Bookkeeping - QuickBooks Services » QuickBooks Tips & Tricks

Handling Confusion

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:47:20 +0000

When faced with a mound of paper, in banker boxes and in drawers it can all appear overwhelming and insurmountable. Months or even years of no data entry, it’s enough to make a grown bookkeeper weep.

Something can be done about it, as distasteful as it may seem. Start somewhere.

The basic idea of bookkeeping – CASH IN, CASH OUT. This command tells you where to start, no matter what the boss or the client says. After all, the boss or the client created the mess in the 1st place….right?

So….start with CASH IN, CASH OUT. What’s that in the real world? It’s the bank accounts where money comes in to the business and exits the business for day to day bills and expenses.

Your weapons of choice in this quest are the sequential bank statements covering the period of no data along with the super QuickBooks tool of “remembering transactions”.

You can have QuickBooks pre-fill new transactions based on previous transactions.

To do this task

1. Open the general preferences.

2. Click Automatically remember account or transaction information.

3. Click one of the following two preferences.

Automatically recall last transaction for this name:
Sets up QuickBooks to remember the previous transaction for a person. When you enter a new transaction, QuickBooks
automatically fills out the form with information you entered in the last transaction of that type for that person. For example, when
you enter a vendor’s name on a bill and press Tab, QuickBooks fills in the bill just like the most recent one you entered for that
vendor.

Restrictions

This preference works only with bills, checks, credit card charges, invoices, and sales receipts. For invoices and sales receipts, it
completes Ship Via, Ref Doc (PO Number), and Free On Board (FOB) values. This preference has no effect on purchase orders,
payroll liability checks, or credit memos.

Pre-fill accounts for vendor based on past entries: Sets up QuickBooks to pre-fill the account for a vendor transaction based on
previous transactions for that vendor. QuickBooks remembers all your recent transactions for a vendor, not just the most recent
one. If you consistently use the same account for a vendor, QuickBooks will automatically pre-fill that information any time you
select the vendor in a bill, check, or credit card transaction.

How does QuickBooks know which account to pre-fill?

This preference is “smart” about when to pre-fill account information when you select a vendor. For example, if you pay the rent
every month from the same account, QuickBooks will soon start to pre-fill the bills you enter to your landlord with the usual
account.

When you use different accounts for a vendor, the account will not be pre-filled. For example, you might write checks to a
warehouse supplier out of several different accounts, depending on the purchase. So the next time you write a check to that
warehouse, QuickBooks will not pre-fill the account.

4. Click the OK button.

You can always override any pre-filled information in a transaction.

Bad news? At first, the data entry task will be huge. Good news? As you proceed with your data entry, based on the sequential bank statements, you will build up the history of transactions in QuickBooks. Each entry gets you closer and closer to your goal of re-creating a true and accurate picture of how the business lives and breathes.

Back to Basics accounting

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:00:10 +0000

QuickBooks Tip #2 Keyboard Navigation Shortcuts

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:20:26 +0000

Although I never graduated to the level of being a blindingly fast typist, I have managed to use certain of the QuickBooks® Keyboard shortcuts to greatly enhance my data entry speed.

Here are the QuickBooks® keyboard shortcuts used to navigate various windows withing QuickBooks. My data entry speed and accuracy improve alot when I can keep my fingers on the keyboard, instead of interrupting my flow by reaching for the mouse. Try these out, I think you’ll find them helpful!

Next field

Tab

Previous field

Shift + Tab

Beginning of current field

Home

End of current field

End

Line below in detail area or on report

Down arrow

Line above in detail area or on report

Up arrow

Down one screen

Page Down

Up one screen

Page Up

Next word in field

Ctrl + Right arrow

Previous word in field

Ctrl + Left arrow

First item on list or previous month in register

Ctrl + Page Up

Last item on list or next month in register

Ctrl + Page Down

Close active window

Esc or Ctrl + F4

QuickBooks Tip #1 General Keyboard Shortcuts

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:48:37 +0000

Having been around personal computers since the very beginning, using keyboard “shortcuts’ has become almost 2nd nature for me. Even highly experienced PC users are sometimes pleasantly surprised to see just how well QuickBooks utilizes general Windows shortcuts.

Using keyboard shortcuts can vastly improve your data entry speed. Here is a list of shortcuts I’ve found useful.

General Keyboard Shortcuts

To start QuickBooks without a company file

Ctrl (while opening)

To suppress the desktop windows (at Open Company window)

Alt (while opening)

Display product information about your QuickBooks version

Close active window

Esc or Ctrl + F4

Record (when black border is around OK, Save and Close, Save and New, or Record)

Enter

Record (always)

Ctrl + Enter