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QuickBooks Tips, Techniques & Work Arounds

Have you ever wished that QuickBooks could provide some of the information that costly consruction specific software does automatically – – but without the big price tag?

This section contains all kinds of tips, techniques and workarounds which will help you whether you are new to using QuickBooks in your construction business or if you are looking to use QuickBooks to its fullest potential.

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Setting Up a Good QuickBooks Item List

Published June 15, 2005 | By Nancy Smyth
QuickBooks uses Items extensively.  Items are used on just about every form in QuickBooks, from Estimates, Invoices, Purchase Orders, bills and checks, and coupled with your Chart of Accounts form the very backbone of your job costing. The only way to set up a "good" item list is to create one that is specific to your company's needs, which means planning.  The tips in this article will help you get started. Price:  Free
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Recording Job Deposits in QuickBooks

Published April 16, 2003 | By Nancy Smyth
A job deposit is money that belongs to the customer, but the customer has given it to you to hold or to use to purchase materials and labor for their job. In other words, it's money in the bank, but you still need to earn it. This article will show you two different ways that you can record job deposits when using QuickBooks, try each method in a "test" file to determine which one is right for you. Price:  Free
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Important Facts About Items Left as “Billable” in QuickBooks

Published October 15, 2002 | By Nancy Smyth
I’m sure you’ve all gotten used to seeing that funny little Invoice icon on timesheets, the enter bill and write checks window and don’t even pay attention to them anymore. Are you aware though that if you leave that little invoice icon active and don’t “x” it out that the information relating to that transaction line is stored within your QB file in a separate “waiting to be billed” data base just taking up space and therefore making your file larger than normal and causing your file to run slower? It’s true. Leaving the invoice icon active tells QB that you want to pass this cost on to your customer through the Time & Costs section of Invoicing. And unless you do time & materials type billing this is a waste of space. Price:  Free
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Nancy Smyth, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor

Nancy Smyth, Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc.
QuickBooks Construction & Payroll Expert


I've been using and supporting QuickBooks products since the early 1990's. I've worked with thousands of contractors, assisting them with QuickBooks setup, Certified Payroll Reporting requirements, AIA Billing and Weighted-Average Overtime.


QuickBooks is a powerful product, but learning how to use it in your construction business can be difficult. I hope you find resources available here to be helpful.

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