QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

Memorizing Reports

If you take the time to customize a report to look just the way you want, it'd be silly to jump through those same hoops every time you run the report. By memorizing your modified reports, you can run them again and again with all your customizations just by choosing Reports→ Memorized Reports, and then choosing the report name on the appropriate submenu.

When you memorize a report in QuickBooks, the program remembers the set-tings—things like date range and filter criteria—but not the data itself. For example, if you memorize a report whose date range is set to This Month, the report shows the results for June when you run the report in June, but shows results for December when you run the report in December.

Here's how you memorize a report that you've customized:

1. Review the report to make sure that it contains the information and formatting you want.

   If you notice that you missed a setting, you can make that change and memorize the report again. If you use the same name for the memorized report, QuickBooks asks you to confirm that you want to replace the existing memorized report.

2. In the report window, click Memorize.

   QuickBooks opens the Memorize Report dialog box, which is small and to the point.

3. In the Name box, type a name that indicates what the report does.

   For example, P&L Budget vs. Actual 2004.

4. If you want to save the report in a special group, turn on the Save in Memorized Report Group checkbox.

   You can then choose the group, as demonstrated in Figure ...