Exploring QuickBooks 61
Chapter
2 / Exploring QuickBooksOBJECTIVES:
1. Start QuickBooks Pro 2008 (QB Pro).
2. Open the sample product-based business,
3. Backup and restore the sample business.
4. Overview of QuickBooks Pro 2008.
5. QuickBooks Help, Preferences, and Product Information.
6. QuickBooks Internal Control features.
7. Using Windows Explorer.
Additional textbook related resources are on the textbook website at www.mhhe.com/QBProessentials. It includes chapter resources, including troubleshooting tips, online quizzes, etc.
In Chapter 2, you become familiar with some of the QB Pro features. There are two sample businesses included with the software: a product company and a service company. You explore the sample product business to learn about QB Pro’s user interface, internal controls, and help resources. In addition, you review procedures to backup and restore company data, use Windows Explorer, and e-mail a company backup to your professor.
GETTING STARTED
1. Start QuickBooks Pro 2008 by double clicking on the QuickBooks icon on the computer desktop.
2. If QuickBooks Update Service window appears, save and close all open programs and then click .
3. Click “Yes” when asked about restarting your computer after update is installed. When the Congratulations window appears after installation, Click “OK.”
4. Enter your password when the QuickBooks Login window appears.
Click .
5. If you have not done so, register your student trial version (you have 30 days from installation to do this). You will need to be connected to the Internet to complete registration. If you are connected, click .
6. Read about the benefits of registering your software. Notice you will have 30 days of free email support for questions submitted online. Click .
7. Answer the registration questions as follows and then click :
8. Call Intuit. Since you are a first time user, an account must be created. When asked by the agent, give them your name, phone number, and address. You will be given a Validation Code. Enter the code and then click .
9. The following screen will appear. Click to return to the QuickBooks desktop.
10. The software included with the textbook is a 140-day trial version. After registering, write down the date here. Your software will become inoperable in 140 days unless you purchase it.
______
Read Me: What happens after 140 days?
See the READ ME FIRST! Important Information for Your 140-Day Trial of QuickBooks Pro 2008 included with your software.
OPEN SAMPLE COMPANY
Sample company data files for a sample product-based business and a sample service-based business are included with the software. Follow the steps below to open starting data for the sample product-based company, Sample Rock Castle Construction. Similar steps can be followed to open data from the sample service-based company, Sample Larry’s Landscaping and Garden Supply.
1. From the QuickBooks Pro 2008 desktop pull down menu, select File; Close Company.
2. A No Company Open window appears. Click on the link to Open a sample file.
2. Select Sample product-based business.
3. Click .
A product based company purchases merchandise from vendors, and then sells that merchandise to customers. Products fall into two categories: inventory and non-inventory items. Another way to describe a product-based company is to call it a merchandising or retail business. The sample company that you are going to use, Sample Rock Castle Construction, is a product based business.
4. When the Warning window appears, check box “Do not display this message in the future” and click .
5. When the QuickBooks Information window appears, read and then click .
6. The Sample Rock Castle Construction – QuickBooks Pro 2008 home page appears. Compare yours with the one shown here. The various parts of the QB Pro home page are explained later in the chapter.
BACKUP AND RESTORE SAMPLE COMPANY
When using QB Pro, information is automatically saved to the hard drive of the computer. In a classroom setting, a number of students may be using the same computer. This means that when you return to the computer lab or classroom, your data is gone. Backing up your data means saving it to a hard drive, network drive, or external media. Backing up insures that you can start where you left off the last time you used QuickBooks Pro 2008.
Backup Sample Company
In this section you will create a backup of the original starting data for the sample product-based business and then restore this backup file. This backup is made before any data is added to the sample company so if you want to start with fresh, beginning data again, you can restore from this backup file of the original data.
CommentIn this textbook, you are shown how to backup to external media, i.e., an USB drive location. Backing up to a drive other than the hard drive or network drive is called backing up to external media. The instructions that follow assume you are backing up to external media. Authors recommend backing up to at least an 1GB USB flash drive OR if you are working on your own computer, your desktop.
When you back up, you are saving to the current point in QB Pro. Each time you make a backup, you should type a different backup name (file name) to distinguish between them. In this way, if you need to restore an earlier backup, you have the data for that purpose. See Preface for a list of backups you will make in this text and their file size.
In the business world, backups are unique for each business day. Daily backups are necessary. If you are working in a computer lab, never leave the computer lab without first backing up your data to external media, i.e., your USB flash drive.
The text directions assume that you are backing up to an external media location. Follow these steps to back up QuickBooks Pro 2008.
1. From the menu bar, select File; Save Copy or Backup.
2. The Save Copy or Backup window appears. Select Portable company file for the type of file you want to save and then click .
3. When the Save Portable Company window appears, browse to your USB drive location and create a new folder titled, Your Name (your first and last name) QB Pro Backups.
4. Click on Your Name QB Pro Backups folder to open it, notice File name is sample_product-based business (Portable). Click.
5. When Close and reopen window appears, click .
6. When the QuickBooks Information window appears, read and then click .
7. When backup complete, and this screen appears, click .
8. You are returned to the Sample Rock Castle Construction – QuickBooks Pro 2008 desktop.
9. Click on to exit Sample Rock Castle Construction and return to the windows desktop. (Or, continue with the next section without exiting.) When exiting, if you see a screen to update QuickBooks, click .
If you want to back up the starting data for Larry’s Landscaping and Garden Supply (the sample service-based business) follow similar steps to create its backup file.
Read me: Data FilesRefer to the Preface, to review information about the several types of QB Pro files. The Preface also lists the names of all the backups you will make in this text.
Locate the Backup File
The steps that follow assume that the backup file was saved to external media. Follow these steps to locate the backup file.
1. Right click on or . Then select Explore. My Computer window appears.
2. Select your USB drive, i.e., Removable Disk (G:).
3. Double-click on the Your Name QB Pro Backups folder to open it.
4. Observe the address of your backup file. This is the location of the file. File size may differ.
Restore Sample Company
1. Start QuickBooks Pro 2008. (If necessary, select, Start; All Programs, QuickBooks, QuickBooks Pro 2008. Log in.
2. The QuickBooks Pro 2008 desktop appears.
3. Click File; link to Open or Restore Company…
4. Select Restore a portable file in the Open or Restore Company screen. Click .
5. Browse to the location of your USB drive and open the Your Name QB Pro Backups folder, double click on sample_product based business (Portable) to open it.
6. Read the Where do you want to restore the file screen and then click .
7. Type Your first and last name in front of File name. Click.
8. The following screen appears, Be very patient…
9. When the following window appears, click .
10. You are restored to the Sample Rock Castle Construction – QuickBooks Pro 2008 desktop.
OVERVIEW OF QUICKBOOKS PRO 2008
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI)
The general look of a program is called its graphical user interface. As you know, most programs include the mouse pointer, icons, toolbars, menus, and a navigation bar.
The Sample Rock Castle Construction – QuickBooks Pro 2008 window here shows how QB Pro’s windows are organized. In this textbook, you will use both menu bar selections and Navigation bar selections to complete work.
For now, let's study the parts of the window. Some features are common to all software programs using Windows. For example, in the upper right corner is the Minimize button, Double Window button, and the Close button. The title bar, window border, and mouse pointer are also common to Windows programs. Other features are specific to QB Pro: menu bar, icon bar, and navigation bar.
Windows programs use menus in the form of horizontal menu bar selections. The contents of these menus differ depending on the application.
Title Bar: Contains the company name and the program name, QuickBooks Pro 2008.
The Icon Bar displays a set of task or source document buttons –
Invoice, Item, Check, Bill, Register, Chart of Accounts, Reminder, Search, Find, Feedback, Services, Payroll, and Credit Cards are among the buttons. Some of the icon selections require an additional payment for their use (for example, Payroll and Credit Cards.)
w Menu Bar: Contains the menus for File, Edit, View, Lists, Company, Customers, Vendors, Employees, Banking, Reports, Window, and Help. You can click with your left-mouse button on the menu bar headings to see the submenu selections.
x Minimize , Double Window , or Maximize , and Close or Exit buttons: Clicking once on Minimize reduces the window to a button on the taskbar. In Windows, the or button and taskbar are located at the bottom of your window. Clicking once on Double Window returns the window to its previous size. This button appears when you maximize the window. After clicking on the Double Window button, the symbol changes to the Maximize button. Click once on the Maximize button to enlarge the window. Click once on the Exit or Close button to close the window, or exit the program.
y Navigation Bar: QuickBooks Pro 2008 offers a graphical alternative to the menu bar. The Navigation Bar contains quick Navigation buttons to Home, Customer Center, Vendor Center, Employee Center, Report Center, Online Banking, and Help information.
z Content Pane: Displays information on the company. The following content appears when the Company home page opens: QuickBooks Coach, Account Balances, Learn About Services, Reminders and Alerts, as well as icons representing the various tasks to be done for Vendors, Customers, Employees, Company, and/or Banking.
TYPICAL QUICKBOOKS PRO 2008 WINDOWS AND NAVIGATION
The Navigation Bar contains the buttons to quickly access information about customers, vendors, employees, reports, online banking, and help.
When one of the Navigation Bar’s buttons (Company, Customer Center, Vendor Center, Employee Center, Reports Center, Online Banking, or Help) is selected, an information rich page appears. For example, click , and the Customer Center window is shown. Compare your Customer Center window to the one shown here.
On the left side of the window, explore different views: All Customers, Active Customers, Customers with Open Balances. Click on both the Customer & Job tab and the Transactions tab to see the same customer data presented different ways. Select a customer to view their information and transactions on the right side of the window.
Click with your left-mouse button on the menu bar headings to see the submenu selections. Notice how easily information can be used in Excel and Word applications.
MENU BAR
Sample Rock Castle Construction menu bar has 12 selections: File, Edit, View, Lists, Company, Customers, Vendors, Employees, Banking, Reports, Window, and Help.
1. From the menu bar, click File to see the file menu options. The file menu includes selections for New Company, Open or Restore Company, Save Copy or Backup, Close Company, Switch to Multi-user Mode, Remote Access, Utilities, Accountant’s Copy, Print, Save as PDF, Print Forms, Printer Setup, Send Forms, Shipping, Update Web Services, and Exit. If any of the items are grayed out, they are inactive.
An arrow (►) next to a menu item (for example, Utilities) indicates that there is a submenu with additional selections. Also, observe that pressing <Ctrl>+<P can be used to Print selected items.
2. From the menu bar, click Edit. The edit menu includes selections for Undo, Revert, Cut, Copy, Paste, Transaction History, Use Register, Use Calculator, Search, Find, and Preferences. If grayed out means choice is inactive for the window. Observe that keyboard shortcuts such as <Ctrl>+ <F can be used to Find.