Learning How to Understand Your Business at a Glance Part 4

Time is one of the most precious resources we have and we don’t want to waste it searching through unending reports to identify the issues that require our attention. We waste time and we might just miss some critical threats and great opportunities.

Budgets are the means by which we set expectations required for financial success. Comparing budgeted to actual expenditures as we proceed allows us to see if we are on track to our goal in time to take corrective action if necessary.

QuickBooks has a great budgeting tool that deserves more attention than it gets. For any business that provides customer quotes or estimates. It’s a great tool for tracking project profitibility and managing costs along the way. There are two great reports, the “Estimates vs Actuals Summary” and “Estimates vs Actuals Detail”. As you create your estimate / quote in QuickBooks, you are identifying your costs and revenues by item.


The Estimates vs Actuals Summary proivdes a summary by project.


The “Estimates vs Actual Detail” gives you an item level budget report.


Robert Guild designs specialized reports and automated analysis tools for QuickBooks clients to make decisions they can trust. He is a member of Intuit DeveloperNet and an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Visit www.ReportsUWant.com to see pre-designed analysis tools ready to buy or contact him about developing applications for your specific needs at rguild@ReportsUWant.com. You can also follow him on twitter at QBPro