QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual

Introduction

Thousands of small companies and nonprofit organizations turn to QuickBooks to keep their finances on track. And over the years, Intuit has introduced various editions of QuickBooks to satisfy the needs of different types of companies. Back when milk was simply milk, you either used QuickBooks or you didn’t. But now, when you can choose milk from soy beans as well as cows, and five different levels of fat, it’s no surprise that QuickBooks comes in Simple Start, Pro, Premier, Online, and Enterprise editions (which, in some cases, are dramatically different from their siblings), as well as six industry-specific editions. From the smallest of sole proprietorships to burgeoning enterprises, one of these editions is likely to meet your organization’s needs and budget.

QuickBooks isn’t hard to learn. Many of the features that you’re familiar with from other programs work just as well in QuickBooks—windows, dialog boxes, drop-down lists, and keyboard shortcuts, to name a few. And with each new version, Intuit has added enhancements and new features to make your workflow smoother and faster. The challenge is knowing what to do according to accounting rules, and how to do it in QuickBooks.

What’s New in QuickBooks 2011

Despite the fluctuating size of the tax code, accounting and bookkeeping practices don’t change much each year. The changes in QuickBooks 2011 are mostly small tweaks and subtle improvements, but a few additions might be just what you’ve been waiting for:

• The EasyStep Interview has been streamlined. Even better, it no longer confronts you with sales pitches for add-on services that cost extra.

• The QuickBooks Setup window (Beginning to Use QuickBooks) now opens after you finish creating a new company file. The window steps you through setting up customers, vendors, employees, items you sell, and bank accounts.

• The Company Snapshot window now includes a Customer tab (Company) that lets you review the status and recent transactions of your customers.

• Transaction windows like Create Invoices and Enter Bills include a new panel with a summary of the customer’s or vendor’s account status and a list of recent transactions (Entering Bills).

• QuickBooks now offers separate preferences to automatically apply discounts and credits (Modifying Payment Amounts).

• You can set up a batch of invoices (Creating Batch Invoices) for the same items and amounts and then send them to as many of your customers as you want. In addition, you can add all the customers that receive the same invoice to a billing group and then choose that group to send the invoice to each customer in it.

• QuickBooks can now use Web-based email accounts (Send Forms), such as Gmail or Yahoo.

• The new “Balance sheet by class” report lets you prepare a balance sheet for each class you track—perfect for keeping tabs on the performance of different business units or locations.