QuickBooks 2022 All-in-One For Dummies
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QuickBooks 2021 makes small business accounting fast and easy. But your day-to-day business bookkeeping will go even more smoothly if you employ a handful of QuickBooks user interface tricks, editing tricks, and keyboard shortcuts.

QuickBooks 2021 © ChubbyChii/Shutterstock.com

User interface tricks for QuickBooks 2021

You can learn to navigate the QuickBooks 2021 software very quickly if you employ some of the following interface navigation tricks:

  • To move quickly to a specific list-box entry, press the letter. Press the s key to move to the first list entry that begins with the letter s, for example.
  • To select a list-box entry shown within a dialog box and simultaneously choose a suggested command button for the active dialog box (probably the OK button), double-click the entry.
  • To move the insertion point to the beginning of a field, press Home.
  • To move the insertion point to the end of a field, press End.
  • QuickBooks can display a list of open windows in its Open Window list. To display the Open Window list, choose View→Open Window List. To move to a listed window, just click it.
  • To tell QuickBooks to use windows the same way every other program does, choose View→Multiple Windows. Alternatively, to tell QuickBooks to display just the active window, choose View→One Window.

Keyboard shortcuts for QuickBooks 2021

Use the QuickBooks 2021 keyboard shortcuts shown in the following table to make your day-to-day small-business accounting easier and faster.

Press This PC Shortcut QuickBooks Does This
Alt+S Saves a transaction
Alt+N Saves a transaction and goes to a new transaction
Ctrl+A Displays the Chart of Accounts window
Ctrl+C Copies your selection to the Clipboard
Ctrl+D Deletes check, invoice, transaction, or item from the list
Ctrl+E Edits transaction selected in the register
Ctrl+F Displays the Find window
Ctrl+G Goes to the other side of a transfer transaction
Ctrl+I Displays the Create Invoice window
Ctrl+J Displays the Customer:Job List window
Ctrl+M Memorizes a transaction
Ctrl+N Creates a new <fill in the blank> where <fill in the blank> is whatever is active at the time
Ctrl+P Almost always prints the currently active register, list, or form
Ctrl+Q Creates and displays a QuickReport on the selected transaction
Ctrl+R Displays the Register window
Crtl+T Displays the memorized transaction list
Ctrl+V Pastes the contents of the Clipboard
Ctrl+W Displays the Write Checks window
Ctrl+X Moves your selection to the Clipboard
Ctrl+Z Undoes your last action — usually
Ctrl+Enter Saves the changes
Ctrl+Insert Inserts a line into a list of items or expenses
Ctrl+Delete Deletes the selected line from a list of items or expenses
Esc Closes the active window

How to execute common QuickBooks tasks

To perform a common accounting or bookkeeping task in QuickBooks, use these commands. When QuickBooks displays the commands window, you just fill in the boxes and press Enter.

To Do This Choose This QuickBooks Command
Dealing with Customers
Invoice a customer Customers→Create Invoices
Record a cash sale Customers→Enter Sales Receipts
Issue a credit memo Customers→Create Credit Memo/Refunds
Record a customer payment Customers→Receive Payments
Handling Banking Activities
Pay a bill with a check Banking→Write Checks
Buy inventory with a check Banking→Write Checks
Move money between bank accounts Banking→Transfer Funds
Deposit money in a bank account Banking→Make Deposits
See a bank account’s transactions Banking→Use Register
Reconcile a bank account Banking→Reconcile
Working with Vendors
Prepare a purchase order Vendors→Create Purchase Orders
Record when items are received Vendors→Receive Items or Vendors→Receive Items and Enter Bill
Record an accounts payable amount Vendors→Enter Bills or Vendors→Enter Bill for Received Items
Managing Employees
Preparing employee payroll Employees→Pay Employees
Paying tax deposits Employees→Payroll Taxes and Liabilities→Pay Scheduled Liabilities
Getting Financial Information
Accounts Lists→Chart of Accounts
Customers Customers→Customer Center
Inventory Lists→Item List
or
Vendors→Inventory Activies→Inventory Center
Vendors Vendors→Vendor Center
Employees Employees→Employee Center
Profit and loss Reports→Company & Financial→Profit & Loss Standard or one of the other profit & loss reports on Company & Financial submenu
Net worth Reports→Company & Financial→Balance Sheet Standard or one of the other balance sheet reports on the Company & Financial submenu
Managing the QuickBooks System
Setting up a new company File→New Company
Resetting company information Company→Company Information
Backing up data file File→Save Copy or Back Up
Restoring a data file File→Open or Restore Company
Customizing QuickBooks Edit→Preferences
Adjusting accounting data Company→Make Journal Entries

 

Right-click for common QuickBooks 2021 tasks

To perform a common QuickBooks 2021 task related to a window, right-click to display a shortcut menu. In a register, select and right-click a specific transaction; in a list, right-click an item; in a form, display a transaction and right-click a blank area of the form.

QuickBooks displays a shortcut menu of common commands for each particular transaction, item, or window. It often displays commands for memorizing or voiding a transaction, for example, or for creating a QuickReport on a transaction. The commands differ based on the type of transaction you select.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Stephen L. Nelson, MBA, CPA, is the bestselling author of more than 100 books on computer and business topics, including all the previous For Dummies books on Quicken.

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