QuickBooks 2013: The Missing Manual

QuickBooks 2013: The Missing Manual

by Bonnie Biafore
Released October 2012
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781449339166

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Book description

The Official Intuit Guide to QuickBooks 2013 for Windows

Your bookkeeping workflow will be smoother and faster with QuickBooks 2013 for Windows, and as the program's Official Guide, this Missing Manual puts you firmly in control. You get step-by-step instructions on how and when to use specific features, along with basic accounting advice to guide you through the learning process.

The important stuff you need to know:

  • Get started. Set up your accounts, customers, jobs, and invoice items quickly.
  • Follow the money. Track everything from billable time and expenses to income and profit.
  • Keep your company financially fit. Examine budgets and actual spending, income, inventory, assets, and liabilities.
  • Spend less time on bookkeeping. Use QuickBooks to create and reuse bills, invoices, sales receipts, and timesheets.
  • Find key info fast. Rely on QuickBooks’ Search and Find features, as well as the Vendor, Customer, Inventory, and Employee Centers.
  • Exchange data with other programs. Move data between QuickBooks, Microsoft Office, and other programs.

Table of contents

  1. QuickBooks 2013: The Missing Manual
  2. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
  3. The Missing Credits
    1. About the Author
    2. About the Creative Team
    3. Acknowledgements
    4. The Missing Manual Series
  4. Introduction
    1. What’s New in QuickBooks 2013
    2. When QuickBooks May Not Be the Answer
    3. Choosing the Right Edition
      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 the Online Resources
      1. Missing CD
      2. Registration
      3. Feedback
      4. Errata
    10. Safari® Books Online
  5. One. Getting Started
    1. 1. Creating a Company File
      1. Opening QuickBooks
      2. Before You Create a Company File
        1. Choosing a Start Date
        2. Account Balances and Transactions
      3. Creating a Company File
        1. Options for Creating a Company File
        2. Using Express Start
          1. Company Information
          2. Business Contact Information
          3. Creating Your Company File
        3. Using the EasyStep Interview
          1. Creating Your Company File
          2. Customizing Your Company File
        4. Beginning to Use QuickBooks
          1. Reopening the QuickBooks Setup Dialog Box
      4. Modifying Company Info
      5. What’s Next?
      6. 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
      7. 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 Home Page
        1. Vendors
        2. Customers
        3. Employees
        4. Company
        5. Banking
      2. The Company Snapshot
      3. Your Financial Calendar
      4. Menus and the Icon Bars
      5. Switching Among Open Windows
        1. Supermax View
    3. 3. Setting Up a Chart of Accounts
      1. Acquiring a Chart of Accounts
        1. Importing a Chart of Accounts
          1. Importing Accounts from Excel
          2. Importing a Downloaded Chart of Accounts
      2. Planning the Chart of Accounts
        1. Do You Need Another Account?
        2. Naming and Numbering Accounts
          1. Organizing Account Numbers
          2. Viewing Account Numbers
          3. Choosing Good Account Names
      3. Creating Accounts and Subaccounts
        1. 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, Jobs, and Vendors
      1. Creating Customers in QuickBooks
        1. Creating a New Customer
          1. Entering Contact Information
          2. Entering Payment Information
          3. Specifying Sales Tax Information
          4. Specifying Additional Customer Information
        2. Adding More Customer Contacts
      2. Creating Jobs in QuickBooks
        1. Creating a New Job
      3. Modifying Customer and Job Information
      4. Categorizing Customers and Jobs
        1. Understanding Customer Types
        2. Creating a Customer Type
        3. Categorizing Jobs
      5. Adding Notes
      6. Working with Leads
      7. Merging Customer Records
      8. Hiding and Deleting Customers
        1. Hiding and Restoring Customers
        2. Deleting Customers
      9. Setting Up Vendors
        1. Creating a Vendor
          1. Entering Address Information
          2. Payment Settings
          3. Sales Tax Settings
          4. Filling in Expense Accounts Automatically
          5. Additional Info
      10. Data Entry Shortcuts
        1. Adding and Editing Multiple Records
          1. Selecting a List to Work with
          2. Adding or Editing List Entries
          3. Saving Changes
          4. Correcting Errors
        2. Importing Customer or Vendor Information
        3. Exporting Customer or Vendor Information
          1. Exporting to Excel
          2. Customized Exports Using Contact List Reports
          3. Exporting a Text File
      11. Tracking To-Dos
        1. Creating a To-Do
        2. Editing a To-Do
        3. Viewing To-Dos
    5. 5. Setting Up 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. Categorizing with Classes
        1. Turning on Class Tracking
        2. Setting Up Classes
      2. Price Levels
        1. Creating a Price Level
        2. Applying Price Levels
      3. 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
      4. Fixed Asset Items
      5. Creating and Editing List Entries
        1. Creating Entries
        2. Editing Entries
      6. Hiding and Deleting List Entries
        1. Hiding Entries
        2. Deleting Entries
        3. Finding List Entries in Transactions
      7. Sorting Lists
      8. 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 Backup Settings
        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. Condensing Data
        1. Running the Condense Data Utility
      7. Cleaning Up after Deleting Files
  6. Two. 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 out 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. Turning on QuickBooks Inventory
        2. Creating Purchase Orders
        3. Recording a Vendor Deposit
        4. Receiving Inventory and Bills Simultaneously
        5. Receiving Inventory before the Bill
      5. Handling Reimbursable Expenses
        1. Setting Up Reimbursements as Income
        2. Recording Reimbursable Expenses
      6. Recording Vendor Refunds and Credits
      7. 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
      8. Producing Checks
        1. Writing Checks by Hand
        2. Setting Up QuickBooks to Print Checks
        3. Printing Checks
      9. Writing Checks Without Entering Bills
        1. Using the Write Checks Window
        2. Adding Checks to an Account Register
      10. Paying with Cash
      11. Paying with Credit Cards
      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. Adding an Online Payment Link
          1. Sign Up for Intuit PaymentNetwork
          2. Set Online Payment Link Preferences
        7. Choosing How to Send the Invoice
        8. 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 “Invoice for Time & Expenses”
          1. Invoicing One Customer or Job for Time and Expenses
          2. Creating a Batch of Time and Expenses Invoices
        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 a Credit Memo from an Invoice
        2. Creating Credit Memos
        3. Creating Refund Checks
        4. Applying Credits to Existing Invoices
        5. 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
          1. Emailing Statements
          2. Printing 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 QuickBooks Search
        4. Using the Find Feature
          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 and 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
        1. Taking a Draw
        2. Reclassifying Shareholder’s Distribution to Salary
          1. Reclassifying Payroll Withholdings
      2. Recording Transactions from a Payroll Service
      3. Using an Intuit Payroll Service
    8. 15. Bank Accounts 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
        1. Recording Initial Noncash Contributions
        2. Recording Home-Office Expenses
    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. Three. Managing Your Business
    1. 19. Managing Inventory
      1. The QuickBooks Inventory Process
        1. Setting Up Inventory Items
        2. Buying and Selling Inventory
        3. Working with the Inventory Center
      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. Creating Additional Customer: Job or Class Budgets
      5. Creating and Copying Budgets with Excel
        1. Exporting Your Budget
        2. Working with a Budget in Excel
        3. Importing a Budget into QuickBooks
      6. Filling in Budget Values
        1. Copy Across Columns
        2. Adjust Row Amounts
      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 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. Four. 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. 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
        4. Adding Multiple Transactions
        5. Deleting Downloaded Transactions
    2. 23. Configuring Preferences to Fit Your Company
      1. Preferences: The Basics
      2. Accounting
      3. Bills
      4. Calendar
      5. Checking
        1. Choosing the Bank Accounts You Use
        2. Settings for Company Checks
        3. Choosing Company-Wide Payroll Accounts
        4. Selecting an Online Banking Mode
      6. Desktop View
        1. Window Preferences
        2. Preferences for Saving the Desktop
        3. Customizing the Home Page
      7. Finance Charge
      8. General
        1. Tuning QuickBooks to Your Liking
        2. Company-Wide General Preferences
      9. Integrated Applications
      10. Items & Inventory
      11. Jobs & Estimates
      12. Multiple Currencies
      13. Payments
      14. Payroll & Employees
      15. Reminders
        1. Reminders on the My Preferences Tab
        2. Reminders for Everyone
      16. Reports and Graphs
        1. Preferences for the Reports You Generate
        2. Company-Wide Report Preferences
      17. Sales & Customers
      18. Sales Tax
      19. Search
      20. Send Forms
        1. Setting Your Send Preferences
        2. Customizing Messages
      21. Spelling
      22. Tax: 1099
      23. 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. Working with Third-Party Programs
        1. Finding Third-Party Programs
        2. 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 Features
        1. Building Your Favorites Menu
        2. Customizing the Icon Bar
          1. Adding and Removing Icons
          2. Adding Windows to the Icon Bar
          3. Changing an Icon’s Appearance
          4. Changing the Order of Icons
      4. Customizing the Company Snapshot
      5. Customizing Forms
        1. Editing an Existing Template in QuickBooks
        2. Basic Customization
          1. Adding a Logo
          2. Applying a Color Scheme
          3. Changing Fonts
          4. Including Basic Company and Transaction Information
        3. Additional Customization
        4. Managing Templates
          1. Copying a Template
          2. Deleting or Hiding a Template
          3. Exchanging Templates Between Company Files
        5. Working with Form Designs
          1. Creating a Form Design
          2. Managing Form Designs
    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. Five. 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. Intuit Community
        1. Accessing the Community within QuickBooks
      3. Other Kinds of Help
      4. Other Help Resources
      5. QuickBooks Training
  10. Index
  11. About the Author
  12. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: QuickBooks 2013: The Missing Manual
  • Author(s): Bonnie Biafore
  • Release date: October 2012
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781449339166