If you invoice frequently for time and expenses, there’s a faster way to do it.
QuickBooks is very good at helping you save time and avoid repetitive work that can lead to data duplication, errors and just plain boredom. A good QuickBooks training course can teach you about these.
The process of invoicing for time and expenses is a good example. When it’s time for your accounts receivable work, you probably open one invoice form after another, fill them in and send them. Gets old fast.
But if you or your staff log a lot of hours that can be billed and/or if you regularly have to process expenses, QuickBooks has a tool to help automate that.
To learn how to use QuickBooks’ mass invoicing, you’ll have to first make sure that your system is set up to accommodate it. Open the Edit menu and select Preferences, and then Time & Expenses. Click the Company Preferences tab. You’ll see this screen:
Consult your Time & Expenses Preference screen to make sure that you’re set up for mass invoicing. (All screen shots taken in QuickBooks 2013.)
Check the Preferences in this window to make sure they’re all correct (if you’re unsure of any of them, you should look for a QuickBooks video or QuickBooks tutorial that explains them). For our purposes here, put a check mark in the box next to Create invoices from a list of time and expenses if there’s not one already there. Click OK.
Now, open the Customers menu and select Invoice for Time & Expenses. In the window that opens, specify a date range for the time and expenses that you want to view.
Tip: If you want to see every time and expense before a certain date, you can leave the first field blank. Leave both blank if you want to see all of them.
If you want to switch to a different invoice template, open the drop-down list next to Template on the right and click on the one you want.
Next, you’ll have to indicate which transactions you want invoiced. If you want to process all of them, click the Select All button. Otherwise, put a check mark in the box next to each one that should be included by clicking in the column to the left.
Tip: Want to sort the list to see, for example, those customers who owe the most? Click on the column header.
Your screen will look something like this:
You’ll select the Time and Expense transactions that you want to invoice in this window.
Click Next Step. QuickBooks will prepare the batch and open a window that shows only the ones you’ve selected. At this point, you can click on Edit Options or Review Billables for additional information and setup.
When you’re ready to go, click Create Invoices. QuickBooks will display a box telling you how many were sent as printed invoices and how many as email. If no delivery Preference was selected in the customer record, you can specify which to use later.
Click Close. You can go to the Customer Center if you want to look up the individual invoices.
