The Income Tracker is one of Quick-Books more innovative features. If you’re not using it, you should be.
More Functionality
One of the reasons that QuickBooks appeals to millions of small businesses is because it offers multiple ways to complete the same tasks, which accommodates different work styles. Say, for example, you wanted to look up a specific invoice. You could:
- Go to the Customer Center and select the customer, and then scan through the list of transactions,
- Use the Find feature (Edit | Find), or
- Create a report from different avenues
There’s also another way you can get there if you have a recent version of QuickBooks: the Income Tracker. (Talk to us about whether to allow other employees to use it, and how to set that up.) The Income Tracker provides a visual overview of your company’s income.
To get there, either click the link in the vertical navigation bar or go to Customers | Income Tracker.
Four colored bars across the top of the screen represent unbilled estimates, open invoices, overdue invoices, and invoices paid within the last 30 days. QuickBooks defaults to displaying all types of transactions, but when you click on a bar, the screen changes to show only that type of transaction.
Here is a good place to start your analysis!
The Income Tracker is great for simply viewing groups of transactions; double-clicking on one will open the original form. If you have not been there yet, you may want to explore by selecting the colored tabs. Here you will discover wealth of information that will help you move forward your business operation.
What else can you do?
From the Income Tracker, you can create invoice for a 100 percent of the estimate or you may decide to use percentage of completion method. If you are ready you can also receive payment, edit or view transaction journal.
QuickBooks’ Income Tracker doesn’t do anything that can’t be done in another way in the program. But it provides an excellent one-glance view of the current state of your receivables movement.
What to look for
If you have observed unexpected balances or you discovered any irregularities in your accounting system, let us know and we will be glad to address your concerns. We can evaluate your receivable process, suggest ways on how to improve your operation and accelerate your cash-inflow. Getting that “PAID” stamp on your invoices is the 1st step to improve your cash flow and strengthen your confidence as a business manager.
We are always available to answer your questions. It can be your QuickBooks configuration / setup, accounting, bookkeeping, reporting, data interpretation or just needed training for your staff. You already know that your managerial accounting reports are critical tools to help you make better business decisions.
So, why not be on top of it!
Ben Derebie, MBA, CMA
Certified Management Accountant
Advanced Certified QuickBooks & Enterprise Solutions ProAdvisor
