QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

A Review of Report Preferences

Chapter 6 explains every preference you can set in QuickBooks. But a chapter devoted to reports wouldn't be complete without a brief review of report preferences.

Company-Wide Report Preferences

Some features on reports should remain consistent for every report that a company generates, such as whether you use cash or accrual accounting. A QuickBooks administrator can set company-wide report preferences to ensure that reports show financial information correctly and consistently. To set company preferences, choose Edit→ Preferences. In the Edit Preferences dialog box, on the icon bar, click Reports & Graphs, and then click the Company Preferences tab.

Here're the company-wide preferences and what you can do with them:

• Summary Reports Basis. Select either the Accrual option or Cash option to match the accounting method your company uses. When you upgrade QuickBooks, be sure to check that the installation didn't reset your Summary Reports Basis choice.

  Note

  When you choose the Cash option, your Profit & Loss reports show income only after you receive customer payments and show expenses only after you pay bills. With the Accrual option, income appears in Profit & Loss reports as soon as you record an invoice or other type of sale; and expenses show up as soon as you enter bills.

  

  Figure 19-7. In addition to date ranges, filters, and other customizations (page ...