Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions

Transcription

1 Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions Kathy Ivens CPA911 Publishing, LLC Philadelphia PA

2 Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions ISBN Number 10-digit: X 13-digit: Published by CPA911 Publishing, LLC November 2008 Copyright CPA911 Publishing, LLC CPA911 is a Registered Trademark of CPA911 Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of the contents of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. The publisher and author have used their best efforts to make sure the information in this book is reliable and complete. They make no representations or warranties for the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book, and specifically disclaim any implied warranties. The publisher and author disclaim any responsibility for errors or ommissions or the results obtained from the use of the information in this book. QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc., and is used with permission. Screen shots reprinted by permission of Intuit Inc. Windows, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, and are used with permission. Screen shots reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation.

3 Table of Contents Acknowledgments...v Chapter 1: Getting Started...1 Installation Tips...2 Change the Default Install Settings...2 Upgrading QuickBooks...2 Restoring a Backup File...3 Chart of Accounts...4 Designing a Chart of Accounts...4 Using Account Numbers...5 Account Naming Protocols...10 Creating Accounts...11 Select From Examples...12 Automatically Created Accounts...14 Special Accounts in All Company Files...15 Feature-based Special Accounts...15 Using Multiple A/R and A/P Accounts...17 Inventory Special Accounts...18 Don t Enter Opening Balances...20 Using Subaccounts...20 Using Subaccounts for Easier Tax Preparation...21 Editing Accounts...22 Deleting Accounts...23 Hiding Accounts...24 Merging Accounts...26 Importing the Chart of Accounts...27 Multiple Currencies...27 Select the Currencies You Need...28 Tracking Exchange Rates...29 Linking Customers and Vendors to Currencies...29 Assigning Currency to New Customers and Vendors...31

4 viii Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions Chart of Accounts for Multicurrency Transactions...31 Creating Transactions in Other Currencies...31 Creating Reports on Multicurrency Transactions...32 Opening Trial Balance...33 Understanding the Opening Trial Balance...33 Entering Historic Transactions...34 Entering Open Payables...39 Entering Inventory...39 Creating the Trial Balance for Last Year...40 Checking the Results...44 Generating the Trial Balance for the Current Year...44 Managing Company Files...44 Versions Vs. Editions...45 Copying and Deleting Company Files...46 Chapter 2: Lists and Classes...51 Setting Up Your Lists...52 Customer & Vendor Profile Lists...53 Customers & Jobs List...58 Vendor List...60 Fixed Asset Item List...62 Price Level List...64 Applying Price Levels to Customers in Batches...69 Per Item Price Levels...74 Billing Rate Level List...80 Item List...84 Manipulating List Data...88 Using a Hidden List Component in Transactions...88 List Limits...89 Creating Custom Fields In Lists...91 Adding Custom Fields to Transaction Forms...95 Classes...98 Chapter 3: Premier Sales Features Easier Invoicing for Time and Expenses Enabling the List of Time & Expenses Opening the List of Time & Expenses Creating Invoices from the Time & Expenses List...108

5 Table of Contents ix Internal Costs Reimbursements Setting Up Internal Cost Tracking Creating Reimbursable Charges for Internal Costs Internal Costs Job Costing Sales Orders Enabling Sales Orders Enabling Warnings about Inventory Stock Status Creating Sales Orders Sales Order Templates Turning Sales Orders into Invoices Creating the Invoice Managing Backorders Creating Transactions Automatically Automatic Purchase Orders From Sales Orders Automatic Sales Orders from Estimates Chapter 4: Premier-Only Accounting Functions Journal Entries Adding a JE Icon to the Toolbar AutoFill Memos in Journal Entries Auto Reversing Journal Entries Adjusting Journal Entries History and Reports in the JGE Window Allocating Overhead Expenses to Jobs JE Source and Target: Solving the Mystery Allocating Overhead Expenses to Classes Auto-calculating by Percentage Previous Bank Reconciliation Reports Choosing the Type of Reconciliation Report Resolving Reconciliation Problems Chapter 5: Reporting and Planning Tools Exporting Reports as Templates Customizing Reports Exporting a Template Sending a Template Importing a Report Template...158

6 x Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions Creating Groups of Memorized Reports Exporting a Memorized Reports Group Importing a Memorized Reports Group Closing Date Exception Report QuickBooks Closing Date Procedures Setting a Closing Date Password Protection Doesn't Always Work Generating the Closing Date Exception Report Interpreting the Closing Date Exception Report Forecasting Creating a Forecast Setting the Criteria for a Forecast Choosing the Method for Obtaining Data Entering Data Manually Editing the Forecast Creating Reports on Forecasts Business Planner Entering Company Information Income Projection Using the Projection Wizard Entering Income Data Manually Expenses Projection Interview Section Writing Your Business Plan Previewing Your Business Plan Print the Business Plan Export the Business Plan Backing Up the Business Plan Chapter 6: Inventory Tips Understanding Inventory Cost of Goods Sold Inventory Adjustment Accounts Creating an Inventory Item Properly QuickBooks Average Costing Tracking the Real Cost of Inventory Inbound Shipping Costs...205

7 Table of Contents xi Work in Process Inventory Cost of Improving Inventory Units of Measure Enabling Units of Measure Creating a Single Unit of Measure Creating Multiple Units of Measure Changing or Removing the U/M for an Item Managing Units of Measurement Inventory Assemblies Creating an Assembly Understanding the Cost of an Assembly Building an Assembly Managing Pending Builds Disassembling an Assembly Chapter 7: Payroll and 1099 Tips Keeping Payroll Information Secure Configuring Vendors For Payroll Liabilities Social Security Numbers on Pay Stubs Paystubs Generated for Clients Using a PDF Printer Using the Microsoft Office Document Image Writer File Security Re-issuing a Lost Paycheck Payroll Deductions for Employee Repayments Setting Up Employee Repayment Elements Creating an Employee Loan or Paycheck Advance Creating an Employee Purchase Transaction Deducting Payment from the Paycheck Tracking Multiple Employee Repayment Accounts Garnishments Liability Account for Garnishments Garnishment Vendors Payroll Item for a Garnishment Assigning a Garnishment Deduction to an Employee Viewing and Editing Garnishment Paycheck Deductions Remitting Garnishment Deductions...247

8 xii Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions Tracking and Reporting Tips Creating an Account for Tracking Tips Adding Tips to Sales Transactions Creating a Sales Item for Tips Creating Payroll Items for Tips Adding Tips to Paychecks Tips and IRA Plans Tracking Outsourced Payroll Entering Payroll as a Journal Entry Net To Gross Paycheck Calculation s Reimbursing 1099 Vendor Expenses Backup Withholding Chapter 8: Sales and Use Tax Enabling the Sales Tax Feature Understanding Tax Codes and Tax Items Sales Tax Codes Creating Sales Tax Codes Sales Tax Items Creating Sales Tax Items Sales Tax Groups Creating Sales Tax Groups Assigning Tax Items to Customers Sales Tax Rates that Differ by Item Creating Items for Item-Based Tax Rates Creating a Multi-rate Sales Transaction On Premises Vs. Off Premises Tax Rates Incremental Sales Tax Remitting Sales Tax Manage Sales Tax Dialog Sales Tax Reports Remitting the Sales Tax Use Tax Use Tax for Purchases Use Tax for Inventory Used in Your Business...288

9 Table of Contents xiii Remitting Use Tax Chapter 9: Accountant Edition Features All QuickBooks Editions Included Running Your Practice Company Data File Configuring Customers and Jobs Managing Items Using Price Levels Using Billing Rate Levels Client Support Tools Predefined Company Files Creating IIF Import Files Industry Specific Reports Working Trial Balance Accountant s Copy Creating a Company File from a Transfer File Using a Portable Company File Client Data Review Client Data Review Tools Working in the CDR Center Customizing the CDR Center Completing the Review External Accountant Fixed Asset Manager Client Troubleshooting Tips Managing Outside Sales Reps Bartering Updating Lists with Import Files Creating Import Files to Update Existing Lists Adding and Modifying Data Working With Custom Fields Saving the Import File Importing Updated Data into QuickBooks Property Management Recovering From an Interrupted Online Banking Session Online Bill Payments: How They Work...356

10 xiv Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions Free Direct Deposit and Vendor E-Payment Services Remote Access for Client Support Chapter 10: Contractor Edition Contractor Company Files Classes for Contractors Customer Types for Contractors Job Types for Contractors Vendor Types for Contractors Items for Contractors Managing the Sale of Materials and Parts Applying Units of Measure to Materials Handling Customer Deposits Elements for Tracking Customer Deposits Receiving a Customer Deposit Applying the Customer Deposit to an Invoice Reporting on Customer Deposits Deposits that are Just Payments in Advance Transferring Deposits Held to Operating Funds Job Costing Items and Job Costing Linking Expenses to Jobs Tracking Material That Isn't Job-Specific Estimates Change Orders Creating a Change Order Making Additional Changes to an Estimate Managing Retainage Configuring QuickBooks for Retainage Creating a Retainage Account Creating Retainage Items Using the Retainage Item in Sales Forms Holding Retainage for Subcontractors Configuring QuickBooks for Retainage Payable Depositing Checks with Two Payees Chapter 11: Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition...407

11 Table of Contents xv Stock Status Information for Sales Orders Stock Status Configuration Options Out of Stock Warnings Insufficient Stock Warnings Checking Stock Status Details Modifying Sales Orders to Obtain Promised Stock Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet Customizing Purchase Orders Duplicating a Template Customizing the Purchase Order Template Adding Purchase Order Info to the Items List Units of Measure Customer RMAs Creating RMAs Processing Customer Returns of Inventory Returning Products to a Vendor Voiding or Modifying a Purchase Order Voiding or Modifying a Receipt of Items Voiding or Modifying a Receipt of Items and Bill Entering a Vendor Credit for a Paid Bill Entering a Vendor Refund Creating a Non-Conforming Material Report Tracking Damaged and Missing Products Manufacturing and Wholesale Reports Chapter 12: Nonprofit Edition Unified Chart of Accounts (UCOA) Renaming Accounts Importing the UCOA Accounts Receivable Using Multiple A/R Accounts Using A/R Accounts in Invoice Transactions Reporting on Receivables Using Classes Customers and Jobs Equity Accounts...442

12 xvi Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions Customized Templates for Transactions Pledges (Invoices) Using Pledges Efficiently Receiving Payments on Generic Pledges Donations (Sales Receipts) Avoid Data Entry Shortcuts Memorized Reports for Nonprofits Chapter 13: Professional Services Edition Company File Lists Customers and Jobs List Items Customer and Vendor Types Billing Rate Levels Classes Allocating Overhead to Classes Managing Retainers Liability Accounts for Retainers Retainer Items Virtual Bank Accounts for Retainers Applying Retainers to Invoices Tracking Retainer Balances Postings for Applying Retainer Funds Moving Retainer Funds to the Operating Bank Account Managing Upfront Deposits Creating Accounts for Upfront Deposits Creating Items for Upfront Deposits Receiving Upfront Deposits Applying an Upfront Deposit to an Invoice Upfront Deposits that are Just Payments in Advance Managing Escrow Receiving Funds into an Escrow Account Disbursing Funds from an Escrow Account Customized Templates Customized Invoice Templates Customized Proposal Template...480

13 Table of Contents xvii Customized Reports Chapter 14: Retail Edition Company File Elements Chart of Accounts Inventory Items Customers Payment Methods Handling Over and Short Recording Sales Recording Individual Sales Recording Sales in Batches Upfront Deposits Managing Upfront Deposits as Liabilities Managing Upfront Deposits as Regular Payments Layaways Using Sales Orders for Layaways Using Invoices for Layaways Service Charges for Undelivered Layaways Gift Certificates Selling Gift Certificates Redeeming Gift Certificates Consignment Sales Configuring QuickBooks for Consignment Sales Consigned Products as Inventory Parts Consigned Products as Non-inventory Parts Customizing Templates for Consignment Sales Selling Consigned Items Tracking Consigned Item Sales Paying Consignors Traveler s Checks Point of Sale Add-ons QuickBooks POS Third Party POS Applications Appendix A: Importing Excel and CSV Files...513

14 xviii Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions Importing Excel or CSV Files Configuring an Excel or CSV File as an Import File Selecting the Import File Mapping the Data Categories Setting Preferences for Importing Data Previewing the Import Managing Preview Errors Importing the File Viewing the Import Error Log Re-using Mappings Keywords for Excel/CSV Import Files Chart of Accounts Excel/CSV Headings Account Type Keywords for Excel/CSV Files Customer:Job Headings for Excel/CSV Files Customer:Job Data Mappings for Excel/CSV Files Job Keywords for Excel/CSV Files Vendor Headings for Excel/CSV Files Vendor Data Keywords for Excel/CSV Files Item Headings for Excel/CSV Files Item Type Keywords for Excel/CSV Files Appendix B: Importing IIF Files About IIF Import Files Accountants and IIF Files Format of an IIF File Exporting Data into an IIF File Creating Multiple Lists in One IIF File Importing an IIF File IIF File Keywords for Lists Profile Lists Import Files Customer Type List Import File Vendor Type List Import File Job Type List Import File Sales Rep List Import File Ship Method List Import File Terms List Import File...551

15 Table of Contents xix Standard Lists Import Files Chart of Accounts Import File Customer:Job List Import File Importing Jobs Vendor List Import File Items List Import File Employee List Import File Other Names List Import File Price Level List Import File Sales Tax Code List Import File Class List Import File Summary of List Headings...563

16 Chapter 1 Getting Started Installation Chart of accounts Multiple currencies Opening balances Managing company files

17 2 Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions In this chapter I'll go over some of the tips and shortcuts for setting up QuickBooks and your company file. Like most of the discussions in this book, the contents of this chapter assume you're not new to QuickBooks, and you know the basics. Installation Tips You can find detailed instructions for installing QuickBooks 2009 in the Troubleshooting QuickBooks section of Those instructions are easier to follow, and more complete, than the installation instructions that come with the software. In addition, the following sections provide some installation tips that give you some insights into creating the most advantageous installation process. Change the Default Install Settings I, like many computer professionals, prefer to install software into a folder created for that software, not into a subfolder under Program Files. Creating discrete folders for each software application makes it much easier to troubleshoot problems. During installation, QuickBooks provides a way to change the default location for installing the software. Use that option to install QuickBooks into its own folder, e.g. C:\QB2009. If you haven't created that folder before beginning installation, the QuickBooks install program will create it for you after you enter that path into the Install To location field. Upgrading QuickBooks If you're upgrading to QuickBooks 2009 from an earlier version, it's not a good idea to install an upgrade over an existing version of the software. By default, when you upgrade, QuickBooks automatically overwrites and replaces the existing version. Instead, install the new version in addition to (not in place of) the old version by changing the installation folder to C:\QB2009 during the install process. This leaves your current version of QuickBooks in place, in case you encounter any problems working with your company file in

18 Chapter 1 Getting Started 3 the new version. When everything is working properly you can remove the older version in the Add/Remove Programs applet of Control Panel. Create another folder for storing your 2009 company files, e.g. C:\QB2009CompanyFiles. Creating a discrete location for your 2009 files prevents QuickBooks from storing files from multiple versions in the same folder. Copy your existing company files to the new company file folder; don't open a company file from its current location in QuickBooks Opening an Existing Company File If you installed QuickBooks 2009 Premier in the same folder that held your previous version of QuickBooks, the first time you launch QuickBooks the software opens the company file that was open when you last closed QuickBooks in the previous version. Then the system begins the process of updating the file to Premier If you installed QuickBooks 2009 Premier in a new folder in order to preserve the previous version, no existing company file opens when you first launch QuickBooks Premier. If you already have a previous version of QuickBooks, and you installed QuickBooks 2009 in a new folder, you should copy existing company files to your new QuickBooks 2009 company file data folder. Then select File Open or Restore Company. Follow the prompts in the wizard, locate the copy of the file (not the original file from the older version of QuickBooks, open it, and let QuickBooks begin updating it. This is a good way to install QuickBooks, because it lets you learn the new version without permanently updating your company file from the older version. If something goes wrong with QuickBooks 2009, you can continue to get your work done in the older version. Restoring a Backup File If you have a backup of your company file that you want to restore in order to update it to QuickBooks 2009, copy that file to the folder you created to hold your QuickBooks 2009 company files.

19 4 Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions Choose File Open or Restore Company. Select the option Restore a Backup Copy and click Next. Follow the prompts to select the copy of the backup file (in your new QuickBooks 2009 company file folder), restore it, and have QuickBooks update it automatically. Chart of Accounts The most important step in your company setup is the creation of your chart of accounts. QuickBooks may have created some accounts for you during the initial setup of your company file, but you ll need many additional accounts in order to keep books accurately. In this chapter, I ll discuss creating the chart of accounts, as well the various ways in which you can manipulate the accounts you ve created. It s easier to configure your company file if you create the chart of accounts before you create the other lists you need in QuickBooks. Some of the lists you work with require you to link the list elements you create to accounts. For example, most Items are linked to income accounts. Designing a Chart of Accounts If you re designing your own chart of accounts, be sure to do so carefully, because you have to live with the results every time you use QuickBooks. Discuss the design with your accountant, who can help you devise a scheme that works for the types of transactions you have to enter, and the reports you need. You have several decisions to make about the general format you ll use for your chart of accounts. You need to decide whether to use numbered accounts, and if so, how many digits to use for each account. You should also design a system for the use of subaccounts. Subaccounts make it possible to post transactions in a way that makes it easier to identify the specific categories you re tracking. In addition, you must create a protocol for account naming, and make sure everyone who works with the QuickBooks data files understands the protocol and applies it.

20 Chapter 1 Getting Started 5 Using Account Numbers By default, QuickBooks does not assign numbers to accounts, and you should switch your QuickBooks configuration options to correct that oversight. A chart of accounts with numbers is easier to design, and easier to work with. Numbered accounts also have account names, of course, but you can categorize accounts by number, which makes the chart of accounts easier to work with. The advantage of using numbers is that you can arrange each section of the chart of accounts by category and subcategory. Within each type of account QuickBooks displays your chart of accounts in numerical order (without numbers, QuickBooks displays each section of your chart of accounts in alphabetical order). For example, if accounts of the type Expense are arranged numerically instead of alphabetically, you can list related expense accounts contiguously. This means you can export reports to Excel and insert subtotals for related categories, which makes it easier to analyze where you re spending your money. You can also use subaccounts in a numbered chart of accounts to provide subtotals for expenses or income right on your QuickBooks reports, without the need to export the report to Excel in order to perform calculations. Numbered accounts have proved to be useful in avoiding data entry errors when using a bank account. It s best if your main (most commonly used) bank account is at the top of the drop-down list. If your money market account is named for the bank (AlfaSavings), or even if you name the account Money Market, an alphabetic listing puts that account at the top of the bank account list when your operating account is named OperatingAccount, or it s named for the bank, which might be RiversideBank. My experience with clients shows that this became extremely important when companies changed banks. Suppose the people who enter data in your company file have gotten used to selecting the second account on

21 6 Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions the list (because that s where your general operating account sits in alphabetic order), and your new account is now the third account on a drop-down list (or the first account, depending on the alphabetical sort and whether you made the old bank account inactive so it doesn t appear at all). By the time everyone notices, figures out, and gets used to, the new bank list, you ll have a lot of research to do, followed by a lot of journal entries. You ll discover this when you try to reconcile your bank accounts. If you use numbered accounts, you can make sure the bank accounts always appear in the most convenient order. Even if your old bank was number 10000, and you want your new bank to use that number, it s a simple task to edit the original bank number to (moving it to the bottom of the list) and give the new bank the number to keep it at the top of the list. Enabling Account Numbers To switch to a number format for your accounts, you have to change the QuickBooks preferences as follows: 1. Choose Edit Preferences from the menu bar to open the Preferences dialog. 2. Select the Accounting icon in the left pane. 3. Click the Company Preferences tab. 4. Select the Use Account Numbers check box. All the accounts included in the chart of accounts you selected during company file setup are automatically switched to numbered accounts. These numbers are built in by QuickBooks and you can change them to match the order of accounts you prefer (see Editing Accounts later in this chapter). When you select the option to use account numbers, the option Show Lowest Subaccount Only becomes accessible (it s grayed out if you haven t opted for account numbers). This option tells QuickBooks to display only the subaccount on transaction windows instead of both the parent account and the subaccount, making it easier to find the account you need in the narrow field of a drop-down list. (Subaccounts are discussed later in this chapter in the section Using Subaccounts. )

22 Chapter 1 Getting Started 7 QuickBooks does not automatically number accounts you added manually, so you must edit those accounts to add a number to each account record. If some accounts lack numbers, when you select Show Lowest Subaccount Only, QuickBooks displays an error message that you cannot enable this option until all your accounts have numbers assigned. After you ve added account numbers to all accounts, you can return to this preferences dialog and enable the option. Designing the Number Scheme After you ve converted your chart of accounts to numbered accounts, you must use the numbers intelligently as you create or edit accounts. It s best to assign ranges of numbers to account types. You should check with your accountant before finalizing the way you use the numbers, but the example I present here is a common approach. This scheme uses five-digit numbers, because that s the default in QuickBooks 2009, and the starting digit represents the beginning of a range: NOTE: You can have as many as seven numbers (plus the account name) for each account. 1xxxx Assets 2xxxx Liabilities 3xxxx Equity 4xxxx Income 5xxxx Expenses (of a specific type) 6xxxx Expenses (of a specific type) 7xxxx Expenses (of a specific type) 8xxxx Expenses (of a specific type) 9xxxx Other Income and Expenses You can, if you wish, have a variety of expense types and reserve the starting number for specific types. Many companies, for example, use 5xxxx for sales expenses (they even separate the payroll postings between the sales people and the rest of the employees), then use through

23 8 Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions for general operating expenses, and 8xxxx for other specific expenses that should appear together in reports (such as taxes). Some companies that track inventory use 5xxxx for Cost of Goods Sold and begin grouping expenses with 6xxxx. Other inventorybased companies start the Cost of Goods Sold accounts in the 45xxx range (since most companies don t have a large number of income accounts, the number range to is sufficient for income). Some companies use one range of expense accounts, such as through for expenses that fall into the overhead category. This is useful if you want to track overhead expenses so you can apportion them to appropriate classes or jobs. Also, think about the breakdown of assets. You might use through for cash accounts and through for receivables and other current assets, then use through for tracking fixed assets such as equipment, furniture, and so on. Follow the same pattern for liabilities, starting with current liabilities and moving to long term. It s also a good idea to keep all the payroll withholding liabilities together. Usually, as you create new accounts, you should increase the previous account number by 100, so that if your first bank account is 10000, the next bank account is 10100, and so on. These intervals give you room to create additional accounts that belong in the same general area of your chart of accounts. Accounts Sort Order You have to create a numbering scheme that conforms to the QuickBooks account types because QuickBooks sorts your chart of accounts by account type (and uses your account numbers within each account type). If you have contiguous numbers that vary by account type, your reports won't be in the order you expect. QuickBooks uses the following sort order for the chart of accounts:

24 Chapter 1 Getting Started 9 Assets: Bank Accounts Receivable Other Current Asset Fixed Asset Other Asset Liabilities Equity Income Accounts Payable Credit Card Other Current Liability Long-Term Liability Cost Of Goods Sold Expense Other Income Other Expense Non-Posting Accounts Non-posting accounts don t post financial amounts to the general ledger. They are created automatically by QuickBooks when you enable features that use those account types, such as Estimates, Purchase Orders, Sales Orders, etc. You can open the account register of non-posting accounts to see the transactions that fall into the appropriate account category, but you don t have to worry about any amounts impacting your financials. Displaying Accounts Alphabetically in Reports As convenient as it is for you (and your accountant) to have numbered accounts so you can track your finances by category and subcategory, suppose you have to submit financial reports to a bank because that s part of the requirements of your line of credit? Your bankers have certain

25 10 Running QuickBooks 2009 Premier Editions financial categories they look at first, and it s easier for them if your accounts, especially your expenses, are in alphabetical order. To produce reports without account numbers, putting each account type list back into alphabetical order, turn off the account number feature by deselecting the option in the Preferences dialog. Print the reports, and then turn the feature on again to restore the numbered order. Account Naming Protocols You need to devise protocols for naming accounts, whether you plan to use numbered accounts, or only use account names. When you re posting transactions to the general ledger, the only way to know which account should be used for posting is to have easy-to-understand account names. Your protocol must be clear so that when everyone follows the rules, the account naming convention is consistent. This is important because without rules it s common to have multiple accounts for the same use. For example, I frequently find expense accounts named Telephone, Tele, and Tel in client systems, and all of those accounts have balances. Users guess at account names, and if they don t find the account the way they would have entered the name, they invent a new account (using a name that seems logical to them). Avoid all of those errors by establishing protocols about creating account names, and then make sure everyone searches the account list before applying a transaction. Here are a few suggested protocols you can amend them to fit your own situation, or invent different protocols that meet your comfort level. The important thing is to make sure you have absolute rules so you can achieve consistency. Avoid apostrophes Set the number of characters for abbreviations. For example, if you permit four characters, telephone is abbreviated tele, a three-character rule produces tel. Decide whether to use the ampersand (&) or a hyphen. For example, is it Repairs & Maintenance or Repairs - Maintenance? Do you want spaces before and after the ampersand or hyphen?

26 Chapter 1 Getting Started 11 Creating Accounts After you ve done your homework, made your decisions, designed your protocols, and checked with your accountant, you re ready to create accounts. Start by pressing Ctrl-A to open the Chart of Accounts List. Press Ctrl-N to open the Choose Account Type dialog (see Figure 1-1), and select the type of account you want to create. The major (most used) account types are listed on the dialog. Accounts that are less frequently created by users are listed in the drop-down list you can view when you select Other Account Types. Figure 1-1: Creating an account starts by selecting the type of account. After you select the account type, click Continue to open the Add New Account dialog. The dialog for creating a new account changes its appearance depending on the account type you select, because each account type contains particular fields to hold relevant information. Figure 1-2 shows the New Account dialog for an expense account.