C. QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Features

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions offers robust features for growing businesses with complex needs. This appendix provides details for using these unique features found only in the QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions software.

For the inventory specific features, if you are new to inventory management in QuickBooks, you might want to first review Chapter 5, “Setting Up Inventory,” and Chapter 6, “Managing Inventory.” These two chapters provide the basics for managing inventory in QuickBooks.

For businesses that currently use QuickBooks Pro or Premier, you can review this appendix to see what additional features would be available to you if you upgraded to QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions software.

→ For more information see, “Upgrading Your QuickBooks Version,” p. xxx.

QuickBooks Enterprise Customization

New for QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 14.0 is the ability to customize the fields of data displayed on expense transactions. Expense transaction types that can be customized include: the Write Check, Enter Bill, Bill Credit, Credit Card Charge, and Credit Card Credit.

The need for customizing an expense transaction varies for each company using QuickBooks; perhaps the ultimate purpose is to report on expense activity using some variable that was previously not found in QuickBooks.

Some reporting uses might include a restaurant required to report on the ounces of liquor purchased or a manufacturer that wants to track the weight of items purchased. These purposes and many others can be easily accomplished when adding custom defined fields to the expense transactions.

Custom Fields

Custom fields are offered in QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise. However, in Enterprise, users have more options when creating custom fields, including the following, as shown in Figure C.1:

• Choose Field Attributes—Text, numbers with or without decimals, date, phone, and user-defined multichoice list.

• Required Field—Requiring the field on a transaction, list, or both.

Figure C.1. QuickBooks Enterprise permits you to define custom fields with specific attributes.

Custom fields provide the flexibility to add specialized information to data that QuickBooks already tracks about your customers, vendors, employees, and items that you purchase and sell. An advantage is the capability to create a user-defined drop-down list of values.

When using QuickBooks Enterprise software, you can create the following total number of custom-defined fields:

• Items List—Up to 15 custom-definable fields.

• Customer/Vendor/Employee Lists—Up to 12 custom-definable fields, limited to a total of 30 for these three lists combined.

You might consider using custom fields for tracking weight, color, or size for products you buy and sell. Some uses for custom fields within the customer list might include recording a route number or preferred shipping method. The uses are really endless!

The following instructions detail how to add a custom field to an item. Follow these basic instructions if you are adding a custom-defined field to a vendor, customer, or employee list name.

1. From the menu bar, select Lists, Item List.

2. With your cursor select the item you want to define custom fields for; on your keyboard, press Ctrl+E to edit the item.

3. Select the Custom Fields button to the right. The Custom Fields For (name of item) displays.

4. Select the Define Fields button to the right. The Set Up Custom Fields for Items displays.

5. In the Label field, type a name to identify the field on transactions.

6. Place a checkmark in the Use column for fields you want to use.

7. From the What Kind of Data drop-down list, choose the attribute for the Defined Field.

8. Place a checkmark in the Trans field to require use on sales transactions. The Select Required Item Types dialog displays.

9. Place a checkmark next to the item types you want this newly custom-defined field to be used with. Click OK to close.

10. Place a checkmark in the List field to require data when creating new items. Click OK to close the Set Up Custom Fields for Items dialog box.

11. Complete any required fields.

12. Click OK to close the Custom Fields for the selected item.

Information you enter into the fields can be for your use only, or could prefill fields within certain transactions when you enter a name or item on the form, as shown in Figure C.2. You can also include data from customized fields in your reports.

Figure C.2. Right-click on the expense transaction grid to customize the columns.

→ For more information, see “Customizing QuickBooks Forms,” p. xxx.

QuickBooks treats the information you enter into a custom field the same way it treats information entered into any other field. If you memorize a transaction that has a custom field, QuickBooks memorizes what you entered in the field along with the other details of the transaction. If you export a list that contains data in custom fields, QuickBooks exports that data along with the other data from the list.

Now that you have learned how to add custom defined fields to your Enterprise data, you can add these fields to expense transactions, a new feature for QuickBooks Enterprise 14.0.

Customize Expense Transactions

New for QuickBooks Enterprise 14.0 is the ability to add custom defined fields in addition to the Sales Rep field to expense transactions. This customization in addition to the ability to add these fields to sales forms, something we have been able to do for many years.

The following expense transactions can be customized exclusively in QuickBooks Enterprise 14.0:

• Write Check

• Enter Bill

• Bill Credit

• Credit Card Charge

• Credit Card Credit

Follow these steps to customize any of these transaction types. The instructions given here and the images provided are of a vendor bill; however, the steps are the same for any of the mentioned transaction types.

1. From a displayed Enter Bill (or any of the mentioned expense transaction types), right-click with your mouse on the grid detail as shown in Figure C.2.

2. Select Customize Columns from the list that displays.

3. The Customize Columns – Enter Bills displays as shown in Figure C.3.

Figure C.3. Add custom defined and Sales Rep fields to expense transactions.

4. From the left side, select from the Available Columns and click the Add> button. The Field selected is added to the Chosen Columns on the right.

5. (Optional) From the Chosen Columns on the right, select a field and choose to < Remove the field. Fields that are greyed out are required and cannot be removed.

6. (Optional) From the Chosen Columns on the right, select a field and choose to Move Up or Move Down to determine the order the fields display from left to right.

7. (Optional) Click Default to reset the values.

8. When completed, click OK to save your changes. The field selected is now displayed on the expense transaction as shown in Figure C.xxx.

After adding data to these fields, you can include these fields in reports, making QuickBooks Enterprise software the right choice for companies with complex reporting needs.

QuickBooks Enterprise Inventory

In addition to the unique features discussed in detail in this appendix, other features exclusive to QuickBooks Enterprise include the following:

• Customizable reports using QuickBooks Statement Writer: harnessing the power of Microsoft Excel.

→ To learn more, see “QuickBooks Statement Writer,” pg. xxx.

• QuickBooks Enterprise offers ODBC connectivity for applications such as Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, and other ODBC-aware programs. To get started, in QuickBooks Enterprise select File, Utilities, Set up ODBC, and follow the onscreen documentation. Existing ODBC users report that the functionality works well with Microsoft Excel.

• Support more users, locations, and company files. QuickBooks Enterprise scales up to 30 simultaneous users and tracks thousands of customers, vendors, and inventory items.

→ For more information, see Table 17.1, “QuickBooks Enterprise 14.0 Larger List Limits,” p. xxx.

• Safeguarded business data that is sensitive. This allows more granular control over QuickBooks security settings for employees, which allows you to finely tailor access to just the information employees need to do their jobs.

→ To learn about user security, see “User Security in QuickBooks Enterprise,” p. xx.

Accessing Inventory Features and Reports

QuickBooks Enterprise makes it easy to access the many tasks and reports needed to manage the inventory needs of your business. Flexibility in accessing these tasks permits you to pick a method that works best for you!

Figure C.4. Custom fields can be added to sales forms, transactions and included in reports.

Inventory Center

The Inventory Center is available in QuickBooks Premier, Accountant, and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions. In QuickBooks Enterprise, the Inventory Center includes the ability to edit the cost, sales price, markup and margin without opening the individual item record. Additionally, in Enterprise only you have the option to store an image of the item, as shown in Figure C.5. However, currently you cannot use this image on transactions or include in reports.

Figure C.5. Use the Inventory Center for all your inventory needs.

Include an image with your item record

→ To learn more, see “Inventory Center,” p. xxx.

Inventory Access from the Menu Bar

QuickBooks Enterprise users can access features and reports from an Inventory-specific menu on the menu bar as shown in Figure C.6.

Figure C.6. QuickBooks Enterprise includes an Inventory-specific menu on the menu bar.

Auto Create Purchase Orders

The Auto Create Purchase Orders feature available exclusively in QuickBooks Enterprise helps you restock your items in record time. In prior versions of QuickBooks you would review your inventory reorder reports, and then create a single purchase order at a time.

New for QuickBooks Enterprise 14.0, the Auto Create Purchase Orders now suggests a quantity to purchase. The suggested Quantity factors in the Quantity Available, Quantity on Purchase Orders and then compares this to the Reorder Point, Max value for the item.

Follow these instructions for creating multiple purchase orders from the inventory stock reports:

1. From the menu bar, select Reports, Inventory, Stock Status By Vendor or any of the other stock status reports. You may also access this feature from the Inventory Reorder reports found in the Manufacturing and Wholesale edition of Enterprise. See Figure C.7.

Figure C.7. Access the Auto Create Purchase Orders from the inventory stock status or reorder reports.

2. (Optional) Select the Use Avail Qty To Reorder checkbox. Selecting this checkbox may include additional items needing to be reordered.

3. Click the Create Auto PO’s button at the top of the displayed report. A dialog box of the same name displays as shown in Figure C.8.

Figure C.8. Select the items you will be creating purchase orders for.

4. Select a date to assign to the multiple purchase orders.

5. If you are tracking multiple inventory locations, optionally select a Ship To Site. If you do not select a Ship To Site at this time, you will be required to select the Ship To Site when receiving the items into inventory.

6. Place a checkmark next to the item(s) you will be creating purchase orders for.

7. Select a Class if you are tracking departmental profit centers.

8. Accept the default vendor selected (this default is the vendor assigned to the item record) or optionally select a different vendor from the drop-down menu in the Vendor column.

9. In the Qty to Order column, accept the suggested quantity or change as needed the number of items you want to order.

10. In the lower right, place a checkmark if you choose to Show Purchase Orders After Saving.

11. Click Create PO’s. The Create Auto PO’s dialog closes automatically.

If you selected to Show Purchase Orders After Saving, QuickBooks displays the Open Purchase Orders report filtered for today’s date. QuickBooks adds the memo “Auto created” to each purchase order. See Figure C.9. This helps users identify which purchase orders were created using the Auto Create PO’s feature.

Figure C.9. View the Open Purchase Orders report, the memo line indicates if they were auto created.

Working with Assemblies

Assemblies are used when you want to enter multiple items at one time and track the on-hand quantity for the finished good. Inventory Assemblies are available only with QuickBooks Premier (all editions), Accountant, and Enterprise (all editions).

→ To learn more, see “Working with Assemblies,” p. xxx.

Automatically Build Subassemblies

For some industries, inventory assemblies can have subassemblies as components. In order to complete the final assembly, QuickBooks has to have on hand the required quantity of the subassemblies. QuickBooks Enterprise improves the process of working with assemblies by allowing users to first have QuickBooks build the subassemblies. In QuickBooks Premier, the other edition of QuickBooks that offers assemblies, users have to know to build the subassemblies first.

To use this exclusive feature of automatically building subassemblies follow these instructions:

1. From the menu bar, select Inventory, Build Assemblies.

2. From the Assembly Item drop-down, select the assembly you want to build.

3. For those assemblies with other assemblies listed in the Components Needed to Build detail, place a checkmark in the Automatically build required subassemblies. See Figure C.10.

Figure C.10. Automatically building subassemblies first saves time.

4. QuickBooks builds the needed subassemblies before attempting to build the selected build assembly.

5. In the event that there are not enough components to build the subassembly, QuickBooks offers the choice to Mark the Build as Pending, or Cancel the Build Assembly.

6. Click Build & Close or Build & New.

For companies that manage inventory and use assemblies with subassemblies, this feature can save time and improve accuracy when working with inventory.

Replace or Remove Components in Assemblies

QuickBooks Enterprise improves the process of adding or removing components in an assembly. Only in QuickBooks Enterprise can users choose to automatically remove or replace components in multiple assemblies easily. In QuickBooks Premier, if a component is used in multiple assemblies and needs to be removed or replaced, users have to manually edit each assembly that includes that component.

Follow these steps to automatically replace or remove a component in all the assemblies it is associated with.

1. From the menu bar, select Lists, Item List.

2. With your cursor, select the item (component) that needs to be removed or replaced in assemblies.

3. Right-click with your cursor and select Assemblies Where Used. See Figure C.11.

Figure C.11. New for Enterprise 14.0, view all assemblies a component is included in.

4. The Assemblies Where Used dialog box displays with the same item already selected in the Where Used Item drop-down field. At the bottom of the dialog are any assemblies listed where the component is used. See Figure C.12.

Figure C.12. Easily manage the replacement or removal of components in an assembly.

5. If replacing the item, in the Replacement Item drop-down field, browse to select the new item, or click Add New at the top of the list and follow the prompts.

6. (Optional) if you are simply removing the component from the assemblies and will not be replacing it, leave the Replacement Item field blank.

7. The grid detail at the bottom of the dialog box lists any assemblies for which the selected part is a component. Click to select which assembly to edit, or click the Select All in the lower left.

8. Click the Replace button in the lower right to replace (or remove the item without a replacement item).

9. QuickBooks displays a successful QuickBooks Information window. Click OK to close the window and return to the Assemblies Where Used for the selected part. Click Close to close the window and return to the Item List.

Managing assemblies and the ability to easily substitute or remove components are compelling reasons to use QuickBooks Enterprise if your company manages inventory assemblies.

Options for Auto Calculating Assembly Cost Field

Another related assembly improvement included exclusively with QuickBooks Enterprise is the ability to set a default for handling the Cost field on an Item record as shown in Figure C.13.

Figure C.13. Enterprise offers options for what is recorded in the Cost field of an assembly.

QuickBooks uses the Cost amount in the Cost field on an inventory assembly item record in the following ways:

• To prefill the cost field on all purchase transaction forms, such as purchase orders, bills, and checks.

• To set the sales price of this inventory assembly item if you’re using a default markup percentage.

• To adjust this inventory assembly item’s price by a percentage of the unit cost.

• To adjust this inventory assembly item’s price by a fixed amount above the unit cost.

• To display a cost on the Item Listing and Price List reports. If you build the item yourself, the Avg. Cost is the total of the costs of all the items in the Bill of Materials. However, you’re still responsible for filling in the Cost amount yourself.

• When you create a new inventory assembly and enter an existing On Hand quantity, QuickBooks calculates the Total Value for the Asset Account by multiplying the Cost you enter times the On Hand quantity.

• To calculate the initial Avg. Cost of the inventory assembly when you first create the item. The initial Avg. Cost is the initial Total Value divided by the initial On Hand quantity.

Follow these steps to set a global default for the Cost field on an assembly or to manually assign a cost:

1. Log in to the file as the Admin user and from the menu bar, select Edit, Preferences, Items and Inventory.

2. Select the Company Preferences tab.

3. Click the Automatic Cost & Price Updates button as displayed in Figure C.14.

Figure C.14. Set global preferences for how the cost field in an assembly is calculated.

4. In the For Assembly Items box, choose between these two options:

• Use auto-updated BOM cost as assembly cost—this choice takes the total of the costs for each component and adds the total in the Cost Field on the assembly record (refer to previous Figure C.13).

• (Optional) When BOM cost changes, update sales price—if you selected to auto-update BOM cost as assembly cost, you can also choose here to have the sales price update when component costs change. This can be valuable in ensuring your price is covering your costs adequately.

However, even if you select a global preference you can override that preference on specific assemblies. Your choices include:

• Use Total BOM Cost—which is the sum total of all of the components (items) cost as recorded on each individual item record.

• Use global preference.

• User defined cost—with this choice you manually enter a cost amount. However, do know that this is not the cost used in preparation of your profit and lost report, it only serves to help auto price updates calculate.

Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet

If you track inventory items in QuickBooks and use sales orders, the Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet (see Figure C.15) can help you decide which sales orders to fulfill when you don’t have enough quantity on hand to fulfill them all. It does this by letting you create different “what if?” scenarios to see how fulfilling one set of sales orders affects your ability to fulfill others.

Figure C.15. The Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet can help you choose which orders to fulfill first.

The Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet is available with the following editions of QuickBooks:

• QuickBooks Enterprise (all editions)

• QuickBooks Accountant

• QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale

• QuickBooks Premier Retail

Enable Inventory and Sales Orders

To use this feature, you need to first enable Inventory and Sales Orders. From the menu bar, select Edit, Preferences, Items & Inventory. On the Company Preferences tab select Inventory and Purchase Orders Are Active. You must be logged in to the file as the Admin or External Accountant User.

Using the Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet

You can use the Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet to see at a glance which sales orders can be fulfilled. The Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet is available in QuickBooks Premier Wholesale and Manufacturing, QuickBooks Premier Retial and in all editions of QuickBooks Enterprise.

To access the Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet, from the menu bar select Customers, Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet. The worksheet includes the following tables of data:

• Sales Orders—Provides a single row listing of all sales orders not yet fulfilled. This table of data can be sorted by any of the following:

• Sales Orders Chosen for Fulfillment First

• Sales Orders That Can Be Completely Fulfilled First

• By the Date the Sales Order Was Entered

• By Ship Date

• By Order Number

• By Customer:Job

• By Open Amount

• By Amount That Can Be Fulfilled

• Partially Invoiced Sales Orders First

• Details of Sales Order—QuickBooks displays the line item detail for the currently selected sales order.

Status icons in the Fulfillable column in both tables in the worksheet indicate whether the sales order, specific items, or specific assemblies can be completely or partially fulfilled:

• Solid Green Circle—In the sales orders table, this indicates that you have enough inventory to fulfill the entire order. In the details table, it indicates that you have all of an individual item needed to fulfill the order.

• Half-full Orange Circle—In the sales orders table, this indicates that you can fulfill only part of the order. In the details table, this indicates that you have only enough of an individual item to partially fulfill the order.

• Red X—Indicates that you are out of stock for that order in the sales orders table or for an individual item in the details table.

Follow these steps to complete the process:

1. Place a checkmark next to the sale order(s) you want to fulfill.

2. In the Print Your Work section, select to print Pick Lists, Packing Slips and/or Sales Orders. These printouts are used to fulfill inventory and create invoices.

3. Select Print. QuickBooks opens the Print dialog for you to select your printer. Click Print.

4. QuickBooks displays a message confirming that the documents printed successfully. Place a checkmark in the Reprint column next to any document you need to reprint. Click OK.

5. QuickBooks displays a warning message about invoicing your sales order to decrease your inventory levels. Click OK after reading the message.

6. Gather the printed documents and locate the individual sales orders in QuickBooks.

7. Click Create Invoice from the Main tab of the ribbon toolbar for each individual sales order.

Enhanced Inventory Receiving

Enhanced Inventory Receiving (EIR) is a preference that enables an optional workflow for improving how you receive and pay for inventory. With Enhanced Inventory Receiving, item receipts increase inventory and the inventory offset (current liability) account until the vendor bill is received and entered.

When you turn on EIR, you receive and pay for items in QuickBooks in a completely different way. With EIR:

• Item receipts don’t increase accounts payable.

• Vendor bills don’t affect inventory.

• Vendor bills associated with item receipts no longer replace item receipts.

To set your file up to track purchasing this way, QuickBooks changes the effect on accounting for past transactions during the EIR setup. It is recommended that you first evaluate whether EIR is right for you. To help you decide, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you receive one bill that covers multiple item receipts?

• Do you receive multiple bills for one item receipt?

• Are your inventory quantities skewed when you enter a bill and QuickBooks automatically changes the date of the item receipt?

• Do you pay for items before you receive them but don’t want your inventory quantities to increase? If you don’t use EIR, QuickBooks increases inventory quantities when you enter a bill for inventory items.

• Do you want to separate the receiving department (item receipts) from the accounts payable department (enter and pay bills)? If you don’t use EIR, QuickBooks converts item receipts to a bill when you receive the bill.

If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider using EIR. However, it’s important that you read the following cautionary points before you begin because you can’t turn EIR off:

• When you turn on EIR, QuickBooks changes past transactions. Converting to EIR may take up to a few hours depending on the size of your company file. If you have a large company file, you might consider condensing your company data before turning on EIR.

→ For more information about the size of a company data file, see Chapter 17, “Managing Your QuickBooks Database.”

• EIR separates item receipts from bills. This creates a new process for receiving and paying for items. This new process also comes with some restrictions.

• You can’t turn EIR off; see Figure C.16. After it’s on, you must use the new EIR process for receiving and paying for items. A safe practice would be to create a backup of your file before you begin. If after trying EIR you find that it doesn’t work for you, restore your backup.

Figure C.16. The Enhanced Inventory Receiving setting cannot be reversed, so be sure to back up your data prior to the conversion.

• When using EIR, if you receive a bill with different item costs compared to the related item receipt, QuickBooks automatically changes the item cost on that item receipt. QuickBooks makes this change even if the item receipt is in a closed period.

Changes Made When You Enable EIR

Care should be taken when making the decision to use Enhance Inventory Receiving. These considerations include the following:

• Past Transactions—With EIR turned on, bills do not increase inventory quantities. This means that QuickBooks has to create an item receipt for every bill that included items. This increases the number of transactions in your company file.

• Accounts Payable Balance—If you haven’t received a bill for an open item receipt, the amount no longer shows up in Accounts Payable. This is correct because you haven’t received the bill yet. QuickBooks only shows the amount in Accounts Payable when you receive the bill. To understand what QuickBooks does with the value of open item receipts, review “The Accounting Behind EIR” section in this appendix.

• Small Rounding Error to Average Cost—When QuickBooks creates the new item receipts, it recalculates inventory average cost. These item receipts change the order of inventory transactions within each day. This change in transaction order can sometimes result in minor changes to the average cost of an item.

Workflow When Using EIR

Enabling Enhanced Inventory Receiving requires a slightly different workflow, as detailed next:

• Without EIR—You can receive and pay for inventory in two ways:

• A single transaction—Enter a bill for inventory items that increases your inventory on hand and increases accounts payable.

• Two transactions—Enter an item receipt to receive the inventory. Inventory is increased along with accounts payable; however, the item receipts are not displayed in the Pay Bills dialog. When the vendor bill is recorded, the same item receipt is converted to a vendor bill.

• With EIR, you must enter two separate transactions, and they can be entered in any order:

• An item receipt to receive items

• A bill to pay for the items

Restrictions When Using EIR

Enhanced Inventory Receiving imposes the following restrictions:

• You can’t enter negative items on item receipts or bills.

• The Item Receipt transaction no longer includes an Expenses tab, as shown in Figure C.17.

Figure C.17. Item receipts created using EIR enabled do not include the Expenses tab.

• If you create a purchase order for non-inventory items, you must receive them with an item receipt to close the PO.

• You can no longer mark items as billable on item receipts.

The Accounting Behind EIR

QuickBooks automatically creates a new account (Other Current Liability) called the Inventory Offset account. QuickBooks completes the following accounting with an item receipt and vendor bill, detailed in Tables C.1 and C.2:

Table C.1. Item Receipt accounting

Table C.2. Vendor Bill accounting

After enabling EIR, QuickBooks provides a summary of the transactions and their value affected by the change, as shown in Figure C.18.

Figure C.18. QuickBooks provides a summary of the changes made to the file after enabling Enhanced Inventory Receiving.

If you enter items directly on a check or credit card charge, QuickBooks does the same accounting as before: debiting Inventory Asset and crediting the bank or credit card account.

Automatic Cost & Price Updates

As shown in Figure C.19, you can use the Automatic Cost & Price Updates Preference to determine how you handle item cost changes.

Figure C.19. Set global preferences for automatically handling cost and sales price changes. You can override these settings on the individual item record.

To set preferences for handling cost and price updates, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the file as the Admin User or External Accountant User in single-user.

2. From the menu bar, select Edit, Preferences, Items & Inventory, and then the Company Preferences tab.

3. Click the Automatic Cost & Price Updates button. The Automatic Cost & Price Updates dialog displays.

4. The following global preferences, as shown in Figure C.19, can be set:

• If Item Cost Changes on a Purchase—Always Update the Item Cost, Never Update Item Cost, or Ask About Updating the Item Cost.

• When Item Cost Changes—For the sales price: Always Update Sales Price, Never Update Sales Price, or Ask About Updating Sales Price.

• Markup—Choose between Percent Over Cost or Amount Over Cost. This preference can be overridden individually within individual inventory item records.

Assigning Markup Defaults per Item

The previous section detailed the options for setting a global preference for handling markups when a cost of item changes. This helps your business make sure you are earning the expected markup on your products and services.

Follow these steps to manage the markup individually for each item on your item list, as shown in Figure C.20:

1. From the menu bar, select Lists, Item List.

2. Double-click an item to display the Edit Item dialog. You can also define these settings when creating a new item.

Figure C.20. Enterprise includes the capability to manage markup defaults individually for each item.

3. Select the Edit Markup button to the right. The Edit Markup dialog displays.

4. From the Type of Markup drop-down list, choose from the following:

• Percent Over Cost

• Amount Over Cost

• Use Default (“Percent Over Cost”), or whatever your preference setting was.

5. Edit the Cost, Sales Price, and Markup Percent fields as desired.

6. From If Item Cost Changes on a Purchase, choose from Always Update Item Cost, Never Update Item Cost, Always Ask About Updating the Item Cost, or Use Default.

7. When Item Cost Changes, for the sales price choose from Always Update Sales Price, Never Update Sales Price, Always Ask About Updating Sales Price, or Use Default.

8. Click OK twice to save your changes.

QuickBooks Enterprise with Advanced Inventory

Advanced Inventory is a collection of advanced inventory management features, which are detailed in this section of the appendix. Advanced Inventory is an annual subscription and requires the user to also have an active Full Service Plan for QuickBooks Enterprise. More details on current pricing for Advanced Inventory and the Full Service Plan can be found on Intuit’s website at http://enterprisesuite.intuit.com/.

Your Advanced Inventory subscription enables additional features within QuickBooks Enterprise. There is no additional software to install or learn, and you can manage a number of sophisticated inventory scenarios.

Multiple Inventory Locations

In addition to tracking inventory in multiple warehouses, you can track inventory in different staging areas within a single warehouse, on service trucks, and on consignment, for example.

Prior to using Enterprise or before Multiple Inventory Location tracking was available, you might have used one of these alternative methods of tracking multiple inventory locations:

• Using multiple items (or subitems) for the same part

• Using a custom-defined field

• Using class tracking

• Using Microsoft Excel

Although this list is not exhaustive, note that you should take care when you begin to use the Multiple Inventory Locations feature when you have been tracking it in some other fashion.

To find more details about making the switch to using Multiple Location Inventory, from the menu bar, select Help, QuickBooks Help and in the search field, type Multiple Inventory Locations. Click the How to Switch from Another Method of Tracking Multiple Inventory Sites link, and click the Show More Results link.

Assign a Starting Inventory Site

When you first set up Multiple Inventory Locations in QuickBooks Enterprise, you must first create a temporary site (for example, you might name it Starting Inventory). QuickBooks assigns all past inventory transactions to this site when you first enable Multiple Inventory Locations. You can later transfer items to their actual sites and bin locations. You can also rename this temporary site later.

To enable Multiple Inventory Locations, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the file as the Admin or External Accountant User in single-user mode.

2. From the menu bar, select Edit, Preferences, Items & Inventory and choose the Company Preferences tab.

3. Select the Advanced Inventory Settings button to display a dialog box of the same name.

4. Click the Multiple Inventory Locations tab if it is not already selected.

5. Place a checkmark in the Multiple Inventory Sites Is Enabled checkbox.

6. QuickBooks displays the Enable Multiple Inventory Sites dialog box (see Figure C.21). Read the information and then assign your Beginning Inventory Site.

Figure C.21. When enabling Multiple Inventory Sites, you need to create a startup location to assign to existing transactions.

7. From the Inventory Site drop-down menu, select Add New. QuickBooks displays the New Inventory Site dialog box.

8. Type a name for the site; as mentioned previously, you might want to name this site Starting Inventory. Complete any of the remaining fields as desired. Click OK to close.

9. You are returned to the Enable Multiple Inventory Sites. Select the Continue button. You are returned to the Advanced Inventory Settings preferences.

10. (Optional) Select any or each of the following:

• Warn About Duplicate Inventory Transfer Numbers

• Warn per Site if Not Enough Inventory to Sell

• Track Bin Locations Within Inventory Sites (row, shelf, or bin) and the additional Warn Per Location if Not Enough Inventory to Sell. If selected, a message displays that to get started, QuickBooks assigns all the items to a bin named “Unassigned.” Later you can transfer your items to their correct bins. See Figure C.22.

Figure C.22. Define warning preferences and the capability to track subsite locations for row, shelf, or bin tracking.

Add an Inventory Site and Bin Locations

After creating your initial starting inventory site, you can add additional sites and bin locations, if you track bin locations.

1. From the menu bar, select Lists, Inventory Site List.

2. From the Inventory Site drop-down, select New.

3. In the Name field, type the name of the location.

4. If this is a bin location (row, shelf, or bin), select the This Is a Location Within Site checkbox. Then click the drop-down arrow and select a site (warehouse). See Figures C.23 and C.24.

Figure C.23. Add inventory sites.

Figure C.24. Row, shelf, or bin tracking using sublocations of inventory sites.

5. Enter the appropriate information.

6. Click Next to add another location, or click OK if you’re finished.

Edit an Inventory Site and Bin Locations

You might find it necessary to edit an existing inventory site. You can even rename an existing site if necessary. Follow these steps:

1. From the menu bar, select Lists, Inventory Site List.

2. Double-click an inventory site or bin location from the list.

3. Change the information as needed.

4. Click OK.

Transferring Between Locations

Use the Transfer Inventory dialog to transfer inventory between locations, as shown in Figure C.25.

Figure C.25. Use the Transfer Inventory dialog for moving inventory from one location, row, shelf, or bin to another.

You can do this between sites (warehouses) to

• Replenish items at a location.

• Transfer items from your “home” warehouse to your “satellite” locations.

• Transfer items to a loading dock or ship.

You can also do this between bin locations (row, shelf, or bin) to replenish items in a row, shelf, or bin.

Follow these instructions to transfer inventory from one location, row, shelf or bin to another:

1. From the menu bar, select Inventory, Transfer Inventory.

2. In the Date field, enter the date of the transfer.

3. In the Reference No. field, enter the appropriate transfer number. If you have a physical form for the transfer, use the number in this field.

4. (Optional) Click the Class drop-down arrow and select a class.

5. Click the Transfer from drop-down arrow and select an inventory site (warehouse).

6. Click the drop-down arrow to select the other inventory site (warehouse).

7. Select the inventory items to transfer to the site:

• To select individual items

• Click in the Item column.

• Click the drop-down arrow and select an inventory item.

• To search for or select multiple items

• Click Find & Select Items.

• (Optional) Enter a search term in the Find field and click Search.

• Click the left column to select or clear inventory items.

• Click Add Selected Items.

8. If you track bin locations, in the first Location column, click the drop-down arrow, and then select the bin you’re transferring from.

9. In the Qty to Transfer column, enter the number to transfer for each item.

10. If you track bin locations, in the second Location column, click the drop-down arrow, and then select the bin you’re transferring to.

11. (Optional) In the Memo field, enter the reason for this transfer, such as Transfer opening quantity to site.

12. (Optional) Click the Prefill Qty to Transfer with Quantity on Hand checkbox.

13. (Optional) Click the Print button to print a copy of the transfer for your records.

14. Click the Save & Close button.

Duplicating Inventory Transfer Transactions

You cannot transfer inventory from one site to multiple sites in the same transfer transaction. If you need to enter multiple inventory transfers, QuickBooks lets you duplicate previously recorded inventory transfers.

To duplicate a previously recorded inventory transfer, follow these steps:

1. Open an existing transfer.

2. With the transfer displayed, from the menu bar, select Edit, Duplicate Inventory Transfer.

3. Change the details of the transfer as necessary.

4. Click the Save & Close button.

Reporting Inventory by Site

QuickBooks Enterprise makes it easy to report on inventory by site, shelf, bin, or row.

1. From the menu bar, select Reports, Inventory.

2. Choose from the following reports:

• Serial Numbers in Stock by Site

• Items by Bin Location (see Figure C.26)

Figure C.26. Report on inventory by warehouse, row, shelf, and bin

• Quantity on Hand by Site

• Inventory Valuation Summary by Site

• Inventory Stock Status by Site

• Pending Builds by Site

Serial/Lot Numbers

With a subscription to QuickBooks Enterprise with Advanced Inventory, you can track serial numbers or lot numbers. You can’t track both, so decide which you want before you begin.

Select serial numbers if the following applies to your business:

• You buy and sell inventory items that have unique serial numbers.

• You keep track of which customers bought specific serial numbers.

• You want to know which serial numbers are in stock.

• You need a report that shows the invoices related to a specific serial number (this helps you track down a serial number’s history for a warranty).

Select lot numbers if the following applies to your business:

• You buy items in lots.

• You keep track of which customers bought items from a specific lot.

• You need a recall report in case you have to track all the items from a specific lot (such as which items are in inventory and which customers purchased them).

Turn On Serial or Lot Number Tracking

Follow these instructions to begin using this feature:

1. Log in to the file as the Admin or External Accountant user in single-user mode.

2. From the menu bar, select Edit, Preferences, Items and Inventory, and then select the Company Preferences tab. See Figure C.27. Make sure Inventory and Purchase Orders Are Active is selected.

Figure C.27. Preferences when enabling Serial or Lot Number-tracking.

3. Click the Advanced Inventory Settings button. A dialog box with the same name displays, as shown in Figure C.27.

4. Click the Serial/Lot Numbers tab.

5. Click Enable Lot or Serial Numbers.

6. Select Serial Numbers or Lot Numbers.

7. (Optional) Select which transactions should display serial or lot numbers.

8. (Optional) Under Default settings for inventory and assembly items, click the drop-down arrows to set your preferences for warnings for all inventory and assembly items.

9. Click OK.

10. In the Preferences dialog, click OK to save your changes and close.

After you turn on serial or lot number tracking, QuickBooks adds a serial or lot number field to most transaction types (see Figure C.28), including the following:

• Purchase Transactions

• Item Receipts

• Bills

• Credit Card Transactions

• Write Checks

• Sales Transactions

• Invoices

• Credit Memos

• Sales Receipts

Figure C.28. The serial number or lot number field is added automatically to transactions when the feature is enabled.

• Sales Orders and Pending Invoices. However, QuickBooks doesn’t remove these numbers from what’s available to sell. The serial/lot number moves to the invoice or sales receipt when the sale becomes final.

You can also assign serial/lot numbers when you build assemblies and adjust inventory.

Beginning to Track Serial or Lot Numbers

You don’t have to assign serial or lot numbers to existing inventory to start tracking serial or lot numbers. If you have many different items with serial numbers in stock, you may choose not to enter all your serial numbers in QuickBooks right away. It’s okay to continue your current method of tracking while slowly moving to QuickBooks by entering all newly purchased or assembled items with serial numbers as you acquire them. Eventually, your QuickBooks date includes all of your serial numbers.

The steps that follow detail multiple methods for assigning serial numbers to existing inventory. First, gather information about the serial/lot numbers associated with your current inventory on hand. Use the Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand window to assign serial (or lot numbers) to existing inventory:

1. Select Inventory, Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand.

2. From the Adjustment Type drop-down menu, select Serial Number.

3. Select an Adjustment Date and Inventory Site.

4. (Optional) Assign a Reference No., Customer:Job, and Class.

5. (Optional) Select the Find & Select Items, a useful feature for selecting multiple items at one time.

6. From the Item field, begin typing the item name, or click the drop-down arrow and select it from the list.

7. In the Add Serial Numbers column, type the serial number, or if multiple serial numbers, separate them with a comma. See Figure C.29.

Figure C.29. Are you using serial number tracking for the first time? Simply type the serial number or numbers and separate them with a comma.

8. (Optional) One method for adding serial numbers to existing inventory is from the drop-down menu in the Add Serial Numbers column, select Quick View for Serial Numbers. In this dialog box you can efficiently copy and paste serial numbers from Excel or manually type them. See Figure C.30.

Figure C.30. Use the Quick View to efficiently add multiple Serial Numbers (or lots) for a single inventory item.

9. (Optional) Another method for adding serial numbers to existing inventory is from the drop-down menu in the Remove Serial Numbers column, select Add Multiple Serial Numbers. In this dialog box you can enter multiple serial numbers with ease. See Figure C.31. Click Add Selected Numbers to add them to the Transfer Inventory dialog box.

Figure C.31. To select multiple serial numbers for transfer, use the Add Multiple Serial Numbers from the Serial Number drop-down menu.

10. Repeat steps 6 through 7 for each item as needed. When finished, click Save & Close.

Reporting on Lot Numbers

If you track lots and need to know where items from a specific lot are, follow this two-step process:

1. Find out how many items from a particular lot are still in inventory.

• From the menu bar, select Inventory, Inventory Center to open the Inventory Center.

• From the list on the left, select the item.

• On the right side of the window below Recall Information, click Quantity on Hand by Lot Number. The Quick View window appears and shows the quantity on hand for each lot number associated with the item. See Figure C.32.

Figure C.32. Use the Inventory Center to gather information about where Lots are currently stored.

• When finished, click Close.

2. Research which customers purchased items from the lot:

• Under Recall Information, click Transaction List by Lot Number.

• Click the Item drop-down arrow and select the item from the list.

• Click the Lot drop-down arrow and select a lot number.

• Click OK. QuickBooks lists all transactions that include the lot, including assemblies and subassemblies.

You may also report on Lots (or Serial Numbers). From the menu bar select Reports, Inventory, Lot Numbers in Stock by Site, as shown in Figure C.33. Another report is the Transaction List by Lot Number report.

Figure C.33. Prepare reports detailing lot or serial number inventory details.

First In First Out (FIFO) Inventory Costing

FIFO (first in, first out) is a method of calculating the value of inventory sold and on hand. When you turn FIFO on, QuickBooks calculates inventory values based on the assumption that the first inventory items received are the first sold.

Without turning on FIFO, QuickBooks uses Average Costing as the means for determining the cost of inventory sold.

→ For more information, see “Reviewing the Recorded Average Cost Valuation,” p. xxx.

Enabling First In First Out Inventory Costing

1. From the menu bar, select Edit, Preferences, Company Preferences tab.

2. On the left side of the Preferences window, select Items & Inventory.

3. Click the Advanced Inventory Settings button.

4. In the Advanced Inventory Settings dialog, select the FIFO tab. Place a checkmark in the Use FIFO Starting On box and choose a date. QuickBooks recalculates all inventory-related transactions starting with the date you enter.

5. Click OK.

6. In the Preferences window, click OK.

Reports Affected by FIFO Inventory Costing

When you enable FIFO inventory costing, the following report values are adjusted:

• Inventory valuation reports

• Balance sheet reports

• Profit and Loss reports (cost of goods sold)

• FIFO Cost Lot History Report

→ To learn more, see “Inventory Reporting,” p. xxx.

When FIFO costing is enabled in QuickBooks Enterprise, the FIFO Cost Lot History by Item efficiently tracks the inventory acquisition (purchase, customer return, inventory adjustment, and so on) along with its cost. This provides users with information so they can see that the oldest (first in) cost lot is being disbursed first.

To prepare this report after enabling FIFO Costing, follow these instructions:

1. From the menu bar, select Reports, Inventory, FIFO Cost Lot History by Item. See Figure C.34.

Figure C.34. Prepare the FIFO Cost Lot History for details about the calculations done behind the scenes.

2. To filter for specific item(s), click the Customize Report button on the top left of the displayed report. The Modify Report dialog box displays.

3. Click the Filters tab. In the Filter pane, select Item.

4. From the Item drop-down, scroll to find the specific item or Multiple Items.

5. Click OK on the Modify Report dialog box to prepare the report filtered for the select Item or Items.

Barcodes

Increase efficiency and reliability for all inventory data entry by scanning items and serial numbers without touching a keyboard. QuickBooks automatically puts the information into the right field. If you don’t have barcodes, QuickBooks creates them for you.

Overview—Working with Barcodes

Using barcodes in QuickBooks makes data entry faster and easier. You assign barcodes to items. Then you can scan barcodes when you buy or sell items. You can also scan barcodes to adjust the quantity of items on hand.

What barcode scanners does QuickBooks support? QuickBooks supports most USB and Bluetooth scanners. When you purchase or evaluate a scanner, look for the following specifications:

• Support for EAN-13 and Code-128 barcodes

• Capability to produce a single carriage return at the end of the barcode

To test your scanner using Windows Notepad, follow these steps:

1. On the Windows desktop, select Start, Accessories, Notepad.

2. Scan an item with your barcode scanner. You should see the barcode number, one per line in Notepad, like Figure C.35.

Figure C.35. Test the bar code scanner first in Notepad, making sure it scans with a hard return after each item.

QuickBooks accepts UPC/EAN-13 barcodes. Specifically, a valid barcode can be between 5 and 30 characters in length and contain the following character types:

• Numbers (0–9)

• Letters (a–z and A–Z)

• Space

• Minus sign (–)

• Plus sign ( + )

• Period ( . )

• Full stop ( . )

• Colon ( : )

• Forward slash ( / )

Important: If the barcode is to be used as a serial or lot number,

• It can’t contain spaces.

• It can’t be composed entirely of numbers. That is, it must contain other character types (for serial or lot numbers only).

• It must be between 6 and 13 characters in length.

Set Up Barcode Scanning

Before you can begin scanning items into QuickBooks, you need to enable the Barcode Scanning feature. Follow these instructions:

1. From the menu bar select the Edit, Preferences, Company Preferences tab.

2. On the left side, select Items & Inventory.

3. Select Advanced Inventory Settings and click the Barcodes tab.

4. Select the Enable Barcode Scanning checkbox.

5. Click Open Barcode Wizard. If you already track barcodes in QuickBooks, QuickBooks moves the barcode you currently track in a custom-defined field for you. Just click the drop-down arrow and select the field you currently use for barcodes.

6. If you don’t currently track barcodes in QuickBooks, leave the selection as I Don’t Currently Track Barcodes in QuickBooks.

Importing Barcodes

If you track barcodes outside of QuickBooks (in Excel, for example), you can import them using Add/Edit Multiple List Entries. From the menu bar, select Lists, Add/Edit Multiple List Entries, as shown in Figure C.36.

Figure C.36. Use the Add/Edit Multiple List Entries feature to quickly scan in new barcodes or manually enter them.

→ For more information, see “Add/Edit Multiple List Entries,” p. xxx.

Using Barcodes to Complete Transactions

You can scan barcodes while filling out sales or purchasing forms to speed data entry. While working in a sales or purchasing form, simply scan a barcode, and QuickBooks automatically places the barcode in the correct field on the form.

If QuickBooks doesn’t automatically place the barcode in the correct field, QuickBooks may not support your scanner. However, you can still use your scanner for data entry by following these steps to first disable barcode scanning and setting a preference for how data advances between fields:

1. Turn off barcode scanning.

2. From the menu bar, select the Edit, Preferences, Company Preferences tab.

3. Click Advanced Inventory Settings.

4. Click the Barcodes tab.

5. Click to remove the checkmark from the Enable Barcode Scanning checkbox.

6. In the Advanced Inventory Settings window, click OK.

7. In the Preferences window, click OK.

8. From the menu bar, select the Edit, Preferences, Company Preferences tab.

9. On the left of the Edit Preferences window, click General.

10. On the My Preferences tab, select the Pressing Enter Moves Between Fields checkbox.

11. In the Preferences window, click OK.

To use your barcode scanner, click the field you want to enter information into, and then scan the barcode.

Print Barcodes to a Report

Follow these steps to print a report that lists the barcodes in your company file for ease in scanning:

1. From the menu bar, select Reports, Inventory, Item Barcodes.

2. At the top of the report window, click Print. See Figure C.37.

Figure C.37. Work efficiently, scanning from a printed list of Item Barcodes.

3. In the Print Reports window, change your printer settings as needed.

4. When you’re ready to print the report, click Print.

Print Barcode Labels

Follow these steps to print barcodes to affix to your products:

1. From the menu bar, select File, Print Forms, Labels. The Select Labels to Print dialog box displays.

2. Select the Item Barcodes option. From the drop-down list select the item you want to print barcodes to labels for. You can also choose to print, as shown in Figure C.38.

• All Items

• Multiple Items

• All Items by type including All Services, All Inventory Items, and so forth.

Figure C.38. Print barcode to label stock.

3. Click OK to open the Print Labels dialog.

4. From the Label Format drop-down list select the type of label being printed. See Figure C.39.

Figure C.39. QuickBooks prints basic label styles.

5. Click Print.

QuickBooks Enterprise with Advanced Pricing

Exclusively for QuickBooks Enterprise 14.0 is Advanced Pricing. Advanced Pricing is a subscription-based feature charged annually and also requires a current Full Service Plan. The feature replaces the free Price Levels, discussed in the previous topic with much more sophisticated automated price settings.

→ For more information see, “Price Rules,” p. xxx.

Advanced Pricing provides the ability to have QuickBooks automatically apply:

• Manufacturer discounts

• Scheduled promotions with future start dates

• Thousands of price rules or combinations of rules

With Advanced Pricing, QuickBooks automatically changes the prices of items on sales forms according to the rules you create. Each price rule can contain multiple conditions that have to be met before QuickBooks changes the sales price.

Price Rules

After purchasing Advanced Pricing, follow these steps to set up a Price Rule:

1. To enable Advanced Pricing, from the menu bar, select Edit, Preferences, Sales & Customers. From the Company Preferences tab, select Enable Advanced Pricing and choose your option for handling price rounding. See Figure C.40.

Figure C.40. Advanced Pricing is a new feature that must be enabled in Preferences

2. If your file previously had Price Levels, a message displays about QuickBooks converting these to Price Rules. Click to dismiss the message. It would be prudent at this time to review the details of the former Price Levels that are now Price Rules.

3. To create a new Price Rule, from the menu bar, select Lists, Price Rules. The New Price Rule window displays as shown in Figure C.41.

Figure C.41. Price Rules offer sophisticated auto pricing for customer purchases.

4. From the Price Rule drop-down list at the bottom of the Price Rule List, select New.

5. Type a Price Rule Name and Description.

6. Provide conditions for the newly created Price Rule. These conditions can be any combination of:

• Customer Name, Type, Job Type or Custom Fields

• Item Name, Item Type, Preferred Vendor

• Class

• Sales Rep

7. Select a Date Range if this promotion is for a specific period of time.

8. Specify the price to be a percentage or amount decrease or increase over the items current base price. The base price is determined by the item’s Sales Price or Rate depending on which item type you are assigning. Or, choose to calculate the decrease or increase from the cost recorded on the item’s record.

9. In the Options section, you can select any Price Overrides. When selected, you can specify a specific price for selected items that will be used instead of the Price Rule decrease or increase.

10. Select Exclusive Rule when you want this rule to not be combined with any other rules used in calculating the price for items on sales forms.

11. Click OK when finished.

You can view and edit your Price Rule List from the menu bar by selecting, Lists, Price Rule List as shown in Figure C.42.

Figure C.42. Price Rules replace the formerly titled feature of Price Levels

Quantity Discount

Also included with the Advanced Pricing subscription is Quantity Discounts. With Quantity Discounts you can reward your customers for making bulk purchases. For example, QuickBooks can charge different prices when a customer buys 10 to 19 items or 20 to 29 items or 30 or more items.

After purchasing Advanced Pricing, follow these steps to set up a Quantity Discount and assign it to a specific item (product or service):

1. Enable Advanced Pricing. From the menu bar, select Edit, Preferences, Sales & Customers. From the Company Preferences tab, select Enable Advanced Pricing and choose your option for handling price rounding.

2. If your file previously had Price Levels, a message displays about QuickBooks converting these to Price Rules. Click to dismiss the message.

3. To assign Quantity Pricing to an item from the menu bar, select Lists, Item List and then click to edit an item.

4. With the item record displayed click the Qty Discount button on the right to open the Quantity Discount window for the selected item as shown in Figure C.43.

Figure C.43. Quantity Discounts reward customers for making larger purchases.

5. Type an amount in the Qty From column.

6. Enter a discount % and the New Rate column calculates automatically.

7. (Optional), enter the New Rate amount and the Discount % calculates automatically.

8. Select a Discounts effective date.

9. Click OK when completed.

Using Advanced Pricing can help those companies that want QuickBooks to automatically calculate pricing specials or discounts.

QuickBooks Enterprise Reporting

QuickBooks Premier (industry editions) and QuickBooks Enterprise (industry editions) share many of the same unique reports. However, there are some distinct differences in reporting when using QuickBooks Enterprise 14.0. These unique reports are detailed in this section.

Job Work In Process (WIP) Summary Report

This new report provides much needed details for any industry that needs to report revenue based on a percentage of completion computation for their jobs.

One industry in particular, the construction industry, uses this type of calculation to determine the amount of revenue to record in their financials as year-end.

This report is also valuable for reviewing over/under billings on jobs.

To prepare this report, follow these steps:

1. From the menu bar, select Reports, Jobs, Time & Mileage, Job WIP Summary as shown in Figure C.44.

Figure C.44. New report in Enterprise used to calculate over/under billings.

2. (Optional) To filter for specific jobs, from the displayed report click the Customize Report button.

3. (Optional) Select the Filters tab and choose Name from the list of fields to filter on.

4. (Optional) To the right, from the Name drop-down, select the specific Customer:Job, or choose Multiple Names.

5. (Optional) If you selected Multiple Names, place a checkmark next to each Customer:Job you want included in the report.

6. Alternatively, if you have been using the Job Status field on the Customer or Job record, you can now filter for Job Status, selecting it from the Choose Filter list of fields.

Committed Costs by Job Report

This report provides a more comprehensive view of a Customer or Job potential profit or loss. The report includes: Estimated Costs less Actual Costs less Committed Costs (open $ value on purchase orders) less Unpaid wages to arrive at Remaining Cost.

Use of this report requires that you are setting up Estimates for your jobs.

→ For more information see, “Using QuickBooks Estimates,” p. xxx.

To prepare this report follow these steps:

1. From the menu bar, select Reports, Jobs, Time & Mileage, Committed Costs by Job as shown in Figure C.45.

Figure C.45. Report includes open balance on purchase orders and timesheet payroll estimate

2. (Optional) To filter for specific jobs, from the displayed report click the Customize Report button.

3. (Optional) Select the Filters tab and choose Name from the list of fields to filter on.

4. (Optional) To the right, from the Name drop-down, select the specific Customer:Job, or choose Multiple Names.

5. (Optional) If you selected Multiple Names, place a checkmark next to each Customer:Job you want included in the report.

6. Alternatively, if you have been using the Job Status field on the Customer or Job record, you can now filter for Job Status, selecting it from the Choose Filter list of fields.

Combine Reports from Multiple Companies

Another report feature exclusive to QuickBooks Enterprise is the ability to prepare combined financial reports for multiple QuickBooks Enterprise files. This feature is not new, but has been available for many years.

This feature works best if the companies share a similar chart of accounts. QuickBooks Enterprise uses Microsoft Excel to join the reports into one Excel workbook.

A column is prepared for each company file, and each unique chart of account is on a row. For example, if multiple companies all use account number 1000 for a bank account, combining reports creates one row for account 1000 and will include a unique column for each company file’s data that is combined.

To combine reports, follow these steps:

1. Open your first QuickBooks Enterprise company file you want to report on combined financials.

2. From the menu bar, select Reports, Combine Reports from Multiple Companies.

3. The Combine Reports From Multiple Companies dialog box displays as shown in Figure C.46.

Figure C.46. With Enterprise you can combine financial reporting of multiple files.

4. On the right, click the Add Files button and browse to find the file(s) and click the Open button. QuickBooks adds the path of the newly added file to the dialog box. Continue till you have selected all of the files desired.

5. Next, in the Select Reports for Combining box, choose from:

• Balance Sheet Standard

• Balance Sheet Summary

• Profit & Loss Standard

• Statement of Cash Flows

• Trial Balance

• Profit & Loss by Class

• Sales by Customer Summary

5. Set a report date range.

6. Select a report basis of either Accrual or Cash

7. Type a Company Name that is included on the prepared reports.

8. (Optional) Click the Excel Options button to define the formatting of the Excel workbook.

9. When ready, click the Combine Reports in Excel.

10. QuickBooks opens each selected QuickBooks file, one after another. If you have login credentials, enter them when prompted.

11. QuickBooks launches Excel and prepares the consolidated report for you. See Figure C.47.

Figure C.47. Financial reports are consolidated into an Excel worksheet.