QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

Purchasing Inventory

Purchasing and paying for inventory items is mostly the same as paying for other expenses. But as you learned in Chapter 4, inventory always seems more complicated than the other things you sell.

TROUBLESHOOTING MOMENT: Turning on Group Features

You're probably spoiled by the QuickBooks feature that lets you create new list entries whenever you need them by choosing <Add New> in a drop-down list. Then, when you're hooked on that feature, QuickBooks leaves it out.

You open the Memorize Transaction dialog box and create your first memorized transaction. Tantalizingly visible are the "With Transactions in Group" option and "Group Name" box, but they are grayed out no matter what you click in the dialog box.

To add a memorized transaction to a group, you must first create the memorized group. The steps are easy, once you know the right order:

1. Press Ctrl+T to

   Open the Memorized Transaction List.

2. In the Memorized Transaction List menu bar, click Memorized Transaction and then, on the shortcut menu, choose New Group. QuickBooks opens the New Memorized Transaction Group dialog box—asibling to the Memorize Transaction dialog box without the With Transactions in Group option and Group Name box.

3. Fill in the fields as you would for a memorized transaction. Name the group. Choose how you want to be reminded and when.

4. Click OK to save the group. Now that the group exists, you can ...