Scott Gregory, QuickBooks Expert

Customize Columns in the QuickBooks Customer Center

One little right click is all it may take to unlock a whole new level of functionality within your QuickBooks!

When reviewing information within the Customer Center (this also applies to vendor and employee centers too), you can RIGHT click your mouse when hovering over the details of a customer account to see the option that says "customize columns" as shown below:

 

Once you click on the "customize columns" option, this window appears:

The left hand side of the window shown above displays all the columns that are available for you to add in the display section and the right hand side of the window displays all the columns that are currently on display.

For example, if I wanted to add the memo column so that it displays each and every time, I would click the word "memo" on the left hand side and then click the "add" button in the middle.

If I really wanted to get fancy, I could then click the "move up" or "move down" options in the middle of the screen to move the memo column closer to the top (left) or or bottom (right) side of the screen.

Here is an example of how this looks when completed:

See how the memo column is now appearing?

TRUE STORY: This one little tip saved a client countless hours of searching customer invoice history as they rely heavily on the memo field for internal notes about the transaction.

Keep in mind - you can click the title of any of the columns (type, num, memo, etc.) and the information displayed will then sort in whatever order you have chosen. This makes it a snap to track down information quickly when a customer is on the phone!

RELATED POST - Using Custom Filters for Customers and Vendors in QuickBooks

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Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise accounting software. He has been helping businesses "think beyond the ledger" for over 25 years.

Subscribe to this QuickBooks blog today!

Download Scott's free QuickBooks guides and learn more about QuickBooks.

Using Custom Filters for Customers and Vendors in QuickBooks

There is a very powerful option within QuickBooks to help you quickly filter and find customers and/or vendors that match certain criteria (i.e. zip code). It's unfortunate that this option isn't as obvious as it could be within the software.

When browsing your customer list in the Customer Center, there is a drop-down menu at the top of the list that provides several choices:

• All customers
• Active customers
• Customers with open balances
• Custom filters

In this post, we will focus on the custom filters option.

 

Once you select the custom filter option, another box appears. This box is where the power and functionality of this feature lies:

As you can see, you have the ability to search and filter by:

• Name fields
• Address fields
• Phone fields
• Customer: Job name
• Company name
• City
• State
• Zip
• E-Mail
• Accounts number
• Custom fields
• Memo

For example, if I wanted to filter my customer list for all (not just active) customers that had a zip code of 94326, I would complete the box as shown below:

and then click the "Go" button.

My customer list is then filtered by zip code!

Clearing this custom filter is easy - just click the red "X" that appears to undo your search and filters or simply remove the filter option you have entered.

ALTERNATE METHOD OF FILTERING - Just type the zip code in the "find" box at the top of the customer list. Keep in mind that this method may find matching results in other areas beside the zip code field - using this option, it will display ALL matches to the criteria you have entered, not just the zip code.

SPECIAL NOTE IF USING JOBS - If you use the custom filter option and you have jobs in your list, QuickBooks changes the view of the list from the standard "hierarchical view" (say that 3 times fast!) to the "flat view". Translated, this alternate view doesn't show the jobs as being "indented" in the customer list as they normally are. Quick fix - just right click on the customer list and click the "hierarchical view" to return it to normal.

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Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise accounting software. He has been helping businesses "think beyond the ledger" for over 25 years.

Subscribe to this QuickBooks blog today!

Download Scott's free QuickBooks guides and learn more about QuickBooks.

Is Your QuickBooks a Pain in The Asset? New Webinars to Help

 

If your resolution for 2010 was to learn more about your bookkeeping and QuickBooks, I have the perfect solution for you - my new webinar series called "Is Your QuickBooks a Pain in the Asset"?

Throughout this series, we'll take a closer look at various aspects of bookkeeping, QuickBooks, and business finance. All of the webinars are designed with one thing in mind - to help you gain comfort and clarity when working with the finances of your business.

The first two webinars in my "Is Your QuickBooks a Pain in the Asset" series are:

• "All the Accounting You Need to Know" - designed to help you understand commonly used (and commonly confusing) bookkeeping terms and concepts. You will gain a much better understanding of terminology such as: chart of accounts (and why it is critical to your success), cash vs. accrual basis and much more.
  
  Even if you are not using QuickBooks, the terms and concepts discussed in this webinar apply to any accounting software. I will be using QuickBooks for demonstration purposes.
• "Understanding QuickBooks Preferences and Finding Information Fast!" - this webinar is perfect for QuickBooks users who DIDN'T know there was a preferences option in the Edit menu and for those who DID know one existed but were afraid to venture into it!

Registration for one or both of these webinars is a snap. Just click the link above and register. The cost for each webinar is a modest $25.

I hope to "see" you in the webinars!

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Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise accounting software. He has been helping businesses like yours "think beyond the ledger" for more than 25 years.

Subscribe to Scott's blog!

Download Scott's free QuickBooks guides today.

Understanding Price Levels in QuickBooks

If your business has a standard/base price for items that you sell and the need to create various levels of discounts or increases to those standard prices, the price level tool in QuickBooks is just for you.

Tucked away within the Lists option on the menu bar, the Price Level list provides the flexibility you need to quickly and easily create different price levels based either on a fixed percentage of your base price or on a per item basis.

The video below provides the insight you need on how to use price levels on a fixed percentage basis, and then have those various prices appear in quotes, sales orders or invoices and also default to a certain level based on the customer too!

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Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise accounting software.

Have you downloaded his free QuickBooks guides yet? Download them today!

Get Your Free QuickBooks Guides and Training Manuals

Looking for free QuickBooks tutorials and training manuals?

Tucked away in a far corner of QuickBooks are two very important links that will allow you to download digital versions of user guides and even the complete "how to" QuickBooks manual.

Click Help > Learning Center Tutorials and a screen like this appears:

Take note of the links to "Download the free e-book" - the official guide to using QuickBooks and also the link to "Download QuickBooks user guides in PDF format".

The list of user guides includes:

• QuickStart Guide
• Multi-User Checklists
• QuickBooks Install Guide
• QuickBooks Basics Guide

Of course, if you need help sorting out all of this information to get QuickBooks set up and fine-tuned for your business, I am available to help you. Drop me a line and we can arrange an appointment to help you get your QuickBooks questions resolved.

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Have you downloaded my free QuickBooks guides yet?  Download them today!

Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise software. He also works with a number of QuickBooks add-on software solutions.

Another Way to Quickly Find Information in QuickBooks

If you have been looking for an easy way to look up transactions related to your customers, vendors or employees, don't forget about using the transaction tab to locate them.

The screen shot below is taken from the Customer Center (the information below applies to the Vendor and Employee Centers as well):

Once you click on the transactions tab, you then have access to the various types of transactions relating to customers. This list is already organized for you by the type of transaction:

Green arrow: Shows you the list of available transaction types. In the example above, I clicked on the word Invoices, and a listing of all invoices in the default date range appeared to the right.

Red arrow: Note the black triangle just to the right of the word "Customer". This indicates that this information is sorted by customer from A to Z. If you click the word "Customer" again, the list will resort by customer from Z to A. To sort by any of the other columns, simply click on the title of that column and the list will be resorted as you like.

Keep in mind that you can also choose a different range of dates by clicking in the date box and making your selection.

Taking advantage of the various options within the transactions tab can be an easy way for you to quickly locate information within QuickBooks.

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Have you downloaded Scott's free QuickBooks guides yet?  Do it today!

Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise software.

Accounting 101: A Better Understanding of "Accountant-Speak" (an ongoing post)

I've launched a new tweet series on Twitter called #Accounting101. The goal of this series is to help you get a better understanding of common accounting terms and phrases that are important to the financial well-being of your business.

Whether you are using QuickBooks or SlowBooks, you will encounter these terms in the bookkeeping and accounting activities of your business. Knowing what they mean will help simplify (hopefully!) these sometimes confusing topics.

I'll be posting the updates here as well in case you aren't using Twitter. Please be sure to add a comment below about accounting and financial terms that are confusing to you or that you would like to know more about!

Accounting 101: Clarifying "Accountant-Speak"

• Asset = Something you own. Examples: inventory, bank accounts, accounts receivable, machinery and equipment.
  

• Liability = Something you owe. Examples: bank loans, credit cards, sales taxes. Not as much fun as assets.

• Equity = The owners share of the business. Assets (own)–Liabilities(owe) = Equity (left  over). A way of valuing a business.

• Sales/Revenue = The money you earn when you sell a product or service. Ex: Sell a $100 widget. Your gross sales = $100.
• Expense = Costs incurred in your efforts to create revenue. May be cash (example: rent or marketing) or non-cash (example: depreciation).
• Chart of Accounts = Filing cabinet to keep track of your various asset, liability, income and expense accounts. Keep it simple and let it expand as your business matures.
• Current Asset = Something you own that will convert to cash in 12 months or less (hopefully!). Examples: inventory or accounts receivable.
• Current Liability = Money that you owe that will be paid in 12 months or less. Examples: sales tax, payroll tax, credit cards.
• Profit and Loss Report = Income - Expenses = Net Profit (or Loss). Run this report at least on a monthly basis.
• Balance Sheet Report = Assets (own) - Liabilities (own) = Equity (left over). Run this report at least on a quarterly basis.
• Accounts Receivable = Money owed to you by your customers as a result of you selling to them on credit terms (example: net 30 days).

Watch this space for updates!

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Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise accounting software.

Have you downloaded his free QuickBooks guides yet?

QuickBooks Replay: A New Tool to Say It and Show It

Find yourself trying to explain something that is happening in QuickBooks, but getting frustrated because words can't explain what a picture could?

Are you a CPA that would like to show your clients how to perform certain tasks within QuickBooks?

Either way, a new solution has been posted to the Intuit Workplace called QuickBooks Replay. In short, this tool is designed to allow you to quickly record a video of what is happening on your screen with QuickBooks (or any software for that matter!) and easily share that video with others. Even better, this software is free!

The process of getting set up with QuickBooks Replay was very simple:

1. I downloaded the software from the QuickBooks Replay web site.
2. I installed it on my computer using the installation wizard.
3. I clicked the big red "Record" button and captured the video below

Once the recording was complete, I had the option to upload the video to my account atYouTube, where you could choose to make the video public or private. Or, I could save it to my local hard drive and simply send it as an attachment via e-mail.

NOTE: The QuickBooks Replay software can be used to capture quick videos of anything going on with your computer, not just QuickBooks issues. It is a perfect tool to help with some of those pesky computer problems and error screens that pop up too!

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Have you downloaded your FREE QuickBooks guides yet? Get them today!

Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise accounting software and a number of QuickBooks add-on software solutions as well.

QuickBooks Tip: Easily View the Accounting Entry for Any Transaction

Regardless of whether you have entered an invoice, bill, check or credit card transaction, QuickBooks makes it a snap to see exactly how it posted that transaction into your accounting records.

A couple of quick and easy ways to see this information:

1. While in the transaction, click CTRL + Y
2. While sitting in the transaction, click the picture in the upper portion of the window that says "Journal"
3. Click Reports > Transaction Journal

No matter which option you choose, you end up with an easy to read report that shows the complete accounting breakdown of the transaction:

No more guessing - use this Transaction Journal report to see exactly what happened with that invoice or other transaction in QuickBooks.

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Download Scott's free QuickBooks guides today!

Scott has over twenty-five years of experience working with accounting, finance, inventory, and QuickBooks issues. Connect with Scott to discuss your issues and concerns.

How To: Turn Off the QuickBooks Coach

You may not realize it, but your QuickBooks home screen may be harder to use that it should be because of the QuickBooks Coach feature being turned on.

Notice in the screen shot below how dark the home screen is - on some older monitors, it can make the screen hard to read:

To see how it looks when it is turned off, click Edit > Preferences > Desktop View and then uncheck the "Show Coach Window and Features". Once you do that, here is what your home screen would look like:

See how much cleaner the screen looks?

You can always get help and guidance similar to that the Coach feature was offering by clicking on the Help menu within QuickBooks.

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Have you downloaded Scott's free QuickBooks guides yet? Get them today!

Scott Gregory is a specialist with QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise accounting software.