Allow me to welcome you first in the QuickBooks family, MillerController! Following a specific sequence of steps will not only streamline your workflow, but also ensure accurate and organized financial records within QuickBooks.
Let me outline the recommended order for manually recording transactions, which allows for seamless linking of transactions between each stage:
- Create And Send The Project Estimate To Your Customers
- Create Sales Order From Your Estimate
- Create An Invoice From Your Sales Order
- Record The Invoice Payment
- Deposit The Customer's Payment
While you can technically enter Invoices before POs and Sales Orders, the option to link them together will not be available.
You can also record prepayments and deposits as an open item, then apply them to open invoices later on. You can use this article as a guide: Manage Upfront Deposits Or Retainers.
Additional details and other recommended customer-related workflows are provided in this article: Get Started With Customer Transaction Workflows In QuickBooks Desktop.
Feel free to use these articles as additional resource materials as you start using QuickBooks Desktop:
Remember, we're here to support you every step of the way. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions while moving your data to QuickBooks or recording historical transactions. Wishing you success with your QuickBooks experience!
