If you want to produce Income & Expenses by category that extend across multiple accounts or multiple customers, jobs, and vendors, then you have to use Class in QuickBooks. For example:
- you have 5 retail locations and you want to see how each location performs;
- you and your partner decide to see how each person contributes to the partnership profit;
- your company has different departments and you track each income & expenses, etc.
Here is how to create a Class:
- Turn on the Class-tracking feature by ticking off “Use Class Tracking” checkbox in Edit > Preferences > Accounting > Company Preferences. By enabling classes, QuickBooks adds a Class field to transaction forms, such as invoices, bills, items, etc. You have an option to check off “Prompt to assign classes” checkbox which prompt you to assign a Class when you enter transactions.
- From the Menu bar, click Lists > Class List to open Class List window.
- Click Class > New from the drop-down menu (or press Ctrl+N) and the New Class window opens like below:
To start working in QuickBooks, you first have to set up your New Company file.
After you start QuickBooks application and you don’t have any company file opened yet, a No Company Open window will open. Click Create a New Company button or click File menu > New Company.
A Setup screen will open like below:
There is no question that having an easy-to-use and reliable accounting software is a must for a small business owner in this digital age. By having accounting software, you don’t have to remember which clients had paid, which suppliers you owe money, how much sales you made so far, how much expenses you spent, etc.
But, how do you choose accounting software that is “best” for your business?
- Understand basic accounting and your business.
You have to understand basic accounting equation, transaction analysis, & financial statements. If you don’t, you should learn or you can read my previous blogs. Only with basic accounting understanding, you can understand your business and how you are going to grow your business.
Read more: How to Choose Accounting Software for your Small Business
QuickBooks Premier has many preset reports in the Reports tab or through Reports Centre and you can customize columns & rows, you can filter accounts, change header/footer and fonts & numbers. There are more than total of 10 preset P & L reports in the Company & Financial menu and Budget reports in the Budgets & Forecasts menu.
What happens if all those preset reports are not of your liking or do not suffice your management needs? Is there a way to customize it further? Fortunately, the answer is yes. You can Export the reports using Export button in report window into Excel and make further customization.
The last part of Introduction to Accounting series is business structure. The structure of your business will depend on whether you want to run your business by yourself or with partners, and whether you want to separate your personal liability with business liability. There are four (4) business structures:
- Sole Proprietorship
- Partnership
- Corporation
- Co-operative
Read more: Introduction to Accounting: Part V - Business Structure