Hardware/Software Requirements

The system requirements for QuickBooks vary a bit, depending on the version of the program you use. Here are the minimum computer requirements for using QuickBooks 2014 on a standalone machine:

2.0GHz, 2.4GHz recommended

1GB RAM for a single user; 2GB for multiple users

A hard disk with 2.5GB of disk space (additional space required for data files)

4x CD-ROM drive required for CD installs

Display optimized for 1024 × 768 screen resolution or higher with up to one extended monitor

Windows 8 including 64-bit; Windows 7 including 64-bit; or Windows Vista (SP1 or later), all editions including 64-bit

Internet access for online features/services

Just for fun, Gail dug back into her old manuals to compare programs. These were the system requirements in 1992 when she started using QuickBooks:

IBM XT, AT, PS/1, PS/2, or other IBM-compatible PC

640K of RAM

A hard disk with 2MB of free disk space

A floppy disk drive (either 5.25" or 3.5")

DOS operating system, version 2.1 or later

Monochrome or color monitor

Mouse (optional)

Questions You May Have to Answer

The EasyStep Interview is a quick process, but to get from screen to screen, you need to be able to answer some basic questions about your company. Most of these are yes-or-no questions, and they don’t ask for specific company amounts. Here are the questions you encounter on the early EasyStep Interview screens:

Select your industry. Choose from a list of sample industry choices.

What do you sell? Indicate whether you sell services, products, or both.

How will you enter your sales in QuickBooks? Indicate whether you record your sales individually, as a daily or weekly summary, or whether you use QuickBooks as a point-of-sale program.

Do you sell products online? Yes, no, or maybe in the future.

Do you charge sales tax? Yes or no.

Do you want to create estimates in QuickBooks? Yes or no.

Do you want to track sales orders before you invoice your customers? Yes or no. (Not available in QuickBooks Pro—only available in QuickBooks Premier and higher editions.)

Do you want to use sales receipts in QuickBooks? Yes or no.

Do you want to use billing statements in QuickBooks? Yes or no.

Do you want to use invoices in QuickBooks? Yes or no.

If yes to the preceding question, do you want to use progress invoicing? Yes or no.

Do you want to keep track of bills you owe? Yes or no.

Do you want the capability of printing checks? Yes or no.

Do you want to track inventory in QuickBooks? Yes or no.

Do you accept credit cards? Yes, no, or maybe someday.

Do you want to track time in QuickBooks? Yes or no.

Do you have employees? Yes (check boxes to indicate whether you have W-2 employees and independent contractors) or no.

Do you want to track multiple currencies in QuickBooks? Yes or no.

The Getting Started Checklist

The EasyStep Interview establishes your company file in QuickBooks and sets up basic lists, which you can populate with your company information. Although you can start using QuickBooks as soon as you complete the brief interview, you need to set aside time if you want to enter any historical information that needs to be included on your company financial statements. This historical information can include information from the first day of this year to the current date, as well as last year’s data for purposes of creating comparative reports.

You can save yourself a lot of time and frustration when setting up your company in QuickBooks by using this checklist to organize your data before you begin the setup process. Gather the company information that you want to enter in QuickBooks, and you’re ready to start the QuickBooks EasyStep Interview.

Keep in mind the fact that you don’t have to go back to the beginning of time to enter in QuickBooks every transaction since the day your company started business. See the information in the following sidebar “Choosing/Changing Your Start Date” for some pointers on how to decide how much information you’re going to put in your QuickBooks file.

Complete company name—Including d/b/a name, address, and type of business. Note also the type of tax return your company files (partnership, C corporation, S corporation, proprietorship, and so on).

Federal Identification Number—Whether you have employees or not, you should obtain a Federal Identification Number (FIN).

Start date—Determine the date on which you want your first company information to be tracked in QuickBooks. Complete company information, including all balance sheet amounts, should be entered as of the start date.

Bank statements and cancelled checks from the start date to the present.

Chart of accounts—If it’s available; otherwise, use a listing of the categories into which you group your company’s income and expense transactions.

Customer list—This includes all the people and companies with whom you regularly do business and whom you want to track in QuickBooks. Include as much of the following information as possible: name, address, telephone number, fax number, personal contact, ship-to address, sales tax status, payment terms you typically apply to each customer, and current jobs on which you are working for each customer.

Inventory list—This includes all the items you sell, including a description of each inventory item, your cost of each item, the standard sales price of each item, the preferred supplier for each item, the quantity of each item currently on hand, and the number of each item at which a reorder request needs to be issued.

Details of all amounts you owe as of the start date—This includes the name of the person or company to whom the money is owed and the amount owed.

Details of all amounts owed to you as of the start date—This includes the name of the person or company who owes you money and the amount owed.

Sales tax information—Include the rate at which you charge sales tax, the name and address of the taxing agency, and the amount of sales tax owed as of the start date.

Vendor list—This includes all your regular suppliers and creditors, including the name, the address, the telephone and fax numbers, the personal contact, your account number with each vendor, and whether the vendor requires a 1099 form. You need the federal identification numbers of any vendors for whom you are required to file a 1099.

Any existing budget information for your company.

Employees list—You need this if you plan to use QuickBooks for your payroll. Include names and addresses, Social Security numbers, rates of pay, withholding allowances and other deductions, and year-to-date information if your start date is later than January 1 or the first day on which your company does business.

Payroll tax information—This includes your state unemployment compensation rate, local tax rates, and amounts of payroll taxes due as of the start date.

Information about all assets owned by the company—This includes the original cost and date each item was purchased. If possible, you should also note the methods used for calculating depreciation on your assets and the accumulated depreciation to date.

Credit card statements you have received since the start date.

Details of all financial transactions since the start date—This includes checks written, amounts deposited, credit card transactions, and so on.

Choosing/Changing Your Start Date

The start date you choose is not necessarily today’s date, but rather the date on which you want to begin tracking information in QuickBooks. When you set up a company in QuickBooks, you need to enter all transactions that have occurred in the company from the start date until today.

The best start date is actually the day before the first day of a complete period; that period can be a year, a month, or a quarter. In other words, if you plan to start entering transactions for your company on January 1, you can set December 31 as your start date. That way, all the ending balances for the previous period (in this case, the previous year) will properly show as your beginning balances.

If you start entering transactions on the first day of the year (or the first day that the company had any activity), the reports and financial statements you produce include information for the entire year. Having this information is particularly important when you’re gathering information at the end of the year for tax return preparation.

If your business was in operation all year but you chose as a start date some date after the year has begun, the statements you produce will cover only part of this year. Next year and in future years, of course, your statements will cover the entire year. The advantage of choosing a start date that falls sometime during the year—rather than going back to the first day of the year—is that you won’t have as many transactions to enter at setup.

If it’s close to the end of the year (November or December, for example) and you don’t have a lot of spare time on your hands for tediously entering checks and deposits for the entire year, you might wait until the year ends and then enter your ending balances for the year and start entering your company transactions in QuickBooks as of January 1.

If you entered a start date during setup and now want to change your start date to an earlier date, you need to go to the registers for each account where you have entered beginning balances and change the start date and the beginning balance entry manually. To change the start date and the beginning balance entry manually, follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+A to open the Chart of Accounts.

2. Double-click any account name with an amount in the Balance Total column to open the register associated with that account. Only balance sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, and equity) have amounts in the Balance Total column. No registers are associated with income and expense accounts.

3. Enter the new start date as the beginning date.

4. Enter Opening Balance as the description.

5. Enter the amount of the account balance as of the start date. If you are changing your start date to a later date, you probably need to delete earlier transactions that affect income statement accounts. Transactions affecting only balance sheet accounts are probably fine as is.

Entering Historical Data

There is a proper order for entering your company information in QuickBooks. Follow this schedule, and you’ll find the entire setup process to be straightforward and efficient. This schedule applies to situations where you need to enter historical data—that is, previous transactions—in QuickBooks.

Complete the setup process using the EasyStep Interview to open your new company file in QuickBooks, including deciding on a start date. Follow the instructions in Chapter 3, “Adding or Changing Information After the Initial Company Setup,” to enter the company’s past transactions in the following order:

1. Enter all the bills your company has received since the start date, in the order received. These bills will be entered as payables.

2. Enter all the invoices your company has issued since the start date. These invoices will be entered as receivables.

3. Enter all the money your company has received since the start date. This includes cash, checks, credit card payments, and loans. Customer payments must be applied against open invoices to close out receivables.

4. Enter the actual deposits you have made since your start date.

5. Enter the payments for all the bills you have paid since your start date. Bill payments must be applied to open bills to cancel open payables.

6. Enter all the payroll transactions that have occurred since the start date.

7. Enter all other checks you have written since the start date.