QuickBooks 2008: The Missing Manual: The Missing Manual

by Bonnie Biafore

Overview

There have been many improvements to QuickBooks over the years, but the program's documentation is not one of them. Luckily, QuickBooks 2008: The Missing Manual picks up where QuickBook's help resources leave off. With this book, you don't just learn how to use the software, you learn why and when to use specific features. And you get basic accounting advice so that it all makes sense to you along the way.

With its Simple Start, Basic, Pro, Premier, and industry-specific Enterprise editions, QuickBooks can handle many of the financial tasks companies face, but the price you pay is an overabundance of features. With this book, you get advice on which features you need to use to get your work done efficiently, along with step-by-step instructions on how to use them. QuickBooks 2008: The Missing Manual helps you:

• Get more out of QuickBooks whether you're a beginner or an old pro.



• Learn how QuickBooks can help you boost sales, control spending, and save on taxes.



• Set up and manage your files to fit your company's specific needs.
• Use QuickBooks reports to evaluate every aspect of your enterprise.
• Follow the money all the way from customer invoices to year-end tasks.
• Discover new tips and tricks on the best timesaving options for your business.
• Build budgets and plan for the future to make your business more successful.

And a lot more. This book is designed to accommodate readers at every technical level. If you're a first-time QuickBooks user, special boxes with the title "Up To Speed" provide the introductory information you need to understand the topic at hand. For advanced users, there are similar boxes called "Power Users' Clinic" that offer more technical tips, tricks, and shortcuts for the experienced QuickBooks fan.

For a topic as complicated as accounting software, why trust anything else?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780596515140
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/11/2007
Series:	Missing Manual Series
Pages:	704
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.19(h) x 1.39(d)

About the Author

Bonnie Biafore has always been a zealous planner, whether setting up software demos, cooking gourmet meals, or scheduling a vacation to test the waters of spontaneity. Ironically, fate, not planning, turned this obsession into a career as a project manager. When she isn't managing projects for clients, Bonnie writes about project management, small business accounting, personal finance, investing, and technology. She's also branching out into other "dry" topics with articles for the Wine Enthusiast. As an engineer, she's fascinated by how things work and how to make things work better. She has a knack for mincing dry subjects like accounting and project management into easy to understand morsels and then spices them to perfection with her warped sense of humor.



Bonnie is the award-wining author of more than a dozen books including Quicken 2009: The Missing Manual, QuickBooks 2009: The Missing Manual, Project 2007: The Missing Manual, the Better Investing Stock Selection Handbook (which won an APEX Award of Distinction), Online Investing Hacks, and On Time! On Track! On Target!. She also writes regularly about financial topics for Better Investing bankrate.com and interest.com. When unshackled from her computer, she hikes in the mountains, cycles, rehabilitates horses, cooks gourmet food, and, most importantly, tries saying no to additional work assignments.

Table of Contents

The Missing Credits; About the Author; About the Creative Team; Acknowledgements; The Missing Manual Series; Introduction; What's New in QuickBooks 2008; Getting to Know QuickBooks; Choosing the Right QuickBooks Product; Accounting Basics—The Important Stuff; About This Book; About the Outline; The Very Basics; About → These → Arrows; About MissingManuals.com; Part I: Setting Up QuickBooks; Chapter 1: Creating a Company in QuickBooks; 1.1 Opening QuickBooks; 1.2 Creating a New Company; 1.3 Steps to Take Before You Create Your Company File; 1.4 Starting the EasyStep Interview; 1.5 Modifying Company Information; 1.6 What's Next; 1.7 Opening an Existing Company File; 1.8 Converting from Another Program to QuickBooks; Chapter 2: Setting Up a Chart of Accounts; 2.1 Obtaining a Chart of Accounts; 2.2 Account Naming and Numbering; 2.3 Creating Accounts and Subaccounts; 2.4 Modifying Accounts; 2.5 Hiding and Deleting Accounts; 2.6 Merging Accounts; Chapter 3: Setting Up Customers and Jobs; 3.1 Before You Create Customers and Jobs; 3.2 Creating Customers in QuickBooks; 3.3 Importing and Exporting Customer Information; 3.4 Creating Jobs in QuickBooks; 3.5 Modifying Customer and Job Information; 3.6 Adding Notes About Customers; 3.7 Merging Customer Records; 3.8 Hiding and Deleting Customers; Chapter 4: Setting Up Invoice Items; 4.1 What Items Do; 4.2 When You Don't Need Items; 4.3 Should You Track Inventory with Items?; 4.4 The QuickBooks Item Types; 4.5 Planning Your Items; 4.6 Setting Up Sales Tax; 4.7 Creating Items; 4.8 Modifying Items; 4.9 Hiding and Deleting Items; Chapter 5: Setting Up Other QuickBooks Lists; 5.1 The Vendor List; 5.2 Categorizing with Classes; 5.3 Price Levels; 5.4 Customer and Vendor Profile Lists; 5.5 Memorized Transactions; 5.6 Fixed Asset Items; 5.7 Creating and Editing List Entries; 5.8 Merging List Entries; 5.9 Hiding and Deleting List Entries; 5.10 Sorting Lists; 5.11 Printing Lists; Chapter 6: Managing QuickBooks Files; 6.1 Where to Store Your Company Files; 6.2 Backing Up Files; 6.3 Restoring Backups; 6.4 Sending Company Files to Others; 6.5 Verifying Your QuickBooks Data; 6.6 Cleaning Up Data; 6.7 Cleaning Up After Deleting Files; Part II: Bookkeeping; Chapter 7: Tracking Time and Mileage; 7.1 Setting Up Time Tracking; 7.2 Entering Time in Timesheets; 7.3 Setting Up the Standalone Timer; 7.4 Using Timer to Track Time; 7.5 Running Time Reports; 7.6 Tracking Mileage; 7.7 Generating Mileage Reports; Chapter 8: Paying for Expenses; 8.1 When to Pay Expenses; 8.2 Entering Bills; 8.3 Automating Recurring Bills; 8.4 Purchasing Inventory; 8.5 Handling Reimbursable Expenses; 8.6 Paying Your Bills; 8.7 Producing Checks; 8.8 Writing Checks Without Entering Bills; 8.9 Paying with Cash; 8.10 Paying with Credit Cards; 8.11 Recording Vendor Credits; 8.12 Paying Sales Tax; Chapter 9: Invoicing; 9.1 Choosing the Right Type of Form; 9.2 Sales Forms and Accounts; 9.3 Creating Invoices; 9.4 Invoicing for Billable Time and Costs; 9.5 Invoicing for Backordered Products; 9.6 Memorizing Recurring Invoices; 9.7 Estimating Jobs; 9.8 Creating Progress Invoices; 9.9 Producing Statements; 9.10 Finding Invoices (and Other Transactions); 9.11 Editing Invoices and Sales Receipts; 9.12 Voiding and Deleting Invoices and Sales Receipts; 9.13 Handling Refunds and Credits; 9.14 Sending Sales Forms; Chapter 10: Managing Accounts Receivable; 10.1 The Aging of Receivables; 10.2 Receiving Payments for Invoiced Income; 10.3 Applying Credits to Invoices; 10.4 Discounting for Early Payment; 10.5 Deposits, Down Payments, and Retainers; 10.6 Applying Finance Charges; 10.7 Cash Sales; 10.8 Making Deposits; Chapter 11: Doing Payroll; 11.1 Choosing a Payroll Service; 11.2 Applying for a Payroll Service; 11.3 Setting Up Payroll; 11.4 Entering Historical Payroll; 11.5 Running Payroll; 11.6 Paying Payroll Taxes; 11.7 Preparing Payroll Tax Forms; Chapter 12: Bank Accounts, Credit Cards, and Petty Cash; 12.1 Entering Transactions in an Account Register; 12.2 Handling Bounced Checks; 12.3 Transferring Funds; 12.4 Reconciling Accounts; 12.5 Managing Loans; 12.6 Tracking Petty Cash; Chapter 13: Making Journal Entries; 13.1 Balancing Debit and Credit Amounts; 13.2 Some Reasons to Use Journal Entries; 13.3 Creating General Journal Entries; 13.4 Checking General Journal Entries; 13.5 Reclassifications and Corrections; 13.6 Recording Depreciation with Journal Entries; Chapter 14: Generating Financial Statements; 14.1 The Profit & Loss Report; 14.2 The Balance Sheet; 14.3 The Statement of Cash Flows; Chapter 15: Performing End-of-Year Tasks; 15.1 Viewing the Trial Balance; 15.2 Generating Year-End Financial Reports; 15.3 Generating Tax Reports; 15.4 Sharing the Company File with Your Accountant; 15.5 1099s; 15.6 Closing the Books for the Year; Part III: Managing Your Business; Chapter 16: Managing Inventory; 16.1 The QuickBooks Inventory Process; 16.2 Running Inventory Reports; 16.3 Performing a Physical Inventory; 16.4 Adjusting Inventory in QuickBooks; Chapter 17: Budgeting and Planning; 17.1 Types of Budgets; 17.2 Ways to Build Budgets; 17.3 Creating Budgets in QuickBooks; 17.4 Filling in Budget Values; 17.5 Creating Additional Customer:Job or Class Budgets; 17.6 Copying Budgets and Creating What-if Budgets; 17.7 Running Budget Reports; Chapter 18: Tracking Your Business with Reports; 18.1 Finding the Right Reports; 18.2 A Quick Guide to QuickBooks Reports; 18.3 A Review of Report Preferences; 18.4 Running Reports; 18.5 Printing and Saving Reports; 18.6 Customizing Reports; 18.7 Memorizing Reports; 18.8 Swapping Reports Between Company Files; Part iv: QuickBooks Power; Chapter 19: Online Banking Services; 19.1 Setting Up Your Internet Connection; 19.2 Setting Up Your Accounts for Online Services; 19.3 Exchanging Data with Your Bank; 19.4 Creating Online Items for Direct Connections; 19.5 Matching Downloaded Transactions; 19.6 Paying Bills Online; Chapter 20: Configuring Preferences to Fit Your Company; 20.1 An Introduction to Preferences; 20.2 Accounting; 20.3 Bills; 20.4 Checking; 20.5 Desktop View; 20.6 Finance Charge; 20.7 General; 20.8 Items & Inventory; 20.9 Jobs & Estimates; 20.10 Payroll & Employees; 20.11 Reminders; 20.12 Reports and Graphs; 20.13 Sales & Customers; 20.14 Sales Tax; 20.15 Send Forms; 20.16 Spelling; 20.17 Tax: 1099; 20.18 Time & Expenses; Chapter 21: Integrating QuickBooks with Other Programs; 21.1 Mail Merge to a Word Document; 21.2 Synchronizing Contacts; 21.3 Finding Third-Party Integrated Applications; 21.4 Setting Up an Integrated Application; 21.5 Exporting QuickBooks Data; 21.6 Importing Data from Other Programs; 21.7 QuickBooks Add-on Services; Chapter 22: Customizing QuickBooks; 22.1 Customizing the Desktop; 22.2 Customizing the Home Page; 22.3 Customizing the Icon Bar; 22.4 Customizing Forms; 22.5 Managing Templates; Chapter 23: Keeping Your QuickBooks Data Secure; 23.1 Setting Up the Administrator; 23.2 Creating QuickBooks Users; 23.3 Restricting Access to Features and Data; 23.4 Audit Trails; Part V: Appendixes; Installing QuickBooks; Before You Install; Installing QuickBooks; Running QuickBooks for the First Time; Registering QuickBooks; Setting Up QuickBooks on a Network; Help, Support, and Other Resources; QuickBooks Help; Other Kinds of Help; Other Help Resources; QuickBooks Training; Keyboard Shortcuts; Task Shortcuts; Transaction Shortcuts; Date Shortcuts; Window Shortcuts; Miscellaneous Shortcuts; Colophon;