May 19th, 2012
QuickBooks Option for Entering New Transactions
Use the Default Date To Use For New Transactions option to tell QuickBooks whether you want the Date field to show the current date or the date of the last transaction you entered when you open a transaction window. If you frequently enter transactions for the same date over a period of several days (for example, you start preparing invoices on the 27th of the month, but the invoice date is the last day of the month), select the option to use the last entered date so you can just keep going. When that job is finished, and you’re back to entering individual transactions, you can return to this window and change the setting. Of course, next month, when you begin the repetitive work, return to this window, and reset the option. It’s actually faster to set the option as you need it than to remember to change the date for each transaction you’re creating. To reset this option as needed:
- Choose Edit | Preferences from the QuickBooks menu bar.
- Click the General icon on the left pane and then click the My Preferences tab.
- In the Default Date To Use For New Transactions section, select the appropriate option and then click OK to save the setting.
Posted in Preferences, QuickBooks, QuickBooks How To Tips, Transactions | Comments Off
May 18th, 2012
Assign General Journal Entry Numbers Automatically in QuickBooks
To eliminate the need to keep track of the last general journal entry number used and enter it manually, QuickBooks can automatically assign a number when you create a general journal entry. The first time you create a general journal entry, you must fill in a number (or accept the default number, “1”), and thereafter QuickBooks assigns the next available number. To use this option:
- Choose Edit | Preferences from the QuickBooks menu bar.
- Click the Accounting icon on the left pane to open the Accounting preferences, and click the Company Preferences tab.
- Click the Automatically Assign General Journal Entry Number check box.
Posted in Journal Entries, Preferences, QuickBooks, QuickBooks How To Tips | Comments Off
May 17th, 2012
Change Default Due Date for Vendor Invoices in QuickBooks
In QuickBooks when you enter a vendor bill, the due date fills in automatically, depending on the terms you have with the vendor. If you don’t set up terms for a vendor, the due date for a vendor bill is automatically filled out using a default number of days for paying bills. QuickBooks sets this default at 10 days, but you can change the default to a number of days that you choose. To change this default date in QuickBooks:
- Choose Edit | Preferences from the QuickBooks menu bar.
- Click the Bills icon on the left pane and click the Company Preferences tab.
- Fill in the text box with the number of days after receipt bills are due.
- Click OK to save the new setting.
Posted in Preferences, QuickBooks, QuickBooks How To Tips, Vendors | Comments Off
May 16th, 2012
Turning on Finance Charges in QuickBooks
QuickBooks gives you an option to impose finance charges on overdue amounts as an incentive to get your customers to pay on time. To use this option in QuickBooks you decide the rate and circumstances under which finance charges are assessed. In the Finance Charge preferences dialog box you must specify an interest rate to charge, a minimum finance charge, the grace period you permit before finance charges are assessed, the posting account, and which date to begin calculating finance charges from. Additionally, you can choose to issue a finance charge on overdue finance charges and to have QuickBooks automatically mark the invoices “To be printed”. To enable and establish finance charges for your customers in QuickBooks you must do the following:
- Choose Edit | Preferences from the QuickBooks menu bar.
- Click the Finance Charge icon on the left pane and then click the Company Preferences tab.
- Fill in the Annual Interest Rate (%) field with the rate you want to charge annually (this means that if you want to charge 1.5% per month, you enter 18% in this field).
- Fill in the Grace Period (days) field with the number of days of lateness you permit before finance charges are assessed.
- Enter the income account you want to use to post finance charges (usually an income account).
- Specify whether to calculate the finance charge from the due date or from the invoice date in the Calculate Charges From field by clicking either the Due Date or Invoice/Billed Date option.
- Click OK to save your settings after you have filled out the window.
Posted in Customers, Preferences, QuickBooks, QuickBooks How To Tips | Comments Off
May 15th, 2012
Use Class Tracking in QuickBooks
Class Tracking in QuickBooks lets you group transactions to match the way you want to track and report your business activities. In effect, you can use classes to “classify” your business by some pattern, such as divisions, branches, or types of activity. Because you must use classes consistently for the Use Class Tracking feature to be useful, QuickBooks offers an option called Prompt To Assign Classes, to remind users to assign classes. To enable these features:
- Choose Edit | Preferences from the QuickBooks menu bar.
- Click the Accounting icon on the left pane to open the Accounting preferences, and click the Company Preferences tab.
- Check the Use Class Tracking check box.
- Click the Prompt To Assign Classes check box.
Posted in Preferences, QuickBooks, QuickBooks How To Tips, Transactions | Comments Off