form template

Does QuickBooks 2011 Offer New Online Forms Customization Tools?

Chief Mechanic · September 19, 2010 ·

Yes, beginning with QuickBooks 2011, users can take advantage of new online QuickBooks Forms Customization tools.

Methods to download and modify form templates available in earlier versions of QuickBooks are still available in QuickBooks 2011.

The new online tool is largely a vehicle to market Intuit’s forms that are un-related to accounting (such as business cards) and other services, such as purchasing a logo design by running a contest.

Access to the new tools can be found by opening the Templates window via the Lists->Templates menu selection and clicking on the Create Form Design… menu selection on the Templates button in the lower left corner of the window.

Here are screenshots of the first step of the forms design process and the Apply Design window to use a form design in QuickBooks:

QuickBooks 2011 Online Forms Customization

QuickBooks 2011 Online Forms Customization Apply Design Window

Users can edit and re-apply changes to forms customized using the online tool for a period of 30 days. After that period, any additional changes, including applying the form design to new form templates, will incur a fee of $4.99.

The new online forms customization tools don’t extend the capabilities of QuickBooks to customize forms. They simply provide a visual, online interface with a heavy dose of marketing for services that are unrelated to accounting software.

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What Are the Service Changes For QuickBooks 2011?

Chief Mechanic · September 18, 2010 ·

Starting with QuickBooks 2011 and Enterprise Solutions, Intuit has announced a variety of service changes. They are:

New terms for exchanging Accountant’s Copy files using Intuit’s secure servers
QuickBooks Email will disappear unless you’re an active subscriber to another Intuit supported service, such as QuickBooks payroll
QuickBooks Attached Documents replaces Document Management
Intuit Data Protect replaces QuickBooks Online Back-up
New terms of use and extra fees for online forms customization
Changes to the cancellation policy for QuickBooks Online Edition

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How Do I Change an Onscreen Form Such As Create Invoices To Show More Line Items?

Chief Mechanic · September 12, 2010 ·

Making changes to the windows of QuickBooks is easy.

Let’s use the Create Invoices window as an example. By default, this window shows just 2 invoice lines. In this article, we’ll change the default look. An important point to keep in mind is that you should not close the Create Invoices window until you’ve completed all the steps in this article. Otherwise, you’ll lose your work and need to start over.

Here’s the Create Invoices window in its smallest form. Pay close attention to the right border. We’ve positioned our mouse pointer directly on the border, and it’s now turned into a left-right arrow. It only provides this functionality when your mouse is positioned directly on the border; if you move it off the border, your pointer shape and function will change.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Create Invoices Right Border

With your mouse pointer positioned directly on the border, make the Create Invoices window bigger by dragging this border to the right. To drag something in Windows, hold down your primary mouse button while moving it to the desired position. Since we started with the smallest form, we can’t drag it to the left. Next, drag the bottom border down and watch more invoice line items immediately appear. Re-size the window to fit your needs.

Let’s carry our customization 1 step further. Position your mouse directly on the fine line between any 2 columns, such as the one between U/M and Rate. Your mouse pointer will change to another type of left-right arrow.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Create Invoices Column

To change the width of a column, drag the pointer when it’s positioned directly on the line between 2 columns and is in the shape shown above. Again, it only provides this functionality when your mouse is positioned directly between 2 columns; if you move it away from this position, your pointer shape and function will change. One common need in re-sizing a window such as the Create Invoices window is to increase the width of the description field. With this knowledge, that’s now an easy task. Re-size any column to suit your needs.

Once you’ve completed customizing the look of your Create Invoices window, you need to save your work. To do that, do not close the Create Invoices window. Instead, go to the Edit->Preferences menu, and choose Desktop View from the submenu shown. Since QuickBooks can store different desktop settings for individual users, be sure you’re on the My Preferences tab.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Preferences Save Current Desktop

Click the radio button Save current desktop and click OK. Your changes to the Create Invoices window are now saved. To confirm that, close the Create Invoices window and re-open it. It should now open to your customized size and layout. Since you’ve just saved your desktop with the Create Invoices window open, that window will open the next time you start QuickBooks. If you want different windows to open by default, simply open them and save the desktop in that state.

This same technique can be applied to most, if not all, data entry screens in QuickBooks.

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Why Does the To Be Printed Field Remain Checked After Printing an Invoice?

Chief Mechanic · September 11, 2010 ·

According to Intuit, this is possibly caused by a damaged invoice template.

The recommended solution is to duplicate the damaged invoice template, make it inactive, and use the duplicated template in the future.

Here are the steps to resolve this problem:

Identify the invoice template used on the invoice whose To be printed flag didn’t properly reset after printing
Open the Templates window by clicking on the Lists->Templates menu selection
Select the damaged invoice template and click the Templates button at the bottom left corner of the Templates window
Click Duplicate to make a copy of the damaged invoice template
Optionally rename the copy to a new unique name by right clicking on the template, choosing Edit Template on the context menu, and clicking the Manage Templates… button
Right click on the damaged invoice template and choose Make Template Inactive from the context menu
Return to the invoice whose To be printed flag didn’t properly reset after printing
Change the Template in the upper right corner to the new copy of the damaged template
Print the invoice and confirm the To be printed flag reset properly

The screenshot below highlights the To be printed flag and the Template on the QuickBooks Create Invoices window:

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 10 Invoice Show Template

See our related article on clearing the To be printed flag under normal circumstances.

This problem is also discussed in an Intuit knowledge base article.

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How Do I Add My Logo To Printed Forms?

Chief Mechanic · August 28, 2010 ·

To add a logo to a form, such an invoice, you first need to open the Basic Customization window of the form you want to modify.

QuickBooks stores forms in files called templates, and there is usually a different template for a different function, such as producing an invoice and producing an estimate. Therefore, if you want to make a change to one template, you may want to make that change to several templates so that all of your forms have a consistent look. You’ll need to make modifications to templates one by one.

There are several ways to open the Basic Customization window for a specific template:

Open the form you want to customize and click the Customize button itself – not the arrow indicator that opens the pull down menu as displayed below
Open any form, click the Customize button, followed by the Manage Templates… selection on the drop down menu to choose the template you want to modify
Open the Templates window by clicking on the Lists->Templates menu selection, select the template you want to modify in the list and double click on that template; alternately, you can click on the Templates button and choose Edit Template on the drop down menu or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + e

The Create Invoices window:

The Templates window:

From the Basic Customization window, there are 2 approaches to adding a logo:

Click on the Use logo checkbox and then select your logo by clicking on the Select Logo… button (which won’t be active until you click the checkbox or
Click the Layout Designer… button at the bottom of the Basic Customization window

The first approach is only suitable if your logo is an exact square. QuickBooks automatically resizes the image you select and place using this method into a square, which isn’t suitable for all logo images.

For that reason, we recommend that you proceed by clicking the Layout Designer… button, an approach that works whether your logo is a square or rectangle. Click the Add button and choose Image from the drop down menu that appears.

In the Select Image window that appears, locate your logo image and click Open. Your logo will be added to your template.

You can move the logo by positioning your mouse pointer inside the logo image and dragging it where you want it. You can only resize it to a new dimension that is scaled from the original dimensions. You can’t change the scale of the logo using Layout Designer. If you need to do that, you’ll have to use an image editing program. To change the dimensions of the logo image, click on any one of the handles on the border and drag it to the desired size.

To save your work, click Ok two times.

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form template

Accounting

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Intuit