Synopses & Reviews
QuickBooks 2012 For Dummies is a big help for small businessesMost businesses can't afford a Big Four accounting firm to handle their books. That's why so many small-to-mid-size businesspeople turn to QuickBooks to help them keep track of their finances. Bestselling author Stephen Nelson returns with updated coverage of the latest revisions and enhancements to the leading small business accounting software package. After a quick review of bookkeeping basics, you'll discover how QuickBooks can help you build the perfect budget, process payroll, simplify your tax return prep work, create invoices, manage inventory, generate income statements, balance accounts, and much more.
You'll learn what you should do before you install and set up QuickBooks, then move onto basic bookkeeping concepts and the fundamentals of building a solid budget. You'll also discover how to enter data, create invoices, and record and print sales receipts; keep track of your inventory, payroll, and budgets; monitor your job costs; and generate the most common financial reports with ease.
- Veteran author Stephen Nelson updates his perennial bestseller and offers you easy-to-understand coverage of the newest release of QuickBooks
- Enables you to take control of managing your own business accounting and financial management tasks so you can avoid having to hire expensive outside help
- Provides expert advice for getting started with QuickBooks, building the perfect budget, processing payroll, creating invoices, managing inventory, tracking job costs, generating income statements, balancing accounts, creating financial reports, and more
QuickBooks 2012 For Dummies helps you handle your financial management tasks more effectively so that you can get down to business!
Synopsis
Manage your business finances the easy way with QuickBooksGet your small business rolling with great ideas, exceptional organization skills, unique products or services — and a trusted, accessible, accounting system like QuickBooks. QuickBooks 2012 For Dummies shows you how to use this popular business accounting program to clearly understand your finances and run your business with ease.
Start here — discover what you need to do to be ready for QuickBooks, set up the software, reel in the dough, and pay the bills
Get it together — learn to enter data, create professional- looking invoices, and record and print sales receipts
Financial housekeeping — estimate jobs, check inventory, and evaluate fixed assets
Watch that dough — effectively keep track of your checkbook, credit card accounts, inventory, payroll, and budgets
Narrow it down — get a company snapshot telling you who needs to get paid, who owes money, and what needs to be done
Monitoring made easy — create financial reports and track every dollar coming in and going out
Fear tax time no more — organize your data and simplify tax preparation
Get on-track, online — securely download bank and credit card transactions directly into QuickBooks
Open the book and find:
Steps to setting up and succeeding with QuickBooks
How to compute employee wages and payroll deductions
Ways to customize invoices and memos
What you need to estimate jobs and track costs
How to keep an eye on inventory
Tips for building the perfect budget
What to do before tax time
Special guidelines business owners should never forget
About the Author
Stephen L. Nelson, MBA, CPA, provides accounting, business advisory, tax planning, and tax preparation services to small businesses. He belongs to the American Institute of CPAs and holds an MBA in Finance and a Master's in Taxation. His 100-plus books have sold more than four million copies.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1Part I: Quickly into QuickBooks 7
Chapter 1: QuickBooks: The Heart of Your Business 9
Chapter 2: The Big Setup 19
Chapter 3: Populating QuickBooks Lists 37
Part II: Daily Entry Tasks 81
Chapter 4: Creating Invoices and Credit Memos 83
Chapter 5: Reeling In the Dough 107
Chapter 6: Paying the Bills 131
Chapter 7: Inventory Magic 155
Chapter 8: Keeping Your Checkbook 175
Chapter 9: Paying with Plastic 193
Part III: Stuff You Do from Time to Time 203
Chapter 10: Printing Checks 205
Chapter 11: Payroll 217
Chapter 12: Building the Perfect Budget 229
Chapter 13: Online with QuickBooks 237
Part IV: Housekeeping Chores 249
Chapter 14: The Balancing Act 251
Chapter 15: Reporting on the State of Affairs 261
Chapter 16: Job Estimating, Billing, and Tracking 275
Chapter 17: File Management Tips 285
Chapter 18: Fixed Assets and Vehicle Lists 297
Part V: The Part of Tens 309
Chapter 19: (Almost) Ten Tips for Business Owners 311
Chapter 20: Tips for Handling (Almost) Ten Tricky Situations 317
Chapter 21: (Almost) Ten Secret Business Formulas 325
Part VI: Appendixes 339
Appendix A: Installing QuickBooks in Ten Easy Steps 341
Appendix B: If Numbers Are Your Friends 345
Appendix C: Sharing QuickBooks Files 363
Index 371