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The Learning QuickBooks® Forum

How to Use QuickBooks®
Avoid Beginner's Errors

Learning QuickBooks® to avoid beginner's mistakes ... gives you a hint about what this article is all about ... tips on how to use QuickBooks® software correctly.


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While I will chat about how to use QuickBooks®, please understand that this page is directed to work from home small business owners who do their own bookkeeping.

It is not intended to instruct the "power" users or advanced users of QuickBooks® ... there are a lot of sites out there that cover that material better than I ever could.

This means we are not going to be shooting the breeze about QuickBooks® POS software ... or a whole lot about advanced inventory ...

... just useful QuickBooks® tips, tricks and traps that will hopefully make your bookkeeping time more efficient ... and enjoyable ... so you have accurate financial information to make smart business decisions.

You'll find a spot to ask your QuickBooks® questions at the end of this page.


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Learning QuickBooks® ... The Tips

I want to start by saying that you need to be kind and patient with yourself as you are learning QuickBooks®. The program was designed for small business owners and is user friendly ... but there are a few things that have to be done a certain way.

Here are links to a few tips on QuickBooks® procedures that you should learn to ease your learning curve and make your bookkeeping go smoothly:

Vendors - Accounts Payable - Expenses



Customers - Accounts Receivable - Sales



Banking - Cash



Company - Period End Closing - Government Compliance



What trouble are you having learning QuickBooks®?





Learning QuickBooks® ... The Shortcuts

The QuickBooks® accounting system has keyboard shortcuts to make data entry more efficient. There are six different types or categories of shortcut keys:

  1. General
  2. Dates - my favorite category so I talk about it below
  3. Editing
  4. Help window
  5. Activity - I give you a few of my favorites below
  6. Moving around in a window

If you key in "keyboard shortcuts" to the QuickBooks® help menu, the above categories will come up. Click on the one you are interested in.

My favorite shortcut keys are the dates. It is really quick and easy to enter dates using these shortcuts.

  • The + or - key can be used to increase or decrease the date by one day to the next day or the previous day.
  • Typing T in the date field will give you Today's date.
  • W gives you the first day of the Week
    • K gives you the last day of the Week.

  • M gives you the first day of the Month
    • H gives you the last day of the Month.

  • Y gives you the first day of the Year
    • R gives you the last day of the Year.

  • If you want the date calendar to pop open, your shortcut key is Alt + down arrow.

As you can see, the keys are easy to remember because they are tied to what you want to accomplish and they are not case sensitive ... one of the reasons these are my favorite keys ... I can actually remember with no effort. That is great accounting system design.


A few activity shortcut keys that are very useful ...

Ctrl + G ... transfers you to the line/entry of the account register directly from the entry you are in ... a real time saver and one of my all time favorites!

Ctrl + T ... takes you to your memorized transaction list.

Ctrl + Y ... opens up the transaction journal so you can see the entry in debits and credits ... bookkeepers like this one :0)

What are your favorite shortcut keys in QuickBooks®?



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Learning QuickBooks® ... The Reporting

Follow these links for customized QuickBooks® reports and other useful information to assist the management of some of your balance sheet accounts.

Do you have a customized QuickBooks® report that has made your job easier?


Ask A Free Learning QuickBooks® Question Here

Are you learning how to use QuickBooks®? Maybe this forum can help you out ... it is strictly for beginner's ... no advanced stuff here.

Ask your beginner QuickBooks® questions here ... I promise the answer won't be to go talk to a professional.

Hopefully others who know QuickBooks® will join in too ... offering to share their expertise.

Contributions to this site are moderated. They may be edited for grammar, spelling, and presentation. (I may even change your title if I think it will help the search engines find your page.)

Your contribution will appear below once it has been approved.


Enter Your Title ... It should give readers a hint of the subject


Tip - Keep it short ... 3 or 4 words is best

Learning QuickBooks® Questions & Answers
Visitors Have Already Asked ...

Click below to see the contributions that have been made already. Enter the discussions. There is usually more than one right answer or more than one way to do something ... so tell us what you think!

You can help make Learning QuickBooks® better by adding your comments and ratings to one or more contributions.

Payroll Liability Refund  starstarstarstarstar
Recording Tax Agency Credit in Quickbooks


Hi,

Our church uses Quickbooks Pro for accounting but we don't use the payroll module (only 1 paid ...

Owner's Personal Credit Card  starstarstarstarstar
Hi Lake,

I wanted to seek your opinion on something.

I am setting up the QB company for a client. He uses his personal credit card to pay for many ...

QuickBooks® Back Work  starstarstarstarstar
Hi - I love your website!

I have been taking different Accounting Courses over the past 3 years and recently started working again (home with kids). I ...

Interest Received in a Deposit  starstarstarstarstar
How do you show interest received in a deposit using QuickBooks?

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking ... so I'll answer in two parts.

Part ...

Cost of Goods Sold
In a Resale Printing Corporation
  starstarstarstarstar
How can I use this account in my business if I do resale of the printing jobs like ...

... business cards, flyers and more?

Is it right to use Cost ...

QuickBooks®
Recording a Direct Deposit
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How can I show fees associated with an ACH (automated clearing house) deposit in QuickBooks®?

I am doing very basic bookkeeping for a friend. She has ...

Booking Meals & Entertainment Expenses  Not rated yet
Hi There,

I am using QB and was wondering how I should book the meals and entertainment expenses given that they only have a 50% eligibility.

Do ...

Printing Customer List With Balances  Not rated yet
I can't print Transactions:Invoices:and only a portion of the list. Hello Nancy,

I'm not sure where you are at ... but when I want to print ...

Foreign Exchange Transactions  Not rated yet
Income lost to foreign exchange rate changes.


I have received a cheque for payment in US dollars.

The (exchange) rate has changed and I am losing ...

Accounts Payable Clean Up  Not rated yet
I have a few small credit balances from previous years that are still sitting in A/P. I would like to zero out/clear these from QuickBooks® before finalizing ...

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How do I set up an account to reimburse owner for
expenses paid?



I talk about how I like to setup my "Owed To Owner" account in QuickBooks ...

Paying Bills in QuickBooks®  Not rated yet
Hey there!

I am using QuickBooks® to do the bookkeeping for a company with many bank accounts.

I understand how to enter in vender bills to the ...

Line of Credit Interest  Not rated yet
When I have interest on my line of credit, where do I enter this interest? ... because it shows up on the line of credit and the bank account that it was ...

Customer Deposits  Not rated yet
What account should I use for deposits (received) in advance from clients?

I am using QuickBooks.

I need to know where I should deposit the payment ...




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That's it for today. I hoped you enjoyed this introduction to learning QuickBooks® and found the information useful, practical ... and not too overwhelming.

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