# Quickbooks question



## flakesmeangreen (Nov 19, 2001)

I know it's off-season and not too many of us are around here but I'll ask anyway.

I started using Quickbooks Pro during this last winter and couldn't figure out how to associate a certain price with a customer and specific activity. I'm sure there's a way to do this but I haven't found it yet. All I've done is wasted lots of time searching QB. To be more specific on my question, how do I make $40 (price per push) automatically appear under "amount" for Mrs. Jones when I bring up the "item" snowplowing for her?

Your help will be greatly appreciated!

Tim


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## BRL (Dec 21, 1999)

Well the good thing about QB is its flexible & adaptable to many types of situations & contractors\businesses. So there are actually probably a few ways to do that. I'm assuming you do residentials & chances are you have other customers that are $40.00\push. In that case I would make a separate Item for each price you may use. So an example could be Item "40" would show up on the Invoice as "Snowplowing of driveway per push". When you set up that Item you can give it a price of $40.00, so QB will also automatically fill out the price as well. Then you can set up $50, $60, etc etc to cover all of the main prices you have. Then when you invoice for a storm, Mrs Jones, Mrs. Smith, Mr Johnson, and Mr Jeeter whose driveways all cost $40\push will be invoiced with Item 40.

I would bet there are other ways to do it, & people will probably post a different way to do it.


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## Pelican (Nov 16, 2001)

The way I've set it up is to memorize the invoice. Make up a one push invoice for that customer and memorize it, then next time you need to bill, just recall the invoice and enter the quantity. I also list the dates of service under the "Description" column, using the "Service Invoice" template.


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## digger242j (Nov 22, 2001)

Tim,

I do the billing in QB Pro and how I set it up is I have main categories, i.e. Plow, Salt, etc. with a price of $0.00 or whatever you like (I use it for those one-time customers that call for service after a huge storm). 

Then I set up subcategories under the main categories and code them by customer. Say you have customer XXX who you charge $40 for a plow/push and $30 for a salt. I would have two codes for that customer. Under Plow, a subcategory of XXX with a price of $40...etc. Customer AAA has a price of $25 for a plow...etc.

It looks something like this when you open the item list.

Plow $ 0.00
- AAA $25.00
- XXX $40.00
Salt $ 0.00
- AAA $25.00
- XXX $30.00

It's a little more work initially to set it up, but very easy to find the codes. If you're worried about having the same identifiers for the codes under two different categories, you can add a P or S or whatever else you like (PXXX, SXXX) to make it intuitive to you.

It also makes it easier to determine, in the customized reports, how much of your gross sales is attributable to an individual customer and/or service.

Vivian - Digger242j's wife


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## flakesmeangreen (Nov 19, 2001)

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll see what will work for me once I get a chance to play with QB.

Tim


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## BRL (Dec 21, 1999)

See I told you there would be a different way  Although Digger242j is basically talking about what I said, with more details. Pelican, thanks for posting that. I've always used Memorized Transactions for my recurring invoices for contracts on a payment plan, like a seasonal snow contract or a lawn maintenance contract. I had never considered using it for one time invoices that may happen again. This would be the best way to go IMO, because you are saving time by having the Customer Info, Items, and pricing already filled out & the invoice completed without doing anything (after the first time). If you need to make adjustments ( a storm with 3 pushes, no salt one time, etc), just edit those invoices as needed before processing them. You can save the whole season's list of customers with their memorized invoices in one "file" (if you need help with that let me know & I'll explain in detail). Then after each storm you tell QB to process those memorized invoices, all at once, and just edit the ones that may need it. I will switch to this method now that I know about it. Thanks again Pelican, you just saved me an hour of office time each storm LOL.


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## Pelican (Nov 16, 2001)

No problem!

Now I have a question.

I'd like to separate my memorized mowing invoices from the snowplowing invoices but haven't been able to figure it out. I have a number of clients for both services and it would end some confusion if I could go to one section or the other for billing.

I use Quickbooks 2001 (no Pro).


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## BRL (Dec 21, 1999)

Pelican,
I have Pro 2001, and I have no idea what the differences are. So you may not be able to, or may have to find a different way. 

Click on Lists, then Memorized Transactions from the drop down. At the Memorized transaction List click the "Activity" button at the bottom, in mine it is called simply Memorized Transaction with an arrow signifying it will bring up a menu (at the bottom of the screen). From that menu choose New Group and call it Lawn Maintenance or whatever. Now when you memorize the invoice put it in the group you want from that screen. You may have to rememorize old invoices because I couldn't find a way to just put the old memorized invoices into the new groups yet. If this isn't how it works with your program, look it up in the Help section because the QB help is very good & detailed. If you can do it, the Help section should be able to help you. Good luck.


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## myo (Dec 2, 2002)

I recently purchased Quickbooks 2003 Contractors Edition and it came with a rebate.

I did not read the fine print until I got home and realized that the only way you could get the rebate is if you have previously owned Quickbooks. This is my first program.

So, in order to receive the rebate you have to send in a photocopy of the manual of your previously owned quickbooks program... Here's my question, Could anyone please help me out and take a picture of there manual or scan there manual and post it on plowsite or email it to me.

I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

My email is [email protected]

Thanks again for anyones help.


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