Hi:

A couple of options come to mind. When you run the sales reports, you can click on the Modify button and change the "Display Columns by" box to "Day." This report will probably be very large if you are running it for 90 days at once. I ran the Total Sales By Item Report and there are 8 columns per day, 720 columns of information. It does have the totals by day which is what you are looking for.

The Modify Report Window will appear:

Here's a sample of the report:

The second option that comes to mind has to do with Excel. When you print the reports, select "Print to File" and then "Comma Separated Values." Then, open the file in Excel. It may not format the column headings correctly, but the data should be useable. You might experiment with various reports to get what you want in the best format.

This window will appear:

Go to the file location and double-click on the file. This should open it in Excel. If you have problems with this option, Open Excel first, the from Excel, open the file.

How well do you know Excel? If you know how to use Pivot Tables, you can do an Account Quick Report on Sales. This will list all the sales over the time period. Print it to a .csv file. Open it in Excel and use the Pivot Table to summarize your data. This would probably be the most concise report for your needs.

Here's a sample Pivot Table:

I hope this helps.

David

In my business, I buy a lot of supplies. Where can I enter the receipts for the things that I bought? I need to hit a button and see how much I spent at Costco for instance. Did I buy the wrong program?

• ggtech (Oct 25, 2006 6:17 pm)

Hi:

Let's discuss terminology for a minute. In QuickBooks, Sales Receipts are a form for entering sales to your customers at the same time you receive the payment, similar to a retail sales transaction. To answer your question, you will either Write Checks or enter Credit Card Charges to enter the purchases you make. Both of these functions can be accessed from the Banking Menu, or the Home Screen in 2006 or later versions. The businesses you buy your supplies from, are Vendors. When you go to the Vendors List (which can be accessed from the Vendor Menu), you can highlight a vendor, right click your mouse, and click on the Quick Report option. When the report opens, you can modify the "Date Range" and transaction types to see the specified transactions for that vendor.

Here is a sample Quick Report:

We have legally changed the name of several companies. Is there a way to change the data base names? I've changed them internally, but it's hard to have to remember so many old vs. new names.

• ggtech (Oct 25, 2006 6:47 pm)

Hi:

Yes there is a way to change the data base names. In QuickBooks, change the company name information in the Company Information Window. This window can be found in the "Company>Company Information" menu.

If you want to change the actual file name in windows, you can. Go to the data file, the default location would be: C:\Program Files\Intuit\QuickBooks (This would be either QuickBooks or something like QuickBooks 2006). Inside this folder you will have your company file. It will be a File Type - QuickBooks Company File. Once you have located the file, you can highlight and right-click your mouse, select the "Rename" option and give the file your desired name. QuickBooks will not know you changed the name, so you will have to open the new file from the File Menu or Open a Company Window. Once you have opened the company file, it will automatically open when you open QuickBooks, unless you close the Company File then close QuickBooks. Please Note: You may want to make a copy of the original file before you perform the name change, just in case you inadvertently make a change that causes problems with the file.

I hope this helps.

David

Hi David,

When installing Quickbooks Pro and setting up my company info, it ask what type of industry I am in.
I chose construction, which I thought was the closest type to my business. I am told the service option would have been a better choice (I sell,service and repair alarm systems).How do I change the profile.

• ggtech (Oct 25, 2006 7:04 pm)

When you select the company profile during the set-up interview, QuickBooks generates a Chart of Accounts for that industry and automatically sets certain preferences that would most likely be used. I am assuming you already have transactions in your company file, and that you don't want to start over with a new company.

You can change the chart of accounts by adding, removing or renaming accounts. You can get an idea of the Chart of Accounts for the Service business by looking at a Sample Service Company. Go to File>Open Company. In the window that appears, select "Open a Sample File." Then open thy Sample Service Business file. You can see the Chart of Accounts that would have been produced and the Preference Settings that would have been selected. You change your Preferences by selecting Edit>Preferences... from the Edit menu. Go through each section and make the changes that will work best for you.

I hope this helps.

David

Hello

I work for a university and we are testing Quick Books to replace our proprietary database. The only issue we have so far is trying to set up certain types of accounts properly. Many departments issue blanket requisitions and purchase orders. With these blanket accounts, they designate the amount of funds that can be used throughout the fiscal year for services rendered by our department. As their jobs come in we subtract each new job from their balance.

We haven't been able to set-up this type of account within Quick books. So far, one of the solutions seems to be that we set up a credit account for the customer which we would prefer not to do for many reasons.

Is there a module which can accompany Quick books that can solve this problem?

Hi:

This is an interesting situation. I had a client, a church school, who wanted to set-up some way to track their supplies allocations for each grade and department. We got creative and found a solution that works for them.

We set-up sub-accounts to the main checking account. We had the main checking account, we called it Operating Account. It was a Bank account in the Chart of Accounts. We then set-up a Bank account for each grade and department that had a supplies budget. I think we called them Grade 1 - Supplies, Grade 2 - Supplies, etc. or something similar. These account were made sub-accounts of the Operating Account. We then transferred the amount of the supplies allocation to each of these accounts. Since these accounts are sub accounts of the Operating Account, the Operating Account balance remained the same. We marked the transfers as cleared transactions right after they were made to keep the reconciliation more simple.

When supplies were purchased, we issued the checks out of the Supplies accounts instead of the Operating Account. The detail showed up in the Operating Account, as well as the Supplies accounts. We could check the available balance for supplies by looking at the Supplies account balances. We reconciled the Operating account with the Bank Statements. The Supplies accounts were reconciled based on the receipts for the purchases that were made.

Normal expenses were written out of the Operating Account. The main issue we had to deal with was the check sequence, since all the checks were actually from the same account. I think if I were to do it over, I would set aside a sequence of checks for each account in order to be easier to assign check numbers or pay bills. An example would be to use checks 1100-1199 for Grade 1, 1200-1299 for Grade 2, 1300-1399 for Grade 3, and 1400 on for the normal operating account.

Here are some images of the set-up:

The Chart of Accounts:

The Check Register:

The Checking Account Reconciliation Window:

I hope this helps. They used this option instead of separate checking accounts, which would work too, to save money. They would need checks and have to pay bank fees for each account, which was not acceptable for this client.

David

My computer crashed and I lost all remnants of my QB for contractors. I reinstalled QB but the only version I have as a back up of my company file is an "Accountant's Version." How do I convert the accountants version into my regular Company version. I know that I will need to add back in the data between the date of the accountant's version and today but would like to avoid having to set up the new company from scratch. Please help! BTW, I have learned my lesson regarding backing up my QB file.

• ggtech (Oct 27, 2006 7:28 am)

Good News! There is an option to do this in QuickBooks 2007 Pro and Premier Editions. This means you will need to upgrade to QuickBooks 2007 Premier Contractor's Edition. Let me explain what you need to make it work.

When you create the Accountant's Copy to send to your accountant, QuickBooks made an Accountant's Copy Transfer File which would have a .qbx file extension. It will look something like: yourcompany.qbx. This file is sent to your accountant who opens it in QuickBooks Premier Accountant's Edition. When this happens, QuickBooks converts the file to a working file with a .qba extension. It will look something like: yourcompany.qba. You can use either the .qbx or .qba file to convert back to your regular company file which will have a .qbw extension. It will look something like: yourcompany.qbw.

On your new or restored system, you will need QuickBooks 2007 Pro or Premier and the yourcompany.qba (or .qbx) file in order to make the conversion. Open QuickBooks 2007. On the File Menu, in the Utilities section, there is an option to Convert Accountant's Copy to Company File (QBW)... When you select this option, an Open Accountant's Copy to Convert Window will open. Select your file and click on the Open button. Click OK on the Information Window that explains you are about to create a Regular QuickBooks Company File. QuickBooks then converts the file and opens the New Company File (.qbw). Now you have recovered your information, up to the time the Accountants Copy was made.

I did this a few times on my computer before I wrote this response. I had a couple of different things happen which I want to mention. When I converted a .qba file, my .qbw file opened saying that it was awaiting for Accountant's Changes. In order to clear this, I had to go to File>Accountant's Copy>Create Accountant's Copy. This then allowed me to then go to File>Accountant's Copy>Cancel Accountant Changes... Now I had an unrestricted Company File. When I converted the .qbx file, it opened in an unrestricted Company File (.qbw). Your results should be similar, but may differ slightly.

I hope this helps.

David

I have a question on the QB timetracker product. Can a manager in the field review the timesheets from the web without having QB installed on his machine?

Phil

• ggtech (Oct 27, 2006 7:33 am)

Hi Phil:

Yes, this service is available through your browser. You must download to QuickBooks on a computer where QuickBooks resides. I hope this helps.

David

I am new to QB. We are a school using QB to bill and receive payments for our students. I use the Customer Center constantly. Is there a way to find a customer quickly. If I type the first few letters of the name - I need to do it very quickly or a new search begins on the second or third letter.

I've tried using Find but that takes me out of the customer list and into a transaction.
thanks.

• ggtech (Oct 27, 2006 7:53 am)

Hi:

In the Customer List, you are limited to the search techniques you mentioned. One way to possible speed it up is to sequence the list alphabetically. That way, all the first or quick first and second letter combination will be together.

Have you used the "Automatically open drop-down lists when typing" preference on your forms. When you are working in your forms like Invoices and Receive Payments, you can begin to type the name, the drop-down list appears and as you type additional characters, the drop-down list is reduced to only the names that will fit your letter combination. For example, say you have 500 students, and there were 2 students with the last name Johnson, only those 2 students would be listed by the time you typed "Johnson ". This is a feature that can be turned on or off in the Preferences. Go to Edit>Preferences. Go to the General Preferences. Click on the My Preferences tab. Look for the preference: "Automatically open drop-down lists when typing" and check the box to activate it. Give this a try, I expect it will save you a substantial amount of time.

I hope this helps.

David

Hi David,

We just upgraded from 2005 Pro to 2007 Pro. I used to be able to make changes to an invoice, print it, and revert it back to the original version but I noticed that QB is requiring me to save my changes before printing. Can you tell me if there is a way to turn off that feature or a way around this?

I used to be able to create a packing slip, save it, then make cosmetic changes, change the template to our customized user-created Bill of Lading template, print it and save it back to a PDF, then revert it back to the packing slip.

• ggtech (Oct 27, 2006 8:28 am)

Hi:

The save before print feature is not something that can be modified. Basically, everything you do, you can still do, but there will be information in the Audit Trail to show what changes have been made.

The templates for Invoices can be changed any time. You mention cosmetic changes in part of your post. If these are consistent or the same on multiple documents, you might consider making a custom template. This might eleviate the need to make changes then change things back.

I am about to get on my soap-box about employee fraud. Please understand that my following comments are in no way intended to say what you are doing is wrong, I am trying to explain why I think this change may have been implemented. I cannot speak for Intuit, but I imagine this change was made because many business owners and accounting professionals are concerned about fraud and ways to prevent it. This modification does not limit the activities you mentioned, except the need to save the document. Saving the document provides a record of the changes, which can go a long way to help identify fraud. I have seen cases where employees have generated Sales Receipts, printed them, then changed them to reduce the amount due before saving. At the end of the day, they pocketed the cash difference. We found it when a customer came back to return an item and we found the difference. My client began to watch the employee closely and caught them on camera. There is no way to know how long this had been happening. With the change, it could be detected very quickly. No telling how much money my client had lost, but this change is one he wanted. I am aware of several other cases personnally, where this change would have saved my clients a lot of money due to fraudulent activities by employees.

 I hope this helps.

David

I work at a small graphic design/videography company. Is there a way to track our expenses, other than entering each location as a separate vendor, and then entering every cost as a bill? For instance, if the cost is a one-time lunch at a restraunt, or gas to get to an out-of-town job, is there a way to list these as more general job expenses? Thanks for any help you can give.

• ggtech (Oct 27, 2006 9:02 am)

Hi:

I would suggest a couple of changes. When you have numerous locations for a Vendor, say Exxon, for example; I would enter one Vendor Exxon (I usually use the pop-up Quick Add feature to enter this type of Vendor). I would not include the address information, this is more generic. I file all my receipts for Exxon in a file for Exxon. I would be cautious if you set up a Vendor for Restaurants, or Gas, for example. This could cause your filing system to fail since different people might file things in different places, making it difficult to find a receipt you need. In my opinion, as long as you are consistent and have a system to make sure you stay consistent, I think you could be very generic without problems.

You mention entering bills for all these expenses. Are you entering bills in QuickBooks then paying them? If this is the case, you can save a lot of time by just entering the check or credit card charge directly. If it is a very simple transaction, not involving "items" in QuickBooks, you can enter transactions directly in the check or credit card register. This would be a lot faster than entering a bill and paying the bill.

I hope this answers your question.

David

I want to know how I can add driver's name and vehicle no. in my wholesale & distribution business sales receipt. I am utilising QB 2005 ACCOUNTANT EDITION.

• ggtech (Oct 28, 2006 5:02 pm)

Hi:

Yes, it can be done. You can easily add information to a sales receipt by going to a blank description line and typing it in. This works if it something that is not regularly recurring.

Another option would be to add the new fields to the custom form. There are several fields that are populated from lists, Rep is one of them. If you are not using the "Rep" field anywhere else on the form, you can add it, change the title of the field to Driver. This will allow you to pick the driver from your employee or other names lists. I would suggest using the "Ship Via" field to list the vehicle number. This would also provide a drop-down list to select the vehicle number. If these fields are already being used, look at the layout designer and see what fields are available. Make notes about where the fields reside in QuickBooks (names lists, customer file, etc.) Determine if the available fields will provide the desired results or not.; if they will, use them, if not, look for another option.

There are also other fields that you may add to your form that are not tied to specific lists. These fields would be available for the person originating the form to fill in.

I hope one of these options will work for you. If they don't, maybe they will spark an idea that will. I hope this helps.

David

I have not been paying my taxes in Pay Sales Tax since I install started using quick books in 2003, I have been just paying through witting the check. How do I adjust the amounts that are presently in pay sales tax to start paying correctly. Also I may not have set up my sales tax correctly because the amounts that are in there seems to be incorrect. Can you help me with this?
Thanks

Hi:

Sales tax is one area that I have seen problems with several clients. Before you correct the sales tax payments, you will want to make sure your Sales Tax is set up properly. Sales tax is covered very thoroughly in Help, so I will guide you to that information rather than detail it here completely. First let's see about setting up your Sales Tax. 

Setting up Sales Tax is very well documented in Help. Open Help and search for "Setting up sales tax." This will provide a step-by-step process for you to use. Expand the topics that are applicable then print it out for you to work from. If you still need additional help, you can look for a local Accountant or ProAdvisor to help.

Once sales tax is set up properly, then you can correct the sales tax payments issue. QuickBooks has a process in the Help section that I recommend you follow. I will share the steps with you here, there is a substantial amount of detail in Help. To find the information in help, Go to Help>QuickBooks Help (or press "F1"). Search for "troubleshooting sales tax." Select the response titled: Troubleshooting Sates Tax Problems. In the Calculations Section, select the title: Fixing the balance in the sales tax payable account." You will find the following information:

"If you aren't using the Pay Sales Tax feature to make your sales tax payments, there could be many reasons why the account balance might be wrong. For example, you could have entered a bill for the taxes, but then paid the bill using the Write Checks feature Enter and Pay Bills feature. If you want to switch from your current sales tax payment method and use the Pay Sales Tax feature, you will need to re-enter your payments using the Pay Sales Tax feature, then delete the original payments where you initially recorded them in QuickBooks."

Here are the steps to correct, briefly stated:

    
1. Backup your Company File

    
2. Find all the checks that were processed incorrectly.

    
3. Re-enter those checks properly through the Pay Sales Tax process. Use the same date and check numbers of the incorrect checks. If the incorrect checks have cleared, click to clear the new check. The new check processed through the Pay Sales Tax process will be identified as TAXPMT instead of CHK.

    
4. Delete the incorrect checks. Please note: if the original check was a Bill Payment check (identified through a Check Type: BILLPMT. you will also need to delete the Bills.

These steps are detailed in the Help section entitled: Correcting my sales tax payable account if I didn't use the Pay Sales Tax window to make payments.

There are other options. The solutions will vary based on each specific situation, so I did not try to detail them here. You may want to seek the aid of an Accountant or QuickBooks ProAdvisor to help troubleshoot and correct your company file. I hope this helps.

David

How do I pay a payroll liability with a credit card? I've gone to Home, pay liabilities, and the only choice is by check. I've also tried to do it through the Employee center but it goes directly to print check. Please advise.

• ggtech (Oct 29, 2006 1:03 pm)