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Welcome to the Community, Watsonjohn2234. I'd be more than happy to share some information about getting started in QuickBooks.
As a rule of thumb, actions taken in your books should only reflect what's happening in real life. This applies to everything, such as transactions, making deposits, entering sales, etc.
While some tasks can be done primarily through QuickBooks, like sending invoices, much of what you'll record are activities done outside of your books.
Specifying the company's information is an important step initially, because it's used to automatically populate data onto invoices and other sales forms you send to customers.
You can access your Account and settings menu by using the Gear (⚙️) icon at the top-right, then selecting Account and settings.
Once you've reached your account preferences screen, check the Company name and Contact info sections for accuracy.
To edit this information, click your section's Pencil (✏️) icon, make the necessary changes, then select Save.
Next, confirm your Company type area has the appropriate Tax form and Industry listed.
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Social Security Number (SSN) will be required when making changes to details in your Company type area. If you need help identifying which of these you'll need for the business, I'd recommend working with an accounting professional or getting in touch with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
You can follow Intuit's detailed process for configuring account settings by following the processes outlined in our Getting Started article.
You'll also want to familiarize yourself with the layout of QuickBooks:
- Your Dashboard displays an interactive snapshot of the business, featuring your invoice tracker, sales, expenses, and profit & loss performance.
- The Left navigation bar allows you to access various centers, such as Banking, Accounting, Sales, Expenses, etc.
- You can use your Create (➕) icon to add activities and/or transactions.
- Utilizing the Magnifying Glass (🔎) icon will enable you to search for transactions.
Next, I'd recommend adding any necessary banking accounts and following along with the rest of our steps in Intuit's official manual for getting started in QuickBooks.
You'll also be able to find many detailed resources about using QuickBooks in our help article archives.
If there's any additional questions, I'm just a post away. Have a lovely day!
