Small Business Matters

QuickBooks tips and tricks: Quickly Into QuickBooks -Three top tips for getting started

This post is by Loredana Stroup, author of QuickBooks for Dummies 2012 (UK edition). She also runs Alta Training, a QuickBooks training and support company.

If you’re starting or running a small business you’ll know how important it is to have an accounting system in place in order to meet legal obligations and to be able to see quickly the financial health of your business.

QuickBooks is accounting software which helps you do all this and more. It’s an excellent choice as the foundation of your accounting system because it’s so easy to use and affordable.

As an expert QuickBooks user, these are my tips for getting up and running with this accounting software smoothly and quickly. You’ll be using it with ease and reaping the benefits in no time if you follow this guide. 

Make time

QuickBooks will actually save you lots of time in the long run but you need to make some time at the start to get things set up right. The process is quite simple but you’ll need to leave time to find all the information you need, install the software and then work through the set-up process.

Once you have all the bits you need to hand, set aside a morning or an afternoon for your set-up session, although you may need somewhat more or less time depending on your requirements. Rest assured that you’ll more than recoup this time investment once the accounting software is working for you.

Transactions, not features

QuickBooks does lots of exciting and useful stuff but don’t be overwhelmed when you first get started. The best way to do this is not to focus on all the features floating before your eyes but instead to concentrate on the transactions that are relevant to you.

In short, you need to work out the transactions that need to be recorded for you to keep adequate records.

If you’re a one-person consulting business you might only need to figure out how to record three types of transactions:

QuickBooks tips and tricks: Make QuickBooks even quicker with shortcuts

By pressing different combinations of keys on your keyboard, you can quickly perform common tasks within QuickBooks.

Here are just a few of the things that you can do.

Open windows - E.g. To open the Write Cheques window, press Ctrl + W

Edit pre-filled data - E.g. To increase or decrease a date by one day, press -(minus key) or + (plus key)

Move around a window - E.g. To move to the next field in a window, press Tab.To move to the previous field, press Shift + Tab.

QuickBooks shortcuts

Here are more shortcuts to make QuickBooks even quicker.

General

General action	Shortcut
Start QuickBooks without a company file	Ctrl + double-click
Suppress the desktop windows (at Open Company window)	Alt (while opening)
Display information about QuickBooks	F2
Cancel	Esc
Record (when black border is around OK, Next, or Previous button)	Enter
Record (always)	Ctrl + Enter

Dates

QuickBooks Tips and Tricks: Getting around QuickBooks 2012

In this regular QuickBooks Tips and Tricks series we’ll provide lots of information, including video tutorials, expert advice and more, to help you get the most out of your QuickBooks software.  

Want to keep up with regular QuickBooks tips and tricks as well as small business news, features and insights? Why not subscribe to our blog by RSS or email?

Previously we’ve provided an overview of QuickBooks 2012and a handy quick-start guide. Today we’ll look at navigating around the software.

Don’ forget that you can try QuickBooks out for yourself for free.

If there are any QuickBooks tips, tricks or features you’d like us to cover, please let us know and we’ll do our best. Similarly, if you have any tips of your own, please send them in. 

 

Get started with QuickBooks 2012

Intuit recently announced the UK launch of QuickBooks 2012, the latest release of its popular financial management software for small businesses. 

This video tells you a bit more about QuickBooks 2012 and how it could help your business.

QuickBooks is the number one selling accounting software in the UK, according to data from GFK. It simplifies financial management, helping small business owners save time by organising their finances all in one place and making it easy to create invoices, track sales and expenses and automatically calculate and eFile VAT returns directly to HMRC. 

QuickBooks 2012 is available in five versions in the UK, including QuickBooks SimpleStart, QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Pro + Payroll, QuickBooks Premier and QuickBooks Premier Plus.  It is available in the UK for download from quickbooks.co.uk and on CD from Intuit and select retailers, including Amazon, PC World and Staples, this month. 

Watch this short video to see just how easy it is to get started with QuickBooks 2012.

There are also lots more videos on our YouTube channel to help you get the most out of QuickBooks 2012.