QuickBooks 2012 For Dummies, UK Edition (eBook)

Stephen L. Nelson, CPA, MBA (finance), MS (taxation), has a simple purpose in life: He wants to help you (and people like you) manage your business finances by using computers. Oh, sure, this personal mandate won't win him a Nobel Prize or anything, but it's his own little contribution to the world. Steve's experiences mesh nicely with his special purpose. A CPA in Redmond, Washington, his past small business experience includes a stint as an adjunct professor of taxation (S corporations and limited liability companies) at Golden Gate University graduate tax school and a few years working as a senior consultant and CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co. (er, yeah, that Arthur Andersen -- but, hey, it was nearly 30 years ago). Steve, whose books have sold more than 4 million copies in English and have been translated into 11 other languages, is also the bestselling author of Quicken 2012 For Dummies. Loredana Stroup, DPhil (Oxon), MBA, has over a decade of experience working with businesses in various capacities including management consulting, software training, and technology systems design and integration. Her passion is to help people run their businesses more efficiently and effectively, especially through the use of proven digital technologies. She founded and runs Alta Training Limited which specialises in QuickBooks setups, training, and troubleshooting. Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks, has recognised her expertise and tapped it in the development, testing and launching of QuickBooks (UK), and also in engaging her to write training materials and deliver training programmes across the country.

Introduction 1

Part I: Quickly into QuickBooks 7

Chapter 1: QuickBooks: The Heart of Your Business 9

Chapter 2: Answering Mr Wizard 17

Chapter 3: Populating QuickBooks Lists 37

Part II: Daily Entry Tasks 85

Chapter 4: Creating Invoices and Credit Notes 87

Chapter 5: Collecting Your Just Rewards 113

Chapter 6: Paying the Bills 137

Chapter 7: Stock Magic 163

Chapter 8: Working with Your Banking Register 181

Chapter 9: Paying with Plastic 197

Chapter 10: Working with Multicurrency 207

Part III: Stuff You Do from Time to Time 229

Chapter 11: Managing VAT 231

Chapter 12: Payroll 249

Chapter 13: Building the Perfect Budget 275

Part IV: Housekeeping Chores 283

Chapter 14: The Balancing Act 285

Chapter 15: Reporting on the State of Affairs 295

Chapter 16: Job Estimating, Billing, and Tracking 309

Chapter 17: File Management Tips 319

Part V: The Part of Tens 329

Chapter 18: Tips for Handling (Almost) Ten Tricky Situations
331

Chapter 19: (Almost) Ten Secret Business Formulas 341

Part VI: Appendixes 357

Appendix A: Installing QuickBooks in Ten Easy Steps 359

Appendix B: If Numbers Are Your Friends 363

Appendix C: Sharing QuickBooks Files 381

Appendix D: Printing Cheques 389

Index 395