QuickBooks is driven by lists – quite a few of them. You have to know your business and know what the lists mean so that you can efficiently and effectively create a database. Here is another QuickBooks setup error that we see the most AND how to fix it.
Customers and jobs
Customer and job organization not appropriate for reporting needs: Customer/Jobs don’t work for every QuickBooks user. In my experience, I’ve seen it used most often in construction, home improvement or real estate/property management companies where there are multiple & concurrent “jobs” worked for each customer that the business owner would like to track separately (typically for profitability reporting reasons). If this does not describe you and your business, then the extra level of “Jobs” is inappropriate for your reporting needs and is probably overkill.
Redundant or duplicate: Again, the same as with the Chart of Accounts, you don’t want a bloated list of Customers/Jobs. Periodically review the list for duplicates and merge the Customers.
Jobs not properly assigned to customers: If you use Jobs, you want to make sure that they are properly assigned to Customers. Periodically review your customer & job list to make sure that everything is as it should be.
Don’t be afraid to ask for some help.
