Here's how to make your QuickBooks navigation quick, easy, and best of all, personalized.

On the far left of your screen is the shortcut menu. If you’ve minimized it, it’s the strip (still on the far left of your screen) that says, “My Shortcuts.” You can open this back up with the arrow at the top.

This shortcut bar provides one-click access to many of the functions of QuickBooks. Need the Customer Center? Click “Customers.” Vendor Center? Click “Vendors.” Want to see how your business is doing? Click “Snapshots.” You can already see the time savings start to add up. But it’s true that beauty lies even deeper than that. The shortcuts as you see them can be personalized. 

At the bottom of the “My Shortcuts” section, there is a link called “Customize Shortcuts” that you can click on. Alternately, if you right-click inside the box, you can get the “Customize Shortcuts” option to open in a popup link. When you click on this, the content of the shortcut bar becomes the canvas that you paint. You can move the shortcuts to whatever order you want by clicking and dragging. If you decide you won’t use a particular shortcut, you can delete it from the bar. If you have a particular function of QuickBooks that you use that is not listed on these shortcuts, you can click “Add…” and a number of additional potential shortcuts will be listed. Simply click the function you want, click any corresponding icon you want to represent it, name it what you want, and hit “OK.” You now have a personalized shortcut in the window. You can move the location of this shortcut up on the list just like any others.

Between setting up your options in the order you would use them, adding the shortcuts that you use and removing those that you don’t, your new personalized menu will be what you want to help save you time and make your work that much easier. 

DATE

September 20, 2018

TIME

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Sometimes when using QuickBooks Online, pages don’t display correctly or you are unable to complete a task that you’ve always been able to complete. One thing that you can do when this happens is to open an incognito window in your Chrome browser and then log into QuickBooks Online in this window. This usually blocks whatever is causing the interference and you are able to now work as normal.

To open an incognito window in Chrome, click on the 3 dots in the upper right-hand corner. Select “new incognito window.” A new screen will appear. Simply re-log into QuickBooks Online on this screen.

It is important to verify your QuickBooks data. The Verify Data utility is a tool for detecting transaction damage, listing damage and memorizing report damage in your company file. 

You should run a complete verification each time you back up your QuickBooks data. You will also want to run the verify utility if:

To run the verify data utility, click File on the top menu bar, Utilities, then Verify Data.

If QuickBooks detects damage in your file, you will be instructed to run the rebuild utility. If the rebuild utility does not solve the damage problem, please contact one of our QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisors to resolve the issue.

Keeping your financial records in order is very important to the success of your business and ensures that your financial statements are accurate. Follow these steps to make the close of your fiscal year easy to execute.

1.) Review your profit and loss statements in mid-December.

What does your revenue look like now that the year is almost over? Do you anticipate future invoices or expenses to greatly affect your profit? If your profit is large, talk to your tax advisor to see if there are ways to lessen your tax burden.

2.) Verify your vendor and lender files.

Review information relating to any current outstanding loans. Verify vendor 1099 information is up-to-date and that you have accurate W-9 Forms. Forms 1099 and 1096 are due to the IRS by 1/31/19.

3.) Take inventory.

If you sell products, take a physical inventory and compare the results to the QuickBooks Inventory Valuation Report. Make any necessary adjustments in QuickBooks. Also, be sure to review your sales and use tax records so you are prepared to complete your annual/quarterly sales tax filings.

4.) Reconcile all of your accounts and review A/P, A/R & Fixed Assets.

Reconcile your credit card and bank accounts. Verify the statements match your records and investigate any unexplained discrepancies.

5.) Review and update employee info.

6.) Create a budget for the next year.

Review your financial statements from the current year and create a budget to plan for the next year. By taking stock of your expenditures from the current year, you’ll have a better understanding of where to focus your efforts moving forward.