QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

Creating a New Company

Keeping books requires accuracy, attention to detail, and persistence, hence the customary image of spectacled accountants hunched over ledgers. QuickBooks can help you keep your books without ruining your vision or your posture—as long as you start your QuickBooks file with good information.

The EasyStep Interview tries to make creating a company file as painless as possible, but the process isn't pain free. Indeed, the EasyStep Interview is much like a family reunion, where you're asked a lot of questions you don't know that you want to answer. Unlike the reunion, however, you can skip most of the Interview or return to it when you're better prepared for the interrogation.

Some parts of the Interview aren't too helpful; you keep clicking Next but never actually accomplish anything. In many cases, adding information to your company file is more effective using the windows and commands in QuickBooks itself. This section tells you when and how to use the EasyStep Interview as well as when it's better to bail out to work directly in QuickBooks.