Navigating QuickBooks

There are four primary methods for getting around in QuickBooks:

·     The built-in Navigator is more intuitive and helpful for those who are unfamiliar with using Windows based programs. However, for those who are familiar with Windows, this is also the slowest method. A sample screen is shown below.

The Customer Navigation Screen

·     The drop-down menus are typically accessed using a mouse. For many users this approach may not be much faster than using the Navigator. However, each menu option offers underlined letters in the drop-down menus called keyboard shortcuts that allow you to navigate using the drop-down menus without a mouse. This method is much quicker than using a mouse, even if you are quick with the mouse. A sample screen is shown below.

      Shortcut keys within QuickBooks represent the fastest method for getting around in QuickBooks. The screen below provides example Shortcut keys for access the Chart of Accounts (CTRL+A), Customer & Job list (CTRL+J), and Memorized Transaction List (CTRL+T).

One of the more frequently used functions is writing checks. This task could be accessed through the menu, or by typing Alt, A, W. You can also accomplish the same thing by pressing Ctrl-W. Other useful keyboard shortcuts are

·        Ctrl-H for transaction histories

·        Ctrl-1 for data about your file and program

·        Ctrl-R to open the register associated with the type of transaction currently displayed

·        Ctrl-T for memorized transactions

·        Ctrl-I for invoice forms

·        Ctrl-P to print

·        Ctrl-F to find or look up

     The Icon Bar provides a fourth method for navigating in QuickBooks. If your icon bar is not visible, go to "File", "Preferences", "Icon Bar" to turn the icon bar on (or off). You can also control whether the icons show pictures, text or both. You can also remove items you don’t need, add icons, or move items around to your suit your personal preference. The ability to insert additional icons is limited; for example, you can add an icon for entering bills, but not for paying bills.

Memorize Reports

To help you navigate to the reports you use most frequently, you should memorize those reports. This procedure helps prevent the need to recreate the same report over and over again. The screen shot below provides an example of this functionality:

 Formulas

The use of formulas in various data fields can be a big time saver. All the user need do in any field is simply type in an Excel-like formula.  QuickBooks calculates the results automatically.

Enter Key Behavior

In QuickBooks, the enter key can react in one of two ways. It can act as the tab key and move you from one field to another, or you can set it to affect the navigation buttons only. Setting the enter key in this latter configuration can be frustrating to those who use to a 10-key approach as they sometimes end up ending transactions before they are completed. To be safe, use the first configuration. If you set your enter key to move between fields, you can still use it to activate buttons by pressing Ctrl-Enter.

Unfortunately, QuickBooks is not always consistent. Some screens, such as the log on/password screen, the enter key will engage the OK button in 6.0, but jump between fields in 5.0. On invoice screens in 5.0, the enter key will act as a carriage return in the description field, which forces you to use the tab key to jump to the next field. In 6.0, this problem has been corrected, and to enter a carriage return you must press Shift-Enter.

We recommend that should set your data entry to assume a decimal point. For those who use a 10-key, this is a must. However, this setting becomes effective for any currency field, as well as for all mathematical fields. Certain fields such as quantities are not affected.

QuickBooks Forms

Make use of the forms provided in QuickBooks. For those with little to no knowledge of accounting, you should definitely stick to using the forms and avoid using the journal entries unless instructed to do so by your accountant or other knowledgeable person. The advantage of the forms is that it puts the credits and debits in the right places automatically via an interface where you don’t have to think about that. With a journal entry, you have to know when to credit and when to debit an account. However, it is not fool proof. One does need to be able to know the difference between a bill and an invoice. The enter bills form is shown below:

Even for those familiar with accounting and journal entries, it is still better to use the forms as much as possible. This is in part because QuickBooks makes extensive use of items, and a journal entry cannot affect items. Therefore, if you affect a payroll account, or inventory account using items with a journal entry, the items internal register will not match the account register, and any items that this journal entry should have affected will not show up on reports for that item. The other is just for consistency sake, which in accounting and bookkeeping is one of the critical factors. If one needs to credit an amount from payables to accounts receivable (as in a barter transaction), it is better to do that with the forms designed to be used with those accounts and send it to a clearing account than to just do a journal entry from one account to the other.

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