Information Update: ManagePLUS,
mentioned in this article, is still available only for QuickBooks
but no longer available for Quicken. At the time the article was
originally written, ManagePLUS was available for both.
Quicken gives you no easy way to record physical quantities.
QuickBooks versions 3 and later let you enter quantities for your
transactions, but sometimes that requires an "extra" step
(entering a Cash Sales Receipt). ManagePLUS
overcomes these limitations, and gives you lots of flexibility--plus
some special features--for recording physical quantities in your
Quicken or QuickBooks transactions.
How To Enter Quantities Using QuickBooks Items
Entering quantities for Income requires that you set up Items (in
the QuickBooks Item list) for each commodity you sell, such as Corn,
Soybeans, or Feeder Cattle.
Then to actually record income, you enter an Invoice or a Cash
Sales Receipt and specify the Item you're selling and the quantity.
And, if you don't want received checks to appear in the checkbook
register until you actually deposit them, you'll need to hold them
as Undeposited Funds until you prepare a deposit entry.
Recording quantities for Expense items is easier, because it can
be done right in the Checks window, simply by clicking on the Items
tab. (You have to turn on the Inventory and Purchase Orders feature
in Preferences before the Items tab will appear.) Still, before
entering quantities you must set up an Item in the Items list for
any type of item you purchase.
How To Enter Quantities Using the Memo Field (and
ManagePLUS)
(with Quicken or QuickBooks)
| QuickBooks Users Note:
ManagePLUS supplements QuickBooks' quantity recording
abilities, it does not replace them! You may record quantities
using any mix of QuickBooks or ManagePLUS features. ManagePLUS
will never override any quantity entry you've made in
QuickBooks. But if no quantity is defined for a transaction,
then ManagePLUS will attempt to "read" a quantity entry
from the Memo field as described below.
|
ManagePLUS lets you enter a physical quantity for any
transaction by way of the Memo field. In Quickbooks this is
particularly useful for income transactions, because it lets you
record quantities directly in the Deposits window without taking the
step of preparing an Invoice or Cash Sales Receipt.
To record a quantity for a transaction, simply enter a number (or
algebraic expression) in the Memo field followed
by a blank space. Here are two examples of Memo field quantity
entries (highlighted in green) in QuickBooks:
Note that you may type anything in the Memo field following the
number or algebraic expression. A unit name such as "bu."
or "cwt." makes the Memo more descriptive, as shown above,
but is completely optional. The only requirement is that you
follow any number or algebraic expression with a blank space before
typing anything else in the Memo field.
"What if I want to start my Memo field with a number, but
don't want ManagePLUS to use the number as a quantity?"
Here are two possibilities:
If you put a blank space at the beginning of the Memo
field ManagePLUS won't try to "read" a quantity from it.
(QuickBooks users.) If you're entering a quantity for the
transaction, such as in the Qty field of an Invoice or Cash Sales
Receipt, it doesn't matter what you type in the Memo field. ManagePLUS
will never extract a quantity from the Memo field for
transactions that have a quantity entered by QuickBooks.
Can I Enter Two Quantities?
Livestock producers, especially, often need to associate two
physical quantities with their transactions: the weight of animals
sold and the number of head sold. ManagePLUS does allow you
to enter two quantities for any transaction. And its reports provide
additional statistics based on dual quantities (such as total
weight, total number of head, weight per head, price per pound,
total dollars per head, etc.).
What About Errors?
It's possible to type something in the Memo field that ManagePLUS
cannot recognize as a number. For example, "83a4" begins
like a number but contains a letter.
ManagePLUS automatically checks Memo field quantity entries
for errors when it imports your transactions from Quicken or
QuickBooks. If errors are found, ManagePLUS notifies you and
highlights the transactions containing them so you can easily find
and fix them.
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