quick books

I just bought and had my accountant set up quickbooks for me. Now I'm trying to customize a proposal and invoice that looks like what I've been using up to now. Spent hours and got pretty much nothing accomplished! How have you guys done this? I guess I'll just have to spend the next 2 months learning this thing.

You may not be able to duplicate your old forms exactly. It will depend on where you got your previous forms from. The Invoice and Estimate forms are pretty basic, but get the job done. You can modify them by selecting "customize" on the invoice screen where you can hide sections that you don't want your customer to see like Rates and PO numbers if you don't use them. You can also add a logo to the form too if you have one to scan. And, if you don't find what you are looking for, type a question into the ask a question section. It's pretty good and you can usually find what you are looking for. As far as proposal forms go. I still hand write them. I may from time too time use the estimate form for a quick fax but I always include on the bottom a disclamer that works for us. It briefly states that it is not a binding proposal form. The program may seem a little daunting at first but, it is pretty easy to use. Just like anything new it will take some time to get used to.......

When we went all computerized we went to a temp. agency and they had a women who was great.You should ask them if they have anyone who is experienced in quick books it will save you a lot of time.

Kris, I just updated from 2004 to QB 2007. Great program. IV/Est are fairly easy to customize after playing with them. You can also add customized disclaimer at bottom of estimates. The 'SEARCH' is great. Search by St, Name, job etc. BE SURE TO NAME SAVED IV, (PRACTICE1) etc, UNTIL YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE. 1. click IV 2. click customize 3. click Additional customization to choose items to show on screen and seperately choose items to print. 4. back to customize screen: click add (text box) type info, save, If you need a little help starting, e-mail me at arrowline(at)bellsouth.net JB

Well after a few days of playing with it I got a proposal and invoice that look pretty good. Entered all proposals that I've given since the first of the year and all unpaid invoices. thanks for the help.

Be sure to add items into memo for searching for old iv/quotes. ex:main rd near, school, etc. I do keep paper x-reference of iv's but use search feature exclusively for quotes to find old quotes. Seldom have to use paper reference for iv's. Primarly use search feature.