Chapter 18. Preparing the Top Ten QuickBooks Reports

What You'll Do

Set Reports and Graphs Preferences

Prepare an Income Statement

Prepare a Balance Sheet

Prepare a Trial Balance

Prepare a General Ledger Report

Prepare a Budget Report

Prepare a Sales Tax Liability Report

Prepare a Payroll Liability Report

Prepare an Accounts Receivable Aging Summary Report

Prepare a Job Progress Report

Prepare an Accounts Payable Aging Detail Report

Customize Reports

Memorize a Customized Report

QuickBooks is all about reports. All the information you enter on forms and registers and journal entries is stored in QuickBooks, waiting for you to pull it back out in reports. Reports show you the results of all your company's financial transactions. You can display reports, print them, save them, and rely on the information they provide to show you how well your company is meeting your expectations.

QuickBooks comes with a large collection of reports to help you understand your business. The reports sampled here are some of the most commonly used. You can customize all the QuickBooks reports so they display exactly the information you need.

You can access all of the QuickBooks reports from the Reports menu and also by clicking the Report Center button on your toolbar. The Report Center provides you with a summary of what each report displays, so if you're not certain which reports you want to work with, the Report Center is probably going to be more helpful to you than just picking a title from the Reports menu.

Use reports to show potential lenders and investors why they should commit funds to your company. Use reports to supply your accountant with information necessary to prepare tax forms, and use reports to compare your company's actual performance with the budget. Use reports to keep track of who owes you money and to whom you owe money.