Create a customized, fine-tuned accounting system for your business Whether you're migrating from a handwritten ledger, another software product, or an earlier version of QuickBooks, QuickBooks 2000: The Official Guide explains everything you need to know to get up and running with Intuit's #1 accounting software. Covering QuickBooks and QuickBooks Pro, this guide shows you how to set up easy-to-manage systems and track funds...manage payroll...process invoices...monitor inventory...create budgets...handle general ledger, time and billing...manage money online...and profit from money-saving tax tips. Author Kathy Ivens has loaded this management tool with tricks, tips and shortcuts for QuickBooks features, making this an indispensable resource for every small-business owner.

For businesspeople who can't seem to justify a dedicated accounting department, QuickBooks 2000 can provide the needed recordkeeping and reporting capabilities. QuickBooks 2000: The Official Guide, the latest official QuickBooks book from respected author Kathy Ivens, decodes the QuickBooks (and QuickBooks Pro) interfaces and shows you how to fit these popular accounting packages into your way of doing business.

Strangely, the Customer Center receives no mention, but Ivens covers practically everything else, making it easy for you to flip right to a discussion of whatever is confusing you at the moment. You'll usually find the discussion organized around standard business procedures rather than the software's design and terminology.

Ivens is at her best when she explains how to reconcile the inflexibilities of QuickBooks with the realities of business: for example, how to deal with a customer who pays after 20 days but takes the three percent discount that was supposed to be good for only 10 days. (QuickBooks wants to stick the customer with the remaining three percent, but Ivens shows how to account for your own generosity.) She also explains such mysteries as how to create a template that yields warehouse pick lists along with invoices, and how to properly collect sales tax from customers in multiple states. Overall, this is a highly practical guide to using QuickBooks 2000 as a management tool for small and medium-size businesses. --David Wall

Topics covered: Intuit QuickBooks 2000 and QuickBooks Pro 2000 as accounting and management tools. This book documents these features of the programs completely, touching on initial setup before explaining payables, receivables, payroll, taxes, inventory, time tracking, and paper forms.