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QuickBooks® 2010 For Dummies®

Name: QuickBooks® 2010 For Dummies®
Author: Stephen L. Nelson
ISBN: 9780470505359

by Stephen L. Nelson

November 2009

Beginner

408 pages

8h 39m

English

For Dummies

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Copyright
About the Authors
Author's Acknowledgments
Publisher's Acknowledgments
Introduction
About QuickBooksAbout This BookWhat You Can Safely IgnoreWhat You Should Not Ignore (Unless You're a Masochist)Three Foolish AssumptionsHow This Book Is OrganizedPart I: Quickly into QuickBooksPart II: Daily Entry TasksPart III: Stuff You Do from Time to TimePart IV: Housekeeping ChoresPart V: The Part of TensPart VI: AppendixesConventions Used in This Book
I. Quickly into QuickBooks
1. QuickBooks: The Heart of Your Business
1.1. Why QuickBooks?1.1.1. Why you need an accounting system1.1.2. What QuickBooks does1.2. What Explains QuickBooks' Popularity?1.3. What's Next, Dude?1.4. How to Succeed with QuickBooks1.4.1. Budget wisely, Grasshopper1.4.2. Don't focus on features1.4.3. Outsource payroll1.4.4. Get professional help1.4.5. Use both the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet
2. Answering Mr. Wizard
2.1. Getting Ready for the Big Interview2.1.1. The big decision2.1.2. The trial balance of the century2.1.3. The mother of all scavenger hunts2.2. Doing the EasyStep Interview2.2.1. Tip 1: Get to know the interview protocol2.2.2. Tip 2: Take your time2.2.3. Tip 3: Get industry-specific advice2.2.4. Tip 4: Accept the suggested filename and location2.2.5. Tip 5: Go with the suggested Chart of Accounts2.2.6. Tip 6: Consider tracking all your expenses with your checkbook2.2.7. Tip 7: Add accounts you need2.3. The Rest of the Story2.4. Should You Get Your Accountant's Help?
3. Populating QuickBooks Lists
3.1. The Magic and Mystery of Items3.1.1. Adding items you might include on invoices3.1.2. Creating other wacky items for invoices3.1.2.1. Creating Subtotal items to stick subtotals on invoices3.1.2.2. Creating Group items to batch stuff you sell together3.1.2.3. Creating Discount items to add discounts to invoices3.1.2.4. Creating Sales Tax Group items to batch sales taxes3.1.3. Editing items3.2. Adding Employees to Your Employee List3.3. Customers Are Your Business3.4. It's Just a Job3.5. Adding Vendors to Your Vendor List3.6. The Other Lists3.6.1. The Fixed Asset list3.6.2. The Price Level list3.6.3. The Sales Tax Code list3.6.4. The Class list3.6.5. The Other Names list3.6.6. The Sales Rep list3.6.7. Customer, Vendor, and Job Types list3.6.8. The Terms list3.6.9. The Customer Message list3.6.10. The Payment Method list3.6.11. The Ship Via list3.6.12. The Vehicle list3.6.13. The Memorized Transaction list3.6.14. The Reminders list3.7. Organizing and Printing Lists3.7.1. Printing lists3.8. Exporting List Items to Your Word Processor3.9. Dealing with the Chart of Accounts List3.9.1. Describing customer balances3.9.2. Describing vendor balances3.9.3. Camouflaging some accounting goofiness3.9.4. Supplying the missing numbers3.9.5. Checking your work one more time
II. Daily Entry Tasks

4. Creating Invoices and Credit Memos
4.1. Making Sure That You're Ready to Invoice Customers4.2. Preparing an Invoice4.3. Fixing Invoice Mistakes4.3.1. If the invoice is still displayed onscreen4.3.2. If the invoice isn't displayed onscreen4.3.3. Deleting an invoice4.4. Preparing a Credit Memo4.5. Fixing Credit Memo Mistakes4.6. Printing Invoices and Credit Memos4.6.1. Loading the forms into the printer4.6.2. Setting up the invoice printer4.6.3. Printing invoices and credit memos as you create them4.6.4. Printing invoices in a batch4.6.5. Printing credit memos in a batch4.7. Sending Invoices and Credit Memos via E-Mail4.8. Customizing Your Invoices and Credit Memos
5. Reeling In the Dough
5.1. Recording a Sales Receipt5.2. Printing a Sales Receipt5.3. Special Tips for Retailers5.4. Correcting Sales Receipt Mistakes5.5. Recording Customer Payments5.6. Correcting Mistakes in Customer Payments Entries5.7. Making Bank Deposits5.8. Improving Your Cash Inflow5.8.1. Tracking what your customers owe5.8.2. Assessing finance charges5.8.3. Dealing with deposits
6. Paying the Bills
6.1. Pay Now or Pay Later?6.2. Recording Your Bills by Writing Checks6.2.1. The slow way to write checks6.2.2. The fast way to write checks6.3. Recording Your Bills the Accounts Payable Way6.3.1. Recording your bills6.3.2. Entering your bills the fast way6.3.3. Deleting a bill6.3.4. Remind me to pay that bill, will you?6.4. Paying Your Bills6.5. Tracking Vehicle Mileage6.6. Paying Sales Tax6.7. A Quick Word on the Vendor Center Window
7. Inventory Magic
7.1. Setting Up Inventory Items7.2. When You Buy Stuff7.2.1. Recording items that you pay for up-front7.2.2. Recording items that don't come with a bill7.2.3. Paying for items when you get the bill7.2.4. Recording items and paying the bill all at once7.3. When You Sell Stuff7.4. How Purchase Orders Work7.4.1. Choosing a purchase order form7.4.2. Filling out a purchase order7.4.3. Checking up on purchase orders7.4.4. Receiving purchase order items7.5. Assembling a Product7.5.1. Identifying the components7.5.2. Building the assembly7.6. Time for a Reality Check7.7. Dealing with Multiple Inventory Locations7.7.1. Manually keep separate inventory-by-location counts7.7.2. Use different item numbers for different locations7.7.3. One more thought7.8. The Lazy Person's Approach to Inventory7.8.1. How periodic inventory systems work in QuickBooks7.8.2. The good and bad of a periodic inventory
8. Keeping Your Checkbook
8.1. Writing Checks8.1.1. Writing checks from the Write Checks window8.1.2. Writing checks from the Checking register8.1.3. Changing a check that you've written8.1.4. Packing more checks into the register8.2. Depositing Money into a Checking Account8.2.1. Recording simple deposits8.2.2. Depositing income from customers8.3. Transferring Money between Accounts8.3.1. Setting up a second bank account8.3.2. About the other half of the transfer8.3.3. Changing a transfer that you've already entered8.4. To Delete or to Void?8.5. Handling NSF Checks from Customers8.6. The Big Register Phenomenon8.6.1. Moving through a big register8.6.2. Finding that darn transaction
9. Paying with Plastic
9.1. Tracking Business Credit Cards9.1.1. Setting up a credit card account9.1.2. Selecting a credit card account so that you can use it9.2. Entering Credit Card Transactions9.2.1. Recording a credit card charge9.2.2. Changing charges that you've already entered9.3. Reconciling Your Credit Card Statement and Paying the Bill9.4. So What about Debit Cards?9.5. So What about Customer Credit Cards?
III. Stuff You Do from Time to Time
10. Printing Checks
10.1. Getting the Printer Ready10.2. Printing a Check10.2.1. A few words about printing checks10.2.2. Printing a check as you write it10.2.3. Printing checks by the bushel10.2.4. What if I make a mistake?10.2.5. Oh where, oh where do unprinted checks go?10.3. Printing a Checking Register
11. Payroll
11.1. Getting Ready to Do Payroll without Help from QuickBooks11.2. Doing Taxes the Right Way11.2.1. Getting an employer ID number11.2.2. Having employees do their part11.3. Getting Ready to Do Payroll with QuickBooks11.4. Paying Your Employees11.5. Paying Payroll Liabilities11.5.1. Paying tax liabilities if you use the full-meal-deal Payroll service11.5.2. Paying tax liabilities if you don't use the full-meal-deal Payroll service11.5.3. Paying other nontax liabilities11.6. Preparing Quarterly Payroll Tax Returns11.6.1. Using the QuickBooks full-meal-deal Payroll service11.6.2. Using the other QuickBooks Payroll services11.7. Filing Annual Returns and Wage Statements11.7.1. Using the QuickBooks full-meal-deal Payroll service11.7.2. Using the QuickBooks economy Payroll services11.8. The State Wants Some Money, Too
12. Building the Perfect Budget
12.1. Is This a Game You Want to Play?12.2. All Joking Aside: Some Basic Budgeting Tips12.3. A Budgeting Secret You Won't Learn in College12.4. Setting Up a Secret Plan12.5. Adjusting a Secret Plan12.6. Forecasting Profits and Losses12.7. Projecting Cash Flows12.8. Using the Business Planner Tools
13. Online with QuickBooks
13.1. Doing the Electronic Banking Thing13.1.1. So what's the commotion about?13.1.2. A thousand reasons not to bank online13.1.3. Making sense of online banking13.1.4. Signing up for the service13.1.5. Making an online payment13.1.6. Transferring money electronically13.1.7. Changing instructions13.1.8. Transmitting instructions13.1.9. Message in a bottle13.2. A Quick Review of the Other Online Opportunities
IV. Housekeeping Chores
14. The Balancing Act
14.1. Balancing a Bank Account14.1.1. Giving QuickBooks information from the bank statement14.1.2. Marking cleared checks and deposits14.1.2.1. If the difference equals zero14.1.2.2. If the difference doesn't equal zero14.2. Eleven Things to Do If Your Non-Online Account Doesn't Balance
15. Reporting on the State of Affairs
15.1. What Kinds of Reports Are There, Anyway?15.2. Creating and Printing a Report15.2.1. Visiting the report dog-and-pony show15.2.2. Editing and rearranging reports15.2.2.1. Modifying15.2.2.2. Memorizing15.2.2.3. E-mailing15.2.2.4. Exporting15.2.2.5. The other buttons and boxes15.3. Reports Made to Order15.4. Processing Multiple Reports15.5. Last but Not Least: The QuickReport
16. Job Estimating, Billing, and Tracking
16.1. Turning On Job Costing16.2. Setting Up a Job16.3. Creating a Job Estimate16.4. Revising an Estimate16.5. Turning an Estimate into an Invoice16.6. Comparing Estimated Item Amounts with Actual Item Amounts16.7. Charging for Actual Time and Costs16.8. Tracking Job Costs
17. File Management Tips
17.1. Backing Up Is (Not That) Hard to Do17.1.1. Backing up the quick-and-dirty way17.1.2. Getting back the QuickBooks data you backed up17.2. Accountant's Review17.3. Working with Portable Files17.4. Using an Audit Trail17.5. Using a Closing Password
18. Fixed Assets and Vehicle Lists
18.1. What Is Fixed Assets Accounting?18.2. Fixed Assets Accounting in QuickBooks18.3. Setting Up a Fixed Asset List18.3.1. Adding items to the Fixed Asset list18.3.2. Adding fixed asset items on-the-fly18.3.3. Editing items on the Fixed Asset list18.4. Tracking Vehicle Mileage18.4.1. Identifying your vehicles18.4.2. Recording vehicle miles18.4.3. Using the vehicle reports18.4.4. Updating vehicle mileage rates
V. The Part of Tens
19. (Almost) Ten Tips for Business Owners
19.1. Sign All Your Own Checks19.2. Don't Sign a Check the Wrong Way19.3. Review Canceled Checks Before Your Bookkeeper Does19.4. Choose a Bookkeeper Who Is Familiar with Computers and Knows How to Do Payroll19.5. Choose an Appropriate Accounting System19.6. If QuickBooks Doesn't Work for Your Business19.7. Keep Things Simple
20. Tips for Handling (Almost) Ten Tricky Situations
20.1. Selling an Asset20.2. Selling a Depreciable Asset20.3. Owner's Equity in a Sole Proprietorship20.4. Owner's Equity in a Partnership20.5. Owner's Equity in a Corporation20.6. Multiple-State Accounting20.7. Getting a Loan20.8. Repaying a Loan
21. (Almost) Ten Secret Business Formulas
21.1. The First "Most Expensive Money You Can Borrow" Formula21.2. The Second "Most Expensive Money You Can Borrow" Formula21.3. The "How Do I Break Even?" Formula21.4. The "You Can Grow Too Fast" Formula21.4.1. How net worth relates to growth21.4.2. How to calculate sustainable growth21.5. The First "What Happens If . . . ?" Formula21.6. The Second "What Happens If . . . ?" Formula21.7. The Economic Order Quantity (Isaac Newton) Formula21.8. The Rule of 72
VI. Appendixes
A. Installing QuickBooks in Ten Easy Steps
B. If Numbers Are Your Friends
B.1. Keying In on ProfitB.1.1. Let me introduce you to the new youB.1.2. The first day in businessB.1.3. Look at your cash flow firstB.1.4. Depreciation is an accounting gimmickB.1.5. Accrual-basis accounting is coolB.1.6. Now you know how to measure profitsB.1.7. Some financial brain foodB.2. In the Old Days, Things Were DifferentB.3. What Does an Italian Monk Have to Do with Anything?B.3.1. And now for the blow-by-blowB.3.2. Blow-by-blow, Part IIB.3.3. How does QuickBooks help?B.4. Two Dark Shadows in the World of AccountingB.4.1. The first dark shadowB.4.2. The second dark shadowB.5. The Danger of Shell Games
C. Sharing QuickBooks Files
C.1. Sharing a QuickBooks File on a NetworkC.1.1. User permissionsC.1.2. Record lockingC.2. Installing QuickBooks for Network UseC.3. Setting Up User PermissionsC.4. Specifying Multi-User ModeC.5. Working in Multi-User Mode

Overview

The annual update of a perennial bestseller, fully revised for the newest QuickBooks release

QuickBooks is the leading software package for small business accounting, updated each year so it remains cutting-edge. QuickBooks "X" For Dummies provides all the information you need to start using the newest version in your business.

You'll learn to set up your business accounting functions on QuickBooks and use all the newest features. You'll be able to create budgets, process payroll, manage inventory and invoices, track job costs, balance accounts, and make things easier at tax preparation time.

Shows you, in plain English, how to set up QuickBooks and manage your small business accounting on your own

Explains how to set up your business on QuickBooks, create invoices and credit memos, record sales receipts, set up inventory items, and track business credit cards

Covers recording and paying bills, printing checks, processing payroll, and preparing payroll taxes

Discusses building a budget, going online with QuickBooks, balancing accounts, generating financial reports, simplifying tax return preparation, and backing up data

Also explores job estimating, billing, and tracking jobs and invoices

Written by Stephen L. Nelson, author of all previous editions and an experienced CPA, QuickBooks "X" For Dummies will help you become your own accountant and keep your business in the black.

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
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