QuickBooks, while a great software program, is a “generic” accounting program. Even though there is a “Contractor version”, it was designed to meet the needs of all types of contractors – from the home handyman to a general contractor. Only through the use of QuickBooks integrated add-ons will you find that it then becomes a viable substitute for the more costly construction specific accounting programs available.
Welcome to Tuesday Training!
Tuesday Training is a new feature here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog. While everyday focuses on training of one sort or another, Tuesday’s are dedicated to more in-depth training.
We’ll teach you the things you need to know about using QuickBooks, that you won’t find in the QuickBooks Help file, in order to successfully run your construction business and obtain accurate job costing reports; from eBooks, live webinars, and recorded training sessions.
You’ll find high-quality (budget friendly) training without having to leave the comfort of your home or office.
Choosing QuickBooks and QuickBooks Add-Ons for Your Construction Business
Whether you currently use QuickBooks or are thinking of using QuickBooks for your construction accounting package you need to be aware that QuickBooks, while a great software program, is a “generic” accounting program and will not do everything that you may need it to for your business by itself, unlike more expensive construction specific software.
If you are like most contractors, you probably do not think of yourself as a “computer hardware/software expert’. In fact, when faced with the thought of purchasing new computers and/or software to automate critical, time consuming tasks within your business, you end up feeling overwhelmed. Many contractors end up turning the project over to someone else. This unfortunately, is one of the major reasons that this type of project fails.
Download the complete article to find how you can make your project succeed!
We hope that you’ve found today’s Tuesday Training article to be helpful to your business – if so please take a moment to leave a comment or share this with others on your favorite social media network using the buttons below.
QuickBooks 2012 has both good and bad pop-up messages – just like any other version of QuickBooks, but there is nothing more annoying than having an ad pop-up when you are working in QuickBooks. Let’s be honest, getting rid of the message is another mouse click that you have to make and if messages and ads are popping up frequently we get into the habit of not reading what they have to say and miss something that could very well be important. This article discusses how you can turn off most of them in QuickBooks 2012.
Ok, I get it – Intuit is a business that makes it’s money selling software and services to it’s customers; but as a customer/business owner I have already purchased the software and probably have the services that I need already in place; so to be honest I get really annoyed with pop-up messages and ads. I bet you do also.
To be fair, there are actually some good pop-up messages in QuickBooks – for example:
- those that prompt or remind you to add a class to a transaction when you’ve forgotten and you’ve turned on the class tracking feature
- the one that warns you when you are posting a transaction directly to Retained Earnings – which is something that you really do NOT want to do
- the warnings that appear when you accidentally select a date that is 90 days in the past or 30 days in the future
- the warning that will appear if you enter duplicate bill numbers for the same vendor
- the warning that will appear if you enter a check number, invoice number, estimate number, etc. that has previously been used
For the most part messages & pop-ups can be controlled through settings in the Preferences section {Edit menu -> Preferences}; where you will find both personal and company preference settings. Only the QuickBooks Administrator can make changes to the settings in the Company Preferences tab when they are logged into QuickBooks in single-user mode; yes, another inconvenience but one that is well worth the effort. I highly recommend that the QuickBooks Administrator take the time to check out the Company Preference tab for each of the 22 different sections and choose which types of messages should and should not appear.
Individual users also have some control over what messages appear. For experienced users, I recommend that they to to the Edit menu -> choose Preferences and:
- select Desktop View -> My Preferences tab and uncheck the Show Getting Started Window
- select General -> My Preferences tab and uncheck the Bring back all one-time messages, Turn off pop-up messages for products and services, and Show ToolTips for clipped text
- select Sales & Customers -> My Preferences and uncheck the Show Payment toolbar on Receive Payments and Sales Receipts forms if your company does not wish to add Intuit credit card or eCheck processing
- select Service Connections -> My Preferences and uncheck Give me the option of saving a file whenever I download Web Connect data and If QuickBooks is run by my browser, don’t close it after Web Connect is done – if you do not use Online banking
Many pop-up windows and messages have a “Don’t show this again” checkbox option, checking this option instead of just clicking the OK button will rid you of the annoying box for good; so taking a minute or so each time a window pops up can help you to make informed decisions and rid you of wasted mouse clicks later. I know, sometimes it’s just “easier” at the moment to click the OK button just to get rid of the window – but that is a bad habit to get into.
Some advertising messages, you just can’t get rid of, for example the Do More with QuickBooks block on the Home page, but you can close it.
In QuickBooks 2012, Intuit has added a new “advertising” message to printed Employee Pay Stubs – you’ll now find a Powered by Intuit logo on each pay stub that you print for your employees. I found this to be quite annoying. Only the QuickBooks Administrator can remove this logo by going to the Edit menu -> Preferences -> Payroll & Employees -> Company Preferences -> Pay Stub & Voucher Printing -> and uncheck the Print Intuit logo option.
Are you annoyed with pop-up messages and ads? If so please take a moment to leave a comment or share this article with others on your favorite social networking site.
Best practices and tips for installing a QuickBooks 2012 upgrade on a computer that already has an existing version of QuickBooks in place.
Remember, QuickBooks MUST be installed using a Standard User Account when you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7 AND you use QuickBooks integrated 3rd party programs – see Windows, QuickBooks & 3rd Party Apps – The Struggle Within.
If you have Intuit do the upgrade, DO NOT let the Intuit rep install the new version from within your computer’s Administrator account and DO NOT let them choose the “upgrade” option when they do the installation. Also, make sure that your computer IT person is aware of the requirements and best practices – many do not.
Make sure that you watch and understand what is being done to your computer – don’t let others simply do “whatever”
Installing/upgrading QuickBooks is a fairly straightforward task, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some things that can trip you up along the way. Below are some “best practice tips”, based on technical support calls from our customers, that will help you to ensure a smooth installation/upgrade:
PLAN AHEAD and make sure that everything is in order – DO NOT install the new version of QuickBooks 2012 on the day that you need to run payroll, do billing, or perform any intensive task that requires access to your computer/company data file.
- Perform some basic file maintenance in your current QuickBooks version – backup your file, rebuild the data, check the current file size and number of database file fragments.
- If you use 3rd party integrated applications, make sure that you contact the software developer (if they haven’t already contacted you) about compatibility with and update procedures for working with QuickBooks 2012 – Gold and Silver Developers {those who have applications listed on the Intuit Marketplace} did not have access to a final release copy of QuickBooks 2012 until 9/12/2012; for other developers – well they might have access to the new version today.
- Start with the computer that houses your QuickBooks data file – paying close attention to the following screens.
- On the “Choose Installation Type” window select the “Custom and Network Option“
- On the “Custom and Network Options” window, select whatever the current settings are on your computer
- On the Upgrade or Change Installation Location window, choose the Change the install location option. This installs QuickBooks 2012 in a new folder and when the installation is complete you will have BOTH your current {old} QuickBooks version and the new QuickBooks 2012 version installed on the computer.
- When the installation is complete, you’ll be prompted to reboot your computer. After the reboot, start QuickBooks 2012 and open your company file.
- Rebuild your data file, check your file size and number of database file fragments.
- Install the new version of QuickBooks on each of your other computers; repeating Steps 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Once the new version of QuickBooks is installed and running properly on all of your computers, remove the old version by going to your Control Panel -> choosing Add/Remove Programs {Windows XP} OR Programs & Features {Windows Vista & 7}, find the old version in the list of programs and choose Uninstall or Remove.
We hope that you’ve found these best practices and tips for installing a QuickBooks upgrade to be helpful. If so please take a moment to leave a comment or share it on your favorite social network.
QuickBooks 2012 will include batch timesheet creation as an enhancement to the current “Use Weekly Timesheet” feature, allowing you the option to select multiple employee or vendor names for time entry. From the information that I’ve seen, Intuit is marketing this feature to contractors as a timesaver, and it may be for some businesses, BUT THERE IS A CATCH……
Each group of employees or vendors that you select MUST work on the same Job, under the same Service Item AND the same Payroll Item MUST be used during timesheet creation – additionally, they must ALL work the same number of hours each day!
See the Batch Timesheet function in action on our YouTube video
In order to successfully use the Batch Timesheet feature in QuickBooks Pro/Premier 2012 and Enterprise 12.0:
1. You MUST enable timetracking
- Logged into QuickBooks as the QuickBooks Administrator in Single-User Mode
- From the Edit menu -> choose Preferences -> scroll to Time & Expenses {the last preference} -> click on the Company Preferences tab
- Under the Time Tracking – Do you track time option -> select Yes and set the FIRST day of your work week
Right click on the image to enlarge it
- Click OK to save your changes
2. The Use time data to create paychecks option MUST be enabled for each employee
- From the Employee menu -> choose Employee Center -> click on the Employees tab -> double-click on an employee name OR click the Edit Employee button
- From the Change tabs drop down menu -> choose Payroll & Compensation Info
- Make sure the Use time data to create paychecks option is checked.
Right click on the image to enlarge it
- Click the OK button to save the changes for this employee
- Repeat for each employee in your employee list
3. You MUST use the Weekly Timesheet function
- From the Employee menu -> choose Enter Time -> Use Weekly Timesheet OR from the Home Page -> click the Enter time icon -> Use Weekly Timesheet
- In the Name field, click the drop down list and select either Multiple Names (Payroll) OR Multiple Names (Non-Payroll)
Right click on the image to enlarge it
- In the pop-up window, select multiple names, by placing a checkmark next to the name, and click ok to finalize your selections
 Select multiple employees |
 Select vendors |
- Enter timesheet information, selecting the Job, Service Item and Payroll Item
- Click on the Save and Close button to enter the information
Be aware of a potential problem:
A potential problem that I see with this feature, is let’s say that there are 4 employees {or vendors} who worked on a Job Monday through Thursday; on Friday, only 3 of these employees {vendors} were there. When you enter multiple timesheets, I forsee most people selecting all 4 employees/vendors and automatically entering ALL of the the time for the entire week. Using the batch timesheet option, you would need to be very careful when entering hours in this type of situation – as it could result in an employee or vendor being paid for erroneous hours worked and no one catching it. On the flip side, for employees who worked overtime, additional entries would be required on their individual timesheets to record overtime hours – if not this would result in underpayment.
NOTE: If you really need this type of functionality, investigate our Crew/Overtime Entry Solution program, which allows you to enter “exceptions” {the 4th employee not working on Friday} prior to posting the time data to QuickBooks.
Frequently Asked Questions about upgrading to QuickBooks 2012 {or any new version for that matter} from QuickBooks users.
Each year when Intuit releases a new version of QuickBooks, I’m flooded with a sea of phone calls/emails from QuickBooks users asking a multitude of questions about the new version. Below are some of the most frequent questions that I’m asked.
Should I/Do I NEED to upgrade to the new version?
I’m usually very conservative in regards to this question, especially the last few years with money being so tight for everyone, but typically my answer is:
IF you are currently using a version of QuickBooks that Intuit will sunset/retire next year OR if you feel that your business would benefit from some of the new features/functions – then you should go ahead and purchase the new version now {while pricing is low} BUT wait awhile before you actually install/move your company data file to the new version. I usually recommend that you wait until AFTER you’ve issued W-2′s and other year-end payroll tax returns.
Here’s why I respond this way:
- Every year when the new version of QuickBooks is initially released, bugs or problems with the program are discovered by the folks who upgrade as soon as the new version is available, I see the problems being reported on the Intuit forums and other QuickBooks forums as well – and the people who are reporting the issues aren’t very happy. So my question to you is — do you want to be one of the early adopters who gets caught or bitten by a bug in the program that wasn’t discovered before it was released?
- If you are currently using a version of QuicBooks that Intuit will sunset or retire next year, then you should go ahead and purchase now, but wait until after you’ve issued your W-2′s. Based on historical data, if you are currently using QuickBooks 2009/Enterprise 9 Intuit will be retiring these versions in May of 2012. If you are using QuickBooks 2008/Enterprise 8.0 {and I actually spoke to someone last week using the 2008 version}, run your payroll in-house and issue your own W-2′s – then you will need to upgrade in order to have the most current W-2 forms.
- If you are using the 2010 or 2011 versions, are happy with things the way they are and don’t want/need any of the new features – then just hold off.
Will the 3rd party add-ons that I use be compatible with the new version?
This is ALWAYS a difficult question for me to answer. QuickBooks add-ons can be written by anyone, so you have to take into consideration when that developer will have access to the new version of QuickBooks to test their product, make sure it works as expected, make any necessary coding changes if they discover a problem, put out an update or patch, etc.
Most of the time there shouldn’t be a problem, but you never know for certain. My best piece of advice, when you rely on 3rd party apps to run your business, is to contact the developer who wrote the program and ask them directly before installing the new version, here’s why – it may be a little technical so bear with me:
- Gold and Silver level developers, who have their 3rd party applications listed on the Intuit Marketplace, have historically been able to have access to a beta version of the new QuickBooks version in late July/early August so that they could perform testing, etc. As of today {September 9} this early access has not been made available to Gold and Silver Developers. NOTE – 9/12/2012 Gold & Silver developers can now download QuickBooks 2012.
- There is a beta version of a new SDK (the Software Development Kit that many developers use to write their add-ons and is required if they are a Gold/Silver developer) that will allow developers to work with some of the new features. But the new version of the SDK is of little use if they also do not have access to the new QuickBooks version for testing, debugging and documenting new procedures or features that the developer might be able to take advantage of.
- Other developers who use the SDK but are not Gold/Silver developers OR use other methods of working with the information in your company file – perhaps they use IIF files or other methods to access the QuickBooks file; also do not have access to the new version for testing and in reality they probably will not have access until right around the same time as you do.
Will my current computer/network run the new version of QuickBooks?
QuickBooks 2012 will require that your computer meets the following requirements, check your computers current settings by clicking your Start button -> choose Computer -> select System. This information came from data provided while I was beta testing and may be different when the final version is released:
Operating System:
- Windows XP, all versions – Service Pack (SP) 2 or later strongly recommended
- Windows Vista, all version with User Account Control (UAC) turned on {installed under a Standard User Account if using 3rd party add-ons}
- Windows 7, all versions with User Account Control (UAC) turned on {installed under a Standard User Account if using 3rd party add-ons}
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Server 2008
Processor, RAM, Hard Drive Requirements:
NOTE: You’ll be better off with the recommended requirements.
- 2.0 GHz Pentium 4 Processor {2.4 GHz recommended}
- 1 GB RAM {2 GB recommended} for a single user or client machine
- 2 GB RAM for multiple, concurrent users for Pro & Premier
- 2 GB RAM or more strongly recommended for Enterprise on a server
- 2.5 GB free disk space for the actual QuickBooks program – additional space required for the data files
- 250 MB disk space for Microsoft >NET 4.0 Runtime {provided with the installation}
Screen (monitor) resolution:
- QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise is optimized for a 1024 x 768 screen resolution
Database Server Requirements:
- Windows XP, all versions – Service Pack (SP) 2 or later strongly recommended
- Windows Vista, all version with User Account Control (UAC) turned on
- Windows 7, all versions
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Server 2008
When installing the new version should I choose the upgrade option?
We’ll be dedicating an entire blog post to best practices for installing a new version on a computer that currently has QuickBooks installed. Look for this information on Tuesday September 13th.
How does upgrading affect the size of my current file?
During beta testing I worked with two different files so I could see, first hand, how upgrading to QuickBooks 2012 would affect the size of the QuickBooks data file. To check the size of your own QuickBooks file – with QuickBooks open press the CTRL and the 1 keys at the same time OR press the F2 key at the top of your keyboard – this will open a Product Information window and you can find your file size – you should also check the number of DB {Database} file fragments.
The first file was a very small QuickBooks 2011 file with the following specs:
- File size – 14,252 K {which roughly translates to 14 megs}
- Total Transactions – 146
- DB (Database) File Fragments – 3
After upgrading this file to QuickBooks 2012 this same file had the following specs:
- File size – 17,716 K {which roughly translates to almost 18 megs – meaning the file grew 4 megs just from the upgrade}
- Total Transactions – 146
- DB (Database) File Fragments – 10
This is cause for concern, in my opinion – a 4 meg file size increase and a total of 10 database file fragments for a file that only has 146 transactions!
The second company file was
- 162,287 K {162 megs}
- 17,583 transactions
- 1 database file fragment
After the upgrade to QuickBooks 2012,
- File size was 192,396 {about 192 megs or an increase of 30 megs}
- 26 database file fragments
We’ll be dedicating an entire blog post to some basic file maintenance before and after converting your current QuickBooks file to the new version on Monday September 12th.
What are the new features in QuickBooks?
This is the most popular question that I receive and one of the reasons that I started this blog — so you’ll have to stay tuned for that information.
What’s it gonna cost me?
Beginning on September 26, 2011 you will be able to pre-buy QuickBooks 2012 from Authorized QuickBooks Affiliates and directly from Intuit websites. The prices shown below are BEFORE any discounts.
- QuickBooks Pro (single user) – $229.95
- QuickBooks Pro 2 User – $459.95
- QuickBooks Pro 3 User – $649.95
- QuickBooks Pro Add-a-Seat – $229.95
- QuickBooks Premier (single user) – $399.95
- QuickBooks Premier 2 User – $749.95
- QuickBooks Premier 3 User – $999.95
- QuickBooks Premier Add-a-Seat – $359.95
*NOTE: I believe that the Premier Accountant Edition will cost an additional $100 over the prices indicated above and will include Intuit Statement Writer. I have not yet seen official pricing, so will update this price at a later date.*
QuickBooks Pro and Premier is scheduled to be available beginning October 9, 2011 at leading retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, BJ’s, Costco, Fry’s, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Sam’s, and Staples. Typically, the prices that you receive at these retailers will beat any discounts that you would receive if you purchased the software from an Authorized Intuit Affiliate or from Intuit.
Will your software work with the new version?
It should, however, I am waiting – just like everyone else to get my hands on a final release version of QuickBooks to do some more testing before making a more positive statement. I have run our software through some preliminary testing while beta testing the new version and did encounter a couple of issues, nothing major – but I couldn’t tell if the issue was with the QuickBooks beta {because I was having some issues with it} or with our software. I have found over the years that it’s always best to wait until I’ve run tests with a final release and not a beta release before making that final compatibility statement.
I hope you found our frequently asked questions about upgrading helpful. If so, please leave a comment or share it on your favorite social media platform by using the buttons below.
Do you have a question about upgrading?
