QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual

QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual

by Bonnie Biafore
Released November 2010
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781449397708

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Book description

Your bookkeeping workflow will be smoother and faster with QuickBooks 2011 -- but only if you spend more time using the program than figuring out how it works. This Missing Manual puts you in control: You'll not only find out how and when to use specific features, you'll also get basic accounting advice to help you through the learning process.

  • Set up QuickBooks. Arrange files and preferences to suit your company.
  • Manage your business. Track inventory, control spending, run payroll, and handle income.
  • Follow the money. Examine everything from customer invoices to year-end tasks.
  • Find key info quickly. Take advantage of QuickBooks’ reports, Company Snapshot, and search tools.
  • Streamline your workflow. Set up the Home page and Online Banking Center to meet your needs.
  • Build and monitor budgets. Learn how to keep your company financially fit.
  • Share your financial data. Work with your accountant more efficiently.

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Table of contents

  1. QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual
    1. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly
    2. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
    3. Missing Credits
      1. About the Author
      2. About the Creative Team
      3. Acknowledgments
    4. Introduction
      1. What’s New in QuickBooks 2011
      2. When QuickBooks May Not Be the Answer
      3. Choosing the Right Edition of QuickBooks
        1. The QuickBooks Premier Choices
      4. Accounting Basics—The Important Stuff
      5. About This Book
      6. About the Outline
      7. The Very Basics
      8. About→These→Arrows
      9. About MissingManuals.com
        1. Safari® Books Online
    5. I. Getting Started
      1. 1. Creating a Company File
        1. Opening QuickBooks
        2. Before You Create Your Company File
          1. Start Date
          2. Account Balances and Transactions
        3. About the EasyStep Interview
        4. Starting the EasyStep Interview
          1. Company Information
          2. Creating Your Company File
          3. Customizing Your Company File
          4. Beginning to Use QuickBooks
        5. Modifying Company Info
        6. What’s Next?
        7. Opening an Existing Company File
          1. Opening a Recently Opened Company File
          2. Opening Any Company File
          3. Restoring a Backup File
          4. Opening a Portable Company File
        8. Converting from Another Program to QuickBooks
          1. Converting from Quicken Home & Business
          2. Converting from a Non-Intuit Program
      2. 2. Getting Around in QuickBooks
        1. The QuickBooks Home Page
          1. Vendors
          2. Customers
          3. Employees
          4. Company
          5. Banking
        2. The Company Snapshot
        3. Using Menus and the Icon Bar
        4. Switching Between Open Windows
      3. 3. Setting Up a Chart of Accounts
        1. Acquiring a Chart of Accounts
          1. Importing a Chart of Accounts
            1. Importing a downloaded chart of accounts
        2. Naming and Numbering Accounts
          1. Setting Up Account Numbers
          2. Standardizing Account Names
        3. Creating Accounts and Subaccounts
          1. Viewing Account Names and Numbers
          2. Creating an Account
        4. Modifying Accounts
        5. Hiding and Deleting Accounts
          1. Hiding Accounts
          2. Deleting Accounts
        6. Merging Accounts
      4. 4. Setting Up Customers and Jobs
        1. Creating Customers in QuickBooks
          1. Creating a New Customer
            1. Entering contact information
            2. Specifying additional customer information
            3. Entering payment information
        2. Customer Data Entry Shortcuts
          1. Adding and Editing Multiple Customer Records
            1. Selecting a list to work with
            2. Adding or editing list entries
            3. Saving changes
          2. Importing Customer Information
          3. Exporting Customer Information
            1. Exporting to Excel
            2. Customized exports using the Contact List report
            3. Exporting a text file
        3. Creating Jobs in QuickBooks
          1. Creating a New Job
        4. Modifying Customer and Job Information
        5. Categorizing Customers and Jobs
          1. Understanding Customer Types
          2. Creating a Customer Type
          3. Categorizing Jobs
        6. Adding Notes About Customers
        7. Merging Customer Records
        8. Hiding and Deleting Customers
          1. Deleting Customers
          2. Hiding and Restoring Customers
      5. 5. Setting Up Invoice Items
        1. What Items Do
        2. When You Don’t Need Items
        3. Should You Track Inventory with Items?
        4. Planning Your Items
          1. Generic or Specific?
          2. Naming Items
          3. Subitems
        5. Creating Items
          1. Creating Multiple Items
          2. Creating Individual Items
        6. Service Items
          1. Service Items Without Associated Costs
          2. Service Items with Associated Costs
        7. Product Items
          1. Inventory Part Fields
          2. Non-Inventory Part Fields
        8. Other Types of Items
          1. Other Charge
          2. Subtotal
          3. Group
          4. Discount
          5. Payment
        9. Setting Up Sales Tax
          1. Sales Tax Codes
            1. Assigning tax codes to customers
            2. Assigning tax codes to items
            3. Creating additional sales tax codes
          2. Sales Tax Items
        10. Modifying Items
        11. Hiding and Deleting Items
          1. Hiding Items
          2. Deleting Items
      6. 6. Setting Up Other QuickBooks Lists
        1. The Vendor List
          1. Creating a Vendor
          2. Entering Address Information
          3. Additional Info
          4. Importing Vendor Information
          5. Filling in Expense Accounts Automatically
        2. Categorizing with Classes
        3. Price Levels
          1. Creating a Price Level
          2. Applying Price Levels
        4. Customer and Vendor Profile Lists
          1. Sales Rep List
          2. Customer Type List
          3. Vendor Type List
          4. Job Type List
          5. Terms List
            1. Setting up terms using elapsed time
            2. Setting up date-driven terms
          6. Customer Message List
          7. Payment Method List
          8. Ship Via List
          9. Vehicle List
        5. Fixed Asset Items
        6. Creating and Editing List Entries
          1. Creating Entries
          2. Editing Entries
        7. Merging List Entries
        8. Hiding and Deleting List Entries
          1. Hiding Entries
          2. Deleting Entries
          3. Finding List Entries in Transactions
        9. Sorting Lists
        10. Printing Lists
          1. Blasting Out a Quick List
          2. Customizing a Printed List
      7. 7. Managing QuickBooks Files
        1. Switching Between Multi- and Single-User Mode
        2. Backing Up Files
          1. Choosing Standard Settings for Your Backups
          2. Backing Up Manually
          3. Automated Backups
            1. Setting up automatic backups
            2. Scheduling backups for a single company file
        3. Restoring Backups
        4. Sending Company Files to Others
          1. Creating a Portable Company File
          2. Opening a Portable Company File
        5. Verifying Your QuickBooks Data
          1. Running the Verify Data Utility
          2. Reviewing Problems
          3. Running the Rebuild Data Utility
        6. Cleaning Up Data
          1. Running the Clean Up Company File Utility
        7. Cleaning Up After Deleting Files
    6. II. Bookkeeping
      1. 8. Tracking Time and Mileage
        1. Setting Up Time Tracking
          1. Turning on Time Tracking
          2. Setting Up the People Who Track Time
          3. Setting Up Items and Customers for Time Tracking
        2. Entering Time in QuickBooks
          1. Filling in Weekly Timesheets
          2. Entering Time for One Activity
        3. Running Time Reports
        4. Tracking Mileage
          1. Adding a Vehicle
          2. Setting the Mileage Rate
          3. Recording Mileage Driven
        5. Generating Mileage Reports
      2. 9. Paying for Expenses
        1. When to Pay Expenses
        2. Entering Bills
        3. Automating Recurring Bills
          1. Memorizing a Bill
          2. Using a Memorized Bill
          3. Creating Memorized Groups of Bills
        4. Purchasing Inventory
          1. Creating Purchase Orders
          2. Receiving Inventory and Bills Simultaneously
          3. Receiving Inventory Before the Bill
        5. Handling Reimbursable Expenses
          1. Setting Up Reimbursements As Income
          2. Recording Reimbursable Expenses
        6. Paying Your Bills
          1. Selecting Bills to Pay
          2. Modifying Payment Amounts
          3. Applying Discounts and Credits to Payments
            1. Applying discounts manually
            2. Applying credits manually
          4. Setting the Payment Method and Account
          5. Paying Selected Bills
        7. Producing Checks
          1. Writing Checks by Hand
          2. Setting Up QuickBooks to Print Checks
          3. Printing Checks
        8. Writing Checks Without Entering Bills
          1. Using the Write Checks Window
          2. Adding Checks to an Account Register
        9. Paying with Cash
        10. Paying with Credit Cards
        11. Recording Vendor Refunds and Credits
        12. Running Expense-Related Reports
          1. A/P Aging and Vendor Balance Reports
          2. Purchases Reports
        13. Paying Sales Tax
          1. Sales Tax Payment Preferences
          2. Producing Reports of the Sales Tax You Owe
          3. Remitting Sales Taxes
      3. 10. Invoicing
        1. Choosing the Right Type of Form
          1. Sales Receipts
          2. Statements
          3. Invoices
        2. Sales Forms and Accounts
        3. Creating Invoices
          1. Creating an Invoice
          2. Filling in Invoice Header Fields
            1. Choosing the customer or job
            2. Choosing an invoice template
            3. The other header fields
          3. Entering Invoice Line Items
            1. Inserting and deleting line items
          4. Applying Subtotals, Discounts, and Percentage Charges
          5. Adding a Message to the Customer
          6. Choosing How to Send the Invoice
          7. Adding a Memo to Yourself
        4. Creating Batch Invoices
        5. Invoicing for Billable Time and Costs
          1. Setting Up Invoicing for Time and Costs
          2. Adding Billable Time and Costs to Invoices
          3. Using the Invoice for Time & Expenses Command
          4. Selecting Billable Time and Costs
          5. Checking for Unbilled Costs
        6. Invoicing for Backordered Products
          1. Using Pending Invoices for Backorders
          2. Using Sales Orders for Backorders
        7. Estimating Jobs
          1. Creating an Estimate
          2. Creating Multiple Estimates
          3. Creating an Invoice from an Estimate
          4. Comparing Estimates to Actuals
        8. Creating Progress Invoices
          1. Progress Invoicing Options
          2. Fine-Tuning a Progress Invoice
        9. Handling Refunds and Credits
          1. Creating Credit Memos
          2. Creating Refund Checks
          3. Applying Credits to Existing Invoices
          4. Applying Credits to New Invoices
        10. Editing Invoices
        11. Voiding and Deleting Invoices
      4. 11. Producing Statements
        1. Generating Statements
          1. Creating Statement Charges
          2. Generating Customer Statements
            1. Choosing the date range
            2. Selecting customers
            3. Setting additional options
          3. Previewing Statements
          4. Generating Statements
      5. 12. Transaction Timesavers
        1. Printing Sales Forms
          1. Setting Print Options
          2. Aligning Forms and Paper
          3. Choosing a Print Method
          4. Printing One Form
          5. Printing in Batches
          6. Printing Mailing and Shipping Labels
          7. Printing Packing Slips
        2. Emailing Sales Forms
          1. Choosing a Send Method
          2. Emailing One Form
          3. Emailing in Batches
        3. Memorized Transactions
          1. Using a Memorized Transaction
          2. Editing a Memorized Transaction
        4. Finding Transactions
          1. Searching with QuickBooks’ Centers
          2. Finding Items
          3. Using the Search Command
          4. Using the Find Command
            1. Finding made simple
            2. Advanced find methods
            3. Using search results
      6. 13. Managing Accounts Receivable
        1. Receivables Aging
          1. Accounts Receivable Aging Reports
          2. Customer & Job Reports
        2. Receiving Payments for Invoiced Income
        3. Applying Credits to Invoices
        4. Discounting for Early Payment
        5. Deposits, Down Payments, and Retainers
          1. Setting Up QuickBooks for Prepayments
          2. Recording Prepayments
          3. Applying a Deposit, Down Payment, or Retainer to an Invoice
          4. Refunding Prepayments
        6. Applying Finance Charges
          1. Finance Charge Preferences
          2. Assessing Finance Charges on Overdue Balances
        7. Cash Sales
          1. Creating Sales Receipts
          2. Editing Sales Receipts
          3. Voiding and Deleting Sales Receipts
          4. Memorizing a Batch Sales Transaction
          5. Reconciling Excess and Short Cash
        8. Making Deposits
          1. Choosing Payments to Deposit
          2. Recording Deposits
          3. Depositing Money from Merchant Card Accounts
      7. 14. Doing Payroll
        1. Paying Yourself
        2. Doing Payroll Yourself
        3. Adding Payroll Transactions from an Outside Service
        4. Choosing a Payroll Service
        5. Applying for a Payroll Service
        6. Setting Up Payroll
          1. Setting Up Compensation and Benefits
          2. Setting Up Employees
            1. Setting employee defaults
            2. Creating employee records
          3. Setting Up Payroll Taxes
        7. Entering Historical Payroll
        8. Running Payroll
          1. Printing Paychecks and Pay Stubs
        9. Paying Payroll Taxes
        10. Preparing Payroll Tax Forms
      8. 15. Bank Accounts, Credit Cards, and Petty Cash
        1. Entering Transactions in an Account Register
          1. Opening a Register Window
          2. Creating a Transaction in an Account Register
        2. Handling Bounced Checks
          1. Setting Up QuickBooks to Handle Bounced Checks
            1. Bounced check reimbursement item
            2. Service charges for bounced checks
          2. Recording Bank Charges
          3. Re-invoicing for Bounced Checks
        3. Transferring Funds
        4. Reconciling Accounts
          1. Preparing for the First Reconciliation
          2. Preparing for Every Reconciliation
          3. Starting a Reconciliation
          4. Reconciling Transactions
          5. Reconciliation Reports
          6. Modifying Transactions During Reconciliation
          7. Stopping and Restarting a Reconciliation
          8. Correcting Discrepancies
            1. The Discrepancy Report
            2. Other ways to find discrepancies
          9. Undoing the Last Reconciliation
          10. When Your Bank Makes a Mistake
        5. Managing Loans
          1. Setting Up a Loan
          2. Adding a Loan to Loan Manager
            1. Basic setup
            2. Payment information
            3. Interest rate information
          3. Modifying Loan Terms
          4. Setting Up Payments
          5. What-If Scenarios
        6. Tracking Petty Cash
          1. Recording ATM Withdrawals and Deposits to Petty Cash
          2. Recording Purchases Made with Petty Cash
      9. 16. Making Journal Entries
        1. Balancing Debit and Credit Amounts
        2. Some Reasons to Use Journal Entries
        3. Creating General Journal Entries
          1. Filling in General Journal Entry Fields
        4. Checking General Journal Entries
        5. Reclassifications and Corrections
          1. Reclassifying Accounts
          2. Reassigning Jobs
        6. Recording Depreciation with Journal Entries
        7. Recording Owners’ Contributions
      10. 17. Generating Financial Statements
        1. The Profit & Loss Report
          1. Generating a Profit & Loss Report
          2. Other Profit & Loss Reports
        2. The Balance Sheet
          1. Understanding the Balance Sheet
          2. Generating a Balance Sheet Report
        3. The Statement of Cash Flows
          1. Understanding the Statement of Cash Flows
          2. Generating a Statement of Cash Flows
        4. Other Helpful Financial Reports
      11. 18. Performing End-of-Year Tasks
        1. Checking for Problems
        2. Viewing Your Trial Balance
        3. Generating Year-End Financial Reports
        4. Generating Tax Reports
        5. Sharing a Company File with Your Accountant
          1. Creating an Accountant’s Review Copy
          2. Sending a Copy Directly to Your Accountant
          3. Merging Accountant Changes into Your Company File
          4. Canceling an Accountant’s Review Copy
          5. Setting Up an External Accountant User
        6. 1099s
          1. Generating 1099 Reports
          2. Printing 1099-MISC Forms
        7. Closing the Books for the Year
    7. III. Managing Your Business
      1. 19. Managing Inventory
        1. The QuickBooks Inventory Process
          1. Setting Up Inventory Items
          2. Buying and Selling Inventory
        2. Running Inventory Reports
          1. How Much Is Inventory Worth?
            1. Inventory Valuation Summary report
            2. Inventory Valuation Detail report
          2. Inventory Stock Status
          3. Viewing One Inventory Item
        3. Performing a Physical Inventory
        4. Adjusting Inventory in QuickBooks
          1. Adjusting Quantities
          2. Adjusting Quantities and Values
      2. 20. Budgeting and Planning
        1. Types of Budgets
        2. Ways to Build Budgets
        3. Creating Budgets in QuickBooks
        4. Filling in Budget Values
          1. Copy Across Columns
          2. Adjust Row Amounts
        5. Creating Additional Customer:Job or Class Budgets
        6. Copying Budgets and Creating What-if Budgets
        7. Running Budget Reports
          1. The Budget Overview Report
            1. Report layouts
          2. Budget vs. Actual Report
          3. Profit & Loss Budget Performance Report
          4. Budget vs. Actual Graph
      3. 21. Working with QuickBooks Reports
        1. Finding the Right Reports
          1. Reviewing Reports in the Report Center
          2. Working with Reports in the Report Center
          3. Finding Frequently Used Reports
        2. Running Reports
        3. Printing and Saving Reports
          1. Saving Reports As Files
        4. Customizing Reports
          1. Date Ranges
          2. Subtotals
          3. Customizing the Columns in Reports
            1. Adding and removing columns in summary reports
            2. Adding or removing columns in detail reports
            3. Resizing and moving columns
          4. Sorting Reports
          5. Filtering Reports
          6. Report Headers and Footers
          7. Fonts and Numbers
        5. Memorizing Reports
        6. Swapping Reports Between Company Files
          1. Exporting a Report Template
          2. Importing Report Templates
    8. IV. Quickbooks Power
      1. 22. Online Banking Services
        1. Setting Up Your Internet Connection
        2. Setting Up Your Accounts for Online Services
          1. Applying for Online Services
          2. Activating Online Services for Your QuickBooks Account
        3. An Intro to Exchanging Data with Your Bank
          1. QuickBooks’ Online Banking Modes
          2. Downloading Statements with WebConnect
          3. Creating Online Items for Direct Connections
            1. Paying bills online
            2. Sending a message to your bank
            3. Transferring funds between accounts
        4. Online Banking Using Side-by-side Mode
          1. Sending and Receiving Transactions
          2. Matching Transactions
          3. Matching Unmatched Transactions
            1. Matching deposits
            2. Matching checks and expenses
          4. Adding Multiple Transactions
          5. Deleting Downloaded Transactions
        5. Online Banking Using Register Mode
          1. Sending and Receiving Items
          2. Working with Online Items
          3. Matching Transactions
            1. Unmatched checks
            2. Unmatched deposits
            3. Bank charges
          4. Adding Multiple Transactions
          5. Deleting Downloaded Transactions
      2. 23. Configuring Preferences to Fit Your Company
        1. An Introduction to Preferences
        2. Accounting
        3. Bills
        4. Checking
          1. Choosing the Bank Accounts You Use
          2. Setting the Way Company Checks Work
          3. Choosing Company-Wide Payroll Accounts
          4. Choosing an Online Banking Mode
        5. Desktop View
          1. Window Preferences
          2. Preferences for Saving the Desktop
          3. Choosing a Color Scheme
          4. Setting Up the QuickBooks Home Page
        6. Finance Charge
        7. General
          1. Tuning QuickBooks to Your Liking
          2. Company-Wide General Preferences
        8. Integrated Applications
        9. Items & Inventory
        10. Jobs & Estimates
        11. Multiple Currencies
        12. Payments
        13. Payroll & Employees
        14. Reminders
          1. Reminders on the My Preferences Tab
          2. Reminders for Everyone
        15. Reports and Graphs
          1. Preferences for the Reports You Generate
          2. Preferences That Apply to Every Company Report
        16. Sales & Customers
        17. Sales Tax
        18. Search
        19. Send Forms
        20. Spelling
        21. Tax: 1099
        22. Time & Expenses
      3. 24. Integrating QuickBooks with Other Programs
        1. Mail Merge to a Word Document
          1. Creating Letters and Envelopes in QuickBooks
        2. Synchronizing Contacts
          1. Using QuickBooks Contact Sync for Outlook
        3. Setting Up an Integrated Application
        4. Exporting QuickBooks Data
          1. Exporting Lists and Addresses
            1. Exporting lists to a text file
            2. Exporting addresses
          2. Exporting Reports
        5. Importing Data from Other Programs
          1. Importing an Excel Spreadsheet
          2. Importing a Delimited File
      4. 25. Customizing QuickBooks
        1. Customizing the Desktop
        2. Customizing the Home Page
        3. Fast Access to Favorite Commands
          1. Building Your Favorites Menu
          2. Customizing the Icon Bar
            1. Adding and removing icons
            2. Adding windows to the icon bar
            3. Changing icon appearance
            4. Changing the order of icons
        4. Customizing the Company Snapshot
        5. Customizing Forms
          1. Working with Form Designs
            1. Creating a form design
            2. Managing form designs
          2. Editing an Existing Form in QuickBooks
          3. Basic Customization
            1. Adding a logo
            2. Applying a color scheme
            3. Changing fonts
            4. Including basic company and transaction information
          4. Additional Customization
        6. Managing Templates
          1. Copying a Template
          2. Deleting or Hiding a Template
          3. Exchanging Templates Between Company Files
      5. 26. Keeping Your QuickBooks Data Secure
        1. Setting Up the Administrator
          1. Assigning the Administrator User Name and Password
          2. Resetting the Administrator Password
          3. Complying with Credit Card Security Regulations
        2. Creating QuickBooks Users
          1. Adding New Users
          2. Resetting a User Password
        3. Restricting Access to Features and Data
          1. What the Access Areas Represent
          2. Setting Access Rights
        4. Audit Trails
    9. V. Appendixes
      1. A. Installing QuickBooks
        1. Before You Install
        2. Installing QuickBooks
        3. Registering QuickBooks
        4. Setting Up QuickBooks on a Network
        5. Where to Store Your Company Files
          1. Storing Company Files on a Network
      2. B. Help, Support, and Other Resources
        1. QuickBooks Help
        2. Live Community
        3. Other Kinds of Help
          1. The QuickBooks Community
        4. Other Help Resources
        5. QuickBooks Training
    10. Index
    11. About the Author
    12. Colophon
    13. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly

Product information

  • Title: QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual
  • Author(s): Bonnie Biafore
  • Release date: November 2010
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781449397708