QuickBooks 2017 For Dummies. Nelson Stephen L.

file – and you don’t need to be reading this chapter.

      

If you aren’t starting QuickBooks for the first time but want to step through QuickBooks Setup to set up a new company anyway, choose File ⇒ New Company.

      I should mention that the first QuickBooks Setup dialog box (the one shown in Figure 2-1) identifies some other setup options you can use to get started. The dialog box gives you the Detailed Start option, for example, which lets you control the setup and fine-tune the company file. The dialog box also gives you the option to create a new file from an old file. It also suggests that you might want to upgrade from Quicken or some other accounting system. (Basically, that upgrade means that you want QuickBooks to try using your existing accounting system’s data as a starting point.)

      Two simple bits of advice: Don’t fiddle with Detailed Setup unless you’re an accounting expert, and don’t attempt to “upgrade” Quicken or some other accounting program’s data. It’s just as easy and usually considerably cleaner to work from a trial balance.

      

The one group of new QuickBooks users who probably should try upgrading their old accounting system’s data are people who’ve done a really good job of keeping their books with the old system, including complete balance sheet information. No offense, but you probably aren’t in this category. Sorry.

Using the Express Setup

      QuickBooks 2017 provides you a very fast setup process compared with other accounting software programs and even with old versions of the QuickBooks software. Basically, you fill in some boxes and click some buttons, and voilà – you’ve largely set up QuickBooks. Because I can give you some tips, identify some shortcuts, and warn you of some traps to avoid, I’m providing these step-by-step instructions:

      1. In the first QuickBooks Setup dialog box (refer to Figure 2-1), choose Express Setup.

With the first QuickBooks Setup dialog box displayed, click the Express Start button. QuickBooks displays the Glad You’re Here! dialog box, shown in Figure 2-2.

      2. Specify the business name.

      The name you specify goes on QuickBooks reports and appears on invoices you send customers. Accordingly, you want to use your “real” business name. If your business is incorporated or formed as a limited liability company (LLC), you want to use the right suffix or acronym in your name. Don’t use Acme Supplies, for example, but Acme Supplies Inc. or Acme Supplies LLC.

       Note: QuickBooks also uses the company name for the QuickBooks data file.

      3. Identify your industry.

      If you’re in the construction business, for example, type construction. When you type something in the Industry field, QuickBooks turns the box into a drop-down menu showing the industries that it recognizes. You can pick an industry from this menu (or pick the industry that’s closest to your business).

      

Be thoughtful and cautious about the industry you specify. QuickBooks sets up a starting chart of accounts for you based on the industry. A chart of accounts lists the asset, liability, income, and expense accounts (or categories) that QuickBooks will use to categorize your business’s finances.

      4. Identify the tax return you file.

      Use the Business Type field to specify the tax return that your business files. You can click that field and then make a choice from the menu that QuickBooks provides.

      

The QuickBooks menu of tax return options includes only two options for LLCs: single-member LLCs that file their taxes with the LLC owner’s 1040 tax return, and multiple-member LLCs that file their taxes as a partnership by using a 1065 tax return. An LLC can also file its taxes as an S corporation or regular C corporation, however (part of the reason accountants love LLCs). If you’re running an LLC that files its taxes as an S corporation, do select the S corporation tax return option. And if you’re running an LLC that files as a regular C corporation, select that tax return option.

      5. Provide your Employer Identification Number.

      Use the Employer Identification Number (EIN) field to provide your business taxpayer identification number. If you’re a sole proprietorship without employees, your tax identification number may be your Social Security number. In all other cases, your taxpayer identification number is your Employer Identification Number.

      6. Provide your business address information.

      Use the Business Address fields to provide your firm’s address and contact information. I hope you don’t feel cheated that I’m not giving you instructions like “Enter your street address in the Address box” and “Please remember that your telephone number goes in the Phone box.”

      

If you ever decide that you want to change some piece of information that you entered on a previous page of the QuickBooks Setup dialog box, you can just click the Back button to back up.

If you’re an observant person, you may have noticed the Preview Your Settings button that appears on the Glad You’re Here! dialog box. You can safely ignore this button, but if you’re a truly curious cat, go ahead and click it. QuickBooks displays the dialog box shown in Figure 2-3, which identifies the standard QuickBooks features that the QuickBooks Setup process is turning on, as well as the asset, liability, income, and expense accounts that will initially appear in your chart of accounts. Oh, one other thing: The Preview Your Company Settings dialog box also provides a Company File Location tab that identifies where your QuickBooks data file will be located.

      7. Create the QuickBooks data file.

After you provide the business contact information requested by QuickBooks, click the Create Company button. QuickBooks may display the QuickSetup dialog box, shown in Figure 2-4, which lets you name and specify the location of the company file. You can use the QuickSetup dialog box to make these changes or – my recommendation – simply let QuickBooks be QuickBooks and make these decisions for you. After you click Save, QuickBooks creates the data file it will use to store your financial information. (In some versions of QuickBooks, creating the file takes a few minutes.)

When QuickBooks finishes creating your file, it displays the Get All the Details into QuickBooks dialog box, shown in Figure 2-5.

      8. Identify your customers, vendors, and employees.

      With the Get All the Details into QuickBooks dialog box displayed, click the Add the People You Do Business With button. QuickBooks displays another dialog box that asks, “Perchance, are contact names and addresses stored electronically someplace else, like Microsoft Outlook or Google Gmail?”

      ● If you do have contact name and address information stored someplace else that QuickBooks will retrieve: Click the appropriate button and follow the onscreen instructions.

      ● Otherwise: Click the Paste from Excel or Enter Manually button and then click Continue.

When QuickBooks displays the Add the People You Do Business With dialog box, shown in Figure 2-6, use the rows of the displayed worksheet to describe your customers, vendors, and employees. To enter a contact into the next empty row:

      a. Select the Customer, Vendor, or Employee option button (as appropriate).

      b. Describe the contact using the fields provided: Name, Company Name, First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, and so forth. Each contact goes in its own row.

      c. Click