Set up sales settings

[0:00] QuickBooks has some useful settings to help you keep track of your sales. Let's go over the options and settings so you can decide what QuickBooks tracks when you record a sale, turn on time saving features like automated late fees for unpaid invoices, and customize your messages to customers. To get started, go to settings and select Account and Settings then Sales.

[0:22] Let's start in the Sales form content section. Click the pencil icon to edit this section. Here you can select which additional info you'd like in your form when recording a sale. For example, if you charge customers for shipping, or track shipping addresses, toggle on ""Shipping." Not all businesses need to track this info, so they're not on by default.

[0:44] Make sure you're tracking everything you need to get the most out of your sales data. If you always give all of your customers the same number of days to pay their invoices, enter it in the Preferred invoice terms field. And if you always want your sales to be printed or emailed in a batch after recording them, choose that option in the Preferred delivery method section.

[1:08] QuickBooks will remember these as your default settings, so you don't have to. In the Products and Services section, you choose how to track the things you sell or services you provide. Nearly every business tracks specific products or services on sales forms. If you need to keep track of specific information, like a Stock Keeping Unit, toggle on the Show SKU column.

[1:31] If you keep an inventory of products and track quantities in QuickBooks, toggle on these options. These features are only allowed in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. You can skip this if you only sell services. Here's a unique feature in QuickBooks. Price rules lets you set up automatic price changes based on the date of the sale or the type of customer you're charging.

[1:55] Do you create estimates for customers and then charge them multiple times as work is completed on a job? Make sure you turn on the Progress Invoicing feature. You can also personalize your communications with customers. Use the Messages section to customize your emails to customers. Also, if you'd like to receive a copy of messages you send to customers, check this box.

[2:19] You can also customize the message QuickBooks sends to customers to remind them of unpaid balances. Delivery options let you choose how much detail to include on emailed invoices and sales receipts... and whether or not you include a PDF record of the sale in your emails.

[2:37] Last, if you send statements to your customers, you can choose whether or not to list each product and service they've been charged for... and whether or not to include how overdue they are on old invoices. Now you're ready to set up your own sales settings.