How to Setup QuickBooks Desktop for the First Time

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QuickBooks is the worlds most used and
sought-after accounting software. This software
is mostly used by the small and medium sized
business. To start using it, one needs to set it
up on the system for which some steps need to be
followed.
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How to Setup Your QuickBooks for the First Time
Steps to set up QuickBooks for the first time are
given below
Step 1 Register for QuickBooks
You can register for the QuickBooks is just one
minute or even less than that. You can choose any
of the QuickBooks package after taking a free
trail.
The QuickBooks packages or subscription are

• Simple Start Plan- 5/month- With this, you can
  create invoices, get estimates and download your
  bank transactions.
• Essentials Plan- 10/month- It gives you access
  that are offered in Simple Start plan along with
  the access to manage and pay bills and offers
  multi-user support.
• Plus Plan- 21/month- This plan comes with all
  essential features, and the access to
  track inventory, prepare and print 1099s.

All these features are available on free access
for duration of 30 days. You just need to enter
your personal details, and you will be able to
take benefit of the free online trial.
To use QuickBooks Online, you would need to use a
compatible browser which includes. (Chrome,
Safari 6.1, Firefox, and Internet Explorer 10 or
higher). Once you sign up for the trail, you can
login to the QuickBooks and get access to
QuickBooks Dashboard.
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Step 2 Customize your Company Preferences and
the Account Settings

• You can display a To Do List on the QuickBooks
  Dashboard. After logging in for the very first
  time, you will find a number of tutorials that
  help you setup different parts of your new
  account. After this, you should set your company
  preferences that will help you move forward with
  the QuickBooks.
• On the top menu, click on the Company tab and
  select Preferences. Fill or edit your companys
  contact details and changes the account settings
  in the way you like. These settings may include
  invoice automation, credit card payments, and
  time tracking and payroll.

However, if you do not want to change these
settings, the version will not pressurize or
force you to do so.
Step 3 Import Business Data to QuickBooks
This new QuickBooks version allows you to import
the data without any hassle. You would not be
required to do manual transfers or setups. This
software will helps you import data, do
transactions from bank accounts, customer data
from Excel, and your Excel chart of accounts.
To do all these things, you would be required to
click on the Company tab and select More and Impor
t Data from the drop-down menu.
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1. You will get various options to upload the file
   and you can choose the one as per your
   preference. Moreover, uploading your customer or
   vendor list is quite easy with this new software.
   Just match each field with your QuickBooks field
   ensuring no error in the list, you can go ahead.
2. Some of the business data you can import to
   QuickBooks include customer or vendor data,
   products services from excel, chart of accounts
   from Excel, transactions from your bank, and
   QuickBooks desktop company data. You may also
   experience few types of errors while importing
   but that can be easily troubleshooted.
3. During this process, you may sense that
   QuickBooks makes you over-categorize some of the
   businesses but that is going to help you in
   keeping your business more organized.

Step 4 Sync QuickBooks with your Bank Accounts

• Click on the Banking tab on the top of the
  screen and it will automatically connect
  QuickBooks with your bank account. Then, click
  on Download Transactions.
• After that, a pop-up window will appear where
  you need to fill your bank details that you want
  to sync with the software.
• Next, a pop-up window will appear where you
  need to fill your bank details that you want
  to sync with the software. You can use
  your online banking username and password. After
  few minutes, your account will be synced with the
  software and all your bank transactions will be
  imported to the software.
• After this, you can attach your customer and
  vendor names to each of the transactions. This
  attachment or organized data will help you keep
  track of the credit and debit info.

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Step 5 Sync your Business credit cards

1. After bank account, its time to sync your credit
   card accounts as well. Once you sync your credit
   card accounts, ensure that your credit card
   information is showed in QuickBooks. This will
   ensure that you do not record your data manually.
2. If you wish to sync your credit cards, click on
   the Banking tab on the top menu bar,
   select More and then Register from the drop down
   menu. Type your bank account details and choose
   the Credit Card Option in the pop-up that
   appears. As you click, QuickBooks will launch
   a credit card setup wizard that will help
   you sync your cards in just few steps.

Step 6 Customize your Invoices with Company
Banking

1. Not to mention, a good business has always good
   looking and well-maintained invoices by which the
   customers get impressed easily. This can be done
   only by customizing QuickBooks invoice with the
   company logo and branding.
2. As a user, you would be glad to know that
   QuickBooks supports customizable invoices and is
   also quite happy to do so. You can change style,
   color, font, layout, and size. But this need to
   be kept in mind that complete invoice
   customization is only available to the users who
   are the QuickBooks Plus subscribers.
3. Click on the Customers tab to access the
   customization menu select Create Invoices.
   Choose your desired invoice template from the
   drop-down list and make your own. You can also do
   further changes to the invoice by click on the
   Formatting tab and then click on Customize Date
   Layout.

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4 . Customize the design and the layout. Look
for the Use Logo Checkbox and see if your logo
looks nice and does not get cropped while you use
it in the invoice.
Step 7 Import your contacts to QuickBooks

• Making it easy to import the contacts,
  QuickBooks ensures that you are ready-to-do for
  everything.
• Click on Companygt Moregt Import Data and then
  select Customers or Vendors (It depends on whose
  data you want to import).
• The data of customer and vendor can be uploaded
  in the form of an Excel or CSV file. Once the
  file is imported, QuickBooks will automatically
  extract data.
• But while copying the data, QuickBooks do some
  errors. Once you have filled all the data
  correctly, you can Continue and review the data.

Tips for the First time QuickBooks users
If you are using QuickBooks for the first time,
then you should make sure that while using
certain tools, you need to follow some tips

• Avoid using invoices and estimates As a first
  time user, you should avoid using invoices and
  estimates on QuickBooks until and unless you are
  completely familiar with the software. All the
  accounting activities are posted automatically
  when you use these functions. Once you know how
  the amounts are generated on QuickBooks, you can
  start using in-built invoices and estimates that
  will help you make your business QuickBooks
  account highly accurate.

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• Separate Business However, it is a great thing
  that QuickBooks allows a user to sync the
  accounts with software but it is recommended to
  keep your business bank account separate and it
  should not include any personal transactions.
• Pro QuickBooks Advisors to help you On the
  basis of your ZIP code or postal code, QuickBooks
  helps you find out the nearby QuickBooks
  professionals who are certified who can help you
  with problems related to the software.
• Connect QuickBooks with Payroll
  Software Calculating payroll manually is now a
  difficult task and QuickBooks is the most popular
  software that can help you do payroll quickly and
  accurately. You can sync payroll software
  programs with QuickBooks. This will also help you
  stay updated with the latest tax laws and other
  changes.

By following all the above mentioned steps and
tips, you can become a QuickBooks master in no
time. If you have any questions or queries please
ask it directly to our experts at 1(800)880-6389.
Our QuickBooks Support executives will help you
to install, update or troubleshooting of your
QuickBooks software in no time.