The Bookkeeping Corner

4 Reasons to Check Your QuickBooks Set-Up and Preferences

4 Reasons to check your QuickBooks Set-Up and Preferences

You’ve had QuickBooks setup on your laptop or computer for some time now.  Perhaps you didn’t initially install it and set it up.  Whether you actually installed it or someone else installed it, when was the last time you checked your Company Preferences. Sometimes you can discover or re-discover certain features in QuickBooks that initially didn’t apply to your business.  However, because your business has changed, it may now be time to either incorporate some of those un-used features into your business’ operations or update your company information.

1. Your business has changed

You may now be selling products in addition to services, which could mean you have to collect sales tax. To properly track a sales tax liability you should check your preferences to turn-on this feature.

You could have changed the way you are generating invoices – instead of sending invoices through the mail, you decided to go paperless.  You can take advantage of the QuickBooks E-mail feature that allows you to email invoices and statements from within QuickBooks.

2. You have multiple bank accounts

Some business owners use multiple bank accounts for different purposes.  For example, you may have an operating bank account to pay bills and a separate bank account to receive payments from customers. In QuickBooks, you can select default bank accounts to use for specific activities.

3. Your report requirements changed

If you were on the cash basis of accounting and changed to the accrual basis of accounting, it is a time saver to set the preference in QuickBooks to have reports automatically generated on an accrual basis.

4. You have employees now

QuickBooks can calculate payroll and payroll taxes and process quarterly payroll tax returns.  You can set your employees up for direct deposit.  You can also pay your payroll taxes and file your payroll tax returns electronically.  This feature of QuickBooks is not totally free – you will have to sign up for the service and pay for a subscription.