Question: I have a question about QuickBooks. I am currently handling my bids from trades outside of QuickBooks and was wondering if there is a way to enter bids into QuickBooks, then once awarded, turn the bid into a item cost?  I would also be interested in some information about you setting up our QuickBooks for a Residential Builder.  Thanks


Answer:
First, turn on Estimates at Edit > Preferences > Jobs & Estimates > Company Preferences. Then you can create estimates at Customers > Create Estimates. You can change the title printed on the form to Bid if you prefer, by clicking on Customize, then Additional Customization, and changing the text next to Title.

Depending on which version of QuickBooks you’re using, you can turn an estimate into an invoice, purchase order and/or sales order. You may need to turn on purchases orders (Edit > Preferences > Items & Inventory > Company Preferences) and/or sales orders (Edit > Preferences > Sales & Customers > Company Preferences). Once you do, you’ll see an arrow to the right of Create Invoice on the estimate.  Click on this to see your options.

One thing to keep in mind, if you turn an estimate into a sales order, once it’s been accepted, you should use the sales order to generate the invoice not the estimate.  If you don’t, the invoice won’t close the sales order.  

Here’s the proper workflow:

Create estimate > turn estimate into sales order > turn sales order into invoice

or

Create estimate > turn estimate into invoice

not

Create estimate > turn estimate into sales order > turn estimate into invoice

Residential builders have specialized needs because job costs should accumulate in a WIP asset account and then transfer to cost of sales once a house is sold. You want to make sure to setup your items properly, as well as memorize various reports and transaction forms to help automate the process. We can help you with any of your QuickBooks needs. We use QuickBooks Remote Access to work on client files that are outside Sacramento and the greater Bay Area. 

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Written by Ruth Perryman, MBA, CMA, CFE, CFM

Ruth is the president of The QB Specialists, an Intuit Solutions Provider that has helped thousands of businesses nationwide get the most out of QuickBooks and payroll. Ruth has over 20 years of industry experience, including 5 years as a Chief Financial Officer. She is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of Intuit’s Trainer/Writer Network. She is also certified in QuickBooks Enterprise and Point of Sale.

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