Fraudulent Email Being Received!

There has been a recent spam/phishing email being sent around lately.  It is NOT legitimate.  DO NOT OPEN OR CLICK ON IT!  You may want to forward it to spoof@intuit.com.  It will look something like this:

8 QuickBooks Reports You Really Need to Use

QuickBooks provides dozens of customizable report templates. You know when you need some of them, but which are musts?  Reports are my favorite feature of QuickBooks!  They help you analyze what is happening in your business so you can make everyday decisions.   You send invoices because you sold products and/or services. Purchase orders go out when you're running low on inventory, and there are always bills to pay, it seems like. All of this activity is, of course, important in itself, but all of your conscientious bookkeeping culminates in what's probably the most critical element of QuickBooks: your reports. Reports can tell you how many navy blue sweatshirts you sold in March, what you paid for health insurance premiums in the first quarter, and how much you bought from your favorite vendor last month. They're very good at drilling down to get the precise set of numbers you need. But reports - carefully customized and properly analyzed - can do more than tell you how many golf clubs to order and when it's time to switch phone services. They can help you make the business decisions that will help you take your growing company to the next level. There are several that you should be looking at regularly, some of which you can interpret easily and use in your daily workflow. We'll help you with the interpretation of the more complex financial reports. Who Owes Money? That's probably a question you ask yourself every day. You don't necessarily have to run the A/R Aging Detail report every day, but you'll want to run it frequently. It tells you who owes you money and whether they've missed the due date (and by how many days). Figure 1: By running the A/R Aging Detail report, you can see whether you need to follow up with customers who have past due invoices. As with any report, you can modify it to include the columns, data set and date range you want by clicking the Customize button. When you create a report in a format that you think you might want to run again, click the Memorize button. Enter a name that you'll remember, and assign it to a Memorized Report Group. Getting There There are two ways to find the reports you want to see. You can open the Reports menu and move your cursor down to the category you want, like Customers & Receivables, which will open a slide-out menu of options there. Or you can open the Report Center, which lets you explore reports in more depth. Each is represented by a small graphic with four icons under it. You can: Run the report with your own data in it Open a small informational window Designate it as a Favorite, and View QuickBooks help. Figure 2: If you access QuickBooks reports through the Report Center, you'll have several related options.  Other accounts receivable reports that you should consult periodically include Open Invoicesand Average Days to Pay. Tracking What You Owe Reports can also keep you up-to-date on money that you owe to other people and companies. An important one is Unpaid Bills Detail, accessible through the Vendors & Payables menu item. Though you can modify its columns, this report basically tells you who is expecting money from you, the date the bill was issued and its due date, any number assigned to it, the balance due, and relevant aging information. Vendor Balance Detail is critical, too. This report displays every transaction (invoices, payments, etc.) that contribute to the balance you have with each vendor. Standard Financial Reports Figure 3: We hope you'll let us help you by running and interpreting these standard financial reports. QuickBooks report categories include one labeled Company & Financial. These are reports that you can run yourself, but they're critical for understanding your company's financial status. We can customize and analyze these for you on a regular basis so you'll know where you stand. They include: Balance Sheet. What is the value of your company? The balance sheet breaks out this information by account (under the umbrella of assets, liabilities and equity). Income Statement. Often referred to as Profit & Loss, this shows you how much money your business made or lost over a specific time period. Statement of Cash Flows. How much money came in and went out during a specified time range? Reports can only generate information about what you've entered in QuickBooks and exactly where it's been entered. So it's crucial that you follow standard accounting practice as you proceed through your daily workflow. We're always available to answer questions you have about QuickBooks' structure and your activity there. Your reports - and your critical business decisions - depend on it.   If your reports just don't make sense - Call 815-768-6163 and get some help! August 2014

QUICKBOOKS ONLINE - New Format

Over the years many of you have seen my eyes roll when the QuickBooks Online edition is mentioned.  While it was a great concept, it just did not work for me,  Too slow.  Too cumbersome.  Difficult to find where you wanted to go.

Well, I have changed my mind!  The new format is ready to come out and I am impressed!  Here's the "Home" page:

It's very easy to read and navigate.  The Home Page even has a Profit and Loss Graph to give you a quick snapshot of your business.  Performance seems to have improved.  You no longer have to scroll down in order to save a transaction.  All sorts of action items can be viewed on the same page.

The new format is being rolled out gradually.  If you are an existing online customer, your file will be converted in the next few months.  Brand new customers will be getting the new format right away.   Check back soon for future blogs which will examine the new features.

Where is my QuickBooks File?

Where is that QuickBooks file located on my computer?  How many times have I gotten that phone call!  Actually, it is not exactly easy to find. 

First, if you can open up your QuickBooks company file, click F2 on your keyboard.  The screen that pops up will tell you the file location. The file location is directly under the big black arrow below:

 It may be a good idea to record this somewhere in the event you cannot open QuickBooks.   By default, the file is saved here:  C:\Users\PublicDocuments\Intuit\QuickBooks\CompanyFiles.  That is the recommended place to save the file, however, you can save it in other locations.

You can also find it by searching for files with the ".qbw" file extension.  

If you still need help with QuickBooks, give me a call at 815-768-6163 or email me at ams@amsos.com.



Remembering Tasks in QuickBooks

Did you know that QuickBooks has a "To Do" list?  You can actually create a "to do" call, email, task, appointment, fax, or meeting for any customer or vendor.  Priorities can even be assigned.  This "to do" can be set up to remind you when you open QuickBooks or it can simply be listed on the QuickBooks Calendar.  See how it works by watching this short video:

Using the To Do List in QuickBooks

It would be great if somehow this "to do" could then be sent out to Outlook or some other calendar in order to remind us without having to open QuickBooks.  I guess that request will have to go onto my "QuickBooks Wish List".

For more QuickBooks "rescuing", call 815-768-6163 or email ams@amsos.com for customized solutions to your QuickBooks problems.

I've Outgrown QuickBooks!

Over the years you have worked very hard to grow your business.  It has paid off.  Unfortunately, there are growing pains.  Usually the systems we set up at the beginning of our business no longer work as we grow.  Many times our QuickBooks accounting system no longer really meets our needs.  However, the next step up is just too expensive.  What do you do? 

Check out www.marketplace.intuit.com.  This is a list of hundreds of third-party software programs which integrate with QuickBooks.  These programs will help you with additional tasks such as inventory control, scheduling, document management, e-commerce, expense management, and many others while QuickBooks maintains the accouting task.   The website is sorted by either industry or business need.  You can access the software websites and, in many cases, even request a free demonstration.

How to evaluate?  Each software program is rated as either a Silver or Gold developer.  Both ratings mean that the software program has been tested by an independent third part and has passed the QuickBooks Technical Review.  The Gold ratings, however, show a score from an extensive customer survey. 

Need more help in deciding which program to use or how to implement it?  Contact AMS Office Solutions at 815-768-6163 or email ams@amsos.com.

QuickBooks and Collections

An unpleasant reality in the business world is that sometimes people do not pay their bills.  One of the fairly new features of QuickBooks helps us track collections.  In the Customer Center, there is now a Collection Center.  Here you can see who is past due and who is almost past due.  You can also write notes and send emails directly from the Collection Center.  Check out this video for a glimpse:

QuickBooks Collection Center Demo

The Collections Center helps us be a bit more organized about collecting those past due invoices and gives us a place to document our collection efforts.

If you need more "rescuing" from QuickBooks, please call me at 815-768-6163 or email me at ams@amsos.com.