15 Nov Designing the File
Designing the File
The time you spend thinking and talking about what you want from the system will save unnecessary aggravation later. Think especially about the information you will want to create reports. That includes both reports available currently and those that would be helpful in managing the business. Never make assumptions that a report will be easy or hard to create. Think about how the information is best presented and how it can be captured into the software most efficiently. That will help make decisions as to how to set up the file before the software is even installed.
The QuickBooks File Setup Checklist was developed to provide a starting place for issues to consider. Although you may not understand all of the issues on the checklist at this point, most will be addressed in this resource. If you need additional assistance, be sure to talk with a small business accountant or Certified QuickBooks Advisor or other QuickBooks Consultant. This checklist will serve as a tool to help ensure that the information necessary for reports will be captured, and the way in which the data will be entered is consistent with the needs of everyone who will be using it.
During this stage, don’t forget to investigate what is being done manually that could be automated as part of the conversion process. It is also possible to integrate many third party applications used for industry specific functions with QuickBooks, check with the developer of the product to learn for sure. If there are industry specific or other requirements that cannot be handled within QuickBooks alone, some time investigating third party add on products may be time well spent rather than simply accepting a work around.