Lesson 2: Creating a Company
Lesson Objectives
After studying this lesson, you will be able to:
Plan
Edit
and create a company
your QuickBooks preferences and customize a
company file
Enter
Run
Set
opening balances and historical transactions
list reports and find help for QuickBooks
up QuickBooks users
Understand
2
closing the books “QuickBooks style”
The Five Ps
It’s much easier to spend a little time planning in the
beginning than spending a lot of time fixing problems
later!
prior
planning
prevents
poor
performance
3
Choosing Your Start Date
Enter all transactions for your company from the start
date forward
If
you choose a date too far in the past, the process can
be very time consuming
4
Ask your accountant to help you determine the best
start date for your business
Choosing a Setup Path
Advanced Setup
Company
creation
occurs as you progress
through a series of
questions
5
Express Start
Provide
basic
information; set up
other aspects later
Setup Checklist
Gather information before setting up a new
company file
Chez Devereaux Salon and Spa
Company Checklist for QuickBooks
Address:
Phone:
444 North Pelham St.
715.555.4010
Rhinelander, WI 54501
Fiscal year: January
715.555.4015 fax
Need from accountant: Chart of
accounts, what should I use for items?
Vendors: need names, addresses,
account numbers, and payment terms
for each
Customers: need names and contact
information, payment terms, and
account numbering system
Start date: 4/30/2011
Tax form: 1040
Accounting basis: Cash
Federal EIN: 99-9999999
State ID: 999-9999-9
Tip! View an extensive setup checklist at the student
resource center for this book.
6
The Starter Chart of Accounts
Choose the business type that most closely
resembles your company
•
Modify the starter
Chart of Accounts
as needed
•
QuickBooks
creates profile lists
based on business
type
Choose carefully! (You cannot change the business type later.)
7
Editing Your QuickBooks Preferences
Customize how you interact with QuickBooks
You can change the preferences for 21 categories in QuickBooks
8
The Balance Sheet
Company Preferences
Administrator
makes changes
e.g., Whether to use account
numbers for your company file
Personal Preferences
Individual
makes
changes
9
e.g., The color
scheme for your
QuickBooks desktop
Customizing the Chart of Accounts
Fine tune the starter Chart of Accounts
You can create
new accounts…
…or edit the provided accounts
to suit your needs…
10
Using Subaccounts
Offer increased flexibility
Profit & Loss report
Collapse
Expand
data (hide subaccounts)
data (display subaccounts)
Subaccounts
displayed
Collapsed
Expanded
11
Opening Balances and Historical
Transactions
Five methods to enter opening balances:
EasyStep
Journal
Forms
Interview (bank accounts only)
entries
(individual transactions)
Registers
Lists
Two ways to enter historical transactions:
Individually
Summary
12
journal entry
Finding Help in QuickBooks
The QuickBooks “Have a Question?” window
The Persistent Search Bar
13
Setting Up Users
Administrator controls access of all users
Passwords can be assigned
Administrator controls company preferences
10,000 users can be set up!
Nine areas of access rights for users:
14
The Report Center
The Report Center explains what each report will do for you without
you having to create it
15
List Reports
List reports
display the
information found
in QuickBooks
lists in an easy-toread format
16