QuickBooks offers many standard reports that contractors may find useful. And QuickBooks: Premier Contractor Edition 2005 offers even more reports, including 17 Job Costing reports. Regardless of which product you use, if you find that these pre-built reports don't give you the exact information you're looking for, you can easily customize them. Fortunately, QuickBooks makes it very easy for you to tailor any report to meet your needs. You can view just the data you want and make the report look just like you want it to. Plus, you can save your settings, so you can rerun your customized reports in the future.

Use these tips to learn how to:

1. Change the Date Range
2. Add or Delete Report Columns
3. Resize Report Columns
4. Sort by Report Columns
5. Filter Reports
6. Change the Header or Footer of a Report
7. Group and Subtotal Data on a Report
8. Memorize a Report

1. Change the Date Range
   All reports have a default date range when you create them, but you can have the report cover a different period of time.
   
   To change the date range for a report:
   
   1. Display the report you want to modify.
   2. In the Report window buttonbar, define the date range to use:
      • To use a different preset date range, select one of the ranges shown on the Dates drop-down list.
      • To change to a period of time not specified by one of the preset ranges, click the Calendars to change the dates shown in the From and To fields. When the calendar appears, click the arrows to display the month you want, then click the day of the month.
   
   
   
2. Add or Delete Report Columns
   Reports that list individual transactions can show other columns of data in addition to the ones you see when you create the report.
   
   1. In the Report menu or in Report Navigator (QuickBooks 2005), click Modify Report.
   2. From the Display tab, to add columns, select the columns you want to add so that a checkmark appears to the left of the column name.
   3. To delete columns, clear the checkmark for each column you want to delete.
   4. Click OK.
   
   
   
3. Resize Report Columns
   You can make any column wider or narrower. These adjustments are helpful when a report doesn't quite fit across a single page.
   
   • To make a column wider, click and drag the small diamond at the right of the column title to the right.
   • To make a column narrower, click and drag the small diamond at the right of the column title to the left.
   
   
   
4. Sort by Report Columns
   You can sort by columns using the Sort By drop-down list.
   
   • In a Report window, select a column to sort from the Sort By drop-down list.
   • In the Modify Report window, select a column to sort in the Sort by drop-down list. Then select either Ascending order or Descending order to change the default column sort order.
   
   
   
5. Filtering Reports
   When you create a report, it may show more information than you need. For example, a sales by customer report initially shows your sales to all customers for the current month. This would be too much information if all you wanted to see were this month's sales to one of your customers.
   
   Filters let you change the scope of a report. When you apply a filter to a report, you choose how you want QuickBooks to restrict the report; for example, to certain customers. QuickBooks then excludes from the report any transactions that don't meet your criteria.
   
   You can apply filters either one at a time or in combination with each other. Each additional filter you apply further restricts the content of the report.
   
   For example, you would use the Date filter by itself to show last year's sales in a sales report. But to show last year's sales to a particular customer, you must use the Date filter along with the Name filter. Each additional filter further restricts the scope of the report.
   
   QuickBooks provides many different types of filters for reports. The ones you'll probably want to use most often are: Account, Amount, Date, Item (for the goods or services you sell), Memo (for your memo notes on transactions), Name (for customer, job, vendor, or employee names), Number (for transaction numbers like check numbers), and Type (for specific types of transactions such as bills or invoices).
   
   Here's how to use filters:
   
   1. In the Report menu, click Modify Report, then click on the Filters tab.
   2. In the Filter list, click on the type of filter that you want to create. It will become highlighted.
   3. Complete the fields to the right for each filter. Each filter you select appears in the Current Filter Choices list.
   4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each filter that you want to create.
   5. Click OK.
   6. To change an existing filter, return to the Filters window, click on the filter you want to edit in the Current Filter Choices list, and then change the filter settings. Click OK.
   7. To delete an existing filter, return to the Filters window, click on the filter you want to edit in the Current Filter Choices list, and then click on the Remove Selected Filter button. Click OK.
   
   If you need additional help using filters, use Help & Support and search for "report filter." You'll find examples of filters and learn how to complete specific fields in the filter window.
   
   
   
6. Change the Header or Footer of a Report
   The header appears at the top of each report page. It includes your company name (as shown in the Company Info window), the title of the report, the date range of the report, and the format of the date you prepared the report.
   
   The footer appears at the bottom of each report page. It includes the page number and a blank extra line where you can put a word or phrase of your choosing.
   
   To change the header or footer:
   
   1. In the Report window, click the Modify Report button in the buttonbar.
   2. Select the Header/Footer tab.
   3. Change, as needed, the header information.
      • To change what appears in the header, edit the Company Name, Report Title, Subtitle, and Date Prepared.
      • If you want to show the time at which the report was prepared, select the Time Prepared checkbox. If you want to show the report basis, select the Report Basis checkbox.
      • To remove a line from the header, clear the checkbox for that line.
      • If you don't want the header to appear after the first page of the report, clear the "Print header on pages after first page" checkbox.
   4. Change, as needed, the footer information.
      • To change the page numbering style, choose a different style from the Page Number list.
      • To suppress page numbering, clear the Page Number checkbox.
      • To add an extra line of information below the page number, fill in the Extra Footer Line field.
      • If you don't want the footer to appear on the first page, clear the "Print footer on first page" checkbox.
   5. (Optional) Choose a different layout (Left, Right, Centered, or Standard) from the Page Layout list. To see how your choice affects the position of the header and footer, look at the illustration below the Layout list.
   6. Click OK.
   
   
   
7. Grouping and Subtotaling Data on a Report
   If the report you created does not subtotal data in the way that you need, you can modify it to create different groupings. For instance, you can view customer sales by month rather than a single total for each customer.
   
   Types of Groupings You Can Create
   In summary reports, transaction detail reports, and custom reports, you can group the report data in specific ways and display subtotals for each group. Examples of the kinds of subtotal groupings you can create include:
   
   
   • Time periods (each day, week, month, etc.).
   • Contribution to your company's balance sheet (assets, liabilities, equity, etc.).
   • Type of income or expense.
   • Each account on your chart of accounts.
   • The types of items or services you sell.
   • The types of payroll expenses you incur.
   • Customer, job, vendor, payee, or employee name.
   • The way you categorize transactions (class, customer type, vendor type, etc.).
   • Any of the other ways you use list information in a transaction (sales rep, terms, payment method, etc.).
   
   To change the grouping and subtotaling:
   • In Summary reports, select the type of subtotal grouping you want from the Columns list on the report buttonbar.
   • In transaction Detail reports, select the type of subtotal grouping you want from the Total By list on the report buttonbar.
   
   
   
8. Memorizing Reports
   Whenever you change the settings for a report, you can memorize the report with the new settings. Then when you want to rerun the report, you can recall it from your own list of memorized reports. When QuickBooks memorizes a report, it memorizes your custom report settings, not the data in the report.
   
   To memorize a report:
   
   1. After you have customized a report, click Memorize on the report buttonbar.
   2. If you have recalled a memorized report and changed it, indicate whether you want QuickBooks to replace the earlier report (under the same name) or create a new memorized report (under a new name).
   3. (For new memorized reports only) In the Memorize Report window, enter a title for the report.
   4. If you want to assign the report to a memorized report group, select Save in Memorized Report Group, then choose the group from the drop-down list.
   5. Click OK.
   
   To run a previously memorized report:
   
   1. From the Report menu or Report Navigator (QuickBooks 2005), choose Memorized.
   2. In the Memorized Report List window, double-click the report you want.