QuickBooks 2009: The Missing Manual

Appendix B. Help, Support, and Other Resources

Between questions about how to do something in QuickBooks and how to handle something in accounting, you probably need help almost every time you open the program. Finding answers isn’t always easy, however, and online help is renowned for causing more frustration than it solves. But QuickBooks 2009’s Help system has a few features that actually help. For example, when you open QuickBooks Help, it automatically shows links to topics relevant to what you’re doing in the program. So if the Create Invoices window is open, the relevant topics tell you how to fill out or edit invoices, record payments toward invoices, and so on. You’ll find topics with background info, troubleshooting tips, and even advice on why you should or shouldn’t perform certain steps.

Another option is Live Community, new in QuickBooks 2009. As its name suggests, this help comes from fellow QuickBooks wranglers. Live Community may seem like yet another move toward self-service, but the help you receive from your colleagues is often more pertinent than what you get from Intuit. If you don’t see a question and answer close to the question you have, you can post yours to the community. If you’re a QuickBooks veteran, you can even answer someone else’s pleas for help.

Where QuickBooks Help falls short is giving you different ways to find information. You can search for information using keywords or browse through QuickBooks’ relevant topics until you find what you’re looking ...