QuickBooks 2021 makes small business accounting fast and easy. But your day-to-day business bookkeeping will go even more smoothly if you employ a handful of QuickBooks user interface tricks, editing tricks, and keyboard shortcuts.
© ChubbyChii/Shutterstock.com
© ChubbyChii/Shutterstock.comUser interface tricks for QuickBooks 2021
You can learn to navigate the QuickBooks 2021 software very quickly if you employ some of the following interface navigation tricks:
- To move quickly to a specific list-box entry, press the letter. Press the s key to move to the first list entry that begins with the letter s, for example.
- To select a list-box entry shown within a dialog box and simultaneously choose a suggested command button for the active dialog box (probably the OK button), double-click the entry.
- To move the insertion point to the beginning of a field, press Home.
- To move the insertion point to the end of a field, press End.
- QuickBooks can display a list of open windows in its Open Window list. To display the Open Window list, choose View→Open Window List. To move to a listed window, just click it.
- To tell QuickBooks to use windows the same way every other program does, choose View→Multiple Windows. Alternatively, to tell QuickBooks to display just the active window, choose View→One Window.
Keyboard shortcuts for QuickBooks 2021
Use the QuickBooks 2021 keyboard shortcuts shown in the following table to make your day-to-day small-business accounting easier and faster.
| Press This PC Shortcut | QuickBooks Does This |
| Alt+S | Saves a transaction |
| Alt+N | Saves a transaction and goes to a new transaction |
| Ctrl+A | Displays the Chart of Accounts window |
| Ctrl+C | Copies your selection to the Clipboard |
| Ctrl+D | Deletes check, invoice, transaction, or item from the list |
| Ctrl+E | Edits transaction selected in the register |
| Ctrl+F | Displays the Find window |
| Ctrl+G | Goes to the other side of a transfer transaction |
| Ctrl+I | Displays the Create Invoice window |
| Ctrl+J | Displays the Customer:Job List window |
| Ctrl+M | Memorizes a transaction |
| Ctrl+N | Creates a new <fill in the blank> where <fill in the blank> is whatever is active at the time |
| Ctrl+P | Almost always prints the currently active register, list, or form |
| Ctrl+Q | Creates and displays a QuickReport on the selected transaction |
| Ctrl+R | Displays the Register window |
| Crtl+T | Displays the memorized transaction list |
| Ctrl+V | Pastes the contents of the Clipboard |
| Ctrl+W | Displays the Write Checks window |
| Ctrl+X | Moves your selection to the Clipboard |
| Ctrl+Z | Undoes your last action — usually |
| Ctrl+Enter | Saves the changes |
| Ctrl+Insert | Inserts a line into a list of items or expenses |
| Ctrl+Delete | Deletes the selected line from a list of items or expenses |
| Esc | Closes the active window |
How to execute common QuickBooks tasks
To perform a common accounting or bookkeeping task in QuickBooks, use these commands. When QuickBooks displays the commands window, you just fill in the boxes and press Enter.
| To Do This | Choose This QuickBooks Command |
| Dealing with Customers | |
| Invoice a customer | Customers→Create Invoices |
| Record a cash sale | Customers→Enter Sales Receipts |
| Issue a credit memo | Customers→Create Credit Memo/Refunds |
| Record a customer payment | Customers→Receive Payments |
| Handling Banking Activities | |
| Pay a bill with a check | Banking→Write Checks |
| Buy inventory with a check | Banking→Write Checks |
| Move money between bank accounts | Banking→Transfer Funds |
| Deposit money in a bank account | Banking→Make Deposits |
| See a bank account’s transactions | Banking→Use Register |
| Reconcile a bank account | Banking→Reconcile |
| Working with Vendors | |
| Prepare a purchase order | Vendors→Create Purchase Orders |
| Record when items are received | Vendors→Receive Items or Vendors→Receive Items and Enter Bill |
| Record an accounts payable amount | Vendors→Enter Bills or Vendors→Enter Bill for Received Items |
| Managing Employees | |
| Preparing employee payroll | Employees→Pay Employees |
| Paying tax deposits | Employees→Payroll Taxes and Liabilities→Pay Scheduled Liabilities |
| Getting Financial Information | |
| Accounts | Lists→Chart of Accounts |
| Customers | Customers→Customer Center |
| Inventory | Lists→Item List or Vendors→Inventory Activies→Inventory Center |
| Vendors | Vendors→Vendor Center |
| Employees | Employees→Employee Center |
| Profit and loss | Reports→Company & Financial→Profit & Loss Standard or one of the other profit & loss reports on Company & Financial submenu |
| Net worth | Reports→Company & Financial→Balance Sheet Standard or one of the other balance sheet reports on the Company & Financial submenu |
| Managing the QuickBooks System | |
| Setting up a new company | File→New Company |
| Resetting company information | Company→Company Information |
| Backing up data file | File→Save Copy or Back Up |
| Restoring a data file | File→Open or Restore Company |
| Customizing QuickBooks | Edit→Preferences |
| Adjusting accounting data | Company→Make Journal Entries |
Right-click for common QuickBooks 2021 tasks
To perform a common QuickBooks 2021 task related to a window, right-click to display a shortcut menu. In a register, select and right-click a specific transaction; in a list, right-click an item; in a form, display a transaction and right-click a blank area of the form.
QuickBooks displays a shortcut menu of common commands for each particular transaction, item, or window. It often displays commands for memorizing or voiding a transaction, for example, or for creating a QuickReport on a transaction. The commands differ based on the type of transaction you select.
