Lesson 6-12: My fictional company, Joe’s Landscaping, has commercial and residential customers. Currently, Joe’s Landscaping is using one invoice number series when an invoice is created for residential and commercial customers. However, the company would like to differentiate between a residential customer and a commercial customer when an invoice is created by using different invoice number series. To do this, it must add a new Accounts Receivable account. When more than one accounts receivable account is available, you can choose which account to use for a particular customer. For example, invoice number series A-01 can be used for commercial customers, and B-01 can be used for residential customers. In this example, I will create a new accounts receivable account, and when I create a new invoice, I can choose which account that I want to designate for Joe’s Landscaping’s customers.
1. Click the Chart of Accounts icon on the QuickBooks homepage, or click the Lists menu, then click Chart of Accounts.
2. There is a default Accounts Receivable account already listed in your Chart of Accounts. I am going to edit the name and change it from Accounts Receivable to Commercial Accounts Receivable. Right-click the default Accounts receivable, then click Edit.
3. In the name field, change the name of the default Accounts Receivable account to Commercial Accounts Receivable (Or any name that you choose).
4. After you have changed the name, click Save and Close at the bottom.
5. Now you will create a new Accounts Receivable account by clicking Account on the lower left, then click New.
6. When the “Add New Account: Choose Account Type” dialog window appears, select Accounts Receivable” form the drop-down box labeled Other Account Types.
7. Click Continue.
8. If your company uses account numbers, type a number in the account number field. The number you choose will depend on your company’s current numbering system.
9. Type a name for new Accounts Receivable account, then click Save and Close at the bottom.
10. From the QuickBooks homepage, click Create Invoices.
11. Just above the invoice, you will now see a drop-down box labeled Account. This is where you will choose if the customer is commercial or residential.
12. In the Invoice # field, create an alpha-numeric number such as 1000R (R meaning residential in this example). When you create the next invoice, QuickBooks will automatically create the new invoice number of 1001R. You can also put the letter in from of the number and QuickBooks will recognize that also (R1000).