QuickBooks Memorized Transactions
If you frequently use the same transaction such as a vendor bill, invoice, or check, you can memorize it to save time.
Select an existing transaction or enter the transaction as you would like it to appear in the future and select Memorize from the Edit pull-down menu. The following dialogue box will appear:
Enter a name for the transaction and choose whether you want to be reminded to enter the transaction or have QuickBooks enter it automatically for you. If you select Automate Transaction Entry, when you open QuickBooks on or after the Next Date, you will be prompted to enter any pending memorized transactions. You may also add a Memorized Transaction to an existing Group -- more on that in a moment.
You do not need to enter the transaction in order to memorize it; you can simply set it up as you want it to appear, memorize it for future use, and then clear the screen.
Once memorized, your transaction appears in the Memorized Transaction List which is accessible from the Lists pull-down menu or by hitting Ctrl-T. If you have not asked QuickBooks to automate the transaction entry, you will need to go to the Memorized Transaction list to enter future instances. You can enter the transaction simply by double-clicking it. The Memorized Transaction button at the bottom of the page gives you the option to edit the transaction. However, note that all you can edit here is reminder information. If you need to change the content of the transaction, you will have double-click the transaction to populate the transaction form, make the required changes, and re-memorize it with the changed values.
If you have a collection of transactions that you enter together every month, such as invoices for a flat rate service, you can create a Memorized Transaction Group. In the Memorized Transaction List, select New Group from the Memorized Transaction button at the bottom of the screen and set up your group the same way you would an individual transaction. You can now edit the individual transactions and add them to the group or drag the diamond next to the transaction in the list and drop it into the group. Once you add a transaction to a group, it takes its reminder properties from the group. Double-clicking on the Group will now enter all of the transactions in the Group.
As you can see, setting up memorized transactions is very simple, but there are a few gotchas.
First, the transaction will appear exactly as you memorized it. That means that item and memo descriptions must be generic. For example, you should not memorize an invoice with a description that says "Garden Maintenance for July 2011" because the invoice will always say July 2011 no matter what month it really is when you enter the memorized transaction. You need to simply say "Garden Maintenance" or "Monthly Garden Maintenance".
Second, you cannot use memorized transactions in conjunction with progress invoicing or time and expense billing.
Third, in working with Vendor bills the dates can be a little confusing. The Next Date on the memorized transaction is the date that will populate in the date field on the bill. The due date will then be calculated based on the vendor terms. If your vendor has Net 30 terms, the Next Date needs to be 30 days in advance of the due date. As with bills you post manually with Net 30 terms, your due dates will tend to drift a bit since not all months are 30 days long. If you have a bill that is always due on a specific day of the month, such as the 15th, use a Date Driven term instead.
Note: If your vendor does not have assigned terms, QuickBooks will use the default terms. The QuickBooks factory setting is 10 days, but you can modify the default terms. Select Preferences from the Edit pull-down menu. You'll find them on the Company tab of the Bills preferences.
You can also use memorized transactions with reminders to enter transactions where the amounts vary, such as loans. Simply memorize the transaction with the amounts left blank, and fill in the actual amount after you recall the transaction.
One place I do not recommend using Memorized Transactions is with Prepaid Expenses. More on this topic next month.
Note: If you are using QuickBooks 2011, be sure that you are running the latest update, R8, which corrects a known problem with memorized transactions.
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