QuickBooks 2015 For Dummies. Nelson Stephen L.

the company file). The dialog box gives you the option of creating a new file from an old file. And the dialog box also suggests that you might want to upgrade from Quicken or some other accounting system. (Basically, that upgrade just means that you want QuickBooks to try using your existing accounting system’s data as a starting point for QuickBooks.)

      Two simple bits of advice: Don’t fiddle with the Detailed Setup unless you’re an accounting expert. And don’t attempt to “upgrade” Quicken or some other accounting program’s data. It’s just as easy and usually considerably cleaner to work from a trial balance.

      

The one group of new QuickBooks users who should probably try upgrading their old accounting system’s data are people who’ve done a really good job of keeping their books with the old system, including complete balance sheet information. No offense, but you probably aren’t in this category. Sorry.

       Using the Express Setup

      QuickBooks 2015 provides you with a very fast setup process compared with other accounting software programs and even with past versions of the QuickBooks software. Basically, you’ll fill in some boxes and click some buttons, and, voilà, you find that you’ve largely set up QuickBooks. Because I can give you some tips, identify some shortcuts, and warn you of some traps you want to avoid, I’m going to provide step-by-step instructions.

      1. Choose to use the Express Setup.

      With the first QuickBooks Setup dialog box displayed (refer to Figure 2-1), click the Express Start button. QuickBooks displays the Tell Us about Your Business dialog box, shown in Figure 2-2.

      Figure 2-2: The Tell Us about Your Business dialog box.

      2. Specify the business name.

      The name you specify goes on QuickBooks reports and appears on invoices you send customers. Accordingly, you want to use your “real” business name. And if your business is incorporated or formed as a limited liability company (LLC), you want to use the right suffix or acronym in your name. For example, don’t use Acme Supplies, but rather, Acme Supplies Incorporated or Acme Supplies LLC.

       Note: QuickBooks also uses the company name for the QuickBooks data file.

      3. Identify your industry.

      For example, if you’re in the construction business, type construction. When you type something into the Industry field, QuickBooks turns the box into a drop-down list showing the industries that it recognizes. You can pick an industry from this list (or pick the industry that’s closest to your business).

      

Be thoughtful and cautious about the industry you specify. QuickBooks sets up a starting chart of accounts for you based on the industry. A chart of accounts lists the asset, liability, income, and expense accounts (or categories) that QuickBooks will use to categorize your business’s finances.

      4. Identify the tax return you file and your taxpayer identification number.

      Use the Company Type field to specify the tax return that your business files. You can click in that field and then select from the list that QuickBooks provides.

      

The QuickBooks list of tax return options includes only two options for LLCs: single-member LLCs that file their taxes with the LLC owner’s 1040 tax return, and multiple-member LLCs that file their taxes as a partnership by using a 1065 tax return. An LLC can also file its taxes as an S corporation or regular C corporation, however (part of the reason accountants love LLCs). If you’re running an LLC that files its taxes as an S corporation, do select the S corporation tax return option. And if you’re running an LLC that files as a regular C corporation, select that tax return option.

      Use the Tax ID # field to provide your business taxpayer identification number. If you’re a sole proprietorship without employees, your tax identification number may be your Social Security number. In all other cases, your taxpayer identification number is your Employer Identification number.

      5. Indicate whether the business employs people.

      Note that a sole proprietor is not an employee in his or her own business (though the proprietor’s spouse or child would be employees if they were paid for work performed in the business). Further, partners paid for work performed in a business are also not employees. Partners, for example, don’t get paid wages – they get paid something called guaranteed payments.

      6. Click the Continue button.

      7. On the next page, supply your business contact information.

      When QuickBooks displays the Enter Your Business Contact Information dialog box (see Figure 2-3), verify that the correct business name shows in the Legal Name field. Then fill in the rest of the address and contact information. I hope you don’t feel cheated that I’m not giving you instructions like “Enter your street address into the Address box” and “Please remember that your telephone number goes into the Phone box.”

      Figure 2-3: The Enter Your Business Contact Information dialog box.

      

If you ever decide that you want to change some piece of information that you entered on a previous page of the QuickBooks Setup dialog box, you can just click the Back button to back up.

      

If you’re an observant person, you may have noticed the Preview Your Settings button that appears on the Enter Your Business Contact Information dialog box. You can safely ignore this button, but if you’re a truly curious cat, go ahead and click it. QuickBooks then displays a dialog box that identifies which standard QuickBooks features the QuickBooks Setup process is turning on and which asset, liability, income, and expense accounts will initially appear on your chart of accounts. Oh, one other thing: The Preview Your Company Settings dialog box also provides a Company File Location tab that identifies where your QuickBooks data file will be located.

      8. Create the QuickBooks data file.

      After you provide the business contact information requested by QuickBooks, click the Create Company File button. QuickBooks creates the data file it will use to store your financial information. (In some versions of QuickBooks, the file creation process takes a few minutes.) When QuickBooks finishes creating your file, it displays the You’ve Got a Company File! dialog box. (See Figure 2-4.)

      Figure 2-4: The You’ve Got a Company File! dialog box.

      9. Identify your customers, vendors, and employees.

      With the You’ve Got a Company File! dialog box displayed, click the Add the People You Do Business With button. QuickBooks displays another dialog box that asks, “Perchance, are contact names and addresses stored electronically someplace else like Microsoft Outlook or Google Gmail?”

      • If you do have contact name and address information stored someplace else that QuickBooks will retrieve: Click the appropriate button and follow the onscreen instructions.

      • Otherwise: Click the Paste from Excel or Enter Manually button and then Continue.

      When QuickBooks displays the Add the People You Do Business With dialog box (see Figure 2-5),