<Tips & Tools \ Business Management & Productivity \ QuickBooks \\ Section2 Business Set-up & Customization
<Tips & Tools \ Business Management & Productivity \ QuickBooks \\ Section2 Business Set-up & Customization
Once the fundamentals are in place, the next step is customizing QuickBooks to match how your business operates. Proper setup in this section ensures accurate reporting, organized categories, and secure access for your team.
What It Is
The Chart of Accounts is the backbone of your financial system. It’s an organized list of all the categories where your income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity are tracked. Every transaction you record is assigned to an account within this structure.
The Chart of Accounts determines how your financial statements (Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow) are built.
QuickBooks automatically creates a set of standard accounts when you first set up your company.
These commonly include:
Asset Accounts
Bank accounts
Undeposited funds
Accounts receivable
Inventory assets (if enabled)
Liability Accounts
Accounts payable
Payroll liabilities
Sales tax payable
Credit cards / loans
Income Accounts
Sales of products
Service income
Refund income
Expense Accounts
Cost of goods sold (COGS)
Advertising & marketing
Office expenses
Utilities
Professional services
Payroll expenses
*These defaults give you a starting point, but you can customize them to fit your business.
Adding a New Account
Go to Settings (Gear Icon)
Select Chart of Accounts
Click New
Choose:
Account Type (e.g., Income, Expense, Asset)
Detail Type (more specific category)
Name & Description
Save
When to add accounts:
You have new income sources
You want to track certain expenses separately
You need custom categories for reporting
From the Chart of Accounts, locate the account
Click the dropdown beside “View register”
Select Edit
Change the name, detail type, or description
Important notes:
You cannot change the Account Type once transactions exist.
Instead, you may need to make the account inactive and create a new one if the category is incorrect.
If you don’t want an account cluttering your list:
Edit → Make Inactive
The account will not appear in dropdowns but remains on historical reports for accuracy.
Products & Services represent everything you sell. Setting these up correctly ensures accurate invoicing, inventory tracking, and income categorization.
To Add a New Item:
Go to Sales → Products & Services
Click New
Choose the correct type:
Service – labor, consulting, fees
Non-inventory item – products you sell but don’t track individually
Inventory item – items you track quantity/cost for
Bundle – grouped products/services
Enter:
Name
SKU (optional)
Description
Sales price or rate
Income category (very important for reporting)
Expense account (for items you purchase)
Each item must be mapped to the correct Chart of Accounts category:
For Services
Usually mapped to Service Income
For Products
Mapped to Sales of Product Income
COGS category must be selected if tracking inventory
For Inventory
Requires 3 accounts:
Inventory Asset
COGS
Sales of Product Income
Correct categorization ensures your Profit & Loss and inventory valuation reports are accurate.
When creating each product/service, you must choose whether it is:
Taxable
Non-taxable
QuickBooks applies sales tax based on:
Your location
The customer’s location
The product/service’s taxability
This helps prevent tax filing errors and ensures invoices calculate tax correctly.
QuickBooks lets you bring your team in with controlled access so they can complete tasks without compromising sensitive financial information.
Go to Settings (Gear Icon)
Select Manage Users
Click Add User
Choose a user type:
Standard user
Company admin
Time tracking user
Reports-only user
Enter their email and set permissions
They’ll receive an email invite to create their login.
Standard roles come with preset permissions, but you can customize what a user can:
View
Create
Edit
Approve
Delete
Examples of role setups:
Bookkeeper: full access except payroll & bank settings
Sales rep: invoice-only
Staff: time tracking only
Manager: view reports but cannot change settings
Role-based access keeps your financial data secure and organized.
The Audit Log tracks everything that happens inside your QuickBooks account:
Logins
Created/edited transactions
Deleted entries
Changes to settings
User activity
Historical versions of edited items
To access:
Gear Icon → Audit Log
This is especially useful for:
Team oversight
Fixing mistakes
Identifying incorrect edits
Tracking down deleted/voided transactions
Tips & Tools \ Business Management & Productivity \ QuickBooks \\ Section2 Business Set-up & Customization
Banking & Reconciliation
Payroll & Employees
Reporting & Insights
Taxes & Compliance
Integrations & Advanced Tools
Troubleshooting & Best Practices
Quick Guides
Downloadable Templates
Disclaimer
Barters Group does not claim ownership, authorship, or production of any third-party content shared within the Barters Help Desk. All videos, articles, and resources displayed from external creators will always include a direct link to the original owner’s YouTube channel, website, or source.
Barters Group is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or in partnership with any of the tools, companies, or platforms referenced within the Help Desk unless explicitly stated. Our sole mission is to help businesses and individuals easily access valuable, publicly available information about tools commonly used in professional environments.
Any tutorials, guides, or educational content created by Barters Group will be clearly identified as such. All other material remains the property of its original creators.