How to Customize QBS Enterprise for Your Business Needs

QuickBooks Enterprise is an incredibly versatile accounting software that provides extensive customization options to tailor it exactly to your business’s unique needs. Whether you want to track specialized data, handle unique transactions, consolidate financials, or customize reporting, QuickBooks Enterprise has you covered.

With just a few simple steps, you can customize QuickBooks Enterprise to streamline your workflows and provide the specialized functionality your company requires. The customization options are extensive, but don’t let that intimidate you! QuickBooks makes it easy to dive in and customize Enterprise for your needs—no technical experts required.

Let’s explore the key ways you can customize QuickBooks Enterprise along with step-by-step instructions to get started with tailoring it for your business.

Why Customize QuickBooks Enterprise?

Before jumping into the how-to, it’s important to understand all the valuable reasons to customize Enterprise for your business:

• Capture specialized data – Add custom fields, items, profiles, and more to track information unique to your company.
• Streamline workflows – Customize forms, transactions, reports, and modules to match your exact processes.
• Scale complexity – As you grow and expand to multiple locations, customizations allow you to tailor Enterprise to handle complexity.
• Increase adoption – Get better buy-in across your organization by matching Enterprise to specialized needs of each department.
• Enhance reporting – Custom reports and dashboards provide the insight you need into your custom workflows and data points.
• Eliminate workarounds – Reduce reliance on spreadsheets and manual processes by building workflows directly into QuickBooks.

The bottom line—customizing QuickBooks Enterprise eliminates friction and enhances how well it can support the needs of your business. The time invested in customization pays back tenfold in improved productivity and financial visibility.

Understanding Your Customization Options

QuickBooks Enterprise offers an extensive toolbox for customizations to tailor it for your needs. Here are some of the key ways you can customize:

• Custom Fields – Add extra fields to capture specialized data on transactions, line items, lists like customers/vendors, etc.
• Custom Transactions – Create specialized transaction types for unique workflows.
• Items – Build out customized items with associated fields, pricing, billing, etc.
• Custom Reports – Design reports and dashboards to provide insights into your custom elements.
• Consolidated Financials – Merge books from multiple entities into unified reports.
• Advanced Inventory – Leverage features like serial/lot inventory tracking.
• Advanced Pricing – Configure specialized pricing levels, discounts, and rules.
• Workflow Automation – Streamline processes using QuickBooks Workflow Management.
• Integrations – Connect seamlessly with other business systems via integration apps.

While this list gives you an idea of the possibilities, it just scratches the surface of what you can do to customize QuickBooks Enterprise for your business!

Getting Started with Basic Custom Fields

One of the easiest and most valuable customizations is adding custom fields. Let’s walk through how to create a custom field from start to finish:

1. Navigate to Lists>Customer & Vendor Profile Lists>Custom Fields
2. Click New to open the custom field setup window
3. Fill in the key details:
   • Label – Descriptive name for your custom field
   • Type – Select the data type such as Text, Number, Date, etc.
   • Applies To – Choose the list where you want the field to appear. For this example, select Customers.
4. Click OK to save the new custom field.

You should now see the custom field added as a column on the selected list. Try it out by going to Customers, selecting a record, and entering data into your new custom field.

And with just a few clicks, you’ve customized QuickBooks to track specialized data that’s tailored specifically to your business! This is just one example—you can create custom fields across transactions, vendors, items, and more.

Advanced Customizations for Complex Workflows

Once you get comfortable with basic customizations like custom fields, you can move on to tackling more advanced setups:

• Multi-level custom fields – Relate records by using custom fields that connect vendors to customers, items to accounts, etc.
• Custom purchase orders – Recreate specialized procurement processes unique to your company.
• Workflow automation – Configure workflows between custom transactions to model complex processes.
• Serial/lot tracking – Granularly track inventory down to the unit level.
• Custom pricing – Set up flexible pricing levels, bundles, seasonal rates, and discounts.

While advanced customizations require more effort, they let you mold QuickBooks Enterprise into the perfect solution tailored to your company’s complex needs. And you can do it all yourself without expensive technical resources!

Getting Help with QuickBooks Customizations

For helpful step-by-step guidance on customizing Enterprise, take advantage of QuickBooks’ expert resources:

• User guides – Comprehensive manuals walk through customization best practices from start to finish.
• Video tutorials – See customization in action via videos that demonstrate workflows.
• Support center – Search the knowledge base or connect with an agent to get customization questions answered.
• Community – Join the QuickBooks Community to tap into the wisdom of other users for customization tips.
• Experts – If tackling an advanced project, hire a QuickBooks customization expert to implement or assist.

Between QuickBooks’ stellar resources and help options, you’ll be fully equipped to customize Enterprise on your own timeline.

Customize Enterprise to Suit Your Business Perfectly

The great news is QuickBooks Enterprise puts simple yet powerful customization directly in your hands. Start with adding custom fields, then move on to tailoring transactions, reporting, workflows, and more over time. With some learning and experimentation, you can mold Enterprise into the perfect specialized solution for your unique business needs.

The investment to customize Enterprise pays off exponentially over the long run by enhancing productivity, streamlining operations, and providing unmatched visibility into your financials. QuickBooks enables businesses like yours to build a customized foundation for current and future growth.