In this six-week course, you'll learn how to use the Premier Contractor Edition of QuickBooks 2009 effectively to meet the accounting needs of your contracting business and run it more efficiently. Contractors have many unique bookkeeping needs, so we've designed this course from the ground up specifically for the construction industry. The lessons are clearly illustrated and include step-by-step instructions in plain language, giving you hands-on practice with the features you're sure to use on a daily basis.
We'll discuss creating custom and professional-looking contract estimates and the different methods for billing your clients, including using the QuickBooks progress invoicing and job-costing features. You'll find out how to deal with tricky situations, like change orders and retainage requirements, and how to properly set up accounts, items, customers, and jobs. Along the way, you'll see how to avoid many of the big and often costly mistakes contractors commonly make with QuickBooks. Finally, we'll explore how specific transactions impact all of your various accounts and cover some techniques for protecting your business from fraud, preparing for tax time, and generating useful and dynamic reports.