Look professional, tailor the one-size-fits all form to suite your business, and help your clients easily identify your and your company by customizing your QuickBooks invoices. Your QuickBooks forms were designed to be useful to a broad range of industries. By customizing a few fields or labels, you can make the forms more right for your business. It's easy to do.

There are four different approaches you can take.

1. Rename Columns and Fields, and Select Which to Display
2. Re-organize Your Forms by Using the Layout Designer
3. Choose a Ready-made Design From the Form Template Gallery
4. Display Your Company Logo on Each Form

QuickBooks Pro and Premier Editions users can add or delete sections on invoice templates by using the Customize Template feature. It's a simple way to tailor your form. Here's how:

1. From the Customer Navigator, select Invoices.
2. In the Create Invoices window, upper right corner, select the Customize button. A new window will open called Customize Template.
3. Select the template you want to work with from the list on the left side of the Customize Template window.
4. Then select the Edit button. (The Intuit Service Invoice is most likely the best place for most professional service firms to begin.)
5. In the Customize Invoice window that appears, work your way through the tabs to rename the fields and columns, select those that you want to display (or not display), add or remove Footer information, change fonts and format, modify your company information, and more.
6. Click OK when you're finished.

2. Re-organize Your Forms by Using the Layout Designer
   Many customers say they want their invoices to look different from the millions of other QuickBooks users. One way to get a truly unique look is to use the Layout Designer. Here are some examples of the types of formatting you can do:
   
   
   • Rearrange the visual organization of your invoice or other form. For example, if you want to move the Bill To area from the top of the page to the bottom, or move the Due Date from the bottom to the top.
   • Change the type of lines that appear around boxes, or eliminate the lines altogether.
   • Make the corners of boxes rounded.
   • Change text alignment from left justified to right or center justified.
   • Add color backgrounds to different parts of the form.
   • Change the font for different parts of the form.
   • Add a large watermark-type logo to the background of all of your forms.
   
   Before you get started, we recommend that you plan what you want first by drawing it on a piece of paper, or print out a copy of an invoice and use scissors and glue to cut it apart into pieces and paste it back together in a new arrangement. That'll help you visualize what you want to make your invoice look like.
   
   Here's how to use the Layout Designer:
   
   
   1. From the Customer Navigator, select Invoices.
   2. In the Create Invoices window, upper right corner, select the Customize button. A new window will open called Customize Template.
   3. Select the template you want to work with from the list on the left side of the Customize Template window.
   4. Then select the Edit button. (The Intuit Service Invoice is most likely the best place for most professional service firms to begin.)
   5. In the Customize Invoice window that appears, click the Layout Designer button.
   6. Redo the layout of your form. Move boxes by dragging them from their old location to new locations. Use the buttons across the top of the Layout Designer window to delete unwanted boxes, add new boxes, or re-size boxes that are too big or small. If you make a mistake, use the Undo button. Zoom in or out with the Zoom buttons.
   7. When you're satisfied, click OK to save your changes and close the Layout Designer window.
   8. Click OK again in the Customize Template window to return to the Create Invoices window.
      Note: the changes you make in Layout Designer will apply to your printed or emailed invoices, though they won't necessarily change what you see in the Create Invoices window.
   9. To check your work, you can print out the invoice, or use the Print Preview function. (To use print preview, select Preview from the Print dropdown menu within the Create Invoices window.)
   
   That's it! You've customized your invoice.
   
   
   
3. Choose a Ready-made Design From the Form Template Gallery
   If you use QuickBooks Pro or Premier Editions 2003, 2004, or 2005, you can download a pre-designed form from the QuickBooks Form Template Gallery web site. These templates give you a completely customized look, without you having to spend the time to do the customizing yourself. The form templates are free.
   
   Here's how:
   
   
   1. From the Customer Navigator, select Invoices.
   2. In the Create Invoices window, upper right corner, display the dropdown list under the Template heading.
   3. Select "Download Templates" from the list. (QuickBooks will ask you for permission to launch a web browser to access the Form Templates. Click OK.)
   4. Find three dropdown menus on the left side of the page.
   5. Choose Forms from the first menu.
   6. Select All Industries from the second menu, to get the widest selection.
   7. Select Invoice from the third (or any other form that you want to customize).
   8. Browse through the options, and select one that you like to use (You can see a larger version of the template by clicking the small image within the list.)
   9. Click the Download link to download the template to your computer. A File Download window appears that asks you if you want to open the file or save it.
   10. Click the Open button. QuickBooks will open the Customize Invoice window.
   11. Give the template a name, customize if you like, and click OK.
   12. Return to the Create Invoices window.
   13. Select your new template from the dropdown list in the upper right corner of the window under the Template heading.
   
   That's it! You can now use the ready-made template.
   
   Note: the customization in your new template will appear on your printed or emailed donation forms, though it won't necessarily change what you see in the Create Invoices window.
   
   
   
4. Display Your Company Logo
   The easiest way to customize your invoices and other forms is to add your company logo. If you have a graphic file of your logo on hand, it takes just a couple of minutes. Here's how to do it.
   
   
   1. From the Customer Navigator, select Invoices.
   2. In the Create Invoices window, upper right corner, select the Customize button. A new window will open called Customize Template.
   3. Select the template you want to add your logo to from the list on the left side of the Customize Template window.
   4. Then select the Edit button.
   5. Click the Company tab on the Customize Invoice window that appears.
   6. Select the Use logo checkbox.
   7. Click Specify. The Select Image window will open.
   8. Use the Browse button to navigate to your logo file on your hard drive.
   9. Click Open to return to the Logo window.
   10. Click OK to return to the Customize Invoice window.
   
   That's it! You've added your logo to your invoice template.
   
   Note: For best results, your logo image should be square. If it isn't, QuickBooks will resize it to fit into a square space. You can redo the logo sizing and form layout by using the Layout Designer (instructions above).