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Save Time for Summer by Memorizing Transactions
Unfortunately,
your work with QuickBooks doesn't end just because it's
summer, the weather's great, and school's out. But there
are ways to minimize your time spent managing your money and maximize
your time at the beach. Memorizing transactions is one such way. When
you memorize a transaction, QuickBooks remembers all of the relevant
details and either processes it automatically or reminds you that
it's due.
A
memorized transaction could be bills that show up in the same amount
every month, like your Web-hosting payment, or obligations that
change regularly, like your utility bill. You can specify the amount
due if it's static, or leave the amount open if it regularly
changes, making this feature very flexible and easy to set up.
Jog
your memory
Once
you start teaching Quickbooks to memorize transactions, you'll
wonder why you didn't use this handy feature before. Say you
want to automate your electric bill. First, create a transaction
without an amount, like the one shown in Figure
1. Click the Edit
menu, and then click Memorize
Bill. The dialog box shown in
Figure 2
opens.
Figure
1: To memorize a bill payment that changes regularly, fill out the
transaction form minus the amount.
Figure
2: When you click Edit/Memorize Bill, this dialog box opens.
The
vendor's name appears in the Name
field. If you want a more
descriptive name so you'll recognize it in a list, change it
here. You have a few decisions to make in order to set up the
repetitive transaction:
Do
you want QuickBooks to remind you in advance of the bill's due
date? Click Remind Me.
If not, click Don't Remind
Me. And if it's a bill
whose amount remains the same every time, you can click
Automatically Enter.
If the transaction is a part of a group you've created, click
the With Transactions in Group
button.
How
often do you pay this bill? Generally, it will be monthly, but
QuickBooks gives you several options.
Check
the Number Remaining box
if you have a transaction with a finite number of payments, such as
paying off a company vehicle.
How
much warning do you want? Enter a number in the Days
In Advance To Enter field.
If
you've created a group and you want this transaction to be a
part of it, select the name from the drop-down list.
When
you want to use a memorized transaction, click the Lists
menu, then Memorized
Transactions List to open the
dialog box shown in Figure 3.
You can also "memorize" repetitive reports. Open the
report you want to work with by clicking, for example,
Reports/Company &
Financial/Profit & Loss YTD Comparison. A
dialog box like the one in Figure 4
opens. Accept the name presented, or change it to one that you'll
more easily recognize. If you want to save reports in groups you've
created, like Accountant, select the group from the drop-down list.
Figure
3: The Memorized Transactions List allows you to customize to your
preference.
Figure
4: The Memorize Report dialog box...
Thanks
for the memories
Memorized
transactions and reports can not only save you time for more summer
adventures: They provide another way for QuickBooks to give you a
quick look at what you owe and are owed, and how your company is
performing overall.
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