QuickBooks is smart!
No wonder it’s Canada’s #1 accounting software for business. Better than a spreadsheet, QuickBooks helps you track and report on everything needed to produce a finished product or service. Do you know which of your products or services generates the most revenue? Do you know the associated costs, and how much profit you earn?
At The Art of Accounting we help non-accountants, bookkeepers, and accountants do business better through QuickBooks Training (and a host of other services). We firmly believe that numbers tell a story. When you work with us, you’ll gain the confidence you need to narrate your story like a best-selling autobiography rather than a feel-good, I’m just guessing, fairy tale.
How do we do it? We have been Certified QuickBooks™ ProAdvisors since 2008. We not only help clients set up and use QuickBooks, we offer customized QuickBooks training to suit every need whether it is creating invoices and tracking sales, staying on top of expenses, or gaining insights into your business. We love QuickBooks so much – it is the software we use for our business too!
Here is one of the ways we encourage business owners to get a grip on their business:
Setting up Items and Services
An item is anything that your company buys, sells or resells to generate revenue. It could be a product or service, miscellaneous charge, or even a discount. QuickBooks handles the background accounting that allows you to generate invoices accurately.
Service Item
Service items can be fees, hourly rates, or labour. Simply create your item, input a detailed description of the item, enter amounts, sales tax and you’re ready to go. When inputting services, QuickBooks also allows you track the purchase side of the transaction. For example if you are purchasing the service from a subcontractor.
Non-Inventory Parts
Setting up non-inventory parts allows you to track merchandise that you purchase but that is not used for resale, in other words selling job related supplies, materials or parts. Sub-items of non-inventory parts can be created to provide more detail in the invoice.
Other Charges
This item is used to track freight, shipping and handling or any other miscellaneous charge that may need to be added to the invoice. Other charges can be set up as a dollar value or percentage.
Group Items
This option is quite helpful when setting up packages of products or services that your company provides. Not having to enter items individually allows you to save time, time that could be used to go out and generate more business.
Subtotal
Use the subtotal item when applying discounts or surcharges. This is a calculated field and will appear in the body of the invoice. It adds up all line items above, organizing the appearance of the invoice.
Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People believes that to be effective, we need to “begin with the end in mind”. Taking the time to accurately input items and services from the get-go will not only make invoicing fast, easy, but when it comes time to report and review costs, earnings and future opportunities, you’ll be ready! Are you looking for an edge for your Burlington, Oakville or Halton Region business? Contact Gisèle Doucet and Kim Bell at The Art of Accounting today.