Small Business Solutions LLC
PO Box 10053
Huntsville, AL 35801
256-337-5200
 
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June 2013
The QBC
Happy Summer!

 

The U.S. economy may be picking up, but your customers are probably still being very careful with expenditures. If your company's finances will allow it, you can help them out on sizable jobs by using progress invoicing, also known as partial billing or progress billing.

 
You could, of course, simply create invoices for smaller chunks of the job as they come. A smarter way is to build estimates for the entire job or sequential phases so your customer can see the big picture. You can still use progress invoicing to start collecting funds one segment at a time.  Read the article below to learn how.
Bob

Reminders:
  • Past newsletters and podcasts are available on our website under the QB Bob Community header:  Go to the QB Bob Community section of our website, www.qbbob.com.
  • Discounts, specials, and promotions:  Check out our page peel on the right corner of our website for details. 
  • Training:  Basic QuickBooks Training Class, 10 July, 9am until noon.  Goto www.uah.edu/sbdc and click under the Upcoming Events to register.
Don't forget to tune in each Thursday at 6:45am to "QB Bob" on the radio (WTKI 1450AM 92.9FM) for QuickBooks tricks & tips.  Tune in this Wednesday, 6-19-2013, for Bob's Monthly "QB Bob on the Radio" show from 8-9am.
 
                                                       Thank you again for your support!
Have a fantastic week,
The "QB Bob" Team  
How to Create a Progress Invoice from an Estimate 
 
First, be sure you have progress invoicing turned on. Go to Edit | Preferences | Jobs & Estimates | Company Preferences and make sure the Yes button is filled in next to the questions about estimates and progress invoicing.
 
Now create your estimate (these instructions are for QuickBooks Premier 2013; your steps may vary slightly). Go to Customers | Create Estimates. When you've entered all of the items you want to include in this phase of your project, click the Create Invoice button. This window will open: 
 
 photo QBC0613image1_zps8eaa50be.jpg
Figure 1: You can decide how many of your estimate items will be included on your progress invoice.
 
By clicking one of these buttons, you can bill the customer 100 percent of what's due on the invoice or just a percentage. But let's say you and your customer have agreed that payment will be due in pre-defined states, so click the third button and select one or more of the line items. Click OK. QuickBooks will display a new window that lets you select items and/or percentages of amounts due.
 
In our example here, we're going to invoice the customer for two items, the blueprints and floor plans. So we selected the button next to Show Quantity and Rate and entered the full estimate quantity for each item in the QTY columns (if you chose Show Percentage, new columns would appear). It would look like this: 
 
 photo QBC0613image2_zpsf7de71ac.jpg
Figure 2: You can select specific items or percentages for you progress invoice.

Click OK. QuickBooks will return to your progress invoice, which you can save and print or email to your customer. Your original estimate will remain unchanged.
 
Tip: If you don't want any of the zero amounts to appear on the progress invoice, go to Edit | Preferences | Jobs & Estimates | Company Preferences and make sure there's a check mark in the box next to Don't print items that have zero amount.
 
Following Up
 
When you want to bill for another set of items on this estimate, simply repeat these steps.
 
Here's an easy way to determine how much (if any) of the estimate has been invoiced. Go to the Customer Center and select the customer. Click the arrow next to the Show field and select Estimates. Any estimate that has a zero in the OPEN BALANCE column has been completely billed. 
 
QuickBooks provides a report that tells you where you are with all of your progress invoices. Go to Reports | Jobs, Time & Mileage | Job Progress Invoices vs. Estimates. Your report will include the progress invoice you just created: 
 
 photo QBC0613image3_zps1cc39aba.jpg
Figure 3: You can see what percentage of each estimate has been included on a progress invoice in this report.
 
More Options
  
What if you determined that you won't have one or more of the items on the estimate? QuickBooks lets you quickly generate a purchase order. With your estimate open, click Create Purchase Order to select the item(s) needed and generate the form. You can also click Create Sales Order if one is necessary.
  
Estimates provide a useful way to fine-tune your bookkeeping and inform your customers about impending costs. They can also be confusing if you don't keep up with them. We can help you determine when they're a good idea and how to keep them organized. QuickBooks provides good tools here, but they require some administrative control.
Goodbye to QuickBooks 2010 Support 
 
     On May 31, 2013, Intuit discontinued support of QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Simple Start 2010, QuickBooks for Mac 2010, and QBES 2010. You can continue to use these solutions, of course, but live technical support and add-on services like payroll, credit card processing, online banking and bill-pay are no longer accessible.
 
     Intuit also discontinued technical support and store exchange if you are using Multi-Store Version QB POS 7, 8 & 9 on May 31, 2013; however, merchant service processing will continue working and still be supported by Intuit.   Small Business Solutions will continue to support POS versions 7, 8 & 9, but if there is an issue beyond our knowledge, then we will not receive support from Intuit to resolve the problem.
  
Talk to us about upgrading if you're using any of these products or services. 
 
SALE - SALE - SALE
  
   Dramatic savings on QuickBooks Financial Accountant and Enterprise
  • June 25th & 26th: Two Day Sale on QuickBooks Accountant ($399.95 1-user, $1399.95 3-user)
  • Ends June 30th: 20% Savings on QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions (5-,10 & 30-users)

Call 256-337-5200 for complete details

 

Small Business Solutions LLC
PO Box 10053  Huntsville, AL 35801
256-337-5200  info@qbbob.com  www.QBBob.com
 
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