Easystep Interview Part One

Setting Up Your Company File

The Quickbooks EasyStep Interview is the best way to get started using the software for the first time. The first step in using Quickbooks is to set up a New Company. This is done by choosing ‘Create a new company’ from the ‘File’ menu. Doing this will open the EasyStep Interview which will walk you through the process of setting up Quickbooks for your company.

It is best to use this interview when learning the software. It is quite thorough and will help to lay the framework for your Company File. After you have gained much experience with Quickbooks you can skip the interview and choose to set things up manually, but that can also be more time consuming.

Here, I will walk you through the interview step by step to explain how best to respond to the questions you will be asked. This example uses Quickbooks Pro 2009. You can leave the interview at any time while you are working on it and return to it later, even if you close Quickbooks. But, it is very important to keep in mind that once you have completed the interview, you will not be able to return to it. After that you will use the Preferences screen found under the Edit menu and the Company Information screen found under the Company menu.

Enter Your Company Information

The information you enter in this step of Quickbooks EasyStep Interview will be used by Quickbooks in many parts of the software, such as in helping you to create invoices and statements. It is important that the information you enter is accurate. Filling in as much information as you are able to will allow the software to pre-fill information for you in the future. Your company’s EIN number will be used in making electronic federal deposits and creating payroll forms like Form 940 and Form 941 if you take advantage of one of the payroll service options provided by Intuit. Entering your fiscal year is important, especially if you use tax line mapping for transmitting your records into tax software at tax time.Select Your Industry

It is important to choose the correct industry from the list provided as it will use your choice to create a chart of accounts for your company. The chart of accounts is the foundation of your bookkeeping system. It can be edited after the Quickbooks EasyStep Interview so don’t worry about whether or not it has everything you need. This is just to get you off to a good start with your file.

How is your company organized?

When you formed your company you chose an entity to operate as, such as sole proprietor or corporation. It is important to choose the right entity at this screen in the interview as it will affect how Quickbooks sets up your company file. Select the first month of your fiscal year

Select the first month of your fiscal year

Most businesses have a fiscal year that begins in January. If yours does, then choose January. Otherwise choose the correct month from the drop down box.

Set up your administrator password

It is always critical to safeguard financial information whether on paper or in a software program. Be sure to enter a strong password here and write it down before you go any further in the Quickbooks EasyStep Interview. You don’t want someone gaining unauthorized access to your books. The more complicated your password, the harder it is to memorize, so be sure to store it in a safe place away from your computer.

Create your company file

Choose ‘Next’ and a window will open for you to save your company file. The file name is pre-filled based on the information you entered in Your Company Information. You can change it to something else if you like. Choose ‘Save’ and Quickbooks will create the company file and save it for you. And then proceed to Quickbooks Easystep Interview Pt 2– Customizing it for Your Business.