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Changing the Look of the Customer, Vendor, and Employee Lists

In the new 2006 version of QuickBooks you can now edit your Customer, Vendor or Employee List to look like the previous version.

Since QB 2006 has hard wired these lists on the icon bar and has called them Centers you may have looked for the way the older version presented the lists for these tasks.  However, the process has changed and the steps that follow should give you the desired results.

1. Open the Center you want to change: Choose “Customer Center” (or press Ctrl+J)

2. Click the Customers & Jobs tab (or press Alt+J)

3. Choose View/Show full customer list only or click on the arrow on the Customers & Jobs tab.

4. Choose View/Customize Columns

5. In the available Columns list, select the column you want to display.

Example:

a. Scroll to the bottom of the list.

b. Select Job Status

c. Click Add or press Alt+A

d. Repeat steps a through c for each column you wan to display.

e. If you want to change the order of the Chosen Columns, use the Move UP/Move Down buttons.

f. Choose OK to close Customize Columns.

6. Position the mouse on the right end of the Name column bar.

7. The mouse icon changes to a “plus” sizing icon.

8. Hold the left mouse button and drag the Name column left or right and release when you reach the width of the column you desire.

9. Click the X in the upper right corner or press Ctrl+F4 to close the center.

10. Choose Customers/Customer Center or press Ctrl+J to re-open the center.

11. Your customized customer list is displayed.

12. To run reports, choose View/Show Customer List & Details.

13. Reports for this Customer appear in the upper right section of the Customer Center.

14. Choose one of the following:

a. Quick Report

b. Show Estimates (if Estimate Preference is on)

15. If the above Customer reports are not what you need, use the Report Center or Reports menu.

Now, to customize your Vendor, or Employee lists just repeat the steps 1-8.  Just remember you have more than one option in the View drop-down list.

This should help you find what you are looking for in the new 2006 QuickBooks “Center”.

QuickBooks 2006 version is now available.

The most notable change in QuickBooks 2006 is to the icon bar across the top of the QuickBooks screen.

The new version is hard-coded with five icons: Home, Customer Center, Vendor Center, Employee Center and Report Center. Since they are hard-coded, they cannot be removed or changed by user configuration of preferences.  For example, in the default view, the Employee List is no longer available so you must use the Employee Center to access the same information in 2006.  The same holds true for the other “Icon Centers.”  However, if you are not happy with this new look, there is a way to add the old familiar icons.

Here’s how:

Notice the small double vertical line divider between the new “Center Icons” and your regular Icon bar icons. Left-click on the divider and drag the icon bar down UNDER the “Center Icons.”

Your icons will now be displayed on their own line under the hard-coded icons.

Many things have changed in QuickBooks 2006. If you haven’t upgraded yet and you are still using versions 2004 or 2005, you may want to consider waiting for the 2007 version. Hopefully by then, some of the new features will be options, not rigid requirements.

1099 Year End Requirements

Start thinking of 1099 year end requirements now.  Did you know that with proper configuration, QuickBooks can help you file your 1099 Misc. reports?

Remember, it’s required by all businesses to file the 1099 Misc. reports for all vendors who provided services to your company (visit the IRS website at www.irs.ustreas.gov for forms and instructions).

The first step is mailing out a request for taxpayer identification number and certifications.

This is done on the W-9 request form (revised Jan.2005) found on the IRS website at www.irs.ustreas.gov.  You can also attach a form letter with your company logo requesting the W-9 form be filled out and returned before year end.

This will give you time to put the Taxpayer identification numbers (TIN) in QuickBooks under the vendor tab “Additional Info”. This is required to properly identify the various 1099 Misc recipients to QuickBooks.  Click on the QuickBooks “Help” icon for step-by-step instructions. Under the index tab, if you double-click the 1099 entry, you will see help topics listed for: Setting up, Independent Contractor, Reports, Forms, and Troubleshooting. If you have any trouble at all, do not hesitate to call.

Start now on getting the information needed before your other year end report deadlines start pressing in on you.

How to make deposits in “Customers / Receive Payments” window for the new 2005 version of QuickBooks QuickBooks has now revised the Customer “Receive Payments” window. You no longer see the receive payments options (“Group with Undeposited Funds” or “Deposit to” in the Customer / Receive Payments window). What you previously setup in the Preferences is now the default choice.  This can be bothersome because now you have to change the preference each time you change how you receive payments.  Some days you may want to directly deposit a check, or some days you may want to use the “Undeposited funds” account because you have received many checks. Since there is currently no work-around you will have to change your preference accordingly. Follow these steps to change the preference to make deposits in the “Customers / Receive Payments” window for the new 2005 version of QuickBooks: Left click Edit Left click Preferences Left click Elect “Sales & Customers” Left click Company Preference Tab Make sure the checkbox labeled, “Use Undeposited Funds as a default deposit to account” is checked. Hopefully in the 2006 version this will be corrected for easier use.

Posted 1/5/05

How to make deposits in “Customers / Receive Payments” window for the new 2005 version of QuickBooks QuickBooks has now revised the Customer “Receive Payments” window. You no longer see the receive payments options (“Group with Undeposited Funds” or “Deposit to” in the Customer / Receive Payments window). What you previously setup in the Preferences is now the default choice.  This can be bothersome because now you have to change the preference setup each time you want to change how you receive payments.  Some days you may want to directly deposit a check, or some days you may want to use the “Undeposited funds” account because you have received many checks. Since there is currently no work-around you will have to change your preference each time you want to use one or the other option. Follow these steps to change the preference to make deposits in the “Customers / Receive Payments” window for the new 2005 version of QuickBooks: Left click on Edit Left click on Preferences Left click on Elect “Sales & Customers” Left click the Company Preference Tab Make sure the checkbox labeled, “Use Undeposited Funds as a default deposit to account” is checked. Hopefully in the 2006 version this will be corrected for easier use.

Posted 10/5/04 QuickBooks 2005 is here! The 2005 version has many new features for those that are upgrading from version 2002 and older. Even users of versions 2003 or 2004 may want to consider upgrading to 2005 after seeing all the great new features. There are more than 20 feature enhancements so I will take time to share just a few:   RETAINED EARNINGS QUICK ZOOM (Available in: Basic, Pro, Premier) In previous versions of QuickBooks, users did not have visibility into changes that were made to the Retained Earnings balance because there was no way to Quick Zoom from the Retained Earnings account. In 2005 the Quick Zoom feature for Retained Earnings enables users to instantly view the details of the account balance from Reports or the Chart of Accounts. By double clicking on the account balance, you can see the automatic closing entries created by the program as well as any manually posted transactions.   PAYROLL PROCESSING & Direct Deposit (Available in Basic, Pro, Premier) There are new services available to the QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll Plus. You can now get Automatic populated state payroll forms and state form updates, as well as Workers' compensation tracking, calculations and reporting, and the Rapid time entry, allows you to input hours for multiple employees in a single screen. But the best feature of all is the Net-to-gross, one-step bonus calculations. This makes grossing-up payroll from the net check amount to the gross amount as easy as clicking on a box. The payroll system automatically calculates what the Gross check will be, including taxes, if you want your net check to be a specific amount. Although add-on services require subscription, EIN, and Internet access for certain features including tax table updates and direct deposits, the improvement in the Payroll is fantastic.   VOIDED/DELETED TRANSACTIONS REPORTS (Available in Basic, Pro, Premier) In previous versions of QuickBooks, there was no single report that easily identified transactions that had been voided or deleted, making it difficult to discover changes made. The Audit trail report had too much information to look at and QuickBooks did not track enough transaction information to re-enter the transaction if it were voided or deleted in error. A new report has been added to remedy this problem: "Voided/Deleted Transaction Report". This report specifically lists transactions that have been voided or deleted.  To assist you in detecting errors from prior periods you only need to go to the Report menu, select the Voided/Deleted Transactions report. This gives you a summary list of the transactions that have been changed. With this new feature you can view the complete details of the modified transactions in one report. You can also drill down to see the details of the transaction and, if needed, reverse or re-enter the transaction.   Since I mentioned only three of my favorite new features in QuickBooks 2005, I want to encourage you to call for more information. We would be happy to help you transition from your existing version of QuickBooks to 2005 so you can take full advantage of the great new features.

TRACKING BARTER & TRADE TRANSACTIONS Let's say you are a window washer and you wash the office windows of a builder.  The builder fixes your fence. You create a $50.00 invoice in QuickBooks for the window washing and present it to the builder.  The builder sends you a bill for $50.00 to cover the fence repair. You and the builder acknowledge that you don't owe each other any money, but you want to record the transaction in QuickBooks.  There are two ways to handle this situation but the preferred method is as follows:  Use a Clearing Account 1.       From the Lists menu, choose Chart of Accounts. 2.       Choose New from the Account menu button. 3.       Choose Bank from the Type drop-down list. 4.       Enter an account number. 5.       Type Clearing Account in the Name field. 6.       (Optional) Enter an account description. 7.       Click OK. 8.       Pay the $50.00 bill from the builder using the Clearing Account. This will indicate a payment to this account. 9.       Receive payment of $50.00 from your builder and deposit it into the Clearing Account. This will indicate a deposit to this account. Result: The Clearing Account now has a zero balance. The 1099 report and the Accounts Payable & Accounts Receivable reports reflect the correct information. The income from the invoice and the expense from the bill reflect the true value of the activities of exchange .

Posted 7/7/04

ORGANIZING YOUR MEMORIZED REPORTS Everyone should know that you can memorize reports (custom or regular) or transactions (entries of checks, regular journal entries etc.) that you use often.  As the number of memorized reports & transactions increases, the “clutter” may make it difficult to find the memorized report you want to retrieve. On memorized reports you can use numbers to preface the report names that you use most often or that must not be overlooked. You can adjust the numbers so they will appear on the list in the order of importance or the order of usage. Example: -0- Entered/modified today 01 payroll liability report 02 payroll account balances from trial balance 03 Bi-weekly paycheck reviews 04 MONTHLY GENERAL JOURNALS 05 MONTHLY GENERAL LEDGERS To edit a memorized report name: From the report pull down menu, click on Memorized Reports and select the Memorized Report List. Then find the report name you want to edit, right-click on it, and from the popup menu, click on Edit. This calls up the Edit Memorized Report dialog box. At the Name field, you can edit the name of the report. You can also use users Initials to distinguish among reports. If there are several people using the software, the reports can be listed so that various people’s reports will be prefaced with their initials. Or if the owners or principals want regular reports, you can preface the report with their name. Since the memorized reports are automatically alphabetized on the Memorized Report List, these reports are easy to locate.

Posted 5/10/04

HOW TO DISTINGUISH REPORTS & BACKUPS GIVEN TO YOUR ACCOUNTANT OR CPA When you print a report, to go along with a backup you are giving to your Accountant or CPA, follow these directions for distinguishing your reports. Before printing or backing up, go to the QuickBooks Company Information and add the backup’s date in a six digit format, such as 010903, to the end of your company name. EXAMPLE: Sample Company 010903 Now print your reports, they will still show the company name but they will also show the date of the backup from which they are coming from. Then backup your file to give to your Accountant or CPA to help them distinguish and match when you gave them the last backup with your reports. You can also backup files with the company name and the backup date on the file name when you restore to your hard drive. EXAMPLE: C:\QuickBooks Clients\ Sample Company 010903.qbw This is beneficial to you and your CPA or Accountant, especially when you are working with a system with large amounts of cleanup. It will also prevent client confusion (for the CPA or Accountant) when current numbers don’t match previously printed reports, and then you will have fast access to the proper backup time period. Since you can have many companies on one QuickBooks purchase, you can also research unauthorized changes if you have a backup to restore under a different name.

Posted 4/7/04

Making a Backup .qbb on your hard drive in QuickBooks 99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 and sending the file via email (or other media) continues to be a problem for some of our clients. Consequently, we thought it might be helpful to publish the instructions on our website. They are as follows: Make all entries in your QuickBooks company file for the tax year (for instance, 12/31/03). Choose File > Back Up. In QuickBooks 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004: Note the Location and file name: (C:\QuickBooksVERSION\YOURCOMPANY.qbb) Choose OK. (Choose Back Up in QuickBooks 2001 and 2002.) In QuickBooks 99 and 2000: Note the folder name in Save in: (for example, QuickBooksVERSION).  Note the File name: (for example, YOURCOMPANY.qbb). Choose Save. Backup may display, "Are you sure you want to back up your company data to your hard disk?" Because you will email the file, choose Yes. IMPORTANT: For regular backup, back up to removable media, such as CD-R or other disks and not your hard disk. Backup may display, "The backup file you chose already exists. Do you want to replace it?" Choose Yes if you want to replace the file.  If you do not want to replace the file, choose No.  Change the filename in step 4. IMPORTANT: Keep the .qbb on the end of the filename. QuickBooks Information displays, "Your data has been backed up successfully." Choose OK to close QuickBooks Information. Start your email program. Create a new mail message to your tax preparer. Choose the option to attach a file. In some email programs you click a 'paper clip' icon. Select the folder and file in step 4 (for example, C:\QuickBooksVERSION\YOURCOMPANY.qbb). After you have attached the *.qbb file, type a message to your tax preparer asking for a response from him or her when the *.qbb is received. Choose Send. Close your email program. Tips: If you have already backed up your company file .qbb to a CD-R or zip disk, skip steps 1 through 8. You can attach and send the CD-R or zip disk .qbb via email using steps 13 through 19. If you need the steps for backing up to a CD-R or CD-RW, see the Quick Tip in QuickBooks E-news, December 2003. If your tax preparer makes changes in their copy of the company file, you cannot merge those changes back into your company file. Errors: Some email systems have file size restrictions. If the .qbb is too large, you may not be able to send the backup file via email. If the tax preparer can't open the .qbb, try re-sending the backup file.

Posted 3/15/04

Standard Windows shortcuts work in QuickBooks: CTRL + C = Copy CTRL + X = Cut CTRL + V = Paste CTRL + F = Find QuickBooks specific shortcuts: CTRL + M = Memorize Items CTRL + T = Bring up Memorized Transaction List CTRL + A = Show Account List CTRL + R = Open Register CTRL + Q = Quick report on highlighted list element (item/name/account) CTRL + D = Delete CTRL + E = Edit CTRL + I = Create Invoice CTRL + W = Write Check CTRL + 1 or F2 = Show Product Information screen CTRL + Delete = Deletes the selected line from a transaction CTRL + Insert = Insert a blank line in the selected area of a transaction

Posted 2/5/04 ANNOUNCES PRODUCT SUNSETS With the start of the New Year, QuickBooks announced the “sunset” (no longer supported by Intuit) of a couple of their products: QuickBooks 2002 will no longer be supported effective April 30, 2005 QuickBooks 2001 sunsets on April 30, 2004 QuickBooks 2002 Do-It-Yourself Payroll will no longer be supported after the product retires (4/30/05).  To continue receiving support for this product, you will need to upgrade to a newer version of QuickBooks. With this in mind, perhaps you should consider upgrading to QuickBooks 2004.  As in the past, this version comes in several flavors including Premier: Accountant Edition, Professional, Contractor, and Basic.  Following are some of the new features: Print plain paper W-2’s Undo reconciliation quickly and easily E-Mail forms and reports & save as PDF’s Improve your data exchange with Word, Excel & Outlook Predict cash flow for the next 6 weeks Track vehicle mileage and fixed assets Manage loans Contact us if you need help deciding which QuickBooks version is right for you. Posted 1/8/04 IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR QuickBooks 2003: Release 8 is the number you should find on your 2003 version of QuickBooks when you press the F2 key. If you have not updated your 2003 version you should go to File/Get updates to download and choose Release 8.                                      1099s: Don’t forget to prepare your 1099s.  You have to set up the Preference first, then, set up the Vendor to show they are eligible to receive a 1099.  Contact our office if you need help preparing 1099s.  You can also find the directions in the Help menu. Bank Reconciliations: If you haven’t kept up with reconciling your bank statements the start of a new year is a good place to begin. Reconcile for year-end and set up a reminder to reconcile your bank statements on a monthly basis.  For corporations, partnerships and not for profits, the monthly bank reconciliation is mandatory.  In fact, it is routinely requested by the Internal Revenue Service in most audits.  You can ask your bank for the proper format and cutoff date if you want a statement report for the end of the month. Oregon SUTA: Remember to set the new Oregon SUTA tax rates in your payroll item. By now you should have received a schedule of the new rates for 2004.  To do so, go to the payroll item list and edit the OR State Unemployment item and put in your new rates. Payroll Check Changes: If you change an old payroll check for any reason the rates will change on the check for the Company’s liabilities, so make sure you have the year-end closing date set. As always, let us know if you have any questions or concerns about QuickBooks.  Our certified Professional Advisors are here to help.

Posted December 2003 ADVANCED PAYMENTS  When you have customers who prepay on something (or pay in advance for a service not yet received) this is considered a liability for your company. How can you track customer advances as a liability? Create a current liability account in your chart of accounts called “Customer Deposits”. Then create a service item called “Customer Deposits” and assign it to the “Customer Deposits” liability account. When your customer pays in advance, create a sales receipt that shows one item – “Customer Deposit” item.  Example: You receive a $500.00 advance on a project. You have no invoice to apply it to yet. Create a cash sale, and use the item “Customer Deposit (assigned to the Customer Deposits liability account). When you record the cash sale, QuickBooks debits the cash (or Un-deposited Funds) and credits the liability account.  Now suppose the final invoice is for $1,500.00 for construction income. They’ve already given you $500.00, so after creating the invoice, use the Customer Deposit item on the last line and enter a negative ($500.00 minus) as the amount for the item. This makes the accounts receivable balance $1.000.00. To Keep track of who paid deposits, create a transaction detail by account report and do some customizing. From the Reports menu, choose Accountant & Taxes, and then choose “Transaction Detail by Account” Click Modify Report From the Total by drop-down list, choose Customer. Click the Filters tab. From the Filter list, choose Account. From the Account drop-down list, choose Selected accounts, and then choose the Customer Deposits liability account. Click OK.  Now the report shows the inflows and outflows by customer, so you can tell who has used up a deposit and who has not. The report shows a balance of zero for a customer after you’ve used up the deposit.

osted: September 2003 Backups, Restores, & New Technology: The USB Hard (or Flash) Drive For those of you who have used QuickBooks for a while, you know the frustration of coming to disk 7 in the backup process only to have it fail! A relatively new technology is available to help you avoid that pain.  USB Hard Drives are the future of data storage.  They have many advantages:   Portability Most of the USB Drives I have seen are roughly three times the size of the average ball-point pen and can be put on your keychain if desired. Reliable These are solid state devices meaning they are strictly electrical and thus, more reliable.  No moving parts also means less power required to operate them. No drivers needed on newer PCs Drivers are not required on systems running Windows 98 SE and later. When drivers are needed, although it is an extra step, they are easily installed. Ease of use compared to burning CDs Since, in most cases no driver or additional software is needed, you simply plug the device into one of your computer’s USB ports and it shows up as another hard drive in “My Computer” or Windows Explorer.  To use it, just drag and drop files to it or use the normal commands to create, delete, or rename subdirectories. It is re-writable so you can use it again and again. No recurring media cost You don’t need diskettes, cartridges, or blank media of any kind.  The device itself stores the data!  Relatively low cost When compared with the price of a CD-RW drive or even a floppy disk drive, these devices are very cost-effective.  The 16 MB models begin at $25 and the 512MB model sells for around $700.  Consider the floppy disk drive: you pay $15-$30 for the device and $.25 per diskette. Each diskette only holds 1.44 MB of data. Of course, you can re-use the diskettes but they have a limited lifetime and are not very reliable when it comes to multi-disk QuickBooks backups.  The drawback of the CD-RW is the need to use special software to write the backup file to the disk. Many times, this process is unsuccessful for whatever reason, and the client has to make another attempt. To summarize, USB Flash Drives are the low cost, easy to use, reliable alternative to floppy disks or CD-RW. If you have questions or need help locating a device to suit your needs, simply call Skip at (503) 585-7751 or submit an information request.

Posted: August 2003 Don’t underestimate the power of shortcuts. Shortcuts are a great  tool in QuickBooks when you take the time to learn and use them. When you use the CTRL+L for list, it is also  doubling as a bookmark on the field. Example: When you are  entering in bills (or, time sheets etc.) and you want to use a class in the class field, hold the CTRL key, type L (for list) and the list of  classes appears. When you have selected the class item you need, hold the CTRL key and type U (for use) and the selection will appear in  the class field of the form you are in. As you continue to fill in the form, whenever you are in the class field and you press CTRL+L, not only will the list appear, but it will jump directly to the prior selection on the list that you last used--What a time saver! This short cut is true for any field on any form . If you are filling in a Credit Card Charge and you itemize the list of expenses, a commonly used selection (Office Expense) may be selected over and over in the Expense field. Again, use your short  cuts! It will save you time in the long run.

Posted July 2003 Quickly  and Easily Assign Multiple Classes to an Invoice Most use the class feature at the  top of an invoice, but this only allows you to use one class per invoice. You can assign multiple classes to the same invoice by modifying the Invoice layout to include the Class field on each column of the detail area. For those  who keep track of Classes, this allows for a more detailed job cost breakdown on reports. In QuickBooks™ 2003 Follow these steps. Display an Invoice In the “Custom Template" field, at the top right of the invoice, select “Customize”. This displays a list of  Templates that can be customized. Click Edit. This displays the  customizable sections of the invoice. Click Columns. This shows which  columns are currently displayed on the screen and on the printed  invoice. Click the box on the Class line  under the Screen column, and then click OK. Now your invoice has a new column  for Class that shows up on the screen but will not be printed. You can enter a  different class on each line of the invoice. If you don’t fill in a class, that line intern will be assigned to the class shown at the top of the  invoice.   Posted 5/6/2003 BACKING UP YOUR QUICKBOOKS FILES ON A DAILY BASIS. Backup copies are important insurance if you lose data for any reason. You can backup manually or, if you have QuickBooks 2003, you now have the option of scheduling automatic  backups. QuickBooks 2003 gives  you two options for back up:  1. You can schedule  Automatic backups that take place when you close the company  file. 2. You can schedule  backups at Regular intervals, even when you are away from your desk (computer must  be on). TO SCHEDULE AUTOMATIC BACKUPS IN Q 1. From the File menu, choose Back Up. 2. Click the Schedule a Backup tab. 3. Select automatically  backup data when closing the data file box, then specify how often you want your  data file automatically backed up. (Example: Back up every third time you close it-type 3) 4. Click OK TO SCHEDULE REGULAR BACKUPS... 1. From the File menu, choose Back Up. 2. Click the Schedule a Backup Tab. 3. Click New under Schedule backup to display the  Schedule New Backup window. 4. Type a description for  your backup (Weekly-Firday-Daily..etc) This description will appear in the  backup list on the Schedule a Backup tab. 5. Specify a location for  your scheduled backup. If necessary, click Browse and navigate to the desired location. Don’t choose your C drive, use a Zip, 3.5 diskette, CD Rom, tape, or main frame. 6. *OPTIONAL* If you want to keep more than one backup, select the number of backups to keep and specify how many.  For example, if you want to keep three past backups, type 3 in the filed provided. The new  backup replaces the oldest one, always leaving a total of three backups. If you want to keep all backups, make sure Number of backups is deselected. 7. Select time and day you want your backup to run. You can select as many days per week as desired. You  can also select every week, two weeks and so on, up to five  weeks. 8. If necessary (recommended), set a password. 9. Click OK *NOTE* The QuickBooks Backup command does not  copy the data for your QuickBooks company.  It compresses the data into a compact file that is smaller than your company file. Even if you use disks that come preformatted, QuickBooks recommends formatting to ensure you get a good backup.

Posted 4/7/2003 Print Due Dates on Statements To the surprise of many, due dates can be printed on statements. However, QuickBooks uses the Intuit "Standard Statement" template to print statements so you will need to modify the statement template. To create a customized statement with a field for the  due date you will need to complete the following steps. From the QuickBooks List menu, choose Templates. On the Templates list, click Intuit Standard Template once to select it. Click the Template button at the bottom of the list   and select Duplicate. A duplicate template is added to the list. Double-click the duplicate template  created in Step  3 to open the Customize Statement window. In the Template Name field, type a new name for   your customized statement form. "Statement Due Date" Click the Fields tab. Select the Due Date checkbox in the Print column.  Click OK. If a Warning window appears, click the Relayout button. When you prepare statements for  printing, make sure  this new template is selected when creating your  statements. You will also need to make sure each customer's  record is set up to reflect the desired payment terms. If you were able to complete the above steps without problems, the next statements will print with due dates. If not, give us a call--we would be happy to help!

Posted 2/17/2003

Transfer QuickBooks Files

Transferring QuickBooks files can be tricky. E-mailing them can also require great patience if you do not have a high-speed Internet connection on both ends. To give yourself or the recipient of your file the best possible opportunity to work with it, heed these simple guidelines:

• When e-mailing over dial-up connections, don’t send files that are greater than 4MB in size.
• When receiving a QuickBooks backup file via e-mail or on any other media, don’t double-click to open it. Instead, right-click and choose <Save As>. Save the file to a location on your local hard drive (e.g. c:\) to which you can easily navigate and browse to during the restore process..
• Open the correct version of QuickBooks.  Preferably, the same version used by the originator of the file.  Using the same version will allow you to return a QuickBooks company file (with changes) to the originator for their use. If you attempt to restore the file with a newer version of QuickBooks, the file must be updated to the newer version.  If, after updating, you make changes to the file, it will not successfully restore to the originator’s older version.
• For security’s sake do not put the username and password (and you should definitely password protect your QuickBooks file) in the e-mail to which your backup file is attached. Call the recipient later with that information.
• When copying your QuickBooks backup file to media or attaching it to e-mail, verify that it has the correct extension. A QuickBooks company file has an extension of .QBW.  A QuickBooks backup file has an extension of .QBB.
• Beware of copying only a shortcut to your company file.  If you put this “link” file on a CD-Rom or other media or attach it to an e-mail, it will be useless to the recipient.
• When saving the file to a CD-Rom, verify that you are following the software manufacturer’s instructions for copying the file.  Some packages require a specific step needed to save the file in a format compatible with most PCs.

Posted 1/22/2003

Employee Advances

Handling Employee Advances can be  troubling if not done correctly in QuickBooks. The best way to handle payroll advances is to manually set up two payroll advance items to  keep track of the transactions:

The first payroll item can be called “Payroll Advances” and should be set up as an addition item. The second item can  be called “Advanced Repayments” and should be set up as a deduction. Both items should be allocated to the same account, usually another asset account called “Employee Advances”.

The key is to never simply write a check for an employee’s advance but instead create a paycheck for the employee using the appropriate pay period and the “Payroll Advance” item. All other earnings  items on this check should be deleted so only appropriate taxes are recorded.  Thus, the only item included on the advance paycheck is the ”Payroll Advance” item.

When it comes time to collect the  advance from the employee’s paycheck, use the “Advance Repayment” item on the  paycheck. When you try to create a paycheck for an employee who has received an advance for that pay period, QuickBooks issues a warning that the employee has  already received a paycheck for the pay period. This is your reminder that an advance check was cut and you should deduct the “Advance Repayment” from  their check if you haven’t already done so.

Since both the Advance and the Repayment items are processed using payroll items, both amounts will appear on the payroll reports as separate line items making it easier to reconcile Payroll Advances issued against Advanced Repayments. You will also find adjusting for  errors are eliminated because both items are allocated to the same account.

The method helps to ensure that payroll advances are recorded (and reported) and future paychecks are adjusted accordingly.

Posted 12/17/2002

Improve QuickBooks Processing Time

It’s the time of year to think about condensing your QB files.  Old records unnecessarily maintained in QuickBooks can cause your QuickBooks system to process commands slowly.  Why waste your valuable time when this situation can be avoided?  The Archive and Condense wizard will lead you through the process required to condense your data file. Before you begin, you should have available media for backing up your data, and know that a large file will take a long time to condensed.  Be sure to schedule this process when you can afford the time.

NOTES:

• You will be prompted to back-up your company file as part of the Archive & Condense Data wizard.
• In all versions of QuickBooks financial software, before you archive and condense the data file, disable the screensaver on your system. Since archiving and condensing can take a long time, the screensaver may, depending on your configuration, come on in the middle of the process. When this happens and you press a key to return to the progress screen, the status bar will be gone. Without the status bar, you won’t we able to track progress or know if the program has stopped responding. 
• You will not be able to update any transactions that fall within the period you have selected to condense.
• You must be in single-user mode to do this.

1. From the file menu, choose Archive & Condense Data.
2. Choose a condense option.  You can choose to remove all transactions as of a specific date or you can remove all transactions. We recommend specifying that you keep the current year and prior year.
3. Continue through the wizard screens choosing items to be removed.  Removing unused items can greatly reduce the size of a data file and may improve performance.
4. Click Begin Condense when you are sure you want to proceed.  Note: a message is displayed  stating that it will make a backup file before it condenses the transactions. the backup file ensures that you will still have a record of the details of any transactions that QuickBooks deletes from your company file.
5. Click OK to dismiss the message and open the Back Up Company File window.
6. Click Create Back Up and then condense your file.
7. Backup then makes an Archive copy of your company file.  The backup file is the compressed version of the company data file and the archive file is the copy of the file before you condensed. If you needed to restore your company file for any reason, you will use the backup version of the file to do so.

Posted 11/8/2002

Would you like to reduce the cost of your malpractice insurance?

Some insurance carriers may lower  your malpractice insurance if you’ve established a computerized conflict-checking procedure. You can use QuickBooks to do a simple conflict-checking procedure by adding a customized field called “Versus” to the  Customer Job List. QuickBooks lets you add extra fields to each client’s record (which you enter in the Customer Job List) for any purpose. You can use these  customized fields to track dates, personal information, and so on.

You can add up to seven customized fields so if you represent clients in more than one case you can add additional “Versus” fields later (example: Versus 1, Versus 2). For the customized “Versus” field you enter in the opposing party.

You can then check for a conflict of interest by crating a Customer Contact report and filer it by the new client’s name:

• From the Reports menu, choose List, followed by Customer Contact List.
• On the report button bar, click Modify Report. Then select the Filters tab.
• In the Filter list,  select “Versus”.  Then in the “Versus” field, enter the name of the potential new client. Click OK.

If the potential new client has  never been an opposing party in any of your previous cases, QuickBooks displays a report with no names (because the filter condition was not met.)

If, after filtering the report for a specific name, you see one or more client’s names in the Customer Contact List,  it means you have a potential conflict.

Posted 9/17/2002

Have you ever wanted to see transaction history for an invoice, bill, or deposit?  While in a transaction window, use the Control + H keyboard shortcut to see the history of the transaction. You can also view this information by using the <History> button at the top of most transactions (in the newer versions of QuickBooks).  Depending on which window you are in, transaction history gives information about prior amounts received for an invoice, prior payments made on bills, etc. This is a very useful tool that often goes unnoticed -- Try it today!!

Posted 8/12/02

Pressing the F1 key from any opened screen in QuickBooks will pop up a “Help” window. The help window tells you what is important about the report or the screen you have opened, explains the different files on the screen, and provides quick access to context-sensitive help. Try it and begin saving time as you enter information into QuickBooks!

Posted 6/15/02

Creating more than one estimate for a customer in QuickBooks can be accomplished by creating a new job for each estimate with a prefix of E1,E2, E3, etc. As you create the estimate, select the customer name and press the : (colon) button after the name to “quick add” a new job. QuickBooks will then fill in the correct customer information and you will have all your estimates under the correct customer. When the estimates are not accepted or no longer valid, you can then delete the estimate and the  temporary jobs easily because of the E1 prefix in front of the job name.

Posted 4/22/02

Most tax returns have been completed and filed. Don’t forget to set your closing date. If the closing date has been entered properly, when you attempt to change prior period information, you will be prompted with a warning to that effect.  However, if you forget to set the closing date, information from 2001 year end will be changed without a warning prompt. 

You set the closing date in QB’s 2001 by going to <Company> in the menu bar and then to <Set up Users>. You will then click on <Closing Date>…Set the date for the end of the year 2001 (or other appropriate closing period). QuickBooks will now give you a warning about changing information prior to the Closing Date.

QuickBooks 2002 users are now required to enter a password before they can change prior period information. You should let your CPA enter a password to prevent any accidental changes.  The inadvertent changes (for example, deleting or voiding a check from the prior period) can cause an incorrect Retained Earnings.  Of course, your CPA will have to figure out why Retained Earnings is incorrect resulting in higher accounting fees next year.

Posted 3/18/02

To avoid having to enter prior period information after the year-end has been finalized, make sure you set your closing date.  You must be in single-user mode and only the admin can set the date but it will prevent many “headaches” down the road.