10 Helpful Hints for QuickBooks

February 23, 2015 by Ed Becker

It is always great to find shortcuts and helpful hints to make work easier and faster. QuickBooks has many keyboard shortcuts you can learn, as well as some other helpful shortcuts that make it easier to navigate or find information without leaving the screen you are working in. Here are 10 to get you started:

1. F1 for Help

2. Windows List – Click on View > Open Windows List; this is great to navigate.

3. Change dates – use the + or – key to change dates.

4. Calculator – in an amount field, using any math function symbol opens the calculator.

5. View the journal entry for the transaction – Use Control+Y. In versions other than Pro there is Journal button to do this also.

6. Make your home page custom – Right click on the icon bar to customize it. Or add to it using the View tab then Add to Icon bar.

7. Portable Company File – Intuit’s Service and Support Specialist, Carlos Garcia, says “creating and restoring a portable company file one time is just as effective as the old method of rebuilding the data file multiple times.”

8. Resort lists – Right click on a list allows you to resort it individually or choose all lists at once.

9. Add Filters Before Generating a Report will save you time-you can have the Modify Report screen come up prior to generating the report.  Choose Edit | Preferences, select the Reports & Graph option, My Preferences tab, check the checkbox “Prompt me” to modify report options before opening a report. 

10. Finding Related Transactions – Open any transaction, click the History button at the top of the transaction window, and a list of bills paid by the bill payment check will be displayed.  You can double-click to view the bill details.  You can also use Ctrl H on your keyboard for History.

QuickBooks provides many shortcuts activated by keyboard combinations, you can find these in their help section, it is a nice idea to print it and keep it handy until you learn the ones you will use a lot. There are also many other tips and tricks that QuickBooks has built in that makes navigation easier, this list is certainly not exhaustive, it is a small sample if some favorite tips, tricks and shortcuts. Once you start using them you may want to find more and choose your favorites too.