For this tutorial, do the following:

❖Choose Layout 0 by clicking on its tab.

❖Enter a Layout name. The name should remind you of the Layout's purpose. You might call it "Invoice/Packing slip" for instance, if its target form is the QuickBooks Invoice with a template named "Packing slip" in effect.

❖Indicate column numbers of the Item and Description columns on the target QuickBooks form (the Invoice or other form to which this Layout will be applied). Note:  Count column numbers from the left side of the QuickBooks form, beginning with 1.

The Item column must be present on the QuickBooks form. It's OK if you have renamed it, but it cannot be absent or FormCalc won't work.

Here's an example, showing the Layout 0 tab in FormCalc...

...and a fragment of the target QuickBooks invoice, showing how its columns are arranged (the Item column is column 2; the Description column is column 3_:

Tip:  Open the target form in QuickBooks while you're working on its FormCalc Layout. That way, you'll be able to switch back and forth between FormCalc and QuickBooks to count column positions, etc.

Actions are added as rows in the grid area of the Layout tab. Here's a preview of what Layout 0 will look like when we're done:

Begin by typing in an Action name on the first blank row. The name can be anything that reminds you of the Action's purpose. In this case our Action will be totaling the Quantity column, so name it "Total Qty column".

Next, double-click in the Action Details column on that same row, to open the Edit Action window. Or as an alternative, you may click in the Action Details column (once or twice) until a button appears at the right side of the column, as shown below, then click it to open the Edit Action window.

The Edit Action window is where you define the details of what an Action does. Select the "Total or subtotal" Action type from the list box at the top of window, then fill in the details as shown below.

The Quantity column is column 1 in this example. If the Quantity column on your QuickBooks form is at a different position, be sure to substitute the correct column number!

When you're done, click OK to save your Edit Action window settings. The Layout 0 tab should then appear as it does in the prior screen shot.

Still on the Layout 0 tab, double-click in the Trigger Items for this Action column of the same row, to open the Select Trigger Items window. The Select Trigger Items window shows the list of trigger Items you have entered into FormCalc, each with a box you can check-mark to select that Item.

Select the Item(s) you want to use as triggers for this Action. (When FormCalc is processing the QuickBooks form, if it encounters a trigger Item on the form it will display the Action's results on that line of the form.)

For this tutorial, we want to associate the "Total" trigger Item with our "Total Qty column" Action. The result should look something like this:

Click OK to save your Select Trigger Items window changes and return to Layout 0. You'll then see that the "Total" Item is listed as a trigger for our Action:

At this point, Layout 0 is ready to use on a QuickBooks form!