(Newswire.net — October 7, 2016) — QuickBooks is a universally used tool that’s designed to help business save time and money on their accounting. However, when certain issues arise, it can actually have the opposite effect – draining your time and causing unnecessary frustration. In order to make the most out of your investment in QuickBooks, you need to understand a few tricks.
1. Use the Right Version
It’s amazing how many companies are unknowingly using the wrong version of QuickBooks for their business. When choosing the product that’s right for you, you’ll need to take into account the different features you need.
The current product line includes QuickBooks Self-Employed, QuickBooks Online (with three different options), QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Enterprise, and QuickBooks for Mac (also with three different options). Each comes with slightly different capabilities and functions. Choosing the right one will make your life a whole lot easier.
2. Have Help on Speed Dial
There are a ton of little issues you can fix on your own, but when it comes to major QuickBooks errors, it’s important that you have someone to help solve the problem. Specifically, make sure you have a technical support company on speed dial. From unrecoverable errors to script errors, this one partner can alleviate a ton of pressure.
3. Use the Find Feature
QuickBooks is full of useful features and shortcuts, but one of the best is the “Find” feature. In the past, locating a particular invoice required opening the form and clicking the “previous” button until the form appeared. With the “Find” feature, you no longer have to go through this tedious and painstaking process. You can quickly locate a specific invoice in a matter of seconds. Plus, depending on the parameters and filters you set, this tool can search for just about any transaction-level data.
4. Download When Possible
As the name suggests, QuickBooks is designed to streamline the mundane tasks and increase the speed at which businesses are able to handle invoicing and accounting. Make sure you’re taking full advantage of the “quick” aspect by making smart choices.
“Download data whenever possible,” CPA Lisa Grossman advises. “Even after factoring in initial setup time, downloading banking and credit card activity directly into QuickBooks is a huge time saver. Doing this will minimize the chance of human error and enable you to record activity faster than if you did it manually.”
5. Learn All of the Shortcuts
You can save a ton of time by familiarizing yourself with keyboards shortcuts that allow you to enter functions without the need for using drop-down menus and unnecessary keyboard clicks. All keyboard shortcuts require you to press two keys simultaneously. The “Ctrl” button is the indicator, which tells QuickBooks that you’re ready to perform a shortcut. The second letter completes the action. For example Ctrl+A displays the chart of accounts window, while Ctrl+M memorizes a transaction.
6. Customize the Icon Bar to Your Liking
The default version of QuickBooks comes with an icon bar at the top of the screen. And while you may want some of the icons that are preloaded, you can customize them according to your own preferences.
To remove an icon, select the “View” menu and then click “Customize Icon Bar.” Select the icon you want to remove and click the “Delete” button. Adding and modifying icons is very similar and both can be done under the same menu tab.
Make the Most Out of QuickBooks
QuickBooks is designed to speed up your business, not weigh it down. Make sure you’re maximizing the value of this powerful resource by utilizing these six hacks. Time is money and you can’t afford to waste it.