invoice

How Do I Clear the Invoice Print Queue Without Actually Printing the Invoices?

Chief Mechanic · September 11, 2010 ·

There are 4 basic ways to clear the QuickBooks invoice print queue:

uncheck the To be printed checkbox on each individual invoice
send the invoices to an existing printer but delete the print job before it even starts
install a new printer configured to print to a file rather than the printer itself and optionally delete the file
use programming techniques to reset the To be printed flag

If you only need to clear a small number of invoices, the first approach is simple and straightforward. Just find the invoice you want to remove from the print queue, uncheck the To be printed checkbox, and move on to the next invoice to be cleared.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 To Be Printed Checkbox

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take a very large number to make this approach impractical.

Our second approach solves the problem of clearing a large number of invoices. Send the invoices to an existing printer with a specific configuration and delete the print job before it starts printing. Choose a printer configured for print spooling and to start printing after the last page is spooled. Turn the printer off before printing the batch of invoices in QuickBooks. That means that you can tell QuickBooks to print the batch of invoices to that printer, but nothing will actually print. The entire job will be sent to the printer, or spooled. To verify your printer is properly configured, in Windows (not QuickBooks!) open your Printers window and right click on your printer and choose Properties from the context menu. Then, select the Advanced tab.

Hewlett Packard Printer Properties Spooling

Be sure to select Spool print documents so program finishes printing faster and Start printing after last page is spooled, as shown in the above image. (This image is from Windows Vista Ultimate SP1; the exact menus and descriptions may vary slightly in your version of Windows.) This will insure that the entire print job is sent to the printer before it attempts to print the first invoice. Since the printer is off, no printing will occur. Now you’re ready to send the print batch from QuickBooks. Once QuickBooks has finished sending the print batch to the printer, in Windows (not QuickBooks!) return to your Printers window, right click on your printer, and select Open from the context menu. You should now see the print job or jobs that you need to delete. If you need to delete a large number of jobs, click on the first job, then scroll down to the last job, and click on it while holding down the shift key. All the jobs between the first and last will be selected. Then, right click on a selected job and choose Cancel from the context menu. The print job or jobs will be deleted without actually printing any invoices, and QuickBooks will clear the To be printed flag for all invoices on its own.

A variation on our second method is to send the print job to a file, such as an Adobe PDF, and then delete the file.

Our third approach is to install a new printer configured to print to a file rather than the printer itself before attempting to print invoices in QuickBooks. During invoice printing, select the newly installed printer as the printer for this print batch. The specific steps to install a new printer configured to print to a file are discussed in this Intuit knowledge base article.

Lastly, our fourth approach is to reset the To be printed flag using advanced techniques. These file access techniques are beyond the capability of a typical QuickBooks user, and they’re most applicable when a large number of invoices need to be cleared and they need to be cleared selectively. Using programming techniques, we can select large numbers of invoices far more efficiently than would be possible if performed manually. If that’s your circumstance, send us an email and we’ll provide a quotation on the cost to clear the print queue.

This article discusses ways to clear the To be printed flag under normal circumstances, but there are situations where this flag won’t clear using these techniques. One such situation is caused by a damaged invoice template. In these circumstances, you’ll have to first restore normal operation by following the troubleshooting steps appropriate to that special situation before attempting to change the To be printed flag on a larger batch of invoices.

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Does QuickBooks Use a Spot or Average Currency Rate When Converting Multicurrency Transactions or Accounts?

Chief Mechanic · September 11, 2010 ·

A spot rate, but it’s up to the user to download current spot rates (from the Company->Manage Currency->Download Latest Exchange Rates menu selection) or enter an accurate spot rate when recording a transaction or printing reports. For example, for sales and expenses, a user needs to enter an exchange rate, as shown below in the Create Invoices window.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Create Invoice Multicurrency

Foreign currency fluctuations for balance sheet accounts that have not been realized (such as an unpaid customer receivable) appear on the Unrealized Gains & Losses report. When a customer receivable is paid, the foreign currency gain or loss is computed at a spot rate entered when payment is received. That gain or loss has now been been realized and appears on the Realized Gains & Losses report.

We’ve written a more complete description of how multicurrency works in QuickBooks 2009. Later versions of QuickBooks haven’t changed the fundamental operation of this feature.

Multicurrency features are available in QuickBooks Pro 2009, Premier 2009, Enterprise Solutions 9.0 and later versions of those programs. They’re not available in Online Edition Basic or Plus.

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How Can I Record Vehicle Mileage As a Reimbursable Expense?

Chief Mechanic · September 6, 2010 ·

To record vehicle mileage as a reimbursable expense, you first need to set up the vehicle in the Vehicle List and the Service or Other Charge Item that represents the rate at which customers will be invoiced for mileage.

Once these preliminary steps have been completed, click on the Company->;Enter Vehicle Mileage… menu selection to record the mileage for a trip.

To make this trip a reimbursable expense, be sure to check the Billable checkbox, specify the appropriate Customer:Job, and choose the Item you previously created that is the source for your invoice description and the rate at which you will invoice your customer. Enter your Notes for the trip – you’ll have the option of incorporating this information into the customer invoice later.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Enter Vehicle Mileage Billable

Click the Save & Close or Save & New button to save your work.

Next, click on the Customers->Invoice for Time & Expenses menu selection to start a new customer invoice and add mileage expenses to it. Select the Mileage tab. Unlike reimbursable expenses that appear on the Expenses or Items tabs, you have more control over how information is transferred to a customer invoice for expenses that appear on the Time or Mileage tabs.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Choose Billable Mileage

Click the Options… button to specify how information will be transferred to a customer invoice. You can opt to use the Notes you entered when you recorded the mileage (Transfer activity notes), use the description you specified when you created the Item (Transfer item descriptions), or both (Transfer both notes and descriptions). You can also choose to have each trip appear as a separate line item or to combine trips that use the same service item and rate. If you opt for the latter, only the item description will appear on the customer invoice.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Options for Transferring Billable Mileage

Click Ok to close the Options for Transferring Billable Mileage window.

Select the mileage expense items that you’d like to include on a customer invoice and click Ok. The expense items you selected will appear using the options you specified. Complete the invoice and save your work.

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How Do I Prepare To Charge Customers For Mileage?

Chief Mechanic · September 6, 2010 ·

The first step to charge customers or clients for vehicle mileage is to create a new Item with a type of Service or Other Charge. The Sales Price that you enter for this Item will be the price charged to the customer for mileage.

QuickBooks maintains a separate list of Mileage Rates, but these rates are not automatically used to invoice customers. Instead, they’re just a reference for the historical rates allowed by taxing authorities.

Click on Lists->Item List to add a new Item. Be sure to specify the Type as Service or Other Charge, and to select the This item is used in assemblies or is a reimbursable charge checkbox just below the Item Name/Number field.

Specify both an Expense Account and an Income Account for the Item you create. Enter the description you’d like to appear on customer invoices and the rate you’d like to charge customers for mileage in the Sales Information block.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 New Item Mileage

Click Ok to save the Item.

You’ll use this item code on customer invoices and to identify those mileage expenses that will be billed to a customer as a reimbursable expense.

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invoice

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