inserted in the spreadsheet and a Job column filtered for the Abercrombie and Baker
jobs.

NOTE: The spreadsheet is unprotected in QSW, which allows you to change individual cells or change
the header title for a column as well if you do not like the default title used in QuickBooks. You have
the flexibility in QSW to call any cell or column by the title that is most appropriate.

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3. In order to refresh the data that is shown on the screen shot, you have the option to refresh the
data for the whole workbook or just the report you are on. To refresh the data for the entire
workbook, select the Report Properties tab from the Document Actions panel, then Refresh
from QuickBooks to update the data with balances from QuickBooks.

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4. To refresh the data for just the statement you are on and not the whole workbook, select the
Statement Properties tab from the Document Actions panel, then Refresh from QuickBooks
to update the data in the current statement with balances from QuickBooks.

Or from the Statement Writer menu, you can choose to refresh from the Current Statement Only or All
Statements.

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CELL PROPERTIES
QSW allows you to dive even deeper to control the data on a report by giving you access to change just
one cell’s data. When you select a cell and click the Cell Properties tab, QSW allows you to change the
date of the data in the cell or reset it back to the original date. You can also use the Cell Properties tab to
insert a new field into the spreadsheet, such as client or accountant information, change the basis of
accounting information in a cell, and format the statement date.

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QUICKZOOM FROM QUICKBOOKS STATEMENT WRITER
TO THE QUICKBOOKS GENERAL LEDGER
QuickBooks Statement Writer allows you to QuickZoom from the balance on the report template to the
QuickBooks General Ledger detail. If you drill down on a consolidated balance like the one shown below,
QuickBooks displays General Ledger detail for each of the accounts included in the combined row.
Perform the following steps to QuickZoom from QuickBooks Statement Writer into the QuickBooks
General Ledger.

1. Click the account balance on the QSW report template to obtain the QuickBooks detail, as
shown below.

2. Select the Tools menu, then Zoom into QuickBooks in the Document Actions panel.

NOTE: QuickBooks shows the General Ledger for the Checking, Savings, Money Market, Cash
Expenditures, and Undeposited Funds accounts – all accounts are included into the combined row.

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EDITING THE APPEARANCE OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
QSW allows you to format the report templates within the financial reporting package so that the same
report appearances can be applied to any report you create in QSW.

1. Click Design to open QSW Report Designer.

2. Click on the Headers & Formatting tab to customize the formatting to meet your needs.

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SETTING REPORT PREFERENCES
You can customize Global Preferences as well. In the Document Actions panel, click on Tools and
select Global Preferences.

1. Select General Preferences in the QuickBooks Statement Writer Preferences window to change
where a QSW report template is saved on your computer or on a server. Additionally, to find out
more information on how to use QSW in a server environment, select the link in this window and
run QSW Diagnostics to identify any errors that may be occurring when trying to use QSW.

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2. Select the Your Details option in the QuickBooks Statement Writer Preferences window to enter
information about your accounting firm. QSW will store this information for use on cover sheets,
letters and/or reports for your clients as part of a financial statement package.

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3. Select your formatting preferences for the entire financial statement workbook. Options that can
be chosen include whether or not to show decimals or inactive accounts on a financial statement,
how to present zero balances and negative numbers, and whether to show amounts in full or
divided by a multiple of 10, 100, or 1,000 on your financial statements.

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4. You can customize Styles to be used on all of your QSW Reports:

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DIAGNOSTICS FOR NETWORK PROBLEMS
If you are having any trouble opening QSW or any of the reporting, QSW Diagnostics can be run to
identify any components that may be missing on a particular computer system.

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SAVING AND CREATING A PDF OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
AND REPORT
Report packages can be created as a PDF by selecting the Statement Writer menu and choosing Save
as PDF. Reports can be selected from the workbook to issue. The order of the reports can be changed
based on how the reporting should be copied or printed. Page Numbering Options allow you to select
continous page numbering (you choose where to start numbering) or to restart page numbering for
each statement or document.

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ATTACHING AND CUSTOMIZING
MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENTS
QuickBooks Statement Writer allows you to create and modify supporting documents (e.g., title page,
cover letter, and compilation report). The application includes numerous templates you can use without
any modification or that you can use as a starting point to create a list of customized document templates
for your firm. You will use Microsoft Word to create and/or modify supporting documents.

When you customize the templates you can insert two different types of data into the documents:

 Hard text: This is text that you type into the document using Word. This text will not change as
you create supporting schedules for different clients and different financial periods. The text
below is an example of “hard text” you might use in your document.
“We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States
of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance
about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining,
on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.”

 Dynamic/Merged Text: This information in the document changes. When you open the
supporting document, it includes the current QSW firm information, client contact information,
reporting period, etc. When you are creating or editing the supporting document templates, this
data will show in double carets (i.e., «Accountant_Firm_Name»). If you edit the name of your
firm in QSW (e.g., due to a merger with another firm), all supporting documents will automatically
reflect the update when you print financial statements for your clients. The fields that are available
as dynamic fields in QuickBooks Statement Writer are the following:

Client’s Company Name Client’s ZIP Client’s Legal State

Client’s Address1 Client’s Legal Company Name Client’s Legal ZIP

Client’s Address2 Client’s Legal Address1 Client’s Phone

Client’s City Client’s Legal Address2 Client’s Fax

Client’s State Client’s Legal City Client’s Email

Client’s Website Client’s Federal EIN Client’s SSN

Client’s Company Type Accountant’s Firm Name Accountant’s Address1

Accountant’s Address2 Accountant’s City Accountant’s State

Accountant’s ZIP Accountant’s Phone Accountant’s Fax

Accountant’s Email Accountant Website Accountant’s Federal EIN

Accountant’s Name Accountant’s Initials Report Date

Months in Period Current Date

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Perform the following steps to use an existing document template in QuickBooks Statement Writer:

1. Select a Microsoft Word template from the Design Report window when opening QSW from
QuickBooks, or select a Microsoft Word template from within QSW by choosing the Edit menu
from the Document Actions panel, then Add or Modify Documents.

2. Then you can Add or Modify Documents as needed.

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The template will include hard text and dynamic fields from the QuickBooks file and Accountant
Information you entered in QuickBooks Statement Writer.

3. Edit and/or add all non-merge code data (i.e., hard text) as necessary. You can edit this hard text
without limitation. Do not edit any merge fields during this step.

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4. Add and/or remove merge field data as necessary. When working with existing merge fields, you
can remove the entire field from the document or you can insert new fields into the document.

NOTE: You cannot edit the merge field data by typing the change as you can with hard text – for
example to change the case, font, etc. To insert new merge fields into the document (and to select the
case, font and other formats for the merged data) place your cursor where you want the field to
appear, click the Add-Ins tab, select the field you want to insert from the drop-down menu, then
choose Insert Field.

5. To save the changed template, select the Add-Ins tab, then the Save As icon. Save the
document as a Word template as shown below, then select OK. Word requires you to save the
template as a unique file name – which is the preference so you can preserve the original formats
that came with QSW. It is best to save the template in a folder to which all professionals in your
practice have access (e.g., an administrative folder on your file server).

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6. The dynamic fields in the Microsoft Word document do not update until you are ready to print or
create the report as a PDF document. To create as a PDF, go back to your Document Actions
panel in Microsoft Excel, select the Statement Writer menu, Save As, then PDF.

7. Select the Accrual Basis Compilation Report with Disclosures from the Create PDF window,
highlight the report in the PDF Contents section and then choose Create.

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8. Save the report in the file folder of your choosing, name the file and select Save as shown below.

9. The PDF document will now update the dynamic fields that are inserted into the Microsoft Word
template as shown on the screen shot below.

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USING QUICKBOOKS STATEMENT WRITER HELP
There are resources available to you 24 hours a day to help you work with QSW. Choose Resources
from the QuickBooks Statement Writer Preferences to find links for asking questions and getting
answers, finding the QSW Support Center, downloading 30+ templates that have already been created
for your use to import into your QSW, and more.

NOTE: For issues such as using QSW when your My Documents has been redirected to a server, use the
Resources center to search that topic and related topics to resolve those issues.

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APPENDIX: SAMPLE COMPILATION REPORT
(WITHOUT DISCLOSURES) WITH
SSARS 19 WORDING
To the Board of Directors

«Client_Company_Name»

«Client_Address1»

«Client_Address2»

«Client_City», «Client_State» «Client_Zip»

We have compiled the accompanying balance sheet of «Client_Company_Name» as of «Report_Date»,
and the related statements of income, retained earnings and cash flows for the year then ended. We have
not audited or reviewed the accompanying financial statements and, accordingly, do no express an
opinion or provide any assurance about whether the financial statement are in accordance with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

A compilation is limited to presenting in the form of financial statements information that is the
representation of the management of «Client_Company_Name». We have not audited or reviewed the
accompanying financial statements and, accordingly, do not express an opinion or any other form of
assurance on them.

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in
accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and for designing, implementing, and
maintaining internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements.

Our responsibility is to conduct the compilation in accordance with Statements on Standards for
Accounting and Review Services issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The
objective of a compilation is to assist management in presenting financial information in the form of
financial statements without undertaking to obtain or provide any assurance that there are no material
modifications that should be made to the financial statements.

Management has elected to omit substantially all of the disclosures ordinarily included in financial
statements presented on the (cash, income tax basis) of accounting. If the omitted disclosures were
included in the financial statements, they might influence the user's conclusions about the Company's
assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, and expenses. Accordingly, these financial statements are not
designed for those who are not informed about such matters.

«Current_Date»

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QuickBooks Statement Writer 2012

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