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Portable company files (.qbm) offer a fast and effective way for Quickbooks users to transfer or otherwise move their data. If you want to email your data to a business partner, for instance, you can save the information as a portable file and attach it to the email. There’s no need to worry about trying to run and save a full backup file, as portable files are easier to create and take far less time.

What Is a Portable Company File?

Think of a portable company file as a barebones version of your Quickbooks data. Unlike a full backup, portable company files do not contain elements like letters, images, logos, templates, etc. Instead, they contain only critical data that’s absolutely necessary. By stripping out unnecessary elements, portable company files are typically a fraction of the size of a full backup, making them the preferred method for emailing and transferring Quickbooks data.

Intuit also recommends the use of portable company files to troubleshoot errors when traditional methods, such as verify and build, are not enough. Each time you restore a portable company file, Quickbooks re-indexes the file, which in turn may identify and solve certain types of errors and bugs.

Whether you’re trying to email/transfer data, troubleshoot a problem, or if you simply want to protect your Quickbooks data in the event of a crash, you can follow the steps listed below to create a portable company file. It’s a quick and easy process that should only take a couple minutes to complete. With that said, portable company files should not serve as a substitute to full backup since they don’t contain all of the elements found in an account.

Steps To Creating a Portable Company File:

1. Launch Quickbooks
2. Choose File from the drop-down menu, followed by Copy.
3. Click on the option titled Portable Company File and select Next.
4. Choose the desired location for your portable company file (eg: hard drive, USB flash drive, CD, DVD, etc.)
5. Double-check ensure the file format is correct (all portable company files save as .qbm extension).
6. Click OK to save the file and close the window.
7. Quickbooks will now close and re-open while simultaneously building your portable company file. It’s important for users to click OK, as selecting the Cancel prevents Quickbooks from closing; thus, stopping the creation of the portable company file.
8. Once Quickbooks restarts, your portable company file should be complete.

One of the most common questions first-time Quickbooks users ask is: what’s the difference between hosted and non-hosted Quickbooks? While they share some similarities, they are two very different types of services. Before you sign up for either hosted or non-hosted Quickbooks, you should first familiarize yourself with the features of each. Only then can you make an educated decision on which service is right for your business.

Hosted Quickbooks is a service offered through the Intuit Commercial Hosting Program that allows licensed third-party companies, such as MyVao.com, to host clients’ desktop Quickbooks. One the client has purchased a desktop version of Quickbooks, he or she can sign up for a professional hosting service through a company that participates in the Intuit Commercial Hosting Program.

Support

Non-hosted Quickbooks clients are limited strictly to Intuit for customer service inquiries. Intuit is known for offering a superior level of support, which is why so many accountants and business owners choose its products, but hosted Quickbooks offers another level of support through the third-party company. Whether need assistant with setup, maintenance, discrepancies or anything else, they’ll guide you through the process.

Performance

There’s also a noticeable difference in performance between hosted and non-hosted Quickbooks. With non-hosted Quickbooks, users are forced to rely on their computer’s processing power to perform Quickbooks-related tasks. Unfortunately, this may bog down the resources on some of the older computers, reducing their speed to a crawl. There’s nothing more frustrating that being forced to stare at a loading screen for 10 minutes.

Thankfully, hosted Quickbooks eliminates this problem by using the hosting company’s resources rather than the client’s. The client simply uses a remote desktop connection terminal to access his or her Quickbooks on the hosting company’s server. Since the actual files are installed on the server, all processes use its resources. This translates into faster speeds and better performance.

Security

Another area where hosted Quickbooks shines is security. A typical user’s Quickbooks account contains a plethora of sensitive financial data that must be kept secure at all times. Hosted Quickbooks tackles the problem of security by using advanced SSL encryption technology, preventing unwanted eyes from prying into clients’ accounts.

If your personal computer is damaged, destroyed or stolen, you can rest assured knowing that all of your sensitive Quickbooks data is stored on a third-party server. All you need to do is download a desktop connection terminal and log into the hosting company’s server.

Still struggling to reprint an existing check in your Quickbooks account?  It’s actually a relatively simple and straightforward process that should only take a couple of minutes. Nonetheless, many first-time Quickbooks users struggle to find the correct way to reprint checks. Since there’s not an option designed specifically for this reason, you have to take a different approach to reprint existing checks.

Steps To Reprint Existing Checks:

1. Click on the Banking menu at the top of your Quickbooks account screen.
2. Select Use Register from the Banking menu.
3. Scroll through the list of bank accounts from the drop-down menu and choose the one containing the check you wish to reprint.
4. Select OK to bring up the bank account register.
5. Browse through the transactions until you find the check.
6. Once you’ve located the check, highlight the number and press T on your keyboard (this is the shortcut for print).
7. Select the Record option at the bottom right and choose Yes when prompted to record changes.
8. Quickbooks will now add the check to your Print Queue.
9. Select the File option at the top of your Quickbooks screen.
10. Choose Print Forms.
11. Choose Print Checks.
12. Select the checks you wish to print and click OK.
13. Verify the correct printer is chosen and select the Print.
14. Your checks should now reprint.

Following the steps above will allow you to reprint existing checks in your Quickbooks account.

Help, My Checks Are Printing In Reverse Order

Some Quickbooks users may experience problems with their checks printing in reverse order. If you’re only printing half a dozen or so checks, this isn’t going to cause any major issues, as you can rearrange the checks once they are printed. However, if you’re printing 100 or more checks, placing them in the correct order can be time-consuming, monotonous task. So, how do you solve this problem?

If your checks are printing in reverse order, the problem is most likely due to a setting on your printer. Some printers are designed to print the last document first, resulting in a backwards stack of checks. Go into your Windows OS Control Panel, right click on the appropriate printer and select Printing Preferences. You should see an option that determines which page prints first. Select the option to print in ‘normal’ not reversed order.

Did this walkthrough help you solve your check printing problem? Let us know in the comments section below!

Most business transactions occur with customers paying for a product or service after it’s delivered. In some cases, however, customers may wish to send several payments before the product or service is delivered so they aren’t left with a hefty bill at the end. Known as prepayments, this offers a convenient way for customers to pay for large orders over a given period of time rather than all it once.

If you’re new to Quickbooks, you might be wondering how exactly to set up prepayments in your account. The standard method of recording transactions doesn’t allow for prepayments, but there are a few different ‘workaround’ solutions to solve this problem. If your business deals with prepayments on a regular basis, keep reading to learn the correct way to record them in Quickbooks.

Follow These Steps To Handle Prepayments In Quickbooks:

1. Click on the Lists button in your Quickbooks account.
2. Select Chart of Accounts.
3. Create an account for your customer’s prepayments.
4. Create a non-taxable service on the newly created prepayment account and link the two together.
5. If this is a new customer, go ahead and create a standard account for them. If they already have an account with you, skip this step and proceed to the next step.
6. Use an invoice or sales receipt to record any prepayments made by the customer. Note: you should use the item code that was originally created during steps 3-4. Just remember to set the balance at $0 so it doesn’t interfere with their actual total.
7. Once the product/service is delivered, send an normal invoice to the customer like you would for any other job. The only difference is that you’ll need to adjust the invoice total based on the total amount of the prepayments. If a customer paid $800 on a $2,000 job, then you’ll need to send an invoice for $1,200.
8. The customer should send you a payment for the remaining balance, at which point you should accept it to finish the job.

Quickbooks makes it incredibly easy to handle prepayments. There might not be a specific system in place designed for prepayments, but following the steps previously mentioned allows business owners to handle prepayments with little effort. The most important thing to remember is to adjust the final invoice based on the total amount of the customer’s prepayments.

Did these steps work for you? Let us know in the comments section below!