When I first started using QuickBooks, I was very confused about Items, and didn't really get what they did. I understood the concept of Inventory Items, but the other types of Items made little sense to me.
And on many of the accounting forums I post to, I see that others are confused about Items as well. Take this statement, recently posted on the quickbooksgroups.com forum by somebody looking for help with Items:
I am trying to find out what the fundamental difference is between "expenses" and "items".
As you probably already know, on some forms in QuickBooks you have a choice of which to use: the Expenses tab, or the Items tab. The Expenses tab allows you to post directly to the chart of accounts. The Items tab does not. So what happens when you use the Items tab?
After a long while, I finally figured out a quick and easy definition of Items in QuickBooks:
Items are simply a way of posting transactions to the chart of accounts!
Based on some of the other definitions you may have seen, this sounds too easy. Yet it's true.
Items are an intermediary step between you and the chart of accounts. But their function is simple: they take your transaction, and post it to the chart of accounts based on how you set them up initially.
If you are using Items and are unsure of which accounts they post to, go to the Items list, select which Item you want to examine, and press Control-E. You will be able to see which account (or accounts) it posts to.
Although these instructions are true for all Item types, for beginning users of QuickBooks, I think they make the most sense for the following types:
Service
Non-Inventory Part
Other Charge
Payment
Start understanding these types, based on my definition. See if it doesn't improve your ability to work with Items in QuickBooks.
And on many of the accounting forums I post to, I see that others are confused about Items as well. Take this statement, recently posted on the quickbooksgroups.com forum by somebody looking for help with Items:
I am trying to find out what the fundamental difference is between "expenses" and "items".
As you probably already know, on some forms in QuickBooks you have a choice of which to use: the Expenses tab, or the Items tab. The Expenses tab allows you to post directly to the chart of accounts. The Items tab does not. So what happens when you use the Items tab?
After a long while, I finally figured out a quick and easy definition of Items in QuickBooks:
Items are simply a way of posting transactions to the chart of accounts!
Based on some of the other definitions you may have seen, this sounds too easy. Yet it's true.
Items are an intermediary step between you and the chart of accounts. But their function is simple: they take your transaction, and post it to the chart of accounts based on how you set them up initially.
If you are using Items and are unsure of which accounts they post to, go to the Items list, select which Item you want to examine, and press Control-E. You will be able to see which account (or accounts) it posts to.
Although these instructions are true for all Item types, for beginning users of QuickBooks, I think they make the most sense for the following types:
Service
Non-Inventory Part
Other Charge
Payment
Start understanding these types, based on my definition. See if it doesn't improve your ability to work with Items in QuickBooks.
No comments:
Post a Comment