Introduction
Use This Book to Get the Most from QuickBooks
Whether you’re a novice or an experienced QuickBooks user, the information in this book is organized and presented in a way that can benefit you. If you’re brand new to QuickBooks, the chapters that make up Parts One and Two are required reading. Following the advice and detailed steps outlined in these chapters will help ensure that your QuickBooks file is set up correctly—from the start. You’ll also learn about all the day-to-day bookkeeping chores you’ll be performing in QuickBooks. If you’re already a more experienced QuickBooks user or you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll find the information in Parts Three through Six relevant. You can refer to these chapters to confirm that you’re on the right track or to learn how to use some of the more advanced features QuickBooks offers.
When you have an immediate need to know how to do something, both the Contents and the Index are designed to make it easy for you to identify quickly where in the book a specific task or feature is covered.
“Extras” Provided in This Book to Help You
This book contains some extra elements that are my way of sharing with you, from my perspective as a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, an occasional best practice and, in some cases, “lessons learned” from years of supporting QuickBooks users. Specifically,
• ProAdvisor Tips Gives you some additional insight about a subject or a task. Sometimes they’re shortcuts, and sometimes they’re workarounds.
• Cautions Helps you avoid making some common mistakes.
• ProAdvisor Recommends boxes Contains more detailed insights that may be useful. Sometimes they provide information about what happens behind the scenes when you perform a task; others are designed to point out how other QuickBooks users perform a task in the program to run their business.
You and Your Accountant
There are a number of places throughout this book where you’ll be reminded to call your accountant before making a decision about the best way to enter a beginning balance or handle a particular transaction in QuickBooks. I encourage you to heed this advice. While QuickBooks gives you the tools you need to manage your business’s financial operations, your accountant can play a vital role in helping you maintain a healthy and viable business by providing you with valuable tax and strategic business-planning advice. In addition, to help your accountant better assist you, throughout the book I identify information that I think you should share with your accountant because it tells him or her how QuickBooks handles certain accounting functions—like payroll and inventory, for example.
If you don’t have an accountant and want to connect with one, there are also accountants in your area who are certified by Intuit as QuickBooks experts. They often provide onsite assistance with setup and troubleshooting and are a great resource if you get “stuck” while setting up your QuickBooks file—or just want to have an expert review the information you’ve entered in your system. To locate a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor in your area, select Find A Local QuickBooks Expert from the QuickBooks Help menu.
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