How to Add a Customer in Quickbooks
It’s not uncommon for customers to make multiple purchases over the course of their relationship with your business. As a result, it’s a good idea to store their contact information. By storing your customers’ contact information, you can track sales, personalize their experience and more. If you use Quickbooks to track your business’s finances, you can easily add customers to your account in just a few easy steps.
Steps to Add a Customer in Quickbooks
To add a customer in Quickbooks, log in to the accounting software, click the “Invoicing” tab on the right-side menu and choose “Customer.” From here, click “New Customer.” Quickbooks will then reveal several fields in which you can add information about the customer, some of which include the following:
- Name
- Company
- Phone
- Mobile
- Fax
- Website
You don’t have to complete all these fields. If you run a business-to-consumer (B2C) business, there’s no need to complete the “Company” field, for example. Nonetheless, you should try to include as much information about the customer as possible. The more you know about him or her, the better service you can provide.
When you are finished adding the customer’s information, click “Save” to complete the process. If you need to add multiple customers to your Quickbooks account, simply repeat the listed previously listed.
How to Create a Sub-Customer
Quickbooks even allows you to create sub-customers for your business. A sub-customer is essentially a customer that’s placed under an existing, parent customer. Why would you need to create sub-customers? Well, one reason is to track customers for a specific job. You can place all customers associated with a specific job under a new parent customer.
To create a sub-customer in Quickbooks, go back to the accounting software’s home screen, click “Invoicing” and choose “Customers.” Next, choose “New Customer.” You can then complete the fields just like you would when adding a regular customer.
Before clicking the “Save” button, though, click the box labeled “Is sub customer,” at which point you can select the parent customer. Only after clicking this box and assigning the sub-customer to a parent customer should you click “Save.” Keep in mind that you’ll need to create the parent customer before the sub-customer.
Creating both customers and sub-customers is easy in Quickbooks, requiring just a few mouse clicks from the software’s home screen.
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How to Create an Estimate for a Customer in Quickbooks
It’s not uncommon for clients to request estimates from a business. If you operate a construction company, for example, a client may inquire about the rough cost of a project. While it’s always better to provide clients with a fixed, exact cost, this isn’t always possible. If you don’t know exactly how much a project will cost, for example, you’ll have to provide the client with an estimate. Using the Quickbooks accounting software, you can easily create estimates for your business’s customers.
Enable Estimates
Before you can create estimates in Quickbooks, you’ll need to activate this feature. While logged in to your Quickbooks account, click “Edit,” followed by “Preferences.” On the left-side menu, click “Jobs & Estimates” and select “Company Preferences.” For the question “Do you create estimates,” choose the “Yes” option. When finished, click “OK” to save the changes and exit this menu. You can now create estimates for your business’s clients using Quickbooks.
Steps to Create an Estimate
After enabling estimates, go back to the main Quickbooks screen and click the “Customers” menu, followed by “Estimates/Create Estimates.” From here, you can select the client for whom you are creating an estimate in the “Customer: Job” menu. If it’s a new client who isn’t listed in your account yet, click “Add New” to add him or her.
Once you’ve selected the client for whom you are creating an estimate, you’ll need to complete a few fields with information about the estimate, such as the “Date” and “#” fields. The former should reflect the date on which you creating the estimate, whereas the latter should be a unique number associated with the estimate.
You’ll also need to add the product or service for which you are creating an estimate in the detail field. Keep in mind that you can add multiple products or services, even if you are only creating a single estimate.
Adding a Discount to an Estimate
While optional, some business owners may want to provide clients with a discount in their estimates. To include a discount in your estimate, you must create a discount item. Of course, this is done by going to the “Item List” menu in Quickbooks, right-clicking on an open area and choosing “New.” Under the “Type” menu, you can then choose “Discount,” allowing you to create a discount for the estimate.
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Help! I Entered the Wrong Payment Amount in Quickbooks
When recording a payment in Quickbooks, you should double-check the amount to ensure it’s correct. If a customer pays you $75, for example, it’s important to record the payment as exactly $75. Placing the decimal in the wrong place will result in your business’s books being incorrect.
The good news is that you can fix incorrect payment amounts after recording them in Quickbooks. For a step-by-step walkthrough, check out the tutorial below.
Remove the Payment From the Deposit
To fix an incorrect payment, log in to Quickbooks and click the gear icon at the top of the page. Next, click “Chart of Accounts” from the “Your Company” menu. You can then scroll through your deposits until you find the one with connected to the incorrect payment.
After locating the deposit, click the “Edit” button. You should see then a see a list of all payments associated with the deposit. Go through this list and locate the incorrect payment. When you find it, click the box to remove the check mark from it. Doing so removes the payment from the deposit, allowing you to fix it before adding it back.
Edit the Payment Amount
With the payment removed from the deposit, you can now safely edit the payment amount. This is done by going back to the main Quickbooks screen, selecting the gear icon and choosing “Chart of Accounts” again. From here, locate the deposit in the action section and click “View register.”
Next, find and click the deposit to select it, followed by “Edit.” You can then edit the payment with the correct amount. When finished, click “Save and close” to finish editing the payment amount.
Add the Payment Back to the Deposit
The final step involves adding the newly corrected payment back to the appropriate deposit. You’ll need to go back to your “Chart of Accounts” where you can search for the deposit account. After locating the deposit account, click “View register,” followed by “Edit” next to the deposit. You can then enter the correct amount for the payment.
It’s frustrating when you accidentally enter the wrong amount for a customer’s payment. We’re all human, however, so mistakes are bound to happen. The next time this happens, simply follow the steps listed here to correct the payment amount and restore your business’s accounting records back to good health.
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How to Create Statements in Quickbooks
If you run a small business, you might be asked to produce a transaction statement for a customer. Maybe the customer needs it for his or her own accounting purposes, or perhaps they believed they were wrongly charged for a product or service. Regardless, there are times when customers may require a transaction statement. Rather than scouring through your receipts, though, you can easily create transaction statements using the Quickbooks accounting software.
Invoice vs Statement: What’s the Difference?
Some business owners assume that invoices are the same as statements, but this isn’t necessarily true. Invoices only reveal the details of a single transaction. This transaction may include the purchase of one product, or it may include the purchase of multiple products (or services). Either way, invoices are associated with a single transaction. Statements, on the other hand, reveal the details of all transactions a customer or client has made during his or her professional relationship with your business.
Steps to Creating a Statement in Quickbooks
To create a statement in Quickbooks, log in to your Quickbooks account and click the “Sales” tab in the left-hand sidebar menu, followed by “Customers.” Next, scroll through your list of customers and select the one for whom you want to create a statement. If the customer isn’t listed, you’ll need to add him or her to your account.
After selecting the customer, click the “Actions” drop-down menu and choose “Create Statement.” You will then be prompted to select the type of statement you with to create.
Next, enter the start and end date for the statement, as well as the statement date. The start date is typically the day on which the customer made his or her first purchase, whereas the end date is the day on which the customer made his or her most recent purchase. For the statement date, enter the current day’s date.
You’re almost finished creating a statement. Assuming you’ve followed all the aforementioned steps, you can proceed by clicking the “Apply” button. Quickbooks will then provide a preview of the statement. If everything looks correct, click “Save.” With your statement created, you can now print it from within your Quickbooks account.
Creating statements is a relatively quick and painless task. It only requires a few basic steps, at which point you can provide customers or clients with details regarding their transactions.
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What Is a Fixed Asset in Accounting?
From retail stores and coffee shops to e-commerce stores and construction companies, all businesses have assets. In accounting, an asset any resource owned by a business that offers future value. In other words, it’s something that a business can convert into revenue. There are different types of assets used in business accounting, however, one of which is fixed. So, what are fixed assets exactly, and how do they compare to other types of assets?
Fixed Assets Explained
Also known as tangible assets, fixed assets are assets — resources of future value owned by your business — that cannot be converted into money within a short period of time, typically a year. An example of a fixed asset is heavy machinery owned by a construction company. Even if a piece of heavy machinery has monetary value, it may take a while for the construction company to sell. Therefore, it’s considered a fixed asset.
Another example of a fixed asset is a fleet of trucks owned and operated by a transportation company. Like heavy machinery, trucks cannot be easily sold or otherwise converted into cash, so they are considered a fixed asset. Regardless, all fixed assets are defined by their ability to be converted into cash within a short period of time.
Recording the Depreciation of Fixed Assets
Because they cannot be easily converted into cash within a short period of time, you should calculate the depreciation of your business’s fixed assets for tax purposes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows businesses to deduct depreciation of fixed assets from their taxes.
If you use Quickbooks Desktop to keep track of your business’s finances, you can easily calculate the depreciation of your fixed assets. The software contains a special feature known as Fixed Asset Manager (FAM) that uses up-to-date IRS standards to calculate how much your fixed assets have depreciated.
It’s important to note that FAM isn’t available in all versions of Quickbooks. You’ll only find this feature in Quickbooks Premier Accountant, Enterprise Accountant and Enterprise.
Fixed vs Current Assets
Current assets, on the other hand, are assets that can be converted into money within a short period of time. Inventory, for example, is typically considered a current asset. A retail apparel store may have a surplus of shirts and jeans. Because the store sells these items, they are considered a current asset.
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How to Record Loan Payments in Quickbooks
Starting a new business isn’t cheap. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), most U.S. small businesses with fewer than 500 employees require about $10,000 to start up. The good news is that you don’t have to tap into your personal funds to start your business. You can apply for a loan from a bank or private lender. When using a loan to fund your business, though, you’ll need to keep track of your loan payments.
Add Your Loan to Quickbooks
Before you can track your loan payments in Quickbooks, you must first add the loan to your Quickbooks account. After logging in to Quickbooks, click the gear icon at the top of the page, followed by “Chart of Accounts.” From here, choose “New,” followed by either “Long-Term Liabilities” or “Other Current Liabilities” for the account type. For the “Detail Type,” choose “Loan Payable.” Finally, enter the name of the account, after which you can click “Save and close.”
With the loan created, your next course of action should be adding an opening balance to it. Go back to the main screen and click the (+) icon at the top of the page, followed by “Bank Deposit” under the “Other” menu.” From here, scroll through the menu and choose the account to which you will make the loan payments. For the “Account” field, choose the payable account as well as the amount of the loan. When finished, click “Save and close.”
Recording Loan Payments in Quickbooks
Now that your loan is set up and ready to go, you can begin to record payments to it. To record a payment, go back to the main screen and click the (+) icon. Next, click “Check” under the “Vendors” menu. Assuming you use an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), you can simply enter “ETF” in the field here. If you’re making a payment on the loan using a physical check, however, you should enter the check’s number in this field.
Quickbooks will prompt you to complete a few additional fields in the “Account details” area. In the first field, enter the account for the loan as well as the amount of your payment. In the second field, enter the expense account used for the loan’s interest. In the third field, enter any other fees associated with the loan payment. After double checking to ensure this information is correct, click “Save and close.”
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What Is a Delayed Charge in Quickbooks?
When using Quickbooks to keep track of your business’s financial transactions, you may come across the term “delayed charge.” Unfortunately, many business owners are unfamiliar with this term, let alone know how and when to use it. In this post, we’re going to explain what delayed charges are used for, as well as instructions on how to record them in Quickbooks.
Delayed Charges Explained
In Quickbooks, a delayed charge is exactly what it sounds like: a charge billed to a customer or client in the future. It’s not uncommon for businesses to temporarily delay charging a customer or client for a product or service. In instances such as this, a delayed charge should be used. Delayed charges allow you to record charges while postponing the billing of those charges to a future date.
Why should you delayed charges exactly? Well, you won’t need to use this feature if your business collects payment or otherwise charges customers or clients at the time of the transaction. If your business charges customers or clients in the future, however, using delayed charges will help you record billable charges so that they don’t go unnoticed and unaccounted for.
Steps to Recording a Delayed Charge
To record a delayed charge, log in to Quickbooks and click the (+) menu at the top of the screen, followed by “Customers” and then “Delayed Charge.”
After selecting “Delayed Charge,” click the field for “Choose a customer” and select the customer or client for whom you wish to record the delayed charge. If the customer or client isn’t listed, click “Add new” to add him or her to your Quickbooks account.
You’re almost finished recording a delayed charge. You should now be able to select the date on which you purchased the product or service associated with the delayed charge. If you purchased materials to perform a job for a customer, for example, enter the date on which you purchased the materials.
For the “Products/Service” field, enter the product or service for which you are charging the customer or client. If it’s not listed, click “Add new” to add the product or service to your Quickbooks account.
Last but not least, select “Income Account” for the “Product or Service Information” option, followed by the price of the delayed charge. When finished, click “Save and Close” to complete the process.
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Bill vs Expense in Quickbooks: What’s the Difference?
The terms “bill” and “expense” are often used interchangeably by business owners when recording financial transactions. Many business owners assume that all instances in which they owe money — either to a vendor or anyone else — is a bill or expense. However, this isn’t necessarily true. If you use Quickbooks to keep track of your business’s finances, you should familiarize yourself with the differences between bills and expenses. Only then will you be able to properly record your business’s financial transactions.
Overview of Expenses
In Quickbooks, an expense is money paid by your business for a product or service that’s related to its operations. If you run a retail store, for example, you may have to purchase inventory. When you buy inventory for your store, you’ll incur the cost of inventory as an expense.
Recording expenses in Quickbooks is a relatively simple process. After logging in to your account, click the (+) icon at the top of the page, followed by “Expense” and then “Suppliers.” From here, select the payee’s name and click “Add.” While optional, you can include more information about the payee by clicking the “Details” button. Next, select the account from which the money came. To finish up, select the payment date for the expense, payment method, category, description and amount, after which you can click “Save and Close” to complete the process.
Overview of Bills
In Quickbooks, a bill is money owed by your business that’s due at a later time. It’s similar to an expense with the only exception being that bills are paid at a later time. You pay expenses on the spot, whereas bills are paid in the future (according to the seller’s terms). Aside from this subtle nuance, though, expenses and bills are pretty much the same. Just remember that expenses are paid on the spot, whereas bills are paid at a late time.
To record a bill in Quickbooks, go to the main screen and click the (+) icon, followed by “Suppliers” and then “Bill.” From here, choose the supplier from which you made the purchase. Next, click the drop-down arrow for “Terms” to enter the payment terms of the bill, such as “Due on receipt,” “Net 15,” “Net 30” or “Net 60.” After entering the bill’s payment terms, choose a bill date and due date, followed by an appropriate category.
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How to Transfer Funds Between Two Accounts in Quickbooks
If you have multiple bank or financial accounts recorded in Quickbooks, you might be wondering how to transfer funds between them. Some business owners assume that it’s okay to perform two transfer transactions. Unfortunately, if both the accounts are listed in the chart of accounts, this doesn’t work. Instead, the correct way to record this transfer is to enter it as a single transaction. Below, we’re going to walk you through the process of recording a funds transfer between two accounts in Quickbooks.
Transferring Funds Using the Transfer Method
Quickbooks actually supports several methods to transfer funds between two or more accounts, one of which involves using the Transfer method. Start by logging in to your Quickbooks account and clicking the (+) icon at the top of the screen. Next, choose “Transfer” under the “Other” menu. Go to the “Transfer Funds From” menu and select the bank account from which the funds are being withdrawn.
There are a few steps left in the process. After choosing the bank account, enter the amount of the transfer in the “Transfer Amount” field. Finally, enter the date of the transfer, followed by “Save and close.”
Transfer Funds Using an Imported Bank Transaction
Another way to record a funds transfer in Quickbooks is to use an imported bank transaction. This method, however, only works if you imported the two transactions but haven’t entered a Transfer.
To record a funds transfer using this method, log in to Quickbooks and click the “Banking” link on the left-hand sidebar menu. From here, choose the bank account from which you want to transfer the funds. Now scroll through the listings and select the transaction. Click the “Transfer” button and then choose the other account to which you want to transfer the funds, followed by “Transfer.” You can then click the “Recognized tab” button to find the transaction, which should yield a match
Transferring Funds Using a Check
Of course, another way to record a funds transfer is to use a check. If you performed the transfer using a check, you can use this method. Basically, it involves selecting the “Write Check” window and then recording the amount of the transfer and the check number.
When transferring funds using a check, make sure the bank accounts are correct. In the “Bank Account” field, look to ensure that it’s the appropriate account.
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How to Cancel a Credit Applied to a Bill in Quickbooks
It’s not uncommon for businesses to apply credit to their customers’ or clients’ bills. Maybe a customer accidentally overpaid, or perhaps the business overcharged them. Regardless, businesses can solve problems such as these by applying a credit to the customer’s or client’s bill. At the same time, it’s important for businesses to use caution when handing out these bill credits. If you accidentally apply a credit to the wrong customer’s or client’s bill, you’ll need to fix it as soon as possible. The good news is that you can easily cancel credits applied to a bill if your business uses the Quickbooks accounting software.
Steps to Canceling a Credit Applied to a Bill
To cancel a credit applied to a bill in Quickbooks, pull up the credit and click the “Credit” button. Next, change the type of transaction to a bill, after which you can click “Save & Close .” You should see a warning indicating that this will unlink the credit from the bill. After confirming, Quickbooks will then remove the credit from the bill.
Can I Cancel a Credit Applied to an Invoice?
Quickbooks also allows you to cancel credits applied to an invoice, though it requires a set of different steps. If you applied a credit to an invoice and want to reverse it, pull up the credit memo associated with which it’s associated and press Ctrl+H on your keyboard to open its history.
Next, find the invoice to which it was applied in the history and double-click to open it. From here, choose “Apply Credits,” followed by clearing the details about the credit on the following screen. When finished, click “Save & Close” to complete the process.
You may want to create a backup of your Quickbooks company file before proceeding with either of these processes. Backing up your company file ensures that if something goes wrong, you can revert your account back to its original state.
It’s frustrating when you apply a credit to the wrong customer’s or client’s bill. Mistakes are bound to happen when running a business, however, which is why it’s important to know the steps on how to cancel such transactions. Whether you applied it to a bill or invoice, you can remove an erroneous credit in Quickbooks by following the steps outlined here.
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