SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNTING
User Guide
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Welcome to QuickBooks
We're going to help you get paid, pay others, and see how your business
is doing. Use this guide to learn key tasks and get up and running as fast
as possible.
All kinds of help
Help from Intuit and the QuickBooks Community of users is built into
QuickBooks. You can also access the Learning Center for video tutorials
and articles via the Help menu.
Visit the QuickBooks Support Website at www.quickbooks.com/support
to browse support topics, FAQs or contact an agent (fees may apply).
You can find a local QuickBooks expert by typing in your ZIP code
here: www.findaproadvisor.com.
As your business grows, you may want to add additional users.
You can easily do this from the Help menu by choosing Help >
Manage My License.
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Table of Contents
Whats in this guide
Getting started
Getting around
Using the Home page
Using centers
Using forms
Everyday tasks
Get paid:
Create sales receipts
Create invoices
Receive payments
Make deposits
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See how your business is doing:
Using the Reports Center
Company Snapshot
Profit and Loss
Balance Sheet
Pay others:
Write checks
Enter bills
Pay bills
Keyboard shortcuts
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Getting started
Getting started
Begin by creating your company file
A QuickBooks company file contains all the financial records for your
business. Its easy to create using the Setup window, which appears
automatically after you install QuickBooks.
You can also reach this window from the menu by choosing File >
New Company.
Click here to get started.
Next, add your business info
To save time later, add/import information you'll use often. This includes
the people you do business with, the products and services you sell, and
your bank accounts. No data to enter or import right now? No problem!
You can add it as you work in QuickBooks.
To come back to this
window later, go to the
Help menu and choose
Quick Start Center, then
click Return to Add Info.
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Using the Home page to move around in
QuickBooks
The Home page gives you a big picture
of how your business tasks fit together.
It opens automatically whenever you
open a company file.
You can do all your tasks just using the
menus. The menus contain the same
tasks as the Home page, and more.
The Icon Bar includes shortcuts
to many parts of QuickBooks.
To create your own shortcuts,
click Customize Shortcuts.
To customize the Home page,
choose Edit > Preferences >
Desktop View from the menu,
and then click the Company
Preferences tab.
Go directly to the centers
by clicking on these icons.
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Getting around
Using centers
QuickBooks tracks the people and companies you do business with in
Centers. There is a separate QuickBooks Center for customers, vendors,
and employees. Use the centers to manage and view all information
and transactions associated with customers, vendors, and employees.
All of the centers work the same way. Well use the Customer Center to
show you how they work.
QuickBooks lists the
names in the center here.
When you click on a name
to the left, their details
show up here.
Click here to see all transactions
associated with these names.
Click here to edit the
name's information.
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Using forms
All of your everyday QuickBooks tasks, like invoicing, paying bills,
and writing checks, are done on forms. You can reach every form in
QuickBooks from the Home page or the menus. Well use an invoice
to show you how forms work.
Use these arrows or the Find
button to look for invoices
you've already entered.
If you see an arrow, click it to
select from a list. If you dont see
what you need, select Add New.
Click the tabs on this ribbon to
find everything you need to do
on a form.
Click here to save your
work on a form.
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Everyday tasks
Get paid:
There are 2 main ways to record sales in QuickBooks. If your customer
pays in full, use a sales receipt. However, if they still owe you money for
the sale, use an invoice instead.
Create sales receipts
Use a sales receipt if customers pay you in full at the time of sale.
To start, go here: Customers > Sales Receipts.
Select a customer.
Enter the quantity.
Tell QuickBooks what youre selling.
QuickBooks fills in
the price you entered
when you set up the
item. You can change
it here.
Enter the customers
payment information.
Print or email the
sales receipt.
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Create invoices
Use an invoice if customers still owe money for the sale.
To start, go here: Customers > Create Invoices.
Select a customer.
Enter the quantity.
Tell QuickBooks
what youre selling.
QuickBooks fills in
the price you entered
when you set up the
item. You can change
it here.
Print or email
the invoice.
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Everyday tasks
Receive payments
When a customer pays you, use the Receive Payments form to apply
it to the right invoice. You don't need to do this if you entered a sales
receipt.
To start, go here: Customers > Receive Payments.
Select a customer.
Enter your customers
payment information.
Enter the amount
the customer paid you.
Select the unpaid
invoices to apply the
payment to.
Save the payment.
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Make deposits
After you record a sales receipt or receive a payment for an invoice,
tell QuickBooks where to deposit the money. The deposit you record in
QuickBooks should match the actual deposit you make at the bank. It
may include multiple payments or sales receipts for the day.
To start, go here: Banking > Make Deposits.
QuickBooks first lists any undeposited payments and sales receipts. If this window
doesn't open, you don't have any undeposited funds. Continue with step 2.
Select the payments
to deposit and click OK.
Enter any additional
money to deposit.
Select the bank account you
want the money to go into.
Print a deposit slip or
summary for your records.
Save the
deposit.
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Everyday tasks
Pay others:
In QuickBooks, you track purchases in the Write Checks, Enter Bills, or
Enter Credit Card Charges windows.
If you use a debit card, ATM, or electronic fund transfer (EFT), use the
Write Checks window to record the purchase.
To track how much you owe, use Enter Bills. When youre ready to
pay the bill, use the Pay Bills window (not the Write Checks window).
Write checks
Use the Write Checks window to record checks you print or write, ATM
withdrawals, debit card purchases or electronic fund transfers (EFT). Dont
use the Write Checks window to pay bills you entered or create paychecks.
To start, go here: Banking > Write Checks.
Select the bank
account where the
money is coming from.
Select the
payee.
Select an account to tell QuickBooks
what you bought. If you bought
inventory, use the Items tab instead.
If you don't want to print this
check later, uncheck Print Later
and then enter the number of a
handwritten check.
Enter the amount
of the check.
Save the check.
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Enter bills
To track how much you owe, use the Enter Bills window. Entering and
paying a bill is a two-step process:
Enter the bill using Vendors > Enter Bills
Pay the bill using Vendors > Pay Bills
Start by entering a bill.
Select the vendor
you need to pay.
Enter the terms or due
date, and QuickBooks will
remind you when the bill
is due.
Enter the
amount of the bill.
Select an account to tell
QuickBooks what you bought.
If you bought inventory, use
the Items tab instead.
Save the bill.
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Everyday tasks
Pay bills
When youre ready to pay a bill, use the Pay Bills window.
To start, go here: Vendors > Pay Bills.
Select the bills
you want to pay.
Change the
date if needed.
Select the payment
method and account.
QuickBooks shows you how
much you have left in your account
if you pay the selected bills.
Click here to
pay the bills.
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See how your business is doing:
Using the Reports Center
All of your QuickBooks information can be found, organized, and
presented as a report. QuickBooks has more than 100 reports, and the
Report Center makes it easy to find the right one.
To start, go here: Report > Reports Center.
Choose a type of report.
View your memorized and favorite
reports, along with reports contributed
by other QuickBooks users.
Run the report.
Read the question
this report answers
about your business.
Click these icons to change
how QuickBooks displays
the list of reports.
Mark the report
as a favorite.
Get more
information
about the report.
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Everyday tasks
Company Snapshot
Use the Company Snapshot to get real-time company information
and perform tasks from a single place.
To start, go here: Company > Company Snapshot.
This is a snapshot of the money going
in and out of your business over time.
Use this section to compare monthly
income and expenses.
This section shows your top
five customers based on sales
for a given period of time.
Click here to learn how to
customize the Company Snapshot.
See what your customers owe you.
Compare how much you spent this
year to the same period last year.
Account balances include: all bank,
accounts receivable, accounts
payable, credit card, asset, liability,
and equity accounts.
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Profit and Loss
This report is also known as an income statement. It summarizes your
income and expenses for a particular period, so you can tell whether
youre operating at a profit or a loss.
To start, go here: Reports > Company & Financial > Profit &
Loss Standard.
Click here to customize
your report.
If youve customized the report and want to
use it again, click here to memorize the report.
This report shows totals for
each income or expense
account in your chart of
accounts. Double-click
the subtotal to see the
transactions that make up
that amount.
See your net income
(or loss) for the report
period.
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Everyday tasks
Balance Sheet
This report provides a financial snapshot of your company as of
a specific date.
To start, go here: Reports > Company & Financial > Balance
Sheet Standard.
Assets are everything
your business owns,
including money owed
to you.
Liabilities are
everything your
business owes.
Equity is similar to an
individual's net worth.
Its what your
company owns
minus what it owes.
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Keyboard shortcuts
General
Key
To start QuickBooks
without a company file
Ctrl (while opening)
To suppress the desktop
windows (at Open Company
Alt (while opening)
window)
Display product
information about your
QuickBooks version
F2
Close active window
Esc or Ctrl+F4
Record (when button is blue or a
border surrounds OK, Save and
Close, Save and New, or Record)
Record (always)
Ctrl +
Activity
Key
Create invoice
Ctrl + I
Delete check, invoice,
transaction, or item from list
Ctrl + D
Find transaction
Ctrl + F
History of A/R or A/P
transaction
Ctrl + H
Memorize transaction or
report
Ctrl + M
New invoice, bill, check or list
item in context
Ctrl + N
Open account list
Ctrl + A
Open Customer Center
(Customers & Job list)
Ctrl + J
Open Help for active window F1
Open list (for current drop-down
Ctrl + L
menu)
Dates
Key
Next day
+ (plus key)
Previous day
- (minus key)
Today
First day of the Week
Open split transaction
window in register
Last day of the weeK
Open transaction journal
First day of the Month
Print
Last day of the montH
QuickReport on transaction
or list item
Ctrl + Q
First day of the Year
QuickZoom on report
Last day of the yeaR
Show list
Ctrl + S
Date calendar
Alt + (down arrow)
Write new check
Ctrl + W
Moving around
a window
Key
Editing
Key
Next field
Tab
Edit transaction selected in
the list or register
Ctrl + E
Previous field
Shift + Tab
Beginning of current field
Home
Delete character to right of
insertion point
Del
End of current field
End
Line below in detail area
or on report
Down arrow ()
Delete character to left of
insertion point
Backspace
Line above in detail area or
on report
Delete line from detail area
Ctrl + Del
Up arrow ()
Insert line in detail area
Ctrl + Ins
Down one screen
Page Down
Up one screen
Page Up
Cut selected characters
Ctrl + X
Next word in field
Ctrl +
Copy selected characters
Ctrl + C
Previous word in field
Ctrl +
Ctrl + V
First item on list or previous
month in register
Paste cut or copied
characters
Ctrl + Page Up
Last item on list or next
month in register
Increase check or other
form number by one
+ (plus key)
Ctrl + Page Down
Close active window
Esc or Ctrl + F4
Decrease check or other
form number by one
- (minus key)
Open memorized transaction
Ctrl + T
list
Ctrl + R
Ctrl + Y
Ctrl + P
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