When you can’t find a report you need, create one.
The ability to create custom reports in QuickBooks gives you the ability to select the information you need and define which information you want to have in your customer report. You can even name and save your custom report settings to a menu selection.
PrintThe item list for products and services had already been set up to identify specific subcontractors so I realized that the easiest way for them to get the reporting they wanted was to create customized reports. QuickBooks gives user the ability to select accounting information based on multiple criteria and to select the information that will appear on reports.
I created a report based on multiple item selections, changed the information to appear in report columns, the sort order, and subtotals. Finally, I saved the report as a memorized report so my client could call it up in the future from the memorized report menu.
It doesn’t matter how much flexibility QuickBooks brings to reporting, I often find clients wanting even more flexibility in report content and formatting. In this case, I take advantage of QuickBooks ability to export reports to Excel and to select and update specific worksheets in a workbook. I can then set up Excel templates and use Excel VBA programming to create customized reports; even ones drawing from multiple datasets.
The pictures below show some of the flexibility provided when you click the "modify reports" icon while viewing a report.
Robert Guild is certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor in Austin, TX who conducts CPE courses for CPAs and individual training and group classes to QuickBooks users. His company, Accounting Insight, maintains a sixteen-station QuickBooks lab, providing hands-on training. You can contact him directly at rguild@accountinginsight.biz or follow him on twitter at QBPro
