QuickBooks Statement Writer (QSW) is an add-on package that allows you to create professional financial statements based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. QSW allows you to generate customized, professional financial statements from a company file. Here you will read about how to use and navigate QuickBooks statement writer and if you want to know more about QuickBooks features like what is QuickBooks online new features of 2022 and a guide for exporting charts of accounts on QuickBooks desktop then click on these links.
It regularly syncs your changes in QuickBooks. All of your work is done in the Excel window once you start a new statement. The QSW is divided into three sections, which are as follows:
- The QuickBooks file contains your data.
- The Report Designer window, from which you can customize the report.
- Microsoft Excel displays the final result and allows you to make changes.
QuickBooks Premier Accountant, Enterprise Accountant, and Enterprise Solutions 12.0 and later support QSW.
Quick Guide To Procedures
QSW includes a number of options for customizing financial reports. It gives you a thorough overview of basic report creation:
- Open QuickBooks and select the QuickBooks Statement Writer icon near the top of the window.
- In the opening dialogue box, select Design New Report.
- Open the Report Designer Screen 1 – Report Content by using the navigation features to select each statement and document you want to include in the report, and then manage your selections in the order you want.
- In Report Designer Screens 2 through 5, customize the statements and documents added to the report by using the features on all of the screens. In screen 5, you can save a statement or the entire report.
- Examine the report in the Excel window. Any account rows can be combined or separated as needed.
- If the QSW Task Pane is not visible in Excel, click the Show Task Pane button on the Statement Write toolbar to restore it.
- In the Statement Writer pane, select any option from Row Properties or Column Properties to further customize the statement in the report.
- Report Properties allows you to change the look of the report. Fonts, layouts, sizes, headers, and footers can all be customized.
- If necessary, include additional statements or supporting documents in the report before saving it.
- The financial report should be printed. Before you print the report, you must first save it as a PDF. To accomplish this, select Save As and then
Set QSW Preferences
You need to set preferences by selecting the Statement Writer option and then selecting Preferences from the drop-down list. Now, choose the section for which you want to set preferences.
Your Details
With this option, you can provide information about your firm that allows you to enter the information into statements. Once you enter the details, it will be available all the coming statements and you can modify the information at any point of time. If you are making changes in the accountant information and then try to open a previously created statement, it will use the new information in any cells in which you entered the accountant information.
Formatting
These are the global settings that will be used for all future reports; however, you can customize the settings to your liking by going to the Reports menu and selecting Report Data Properties.
There are several formatting options available:
- Automatic Underlines: Uncheck this box if you want to maintain all of the underlines manually and do not want the QSW to adjust totals and sub-total underlines automatically.
- Show: Select this option to show decimal places and column headers on all pages, including inactive accounts.
- Show Zero Balances Select one of three options to show zero balances by default: a dash, a bank, or a zero.
- Show Negative Numbers As You have five options for displaying negative numbers by default.
Styles
This screen can be used to customize global styles and formatting. You will use these style settings for all the upcoming reports. You can change a style by selecting it under the Styles list and then applying your changes to the standard formatting features. Here can see your changes by clicking on the Preview pane.
Create, Open, And Back Up Financial Reports
When you begin a new financial report, you must create at least one financial statement based on the open QuickBooks file. Few financial statements and supporting documents can be used to create a report. When you print the report, you can specify the contents and order.
Create A Financial Report
- Select QuickBooks Statement Writer from the Accountant menu in QuickBooks, and then click Design New Report on the QSW window. If you’re already in QSW, you can create a new financial report from the Statement Writer menu or the QSW icons.
- Enter the report date and basis: For your convenience, some of the dates ranges defined in QSW are listed here. You can also define a custom range if none of the predefined ranges meet your business needs.
- Add statements and documents: Some statements and documents can be added in any order that is most convenient for you. The order in the final report does not refer to the order in the order.
- How To Use and Navigate QuickBooks Statement Writer
- Templates are referred to using terms like Selected Year and Selected Period, which refer to the report date.
- By selecting a category from the Show list, you can limit the list from the left-hand table.
- To add items to the report, select an item from the left labeled Statement and Document Templates. Now, use the right arrow key to navigate to the correct table, Financial Report Contents.
- How To Use and Navigate QuickBooks Statement Writer
- Select an item from the appropriate table and then click the left arrow to remove it from the report.
- By clicking the double left arrow, you can remove all items from the report and start over.
- Enter the report name, which may be different from the name you used for the final pdf report. The report is saved in the standard location.
Back up Financial Reports
QuickBooks Statement Writer files are not included in the company backup files, so you must create a backup of these files separately.
Follow these steps to make a copy of the QSW statements:
- Determine the location of the *.QSM files. (From the Statement Writer drop-down list, select Preferences.)
- Note the paths that appear in the Default Save Locations: C: Users[User name]DocumentsIntuitStatement Writer[Client Company name]
- By pressing Windows + E, you can access Windows Explorer.
- How To Use and Navigate QuickBooks Statement Writer
- Navigate to the previously mentioned path.
- To make a copy of the Statement Writer folder, select it and press CTRL + C.
- CTRL + V to copy the contents and paste them into the desired location.
The Report Designer
Utilize the Report Designer for setting up and customizing a report along with the statements and documents as per your requirement and then save a statement or complete report as a template that can be re-used as a pattern to create custom statements and reports for your clients using a similar chart of accounts.
You can store design choices and formatting, templates save you time because it prevents you to repeat the work you have done already.
When using Report Designer, you should pay close attention to the features listed below that may be useful to you.
- Move through the screens using step-by-step tabs: When you customize your report, the tabs shown as numbers at the top allow you to move through the screens in a step-by-step manner.
- View statements and documents using tabs (right-hand pane): On screens 2 and 5, select the tabs to display multiple statements and documents in the current report.
- “Drag and drop” from left to right, or use right-clicks menus: Screens 2–4 rely heavily on “drag and drop” and “right-click” functionality.
- Advanced button: Screens 1 through 4 contain an Advanced button at the top-right corner of the screen and it shows a screen-specific menu containing some helpful options that can be used for customization.
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