QuickBooks makes it easy to find information with their Filters. A filter simply limits what you see (i.e. filters out what you don’t want) so you see only what you want to see. Both the Find Feature and reports in QuickBooks use Filters. So once you know how to use filters in one place, you can use them elsewhere.
Perhaps you’re having problems reconciling the bank account and you’re off by a $500. Click on Edit>Find
Don’t let the word Advanced scare you off! Click on Amount, then click the circle by = and type 500 in the box. Notice on the right, QuickBooks is listing your current Filters/choices. (Posting status refers to whether or not it affects your financial statements. Estimates, Sales/work orders, Purchase Order are “non-posting”, i.e. they don’t affect your P & L or your Balance Sheet or other financial reports.) QuickBooks very quickly finds all the transactions that meet your criteria. It’s great when you see only a couple transactions. But sometimes you’ll get a long list and will want to narrow it down some.
Perhaps you know that it’s from last month or you know it’s a payment and not an invoice. So if you scroll through the list of filters, you’ll see Date (in image below) and Transaction Type (in image on the right).
So in this example, I selected last month for Date and Bill Payment for Transaction Type. Now my list is much shorter. (Don’t panic – this example lists only 1 transaction but shows “twice” because there are 2 sides to every accounting transaction).
Other filters I frequently use in the Find feature are Account, Class and Entered/Modified. Perhaps I entered or modified a transaction today, but dated it the beginning of the month or some other date. This way I don’t need to know the actual date of the transaction – simply the date I created it!
You might find there are times when you want more than one filter in a given category. Using the bill payment above, perhaps I want to see bills paid by check or credit card. By clicking Multiple, I can choose more than one
I’ve used the Find feature to create reports, and if you go to modify a report, notice you’ll have access to the same set of filters! So maybe I want to see a list of bills that I clicked to pay but have not printed the checks yet. Here’s what QuickBooks found. Notice you can click on Report or Export on the right.
So now that you’ve seen Filters, here are the filters to some common reports you run:
Now it’s your turn! What do you want to find?
Run a Group of reports. This is definitely a very powerful timesaver in 2 ways. First you save time because you simply double-click on the Group to run a whole bunch of reports instead of individual reports one at a time (Reports>Memorized Report list)
When purchasing the item, choose the Items tab on the check, credit card charge or bill and then type in the name of the equipment or vehicle.
Use your smartphone to enter new leads or to add notes when you’re meeting with them with Method CRM. This is a product I use, too. You can assign tasks to staff and have reminders sent out. You can easily look at a list of leads and opportunities when away from the office. If a lead becomes a customer, with a click of a button you can sync with QuickBooks! – 
Intuit Payments has the best integration with QuickBooks (making bank reconciliations easier), NO contract and has made lots of changes to their pricing so I always suggest trying Intuit before going elsewhere. You get lower rates when you go through us rather than contacting Intuit directly, so let us know if you want to give it a try.
Better Business Decisions by Customizing QuickBooks’ Reports
Whether you’re a contractor, wholesaler, non-profit or some other service professional, reports are crucial to monitoring your cash flow and profitability. When I work with clients, I often recommend changes in their setup and changes in their data entry. While part of this is to help them save time, the other reason is to help them get the reports they need in QuickBooks instead of using data from a variety of places and then using Excel or a calculator to get their final numbers. Once changes are made, then there are reports in QuickBooks that are just a click or two away. And, these reports can help them make better estimates and business decisions going forward.
Types of Reports:
There are two basic types of reports –
If you’re new to customizing, don’t worry if you think you’re not ready to differentiate. Just realize that will explain some of the differences in which display options you’ll have.
When you run a report, then click on Customize Report, you’ll see 4 tabs
The Modify Report screen capture for the P & L above is from a “summary” report while the one below is from a detail report. Notice you have more columns from which to choose in a detail report.
Another way to begin to be more comfortable in this screen is to take a look at some of the reports that come with QuickBooks and see how they’ve used filters. The more you try some of the filters, the more comfort you’ll have in this screen and you can then start to really tweak reports.
Memorize! If this is a report you will want to run again, then memorize it so you don’t have to recreate what you did and you can get your information faster next time! One tip on memorizing: as much as possible, use the dates from the drop-down date menu; this way, the report will “roll forward” with you. When you key in the actual dates and memorize, QuickBooks thinks you always want to see those same exact dates, and unless you do, you’ll always have to redo the dates.
After you click on comment, you’ll see little boxes appear next to each one.
Simply click on the box next to the number you want to comment on and a box will appear for you to type your comment. Notice that is has a number next to it so if you have multiple comments, there’s a way to reference.
With your custom reports (and other QuickBooks reports), you can spot cash flow problems, see which jobs are the most profitable, compare your estimates to actual costs, and maintain the right inventory levels. You’ll also be able to identify your best customers and your most sought-after products and services. Customizing your reports and analyzing your data will make the answers to your questions about your company’s future direction much clearer. Let us know if you need help customizing or creating your reports.