Customizing the Icon Bar is a simple way to boost your productivity in QuickBooks because it puts your favorite entry screens that you use most often close at hand. And since the Icon Bar is always visible, you are only one click away from getting there.

Here is a recent Question posted on the Intuit forum:

I know I can access various account registers by going to Chart of Accounts. I want to know how can I add some of these same accounts such as credit card, savings so they appear when I click on down arrow once I’ve click the Register icon?

Customize the Icon Bar

Did you know that you can customize the Icon Bar in QuickBooks? When you install QuickBooks, there are standard icons that appear in the Icon bar. You can customize it and change any of the following:

• Add or delete icons
• Change the description of an icon
• Change the picture of an icon
• Add a separator between icons
• Rearrange the order of icons
• Change the display options to include text or icons only

Adding Custom Icons

When adding new icons, QuickBooks displays a list of standard window screens that are available for use on the Icon bar. However, you can add other window screens … even when they are not on the list. Here’s how:

Open the window that you want to add to the Icon bar, such as a bank register or the Make Deposits window. With the window open, click on View > Add Item to Icon Bar. You can change the label or description that will appear for that icon. When ready, click [OK].

QuickBooks will automatically make this new icon the last one on the right. Remember, if you want to modify the Toolbar to rearrange icons, right click anywhere on the Toolbar and select Customize Icon Bar.

When you customize the Icon Bar it makes QuickBooks so much easier to work with … your favorite screens are just 1 click away!

Did you know that you can email invoices directly from QuickBooks to your customer? This feature makes the process so simple … no need to print and scan, or save the invoice as a PDF, then open your email program and attach it to a message.

Instead, you simply send it directly from QuickBooks. Your customer receives it as a PDF file, along with a cover note that you have written.

Just make sure that you have correct email addresses entered for your customers. Their email should be entered on the Address tab of the Customer record.

To send the invoice by email, open the Create Invoices window and … Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who automatically install the latest release from QuickBooks, you might be experiencing some problems with QuickBooks 2001 R8. Some of the problems reported have been so serious that QuickBooks may stop working. This newest release came out very quickly after the R7 Release, so it is possible that the purpose of R8 was to fix a bug that was introduce in R7. However, this is not a known fact … just an experienced deduction.

According to the QuickBooks website, there is only one change included in R8:

>> QuickBooks will no longer unexpectedly close or display the error “QuickBooks has stopped working” when creating or editing memorized transactions.

However, there are at least 4 reported problems with this Release:

1. User receives Error 1603 while installing the R8 update
2. QuickBooks won’t open
3. Inventory quantities are incorrect after converting from QuickBooks 2010 to 2011
4. QuickBooks stops responding when running the file rebuild function

Now, I’m thinking that a 4 to 1 ratio of problems to fixes isn’t a great result. So my recommendation is to wait before installing R8. If you have already installed it, make frequent backups to help protect your data. So far, the issues don’t appear to be universal, so if you have been running it without any problems, you may escape unscathed.

In any case, keep watching for R9. But you might want to think twice about installing any new releases too quickly!

Have you experienced any problems with R8?  Share your experiences with us and we can help guide you through them.

In the Preference settings for QuickBooks, you can choose to have QuickBooks automatically  assign general journal entry numbers. Normally, this is the recommended setting and eliminates the need for you to remember or track what was the last number used. But occasionally, this preference can stop working … as this Forum reader states:

“I have “automatically number journal entries” checked on the company preferences, but QB is no longer numbers J/E’s. What’s happened?”

If you have ever opened the journal entry window and mistakenly erased the journal entry number, that stops QuickBooks from continuing to number any new journal entry. Here’s what to do: Run a journal report to find out what was the last journal entry number posted. Then open a new journal entry window, enter a journal entry using the next number, and QuickBooks will once again automatically number the journal entries for you.

Do you have a question about QuickBooks? Enter a comment below and we will reply with the answer you need!

If your business pays a bill that you need to then invoice to a customer, you would use the Reimbursable Billing feature of QuickBooks. This is not used for any transactions involving purchase or sale of regular inventory; it is used when a purchase or expense is incurred specifically for a customer or project. Here are just a couple of examples of when to use Reimbursable Billing.

• You special order a product for a customer
• Your company pays for a repair or utility bill that should be charged back to the tenant
• You use QuickBooks to enter and track time and bill customers based on time worked.

On each applicable entry screen – whether entering a vendor bill or credit card charge, entering time worked, or writing a check – there is a checkbox in the detail section to mark this expense as billable. You must also record the customer name and project (if applicable) on this transaction. In fact, the billable column is not … Read the rest of this entry »

In an effort to stay cutting edge in the field of business accounting, today’s blog post will discuss the debt ceiling and how to raise your own debt ceiling limit in QuickBooks. After all, this site is all about helping you to make the best use of QuickBooks to maximize your business profits.

So, let’s see … which screen would we open to raise our debt ceiling?

Loan Manager … sure, that sounds like a place where we can increase our debt ceiling. But no, actually the Loan Manager helps us post payments and track the outstanding balance on existing loans.

But wait … how about that “What-if scenario” button. Sounds kind of like magic, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t magic, and it won’t magically raise your debt ceiling as if it is some imaginary number that you control. You know that as a business, you exist in the real world and the banks have more control over your debt ceiling that you do. Still, there are a number of valuable “what-if” scenarios you can test to evaluate different options for both your new and existing loans.

• What if I change my payment amount?

If you have sufficient cash reserves, you might be considering paying an additional amount each month to pay off the loan faster. This scenario will calculate the effect of the higher payment, both in less interest being paid over … Read the rest of this entry »

Today we will tackle another question posted on the QuickBooks Forum. As with many other postings, this question raises questions of its own about what the reader is trying to accomplish and why they want to see just this year’s activity for Balance Sheet accounts.

QuickBooks Report

“On the balance sheet, how can I just  show this year’s activities?

When I go to reports-> company financial -> balance sheet standard, it keeps including last years activities.”

First of all, a Balance Sheet always reports the ending balances of accounts as of the day of the report. Just showing activities for these accounts would not be meaningful. For example, if you just showed the activity in the bank account, you would not know the balance because the beginning balance would not be included.

So the reader is looking for information that will never be found on a Balance Sheet Report. If there is a need to only see activity during the year, that information can … Read the rest of this entry »

This video falls into the realm of “Earl Scheib” commercials. Although I can’t really take this video seriously, everyone should be able to use humor … even accountants!  So … enjoy!