Name Date Class

QuickBooks Guide
Step-by-Step Instructions
What You’ll Learn Using QuickBooks
When you have completed this chapter, you will be able to use QuickBooks to:
1. Record and post a general journal entry.
2. Print a Journal report.
3. Edit a general journal entry.
4. Print a General Ledger report.

Problem 6-4 Recording General Journal Transactions


Review the accounts and the transactions listed in your textbook for
Wilderness Rentals. You will record these transactions using the Make $/9/5(!6%
General Journal Entries option in the Company menu.
!15%34)/.

QuickBooks Guide
INSTRUCTIONS Q. Are the steps to enter a
Begin a Session general journal transaction
using QuickBooks similar to
Step 1 Launch the QuickBooks® Pro 2015 software. the steps that you follow for
Step 2 Restore the Problem 6-4.QBB file. a manual system?
Work the Accounting Problem A. Yes, the steps you follow
to manually record a general
The instructions in this section explain how to enter and post general
journal transaction are very
journal transactions using QuickBooks. similar to those used in
Step 3 Review the transactions for Wilderness Rentals shown in QuickBooks. For both systems,
your textbook. you must enter a transaction
Step 4 Enter the transaction for January 1. date, source document
reference, account numbers,
January 1, Wrote Check 310 for the part-time descriptions, and debit or credit
secretary’s salary, $270. amounts. The QuickBooks
data entry window even looks
To enter the general journal transaction: like a manual journal.
• Select Make General Journal Entries from the
Company menu to display the General Journal Entry
.OTES
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.

window.
• Type 01/01/15 or select the date using the Calendar When you are
button. Press the Tab key to record the transaction date entering transactions,
in the Date field. QuickBooks automatically
fills in the date of the last
transaction as the date of
a new transaction. Make
sure to manually change
the date.

4)0 You can save time by entering the two-digit value for the month,
for the day, and for the year in the Date field (e.g., 010215).
QuickBooks will automatically show the full date.

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 Name Date Class

• Type Check 310 in the Entry No. field and then press Tab to move
to the next field.
Every time you type or enter information into a field, you must
press Tab to record the information. You can also use this key to
move from field to field. Press Shift+Tab to move backwards.
• Type 520, the account number for Salaries Expense, in the first
GL Account field, and press Tab to record it.
As you type, QuickBooks displays the first general ledger account
that matches the first character entered, and will continue display-
ing accounts until it has found the first account that matches what
you have entered. If you do not know the account number, you
can click the down arrow and scroll through the list of accounts
until you locate the desired account.
• Type 270 in the Debit field to record the debit to Salaries Expense.

4)0
QuickBooks Guide

If you enter the amount 270 without a decimal point, the pro-
gram will automatically format the amount as $270.00.

• Press Tab twice to move to the Memo field.

• Type Part-time secretary’s salary for the description,
and press Tab twice to move to the Account field on the .OTES
next line.
You do not have to
• Type 101 in the Account field to specify Cash in Bank, enter information in the
and press Tab twice. Name field. It is used to
• Type 270 as the amount in the Credit field and press Tab. link a transaction to a spe-
• Type Part-time secretary’s salary for the description in cific customer or vendor.
the Memo field.
• Verify that the entire entry has been recorded.
• Proof the information you just recorded. Check the account num-
bers, descriptions, and amounts. If you notice a mistake, move to
that field and make the correction.
• Click Save & Close to post the transaction and exit the window,

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.

or Save & New to post the transaction and remain in the window.
Click Clear if you need to erase the entire transaction without
posting it.
When you post a general journal transaction, QuickBooks
automatically updates the general ledger accounts.
Step 5 Enter the remaining transactions for the month.
IMPORTANT: If you notice a mistake after you have posted an entry,
make a note to correct the entry after you have recorded all of the
transactions. Instructions to edit a general journal entry are given in
the next section.
For each transaction:
—Type the date. Use the year 2015.
—Type the source document reference.
—Type the number of the account debited.
—Type the amount of the debit.

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 Name Date Class

—Type a description.
—Type the number of the account credited.
—Type the amount of the credit.
—Type a description.
—Proof your work.
—Save the entry. (If the Tracking Fixed Assets on Journal Entries
window appears, click OK.)

4)0 When entering a transaction involving a customer or vendor, you

will need to select either the Accounts Receivable or Accounts
Payable account, and then select the name of the customer or
vendor in the Name field.

Step 6 Close the Make General Journal Entries window using the Close
window button on the top right corner of your screen, if your

QuickBooks Guide
window is still open.
Prepare a Report and Proof Your Work
After you enter the transactions, the next step is to print a report and proof your
work. This section explains how to print a Journal report. You will also learn how to
edit a general journal entry.
Step 7 Print a Journal report.
To print a Journal report:
• Select Accountant & Taxes from the Reports menu.
• Select Journal.
• If the “Collapsing and Expanding Transactions” dialog box appears,
press the OK button.
• Press Tab and type 01/01/15 in the From field.
• Press Tab and type 01/31/15 in the To field.
• Press Tab to display the report.
• Review the report and then click Print to print the report.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.

4)0 To reduce the width of the printed report, you can select the
Fit report to option in the Print Reports Settings window.

Step 8 Proof the information shown on the report.

Find the beginning balance (Deposit) entry for $20,000 on the Journal
report. This entry was included as part of the problem set file for
Wilderness Rentals, to record the owner’s initial investment. As you
complete other problems using QuickBooks, you may notice other
entries listed as Deposit transaction types. These entries are used to
establish the beginning balances for various general ledger accounts,
but will not affect your work.

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 Name Date Class

Step 9 If there are any corrections needed, follow these instructions to edit or
delete a transaction.
• Select Make General Journal Entries from the Company
menu.
• Click the left or right arrow buttons on the ribbon to move
backward or forward in the window to display the transaction that
you want to edit or delete.
• To edit a transaction, simply make the necessary changes to the
date, entry no., account numbers, descriptions, or amounts. Click
Save & Close to save the changes.
• To delete a transaction, click the Delete button on the ribbon.
When the Delete Transaction warning box appears, click OK.
• Select another entry to edit, or close the Make General Journal
Entries window if you are finished making changes.
Step 10 Print a revised Journal report if you changed or deleted any of the
transactions.
QuickBooks Guide

Analyze Your Work

Step 11 Select Accountant & Taxes from the Reports menu. Select
General Ledger from the Accountant & Taxes submenu.
If the “Collapsing and Expanding Transactions” dialog box appears,
press the OK button.
Step 12 Click the Customize Report button.
Step 13 Type 01/01/15 in the From field and 01/31/15 in To field.
Step 14 In the Columns section, scroll down and select Debit and Credit. Click
OK.
Step 15 Locate the Cash in Bank account on the General Ledger report.
How much cash was deducted from the Cash in Bank account in
January?
Step 16 Click the Close window button to close the report. When prompted to
memorize the report, click No.
End the Session
Step 17 It is recommended that you back up your work for this session.

On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
questions: How do you enter a beginning balance for
a general ledger account? Why would a company need
to enter beginning balances?

4)0 Search QuickBooks Help to learn how to enter beginning

balances.

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