QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual

Reports and Graphs

QuickBooks administrators can modify settings that apply to every report and graph their company produces. Each person who logs into QuickBooks can specify a few preferences for the reports and graphs she generates, too.

Preferences for the Reports You Generate

Here’s a guide to the personal preferences shown in Figure 23-11 and the effects they have on performance:

• Prompt me to modify report options before opening a report. The reports you want usually require small tweaks—a different date range perhaps—so turning on this checkbox works for most people. With this checkbox turned on, QuickBooks automatically opens the Modify Report window when you generate a report so you can make any changes you want. (Click Refresh to view the results.) If you turn off this checkbox, in a report window, on the button bar, click Modify Report to make changes.

  

  Figure 23-11. Keeping reports up-to-date with the information in your company’s QuickBooks file can be time-consuming. To accommodate the inclinations of each person who logs into QuickBooks, the preferences on the My Preferences tab control how QuickBooks updates reports and graphs.

• Prompt me to refresh. If your QuickBooks file changes frequently and you don’t want to wait while the program incessantly refreshes every report you have open, choose this option. It’s the best option if you want QuickBooks to remind you to refresh ...