How to Master QuickBooks Level 2

Graduating into the category of a master of QuickBooks involves learning the little-used features.

QuickBooks is a very thorough accounting program. It's also easy to use when not all features are active or in use. Thus, many business owners miss out on some of the finer features provided by the software they already own. Entering customers, vendors and employees are all basic functions of the program. Mastering sales taxes, group items and refunds is a little more advanced. Moving on from these subjects you will find uses of QuickBooks that are extremely beneficial yet seldom used, such as the ability to create and modify reports and the units-of-measure feature.

Instructions

Creating and Modifying Reports

1. Create a profit-and-loss report. Do this by clicking on the "Reports" tab in the upper menu bar and scrolling down to the "Company" button. When the side menu opens, click on the "Profit and Loss" button. Choose the summary report. Enter the start date and the end date for the period you wish in the "From" and "To" boxes or choose the "All" option in the "Dates" box. Click on the "Modify Report" button in the top left corner of this window.

2. Modify the report to create the data you wish to see. The "Modify Report" window contains four tabs labeled "Display," "Filters," "Header/Footer" and "Fonts & Numbers." The first two deal with alteration of data in the report and the last two with appearance. From this window you can change the basis of the report to be either accrual or cash method. The cash method does not include accounts payable or receivable accounts, but the accrual method does.

   On the lower section of this tab is the "Add Subcolumns" option. You can create a report that will include the figures from the previous period or year for a side-by-side comparison of the growth of the business over the same period. You can also choose to include the change between the two periods in either dollars or percentages or both.

3. Change the filters on the report. Click on the "Filters" tab. The window that opens will allow you to add, remove or change the accounts used in the report, as well as restrict the results to certain amounts, items or transaction types. This will allow you to generate a report that filters only cash sales in the transaction type filter. You would do this to get a clear picture of how much cash flows through your business. You can generate as many as 1,000 different reports using the "Modify Report" feature in QuickBooks Pro and Premier versions.

Unit of Measure

1. Activate the Unit of Measure feature. To do this, click on the "Edit" button on the top menu bar and scroll down to the "Preferences" tab. When this window opens, click on the "Items & Inventory" button and then on the "Company Preferences" tab. The "Unit of Measure" enable button is in the center of this window. Click on the "Enable" button.

   The Unit of Measure feature is used for businesses that purchase items in one measure and sell them in another, e.g., a store that purchases a case of canned soda and sells the sodas individually. A fabric store that purchases reams of fabric and sells by the foot or by the yard is another example.

2. Choose the unit of measure that applies to your situation. If you purchase and sell items using the same units, choose "Single U/M Per Item." If you purchase by one unit and sell by another, choose "Multiple U/M Per Item."

3. Select the type of unit of measure. Open the "Item List" by clicking on the "List" menu in the top menu bar. There are seven unit options, including "Count," "Length," "Weight," "Volume," "Area," "Time" and "Other." In this example we will use a store that purchases a case of canned soda 36 count and sells them individually, which will be a "Count." Click "Next."

4. Find your base unit. A base unit is the measure that is the smallest increment. There are four options in this window, including "Each," "Pair," "Dozen" and "Other." The base unit of measure for our case of soda will be "Each." Click "Next."

5. Add related units. If a case of canned soda has 36 individual cans, you will have two related units, the Case and the Can. Place a check mark in this window by clicking in the "Add" column. You can change the Name, Abbreviation and the number of each in that unit. "Can" would be "1" and "Case" would be "36". Click "Next."

   When this window opens, choose the default measure used in purchasing and in sales and shipping and click "Next." When you add the case of soda to your item list, the purchase price will be per case and the sales price per individual can. QuickBooks will automatically do all the calculations for you.

References

• University of Missouri: Customizing Reports in QuickBooks
• QBalance: Report Generating Tips
• My QuickBooks Expert: How to Use Unit of Measure in QuickBooks