Dear Clients and Friends,
 
Since 2004, it has been my privilege to work with each of you on your taxes and financial accounting. I appreciate your trust in me with these important aspects of your life. I am blessed by the friendships and relationships I have developed over the years with so many of you.
 
This letter is to share the news that I will be taking a step back from my work responsibilities in an effort to focus on my health and other aspects of my life. After much prayer and consideration, I am pleased to announce I have found a qualified CPA to take over my practice.
 
Her name is Hanaa Ebrahiem and I hope you will like her as much as I do.  She is easy to talk to and is an experienced business woman with an established of accounting firm in Cypress. Hanaa is looking to expand into this area and plans to keep the office at this time in order to be able to continue providing the same level of service that you have come to rely on.
 
I hope that you give her the same trust and respect that you have given to me as she works to learn about you and your needs as clients.  I will continue to work with her during the transition phase in order to help you get to know her and to acquaint her with all of you.
 
Hanaa has her bachelor's in Accounting from the University of Alexandria and has been a licensed CPA since 2007. While she also has had real estate license since 2006, she loves being an accountant. With 15 years of experience, Hanaa has experience with bookkeeping, handling many varieties of tax returns, and managing client relations with the IRS and State Tax Board. She is also a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.

"My team and I will do our best to provide you with excellent service," Hanaa says. "We were looking to expand our business and were connected with Julie. After getting acquainted, we learned we have a lot in common and follow many of the same systems."

Please contact us with questions and concerns as we transition over the coming months. And, again, thank you for your business and support over the last 17 years. It has been an enriching, challenging, and rewarding experience for me!
 
With blessings,
Julie Davis
 
 
Contact details:
Hanaa Ebrahiem
hanaa@hrtaxpro.com
www.hrtaxpro.com

​QuickBooks was designed to be used by numerous types of small businesses. Custom fields help you tailor it to meet your own needs.
 
One of the reasons that QuickBooks is so popular is that it can be used by a wide variety of business types, from pet stores to landscaping companies to coffee shops. Many companies are satisfied with the software as is and don’t need to make any modifications.
 
But have you ever needed to include more information in your customer records? Do your transaction forms need an additional field or two? QuickBooks makes this possible by supporting custom fields that you can define for yourself. It’s not difficult to do, and it can help you, for example:
 

• Generate more focused reports.
• Make customer and vendor records more detailed.

• Create records for similar-but-different inventory items.

 
Here’s how it works.
 
Changing QuickBooks Forms
 
You may already know that you can change the structure and content of some QuickBooks forms, including invoices, estimates, sales receipts, statements, and purchase orders. To see what’s possible, open the Lists menu and select Templates. Right-click on the screen and select New. Choose the form you want to create and click OK. You can make changes in the window that opens and click Additional Customization to make more modifications.

​You have tremendous control over the content and structure of your forms in QuickBooks.
 
Creating Custom Fields for Records
 
QuickBooks does not include custom field creation in the Basic Customization and Additional Customization windows, although your new fields will appear in the Additional Customization window. Rather, you go to the Customer Center, Vendor Center, or Employee Center, depending on what kind of records you want to change. You can add up to 15 custom fields for those three types of records (no more than seven per type).
 
Open the Customers menu and select Customer Center. Make sure the Customers & Jobs tab is highlighted. Double-click on any record to open its Edit Customer window and then click on Additional Info. In the lower right corner, click Define Fields. The window that opens displays four columns. In the first, Label, you’ll enter the names of your new custom fields. Click in any or all of the next three columns to indicate which records should contain them: customer, vendor, or employee.

​You can create up to 15 custom fields in QuickBooks Pro and Premier, but you’re limited to seven per record type.
 
Think carefully about what custom fields you want to create before you start. Once you’ve defined them and started using them in records and transactions, you won’t want to change them.
 
Adding Custom Fields to Items
 
You can also add up to five custom fields to your item records. Open the Lists menu and select Item List. Select an item and double-click it to open its Edit Item window, then click Custom Fields over to the right. In the window that opens, click Define Fields. This feature works like the one we just explained for adding custom fields to contact records. You enter the Label name and click in the Use column to create a checkmark.
 
Using Custom Fields
 
It’s easy to enter information in the custom fields you’ve created in your customer, vendor, and employee records. You go through the same process you did to create them. Open a record and click Additional Info. You’ll see your new fields in the column to the right. Just enter the information in each record and click OK.

​It’s easy to find the custom fields you’ve created and enter the appropriate information in each record.
 
As we said earlier, the custom fields you’ve created will be available to add to the appropriate form templates when you customize them. You’ll also be able to choose them as filters when you generate reports. 
 
Dealing with Limitations
 
Obviously. QuickBooks’ custom fields have some shortcomings. You can probably work within the limits placed on contact records, but you may want to track more targeted information than the software’s limits allow when you’re dealing with items. If you sell t-shirts and you have a large inventory in different sizes and colors, for example, you’ll have to create an item record for each configuration rather than using custom fields. 
 
You chose—or may be planning to choose—QuickBooks because it can work for so many types of businesses. Custom fields are one way the software provides to personalize its features. But there may come a time when you outgrow its capabilities. You might need to install an add-on application to deepen specific functional areas like inventory, or you may need to upgrade your edition of QuickBooks entirely. We can help when you reach this point. Please contact us if you need help with the program’s custom fields, or if it’s time for you to expand your current accounting system.

Importing your bank transactions into QuickBooks saves time, improves accuracy, and makes you a better money manager.
 
It’s been a long time since your only options for learning about your bank balances and cleared transactions involved your telephone and your monthly statement. These days, accounting software and websites allow you to set up online connections to your financial institutions and download cleared transactions.
 
If you’re new to QuickBooks or you haven’t set up online banking yet, you may not realize how simple it can be (depending on your financial institution), or how safe it is. You can connect to one of your banks and import months of transactions in less than 10 minutes, depending on how active your accounts are, and again, your banks. And QuickBooks uses data protection that is similar to what banks themselves use. As long as you’re following personal security protocols on your own computer, you’re very unlikely to encounter problems.
 
Online banking saves an enormous amount of time. It provides daily updates on your accounts, and if you entered the original transactions correctly, accuracy is assured. This real-time view of your finances can help you avoid money problems, make better business decisions, and plan for your company’s future.
 
Here’s how it works.
 
The Bank Feeds Center
 
QuickBooks provides the tools required to set up and maintain online banking in the Bank Feeds Center. To get there, open the Banking menu and select Bank Feeds, then Bank Feed Center. Click Add account in the upper right. QuickBooks will display a message saying it needs to close all open windows. Click Yes. In the Bank Feed Setup window that opens, select your bank from the list or enter its name in the search box if it’s not there.
 
Not every financial institution provides a direct connection to QuickBooks, but many of the major ones do. If yours does, you’ll see a window like this:

​You’ll see a window like this if your financial institution is set up for direct connections to QuickBooks.
 
Enter the user ID and password that you use to sign on to your bank’s website, then click Connect. You may be told that your financial institution needs more information. If that occurs, just follow the instructions. In our example, Discover Card wanted to send a temporary identification code as an email or text. Select your preference from the drop-down list and click Connect. Once you’ve retrieved your code and entered it, click Connect again. QuickBooks will open a window that displays your account(s) at the institution.
 
Now you have to tell QuickBooks where to download the transactions. Click the down arrow in the field under QuickBooks Accounts. You can select an existing account or create a new one. We want to create a new one here, so you’d click <Create New Account>. You may recognize the Add New Account window if you’ve done this before. QuickBooks already knew that this was a credit card account, so it pre-selected that option in the Account Type field. If you’re connecting a checking account, for example, you would probably want to select Bank. Enter an Account Name. If you want to make it a Subaccount of another account, check that box and select the parent account from the drop-down list (or add a new one).

​When you set up online banking, you need to either create a new account in QuickBooks for each bank or credit card account or select an existing one.
 
The rest of the fields here are optional. You can fill in the description and account number if you’d like, but don’t assign Tax-Line Mapping or Opening Balance without talking to us. Just leave them for now. When you’re done, click Save & Close. Click Connect in the window that opens after you’ve made sure your new account is showing in the field below QuickBooks Accounts.
 
If all has gone well, you’ll get a message saying that your account has been added to QuickBooks. Click Close. Go to Banking | Bank Feeds | Banks Feeds Center again. In the field next to Bank and Credit cards, click the down arrow to see a list if your new account isn’t already showing and select it. Click the rotating circle in the blue card below to download your first set of transactions (or anytime you want to refresh the feed). This will typically bring in 90 days of transactions, depending on your financial institution.

​Click the rotating blue circle anytime you want to download transactions from your bank.
 
There are many ways financial institutions interact with QuickBooks’ bank feeds. This was the simplest one. You might have to contact your financial institution to get QuickBooks Direct Connect set up (fees may apply) or you may have to go to your bank’s website and select the statement or transactions you want to move into QuickBooks. 
 
Next month, we’ll talk about managing the transactions you’ve downloaded into QuickBooks. In the meantime, we’re happy to help you troubleshoot your bank downloads if you need help. 

​It may be one of your least favorite accounting tasks. But account reconciliation is easier if you get ready for it.
 
There’s no question that account reconciliation is a dreaded chore. So much so that many small businesspeople simply don’t do it. QuickBooks’ reconciliation tools and its ability to import transactions from your banks make this activity less painful. They also allow you to make reconciliation an ongoing process rather than a once-a-month marathon. But it still takes time and strict attention to detail, and you still have to sit down with your bank statement once a month. 
 
We strongly recommend that you make account reconciliation a habit. Doing so has numerous benefits. You’ll be able to, for example:
 

• Have confidence that your bank balance in QuickBooks is accurate.
• Match payments to invoices.
• Make sure that your bill payments get posted.
• Catch errors sooner.
• Detect unauthorized access to your accounts.

 
Before you even attempt a reconciliation using QuickBooks, there are actions you can take ahead of time to minimize the time required and make the process less frantic and frustrating. Here are some tips.
 
Match your real-life accounts with QuickBooks accounts.
 
If you’re new to QuickBooks and/or you haven’t set up accounts that mirror all of your real-life bank and credit card accounts, you’ll need to do so. We try to avoid sending you to the Chart of Accounts, but you’ll have to create accounts there to store your downloaded transactions. 
 
Open the Company menu and select Chart of Accounts. Click the down arrow next to Account in the lower left corner and select New. This window will open:

​QuickBooks needs one account for each bank account or credit card you plan to reconcile.
 
You’re going to want to reconcile your checking account(s), so select Bank and click Continue. Complete the fields on the screen that opens and save the account.
 
Warning: It’s critical that you enter the correct Opening Balance. This is the beginning balance printed on the statement you’re going to reconcile. After you’ve gone through the process once, QuickBooks will supply this for you.
 
Be sure that your QuickBooks transactions are up to date.
 
If you’ve connected your QuickBooks file to your online bank, this will be easier. You’ll want to enter any cleared transactions from your statement that are missing in QuickBooks. If you haven’t set up a link to your financial institution, we recommend that you do so. Otherwise, you’ll have to sign on to your online bank account and locate each cleared transaction for each account. We can help you with this step.
 
Be clear on the process. 
 
Reconciling an account in QuickBooks is similar to the way you used to do it using a paper statement and your checkbook register. You’ll be matching the transactions in one to the other and clicking the ones that correspond. When you’ve finished, QuickBooks should show a $0.00 difference between the two. The software makes suggestions about what to do if it doesn’t, which may or may not work.
 
This is the most difficult step in reconciling: ending up with a zero difference. We can troubleshoot your reconciliation if you’re not able to complete it correctly.
 
Don’t forget to enter interest earned and service fee amounts.

​QuickBooks will prompt you, but don’t forget to enter any Service Charges or Interest Earned.
 
They’ll probably seem like small amounts, but your reconciliation will not work if you don’t enter any interest earned or bank service charges. These fields will appear at the bottom of the window when you open the Banking menu and select Reconcile.
 
Before you begin the reconciliation process, back up your QuickBooks company file.
 
This is important. If you get hopelessly tangled up in your reconciliation, you want to be able to go back to where you started. Click File | Backup Company |Create Local Backup. You have two choices here: Online backup (cloud-based storage; fees apply) or Local backup (like a USB drive). Not sure which to choose or how to set it up? Let us walk you through this. You should definitely be backing up your QuickBooks file regularly.
 
Once you’ve gone through a reconciliation successfully, the next ones should be easier. But doing it for the first time can be a major challenge. We can help you through the process. If you’d rather, we can even take over your reconciliation chores completely. Contact us, and we can talk about this.

You can now create groups of customers and automate the process of sending payment reminders.
 
QuickBooks has a new set of tools that can help you deal with what is probably one of your most pressing problems: getting customers to pay. Here’s how to use this new feature.
 
Creating Your Groups
 
QuickBooks has added an entry in the Customers menu to take you to these new tools. Go to Customers | Payment Reminders | Manage Customer Groups. In the window that opens, click Create Customer Group. QuickBooks then walks you through a three-step wizard. First, you enter a Name for your group in the first field of the Group details window. We’ll call ours “California High Balance.” If you’d like you can add a Description. Click Next.
 
In the Select fields window, you’ll set the filters for the group. If you’d rather open your complete list of customers and choose the ones you want manually, you can skip this step. For our example, we’ll define a group by choosing:

• One or more Fields. We want to narrow the group down to California customers. Click the down arrow in the Field box and select State.
• An Operator. Here, you’d select Equals.

• A Value. QuickBooks will display a list of states. Click the box in front of CA. If you’d like to include more states, you can do so. When you’re done, click Add. You’ll see your Selected fields in the box below.

​You can set the parameters for your group by selecting multiple fields, operators, and values.
 
We want to narrow the list down to customers in California who have open balances of more than $500. So you’d select Open Balance for the Field, Greater Than for the Operator, and 500 for the Value. Then click Add again to move your filter into the Selected fields box. 
 
You can keep adding filters to narrow down your list even more if you’d like. When you’re done, click Next. The View/select customers window opens displaying the results of your search in a table whose columns include Name, Overdue balance, and Avg days to pay. There’s a checkmark in the box in front of Automatically add new or remove existing customers based on fields and values selected in this group. 
 
If you leave the box checked, QuickBooks will move customers into the group as their open balances top $500 and out when they catch up on their payments. Uncheck the box, and you’ll have to add and remove customers manually, which would take vigilance and a lot of extra work. If you’re satisfied with the list, click Finish, then OK. The Manage groups window now contains an entry for your new group.
 
Entries here are earmarked with icons indicating whether they are manually or automatically updated. You can also click links in the Actions column to edit or delete a group or send an email to it. If you select the last option, a window will open containing your list of customers (you can unselect any of them) and a composition box for your email.
 
Sending Payment Reminders
 
To start working with Payment Reminders, open the Customers menu and click Payment Reminders | Schedule Payment Reminders. Click Let’s get started. From the next window, you can send either invoices or statements. Click New schedule next to Invoice and enter a name in the box that opens. We’ll call ours 15 days past duesince we want to create reminders for customers who are more than 15 days past due.
 
We want this to go to all customers who fit the criteria, so click <Add New> in the drop down list that follows Send reminder to. Call the new group All customers in the window that opens. Click Next, then Next again to display your entire list of customers. Click Finish, then OK. Back on the Schedule payment reminders screen, click  + Add Reminder. This overlapping window will open:

​You can see and edit what your reminder will say and what fields will be replaced with real data.
 
Enter 15 after Send this reminder and select after from the drop-down list. QuickBooks supplies a sample email that you can edit if you’d like. Real data will, of course, replace the text in brackets. You can delete any of these and add more by clicking Insert Field in the lower right corner. Be very careful if you modify the bracketed fields. Brackets should surround the exact text that comes from the QuickBooks options supplied.
 
When you’re satisfied with your email, you can Check spelling. Then click OK. You’ll be back at the Payment reminders screen where you can save your reminder or add another. 
 
QuickBooks will now prompt you to send reminders when they’re due. You can track them in your customers’ invoice histories and in your sent mail folder. When the time comes, open the Customers menu and select Payment Reminders | Review & Send Payment Reminders. QuickBooks will display a list of reminders that need to be dispatched. Make sure all of the reminders you want to send have a checkmark in the box next to them and click Send Now.
 
There’s nothing difficult about using these new QuickBooks tools, but you should be very careful with them. You don’t want to annoy customers by sending payment reminders unless they’re really warranted. You also don’t want to let late payments languish. Should you choose to use them, we’d be happy to walk you through the process to prevent errors. As always, we’re available to respond to your questions about QuickBooks and to help you make optimal use of it in your business.

​Knowing where you stand with your company’s product count is crucial. QuickBooks can help you stay current.
 
If your company sells physical products, you know how important it is to always be aware of your stock levels. You have to know what’s selling and what’s not. And you need to get a head start on ordering new inventory when yours is running low.  
 
The tricky part is always having enough available to meet the needs of existing orders as they come in. On the other hand, you don’t want to have too much money tied up in products that are selling slowly. It’s a delicate balance, and one you can’t maintain unless you have very precise inventory records and reports.
 
QuickBooks helps with both sides of this equation. It allows you to create detailed records for each of your company’s products that both track your existing stock levels in real time and alert you when it’s time to re-order. Plus, specialized reports provide insight on your inventory as a whole. Here’s how it works.
 
Getting Set Up
 
Before you start entering item records, you need to make sure that QuickBooks is set up for inventory tracking. Open the Edit menu and select Preferences, then Items & Inventory. If you are the administrator, you can click on the Company Preferences tab to open this window.

​Before you start working with inventory, you must make sure that QuickBooks is ready.
 
Click in the box in front of Inventory and purchase orders are active if it’s not already checked. Check the next two boxes if those apply to you, then respond to the final query. Quantity On Hand refers to the number of units you actually have in stock. Some items may not be available if they’re committed to assemblies, for example. So choose one of the two conditions that should trigger a warning about inaccessible inventory.
When you’re done here, click OK.
 
Creating Accurate Records
 
Even if you have a relatively modest catalog of products for sale, we recommend that you use QuickBooks’ inventory tracking. It’s just too difficult to keep tabs on your item levels manually, especially if you sell in any volume. And errors in this area may mean you come up short when customers order products that you thought were available but weren’t. You could easily lose business.
 
To start creating item records, click the Items & Services icon on the home page or open the Lists menu and select Item List. Right-click anywhere in the window that opens and select New. Under Type in the upper left corner, click the down arrow and select Inventory Part. This just means that you want to be able to track how many of this item that you have in stock.

​QuickBooks provides detailed record templates for your item records.
 
You don’t necessarily have to complete every field in these records, but the more thorough you are, the more comprehensive and accurate your inventory tracking will be. Enter an Item Name/Number. If this product will be a subitem of another, check that box and select the parent item. Manufacturer’s Part Number is optional. 
 
In the two columns below these fields, you’ll provide Purchase Information and Sales Information. In the left column, enter the text that would appear on a purchase order and the Cost the vendor charges for the item. The Cost of Goods Sold account should appear by default. Change it if it doesn’t. And if you have a Preferred Vendor, select it from the drop-down list.
 
The right column should contain information about your own sale of the item. How will the Description on Sales Transactions read? This may be different from the vendor’s text. What will your Sales Price be? This will, of course, be higher, so you can make a profit. Is the item taxable? Select the correct jurisdiction under Tax Code if so. You’ll then need to select your Income Account. You may want to consult with us on this issued, because it’s important that you make the right choice -- or know how to create your own. 
 
On the bottom row here, let the first field default to Inventory Asset. If you want to be reminded to reorder when your inventory count hits a specific number, enter a number in the field below Reorder Point (Minimum). Provide the number you currently have On Hand. The remaining fields will be automatically completed by QuickBooks. When you’ve finished here, click OK. Your item will now appear in the Item List and will be available to use in sales and purchase forms. 
 
QuickBooks can quickly show you the status of your items in the form of numerous reports. Open the Reports menu and hover your mouse over Inventory to see the list that’s available, including Inventory Stock Status by Item and Inventory Valuation Detail. 
 
Simple or Complex?
 
QuickBooks Pro and Premier can handle very simple inventory tracking and even meet more complex needs in some cases. If you find that it doesn’t do everything you need, you have options. There are add-on apps that expand on the software’s capabilities and more senior versions of QuickBooks that offer robust inventory management. Please contact us if you want to explore one of these or if you need help understanding the basics of inventory tracking in your current version.

​It’s impossible to have a clear picture of where your business is headed without regularly running QuickBooks’ built-in reports.
 
If you’re currently using QuickBooks, you know how it’s transformed your daily bookkeeping practices. You can create sales forms like invoices quickly and actually find them when you need them. Your customer and vendor records are organized and stored neatly for fast retrieval. You can accept online payments, track your inventory, and record billable time.
 
But if you’re not using QuickBooks’ built-in reports, you’re missing out on one of the software’s most powerful components. While you can look at lists of invoices, sales receipts, and payments, you can’t see in a few seconds who owes you money and how late they are in paying, for example. You’re not able to get an instant overview of who you owe. You can’t call up a customer’s history instantly, and it will take an enormous amount of time to see which of your items and services are selling and which aren’t.
 
These are just a few of the insights you get from using QuickBooks reports. Beyond learning about your company’s past and present financial states, you can make better business decisions that will improve your future.
 
Before You Start
 
QuickBooks’ reports are exceptionally customizable, as you’ll see. But before you start creating them, you should see what your general report options are. Open the Edit menu and select Preferences, then Company Preferences (which only administrators can modify). You’ll see this window:

​Before you start working with reports in QuickBooks, you should make sure their global settings represent your needs.
 
You can see in the image above that you can control your reports’ general settings. For example, some reports can be created on the basis of either Accrual or Cash. You can designate your preference here. Do you want the aging process to begin on the due date or transaction date? How much information should appear when Items or Accounts are displayed? What additional data should appear on your report pages (Report Title, Date Prepared, Report Basis, etc.)? You can specify your own Format or just accept the Default.
 
Statement of Cash Flows is an advanced report, one we don’t recommend you try to modify or analyze on your own. We can help with that when the report is needed, which is usually monthly or quarterly.
 
When you’re done here, click OK.
 
Learn What’s There
 
The best way to familiarize yourself with the reports that QuickBooks offers is to open the Reports menu and click Report Center. The content here is divided by type (Customers & Receivables, Sales, Purchases, etc.). Click around these lists and use the icons in each box to Run the current report, get more Info on it, mark it as one of your Faves, or view a Help file. You can choose the date range before you run it with your company’s own data.
 
Customizing Your Content
 
We mentioned before how customizable QuickBooks’ reports are. Customization options vary from report to report, but we’ll look at one example here. You’re likely to want to run Sales by Item Detail frequently to see what your most popular items are as well as what’s not doing so well. Find it in the Report Center by clicking the Sales tab, selecting it, and clicking Run. If you don’t have a lot of data in QuickBooks yet, open one of the sample files that came with the software (File | Open Previous Company).
 
With the report open, click Customize Report in the upper left corner to open this window:

​You have tremendous control over the content that appears in your reports.
 
There are four tabs here. Click on each to see what your options are.
 

• Display. Includes options like Report Date Range and Columns.
• Filters. What cross-section of your QuickBooks data do you want to see? Choose a filter, and the middle column will change to reflect your options there. You can add and remove as many filters as you’d like.
• Header/Footer. If you want to change the settings you established in Company Preferences, you can do so here.
• Fonts & Numbers. Contains display options.

 
When you’ve finished customizing your report, click OK to create it. Your modified report format will not be saved unless you click Memorize and give it a name.
 
Two Kinds of Reports
 
You can customize and run most of the reports in QuickBooks by yourself. But there are several that you’ll need our help with, beyond the Statement of Cash Flows that we mentioned before. These are standard financial reports, like the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss. Ideally, we should be generating these for you on a regular basis so you can get more actionable, deeper insight into your company’s finances. You’ll definitely need them if you, for example, apply for a loan or seek investors.
 
Please contact us if you want to gain a better understanding of how QuickBooks’ reports can help you make better business decisions. You can’t know where you stand without them.

​Do you create the same transactions repeatedly? QuickBooks allows you to memorize them.
 
Accounting involves a lot of repetition. You send invoices and receive payments and pay bills, over and over. Sometimes they’re similar enough every month that you’d swear you already processed them.
 
QuickBooks has a feature that can both save time by reducing duplicate data entry and minimize errors. Once you’ve created a transaction, but before you save it, you can memorize it. Then when it comes up again, the software will have created a template that you can either send as is or make any changes necessary. If more than one transaction is due on the same day, you can save all of them as a group and dispatch them together.
 
This repetition is easy to set up, but you need to take care with it. Here’s how it works.
 
Sales and Purchase Forms
 
You can memorize multiple types of transactions, including invoices, sales orders, and bills. Let’s look at this process by creating a repeating invoice. You might want to use a sample file to practice. Open the File menu and highlight Open Previous Company, then select either a product or service-based company.
 
Click Create Invoices on the home page (or Customers | Create Invoices). Fill out the form using the sample data. In our example, we’re billing the customer for four weekly gardening sessions. Click Memorize in the toolbar or Edit | Memorize Invoice. This small window will open:

​When you memorize a transaction, you have multiple options for setting up its processing.
 
QuickBooks gives you three ways to handle the transaction. You can:
 
Add to my Reminders List. QuickBooks will add an entry in your Reminders list X number of days before the invoice should be entered. In order to get it, of course, you need to have Reminders turned on. Open the Edit menu and select Preferences, then Reminders | My Preferences. Click in the box in front of Show Reminders List when opening a Company file. Then click Company Preferences and select Show Summary or Show List next to Memorized Transactions Due and enter the number of days before the due date that you want to be reminded. Click OK.
 
Do Not Remind Me. You might select this for a transaction that doesn’t have a set schedule, just so it’s available when you need it.
 
Automatic Transaction Entry. Just like it sounds. QuickBooks will automatically enter the transaction according to the schedule you establish, changing only the date. If you select this option, you need to select How Often the transaction will be processed (Weekly, Monthly, etc.) and what the Next Date will be (be sure this date is in the future). In our example above, the customer only had a contract for a year, so we entered 12 (months), which included the Next Date. Then choose the Days In Advance To Enter.
 
When you’re done, click OK.
 
Adding to a Group
 
There’s a fourth option in this window: Add to Group. You can set up groups of memorized transactions whose due dates are the same, or similar enough to be stored together. Open the Lists menu and select Memorized Transaction List. Once you’ve memorized a transaction, you’ll see it listed there. Right click anywhere on that screen and select New Group to open this window:

​You can create Groups of transactions that have similar due dates.
 
Give your Group a recognizable name and fill out the rest of the fields, then click OK. It will now appear in the list of memorized transactions. Open or create a transaction that you want to include in the Group and click Memorize again. In the window that opens, click the button in front of Add to Group and click the down arrow next to the field for Group Name to open the list. Select the correct one and click OK.
 
Bills, Too
 
You can memorize bills, too, following a similar process, but we’d caution you about using the automated transaction entry option for these unless your payment is exactly the same every month.
 
If you do automate a transaction and the amount changes, or if you want to edit a memorized transaction for any reason, open the Memorized Transaction List. There are two ways to edit. If you want to change your reminder option, frequency, etc., highlight the one you want to edit and right click on it. Select Edit Memorized Transaction and make your modifications, then click OK.
 
If you want to alter the content of the transaction itself, double click on it, make your changes, and click Memorize. Click on Replace in the small window that opens, then save the transaction. You can also choose Delete Memorized Transaction and create a new one.
 
It’s not difficult to memorize transactions in QuickBooks, but you can get tangled up when you try to edit them or when you’re setting up the automated entry option. We encourage you to contact us if you’re unsure of these features, or when you’re dealing with anything in QuickBooks that is unfamiliar or complicated. We’re here to support you and your small business accounting operations in any way we can.

​Your QuickBooks company file is gold. Keep it safe from fraud and intrusions.
 
After the unprecedented year we’ve just experienced, the last thing you need is to have your accounting data compromised or stolen. It would be impossible to reconstruct your QuickBooks file from scratch, and you can’t afford to have a hacker steal any of your funds.
 
There are numerous steps you can take to protect yourself from threats, both internal and external. QuickBooks itself offers some safeguards. Strong company policies can also help safeguard against data theft or destruction. And some of your security guidelines should just come from using common sense.
 
Here’s a look at what you can do.
 
Keep Your Systems Safe
 
There are countless ways you can protect your data by maintaining the integrity of the computer that’s running QuickBooks. Some involve the same steps you would take to safeguard all of the applications and information you have stored there. You should have reputable antivirus/anti-malware software installed. Use strong passwords. Keep up with system updates.

​You can set up automatic updates in QuickBooks to download and install new functionality and bug fixes.
 
Updates and Backup
 
QuickBooks’ own updates are critical, too. You can start these manually, but we recommend setting up automatic updates. Open the Help menu and click on Update QuickBooks Desktop. Click the Options tab to access this tool.
 
Frequent, safely-stored backups are another essential element of overall data security. If your system is compromised by an intruder, you’ll need to be able to restore your most recent QuickBooks file when it’s safe again. Go to File | Back Up Company to set up either a local or an online backup. Use one of these tools at the end of any day you’ve entered anything on QuickBooks. We can help you with backup if you’re not absolutely sure how to do it.
 
Networks and Smartphones
 
If you have multiple PCs that run on a network, it’s important to maintain that system’s health, too, since an intrusion at one workstation can affect everyone. You can do this by:

• Discouraging employees from browsing the web excessively and downloading unnecessary software.
• Encouraging responsible handling of emails (no clicking on unknown attachments, no personal email on work computers, etc.)
• Installing network monitoring software or hiring a managed IT service that only charges when you need them.

 
Do your employees have company-issued smartphones? Make sure their security systems are sound. Set policies to protect them. For example, tell employees they should never use them on a public Wi-Fi network or install personal apps on them.
 
Internal Fraud Possible
 
No business owners anticipate that their own employees would steal from them. But it happens, and it can do tremendous financial damage. So minimize your chances of being victimized by limiting the access that employees have to sensitive information.

You can limit the access permissions each user has in multiple areas.
 
Go to Company | Set Up Users and Passwords, then click Set Up Users. You should be listed there as the Admin. Click Add User and supply a username and password. If you’re not sure how many users are supported on your license or need to add more, contact us. Click Next and then click the button in front of Selected areas of QuickBooks. Click Next again. On the next several screens, you’ll designate that user’s access in areas including Purchases and Accounts Payable and Checking and Credit Cards. When you come to the end of the wizard, click Finish.
 
You might consider running a background check when you hire someone who will have access to QuickBooks. It’s become a more common business practice.
 
QuickBooks provides additional tools that can be helpful in tracking down suspicious activity. You can view the Audit Trail, for one. Go to Reports | Accountant & Taxes | Audit Trail. This report displays a comprehensive list of transactions that have been entered and/or modified.
There are other reports that may be helpful, like Missing Checks, Voided/Deleted Transactions, and Purchases By Vendor.
 
A Never-Ending Process
 
It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily work of running your business that you forget to take the steps required to keep your QuickBooks data—and all of your computer hardware and software—safe. We get that.
 
Further, you might think that you’re an unlikely target because you’re a small business. Hackers count on you thinking that, though the reality is that you don’t have to be a big corporation to be the victim of cybercrime. Whether or not criminals get access to your funds, they can do a lot of damage that will end up costing you more time and money than you might think.
 
So stay vigilant. Security should be considered whenever you deal with financial transactions – especially where the internet is involved. If we can be of assistance as you set up safeguards and company policies, let us know. As always, we’re available to answer any questions you might have about QuickBooks operations in general.

QuickBooks comes with perfectly usable sales form templates. But you can modify content and appearance to make them yours.
 
When you receive an invoice or bill in the mail or online, how much attention do you pay to the way it looks? You might think you don’t, but any communication we receive from the vendors we patronize has an effect on us. We’re probably more likely to notice it if it’s particularly good or bad.
 
Any interaction you have with your customers has impact on their perception of your business. How do you want them to think about you? If you send invoices that are professional and polished, it can reflect on you positively. Unattractive sales forms that have a lot of empty, unused fields may make customers wonder about your commitment to excellence.
 
Some of your customers will just glance at your invoices and pay them. But you shouldn’t miss an opportunity to make a good impression, especially when it’s as painless as customizing your sales forms in QuickBooks. Here’s how it works.
 
Modifying Your Templates
 
QuickBooks comes with pre-designed templates for each type of sales form it supports: invoices, estimates, credit memos, sales receipts, purchase orders, statements, sales orders, and payment receipts (you may not have access to all of these depending on what version you’re using). You can see the list by opening the Lists menu and clicking on Templates. 

​QuickBooks comes with modifiable templates for numerous types of sales forms.
 
Let’s look at an invoice template. Right-click on Intuit Service Invoice in the list to open the action menu, then click Edit Template. Click on Manage Templates, then click Copy at the bottom of the window to make a copy of the original so you can practice. The Preview in the right pane is named Copy of Intuit Service Invoice. Click OK.
 
Tip: You can use the Copy command to make and modify multiple copies of any sales form that you can use for different purposes and/or customers.
 
Now you’re back at the Basic Customization window. Check to make sure the Selected Template field reads Copy of Intuit Service Invoice. You can practice using this one and delete it when you want to work on your main template.
 
Click the box in front of Use logo and browse in the window that opens to find it. Double-click on it, then click OK in the small window that opens to confirm, and QuickBooks returns you to the previous window with the logo showing in the Preview pane. If you want to change the color of the invoice, click the down arrow in the field below Select Color Scheme. Choose the one you want and click Apply Color Scheme.

You can add a logo and change the color scheme and fonts used on your invoice. The preview in the right pane (not shown here) updates to reflect your modifications.
 
If you want to change the fonts for the four fields pictured above, click on each and then click Change Font to open a window with your options. Below that is the list of fields available for your Company & Transaction Information that is positioned next to your logo. You can click boxes to check or uncheck the fields you want to appear.
 
Warning: If you select too many fields, you may have to use the Layout Designer to position them on the invoice, which can be challenging.
 
You can also turn on the Status Stamp and Past Due Stamp to display the status of each invoice (Paid, Pending, etc.) using a graphic that looks like you’ve stamped the form.
 
Selecting Fields and Columns
 
QuickBooks also gives you control over the fields and columns that appear in the body of the invoice. Click Additional Customization at the bottom of the window. In the window that opens, you can change three things for the content that appears in the header, footer, and columns. By clicking boxes and entering text, you can indicate which fields should appear on the screen and which should be printed. You can also edit the default field titles. Click on each tab at the top to see all of your options.

​You can tell QuickBooks which fields should appear on the screen and on printed invoices, as well as how their titles should read.
 
As you’re making these changes, QuickBooks will warn you that you might have overlapping fields and that, again, you’ll have to use the Layout Designer. You can click Print Preview at any time to see what your finished invoice will look like and decide whether you want to try to modify your design. If you’re just adding, deleting, or moving (drag and drop) a few fields, this may work fine for you. But QuickBooks is not a sophisticated graphic design program, and your results may not look professional if you attempt too much.
 
When you’re done modifying your template, click OK. Copy of Intuit Service Invoice will now appear in the list of options that drops down under the Template field at the top of the screen when you’re creating an invoice. If you want to edit, delete, or hide it by making it inactive, you can do so by again going to Lists | Templates and clicking on its name, then clicking the down arrow next to Templates to open the action menu.
 
Tip: You can also click Duplicate, which will open a list of all of your sales forms. Select one and click OK, and you’ll be able to transfer your formatting preferences over to it.
 
We doubt you’ll have much trouble customizing your sales forms in QuickBooks, but you may have other problems you’d like us to address. There’s so much the software can do to help you understand and manage your finances that you may not yet have explored. Contact us if you want to expand your use of QuickBooks, or if you simply need help developing a daily workflow.