How to Change Date Format in Quickbooks
Looking to change the date format in Quickbooks? While most users prefer the default date format, others prefer a different solution. Thankfully, Quickbooks gives you the option to choose your preferred date format. Changing it is relatively simple and should take no more than a coupe minutes of your time. Now let’s take a closer look at how to change the date format in Quickbooks.
If you look in your actual Quickbooks account, you won’t see an option to change the date format. This often leads to confusion among users who are wishing to change their format. Just because Quickbooks doesn’t have an “internal” option to adjust the date format doesn’t necessarily mean that it can’t be done.
According to Intuit’s own website, Quickbooks uses the same format dates as Windows. Therefore, you’ll need to adjust your date formats in Windows to have them reflected in your Quickbooks account. If you are using Windows XP, click the Start menu > Settings > Control Panel > double-click Regional Settings and Language Options > Customize > Date > select the date format you want in the Short date field and click OK. The next time you run Quickbooks, it should use the newly specified date format instead of the default settings.
If you run Quickbooks on Windows 7 PC, the process for adjusting your date format is similar but with a few different steps. Access the Control Panel once again > Regional and Language Options > and choose the format regional language that you would like to use under the Formats tab. Next, adjust the date format to your preference and click the Apply button. It’s important to note that this setting applies for the Short date, Long date and First day of the week.
In order to customize the date format further, you’ll need to click on the Date tab. Here you’ll have access to new customization options. Feel free to play around with the date formats to find the one that’s best suited for your particular needs. When you are finished click OK to close the window and once more to exit the options.
How To Make a Partial Payment in Quickbooks
Trying to figure how to make a partial payment in the Quickbooks accounting software? As a business owner, there are times when you may only pay a part of a bill. This is completely normal, especially in cases involving lump bills for multiple services. Rather than paying it in its entirety, you make several smaller payments over time.
Thankfully, Quickbooks has a simple solution for business owners who need to make partial payments. All it takes is a few quick steps and you’ll be well on your way to sending the appropriate payment to the vendor or client.
To make a partial payment, fire up the Quickbooks software and click Vendors > Pay Bills > and enable the “Show all bills” option. Doing so will reveal all of your past and current bills, including the one on which you need to make a partial payment.
Once you see a list of all of your bills displayed, scroll through on the click the check mark column next to the one on which you need to make a partial payment. Next, enter the amount of the partial payment (not the total) in the “Amt to pay” column. It’s important to note that Quickbooks may automatically fill this column with the total amount of the bill. You can delete and change the “Amt to pay” to any amount, however, simply by selecting and deleting it.
After entering the partial payment into the “Amt to pay” field, click the “Payment Method” from the drop-down menu and specify how you would like to pay the bill. If you have credit or debit cards attached to your Quickbooks account, they should be available here. If you plan on paying the partial bill with a check, however, you’ll need to select “To be printed,” at which point Quickbooks will print a check. You can also assign a check number manually by choosing the “Assign Check No.” option. Last but not least, click “Pay & Close to record the partial payment and close the window.
Did this tutorial work for you? Let us know in the comments section below!
How To Backup Your Quickbooks Files (The Easy Way)
As the saying goes, hope for the best but prepare for the worst, holds true in the realm of accounting. Hopefully nothing will ever happen to your important files and documents, but if it does, you should a second copy ready to get your business back online. Quickbooks offers a simple solution that allows users to backup their files, which we’re going to discuss further in this blog post.
Do I Really Need To Backup My Files?
There’s no rule stating that you must backup your Quickbooks files, but doing so will give you the peace of mind knowing that your data is safe in the event of hardware failure, software failure, device theft, flood, or a countless number of other disasters. Furthermore, Quickbooks makes it easy to create backups, with the entire process consisting of just a few simple steps.
Creating a Backup of Your Company File
To create a backup of your company file, open Quickbooks and choose File > Create Backup, at which point the self-help Wizard should launch. You can then click the Options button to specify things like the destination of your backup company file, how often you want to be reminded to backup your file, and whether or not to check your company file for damage before the backup is created. When you are finished with these options, click OK to proceed to the next step. Here, you’ll be asked to save the backup now, save the backup now and schedule future backups, or only schedule future backups.
If you wish to save the backup to a USB flash drive, CD, DVD or some other external storage device, insert it into your computer and click Next. If you wish to save the backup file now, change the name of the backup in the file window and click Save. Quickbooks will then begin creating your backup file.
It’s important to note that backup company files don’t contain all elements found within Quickbooks. They contain all of the essentials that you’ll need to recreate the company file, including templates, letters, logos, images, Financial Statement Designer, Cash Flow Projector, etc.
How To Find a Company File In Quickbooks
Your company file is essentially the life blood of your Quickbooks account. It contains all of the information pertaining to your business’s accounting, including (but not limited to) payments received, payments sent, employee payroll, taxes, expenses, and more. If you want to access and use Quickbooks on another computer, you’ll need to transfer your company file to the new computer. But what if you are unable to locate your company file?
Quickbooks — like most programs and applications — has a default location in which it automatically stores users’ company file. Assuming you didn’t change this location, your company file “should” still be located here. Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows Vista users can access the default location by navigating to C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Company Files. Windows XP users can access the default company file location by navigating to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\(Shared) Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Company Files.
For Windows Xp users, you’ll notice the Company Files folder is a Shared Document. However, Quickbooks and Windows shows this folder as a Documents in the paths and addresses. So even though it is named as a Shared Document, no one else will be able to see it, unless you give them permission of course.
Hopefully, you can find your company file neatly tucked away in one of these default locations. If it’s not here, however, you can still find it, although it will take a few additional steps.
If you are running Windows 7, click the Start button followed by Search. If you are using Windows 8, scroll to the Chams bar in the upper-right-hand corner and click Search. Once you’ve opened the Search bar, enter the full or partial name of your company file. Here’s a tip for those of you who don’t remember what your company file name is: you can search for all files with a particular extension by entering the extension into the search bar. Being that company files use the .qbw extension, you should search for *.qbw, at which point Windows will reveal all files with the .qbw extension.
Qbw is an extension that’s used exclusively for Quickbooks, so this technique should find even the most well-hidden company files. Once you open it, try to remember where you save this time, or at the very least save an extra copy somewhere on your desktop.
Did this tutorial work for you? Let us know in the comments section below!
How To Print Form 1099-MISC In Quickbooks
Can’t seem to find the “print” button for a 1099-MISC form in Quickbooks? The 1099 Form is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax return document that’s used by small business owners and independent contractors to report miscellaneous income earned during the respective calendar year.
To print a 1099 Form in Quickbooks, you must first sign in as single-user mode. If you are signed in as multiple-user mode, you won’t be able to print this key tax return document. Once you are signed into Quickbooks as single-user mode, verify all of your 1099 forms using the software’s built-in Wizard tool. This is done by accessing Vendors > Print > E-file 1099s, at which point the Wizard will verify all of the information within your 1099s, including vendors, accounts, amounts, etc.
Use the QuickBooks 1099 Wizard (Vendors > Print/E-file 1099s) to verify all your 1099 information (vendors, accounts, and amounts) before printing the forms. Next, double-check your printer to ensure it’s powered up. I know this probably sounds like common sense, but it’s often the little things that leave users stumped when attempting to print forms.
Rather than using plain white paper to print your forms, it’s recommended that you use pre-printed 1099-MISC forms. These can be purchased from most office supply stores as well as through the IRS.
As noted on the official Intuit website, users with page-oriented printers should print copies separately rather than all at once. Furthermore, do not attempt to collate your pre-printed 1099-MISC forms before placing them in the printer. Load all of the Copy 1 forms, and once they are finished printing, load the Copy 2 forms for print.
After following the steps mentioned above, click the “Print 1099s” to initiate the built-in Wizard. You’ll need to choose a filing method and time period for which the forms were received, at which point you can click OK to begin printing.
Before Quickbooks actually prints your forms, it will ask you to review the current 1099 vendor limits. You can do this by clicking the “Preview 1099” button, allowing you to check and verify the vendor’s address. If necessary,. click the magnifying glass icon to zoom in one the forms. Assuming everything is correct, click “Print 1099.”
Did this tutorial work for you? Let us know in the comments section below!
How To Export a Quickbooks File To Quicken
Want to export your Quickbooks data to a Quicken-compatible format? While Quickbooks has become the leading and more popular business accounting software on the market, it’s not uncommon for some business owners to also use Quicken. However, the default settings of Quickbooks and Quicken have their own unique file format, preventing users from opening one file type in the other software. The good news is that you can still export a Quickbooks data to Quickbook.
Chart of Accounts
The first step in converting Quickbooks data to Quicken is to export your chart of accounts and vendor list. After opening Quickbooks, choose File > Utilities > Export > and Lists To IFF Files. Next, select the chart of accounts that you wish to export to Quicken and save it to your computer. Here’s the important part: select IFF as your preferred file type.
To export the vendor list, you’ll need to access the vendor center in Quickbooks and click the button labeled “Excel” in the header. Next, choose Export Vendor List > Export. Give your file a name and click the Save button to save it to your computer. And like before, you’ll want to make sure the file type is set to IFF format.
Transferring Data To Quicken Format
After saving your chart of accounts and vendor lists to your desktop, you can start transferring it into a Quicken-compatible format. Go ahead and open both of these files using Microsoft Excel. This is done by right clicking on the file, choosing the “Open With” option, and selecting Microsoft Excel. Once Excel is open, select File > Export > and choose the QIF format (note: that’s Quicken format).
Now that you have your chart of accounts and vendor lists, you can begin transferring the account into Quicken format. Located the previously saved files on your desktop or hard drive and open them using Microsoft Excel. If this is your first time attempting to open files using this method, let me explain how it’s done: locate the file and right click on the icon using your mouse. You should then see a list of options appear, one of which should say “Open With.” Hover over the option and left click on Micosoft Excel. This will tell your computer to open the file using Excel. After doing this for both the chart of accounts and vendor lists, you should now be able to open them in Quicken
How To Record a Bounced Check In Quickbooks
When a client or customer’s check bounces, you must adjust your Quickbooks account to reflect the lack of funds. Failure to do so may throw off your entire balance, forcing you to reconcile later in an attempt to find out why your Quickbooks balance doesn’t match your bank account balance. Thankfully, Quickbooks offers a simple solution to dealing with bounced checks and other forms of non-sufficient funds.
The next time you discover a bounced check from a client or customer, log into your Quickbooks account and click on the Receive Payments icon on the home screen. Now, scroll through the list of payments you’ve received until you find the bounced check. If you know the customer’s name, you can streamline the process by clicking Customers > Customer Center > Customer & Jobs. If you don’t know or remember the customer’s name, keep clicking the previous button until you find the bounced check.
Upon clicking the bounced check, you’ll have the option to specify a fee charged to you for the transaction. It’s not uncommon for banks to charge wire fees or other types of fees, for which this function is primary used. In this case, however, we’re going to use this field to specify the amount charged by the bank for the bounced check. Go ahead and enter the bounced check fee into this field and proceed to the next step.
You aren’t out of the woods just yet. Assuming you want to charge the customer for the bounced check fee (which you should), you’ll need to click the “yes” option next to the question “Charge customer for fee?” It’s important to note that you are free to specify any amount in this field. If the bank charged you $25 for the bounced check and you want to tack on an additional $25 as a “service fee,” you can enter a total of $50 to charge the customer. Click save and close when you are finished to complete the process. Sorry if you were expecting more, but that’s all it takes to record a bounced check in Quickbooks!
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What Is Quickbooks Condense Data Utility?
After spending some time in Quickbooks, you may come across a tool called “Condense Data Utility.” If you’re a newcomer to Quickbooks, you’re probably wondering just what in the world this tool does and how to use it. In an effort to shed light on this topic, we’re going to reveal everything you need to know about the Condense Data Utility in this blog post.
The Condense Data Utility is designed to reduce the total size of your company file by condensing closed transactions into journal entries and removing unnecessary elements from lists. It’s not uncommon for company files to exceed over 1GB in file size. And conventional wisdom should tell you that large files are slower and take longer to access/back up, which his where the Condense Data Utility comes into play. It reduces the company file size, thereby improving speed and overall performance.
It’s important to note that there’s no “undo” option for the Condense Data Utility. Once you’ve condensed your company file, there’s no turning back. So before jumping head first into this tool, it’s recommended that you evaluate your company file to determine whether or not it’s needed. See below for a list of common reasons to use the Condense Data Utility:
- You are approaching a list limit.
- Your company file is too large to back up in a reasonable amount of time.
- Quickbooks is running unusually slow.
- You have exhausted all other avenues of improving the performance of Quickbooks (e.g. hardware upgrade, Cloud management, increasing resources, starting a new company file).
To run the Condense Data Utility, select File from the main menu followed by Utilities and Condense Data. This will bring up the Wizard, which walks you through the steps to running the Condense Data Utility. If you need help during this process, click the Help button within the Wizard for a list of help topics and answers. During the initial setup, you’ll be asked to specify the lists that you wish to clean up. Feel free to choose any lists that you believe are large and problematic. When you are finished with the setup, click the Begin Condense button to initiate the process. There’s no turning back once you click the Begin Condense button, so make sure everything is correct.
How To Transfer Quickbooks To a New Computer
Thinking about upgrading to a new computer? If you have Quickbooks installed on your existing computer, you’ll need to transfer it to your new computer. The good news is that Intuit makes it relatively easy to transfer your files to a new device. The bad news is tha tmost people are unfamiliar with the process. If this sounds like a familiar scenario, keep reading for instructions on how to transfer your Quickbooks data to a new computer.
Steps To Transfer Quickbooks To a New Computer
- Create a backup of your current Quickbooks data.
- Copy the backup file and transfer it to your new computer.
- Install Quickbooks on your new computer.
- Restore the backup file on your new computer.
- Uninstall Quickbooks from your old computer.
Sorry if you were expecting more, but that’s all it takes to transfer Quickbooks data to a new computer! Just create a backup of your current Quickbooks data, transfer it to your new computer, install Quickbooks on the new computer, and restore the backup file. Depending on the size of your Quickbooks file and speed of your computer, it should take less than a hour from start to finish.
Tip: Rename Your Quickbooks File
You should never attempt to restore a Quickbooks file without renaming it first. Why is this a problem? Well, you may accidentally overwrite your existing file, resulting in a total loss of data. So, try to get into the habit of renaming your Quickbooks files before you restore them. It only takes a second to rename your file, but doing so could save you countless hours of work in the event you accidentally overwrite your existing file.
What About Quickbooks Online or Hosted Quickbooks?
Of course, another solution is to choose either Quickbooks Online or Hosted Quickbooks instead of the desktop versions. Quickbooks Online is somewhat limited in terms of its function. However, Hosted Quickbooks is essentially one of the desktop versions “hosted” by an authorized third-party vendor. This means you’ll have access to all of the features found in desktop Quickbooks, but you can access your account over the Internet instead of using traditional desktop-based software.
Did this tutorial for for you? Let us know in the comments section below!
How To Use Quickbooks For Property Management
Do you manage multiple real estate properties for commercial purposes? If so, you’ll need a system to keep track of tenant payments, repair/maintenance expenses, and other costs. Thankfully, Intuit Quickbooks is designed to streamline the accounting process for businesses such as this. So if you’re still searching for the perfect accounting solution for your property management business, give it a try!
Add New Tenants
Whether you choose Desktop Quickbooks, Quickbooks Online or Hosted Quickbooks, the first step in performing property management is to add new customers (tenants). This is done by clicking on the “Customer Center” tab within your account, at which point you can add, remove and manage your list of tenants. Feel free to play around with this section to familiarize yourself with the various options, as you’ll be using the Customer Center quite frequently. Anytime you have a new tenant, or when a tenant is preparing to leave, you’ll need to access this section of Quickbooks.
Invoice Your Tenants
Of course, adding new tenants to your Quickbooks accounts is just one step in the process. Assuming they are required to pay rent, you’ll need to set up an invoice for them. To create an invoice for your tenants, select “Job” from the main menu, followed by “New Job.” Next, enter the requested information (e.g. price, date, tenant, etc.). Double-check to make sure the tenant’s address listed on the invoice is correct, as a wrong address could void the invoice. After completing the invoice, you can choose to either print or save it for a later time. Quickbooks automatically creates new invoices using the dates specified, so you don’t have to worry about constantly logging into your account to print new ones at the end or first of the month.
Receipts
You may also want to print out payment receipts to give tenants who paid their rent. At the top of your account you should see a “Customers” tab. Hover over this tab and choose “Payments Received” from the list. Next, scroll down and locate the tenant whom paid his or her bill and choose “OK.” Quickbooks will not save the rent receipt in your account. Sorry if you were expecting more, but that’s all it takes to manage property in Quickbooks!