The Joys of QuickBooks:

New to QuickBooks? Not to worry, there is lots of help out there.

I have been working with QuickBooks since it first came out some 20 years ago and have seen the various upgrades and changes to the software. I do teach QuickBooks classes for beginners and advanced. I often wonder how people really feel when they first decide to buy the software and are getting their very first look at QuickBooks. Just like anything else new and different, people may be a little bit apprehensive. The great thing about QuickBooks is that there is lots of help for someone wanting to learn about the most popular bookkeeping tool on the planet. It’s software that thousands of small businesses are using to successfully operate their financial affairs. After all, small businesses are the economic backbone of this country. Here are three ‘guides’ that I think are very helpful.

QuickBooks Quick Start Guide 2015. This is great for newbie’s. Its only 8 pages long, easy to read and understand. It tells you how to install QuickBooks and how to get started right away… the right way. This gets you up and running.

QuickBooks User Guide 2015. Once you’ve stepped into the pool, this is the next step toward taking ‘the plunge’. The User Guide is 18 pages long and is the ‘guided tour’ of the software, what it is and how it works. Again it is simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. It takes things a step at a time. It’s the ‘visual’ guide to QuickBooks. You’ll learn, among other things, how to get paid, how to pay others, how to pay vendors, or employees. You will also be able to see how your business is doing. Read reports, check your profit and loss, accounts receivable and account payable. All just a click or two away.

QuickBooks 2015: The official Intuit guide to QuickBooks. This is how you can make bookkeeping workflow easier and faster. 800 plus pages of step by step instructions of how and when to use specific features of the software, as well as some basic accounting advice. You may not want to keep this by your bedside, but defiantly next to your computer.

Posted by Kevin Beatty, Rochester Tax Service.