How to Set Up Statements in QuickBooks Online

Welcome to the Fit Small Business QuickBooks Online training course! In this lesson, we’re going to cover how to set up statements in QuickBooks Online. You can follow along on your own QuickBooks Online account. If you don’t have one already, click here to sign up for a free 30-day trial and follow along below.

To complete this lesson, you can either watch the video below, read through the step-by-step instructions, or do both. Let’s begin!

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The Importance of Setting Up QuickBooks Statements

Statements are a great way to provide customers with a recap of the products and/or services that were billed. It should also include any payments received from a customer during the statement period, which is generally one month. If you prefer to send invoices to your customers, then there is no need to send them a statement unless they request it.

However, I do recommend sending a statement over an invoice for those recurring customers whom you bill on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Since payment is automatically generated on a periodic basis, the statement will provide the customer with a recap of the items they were billed for and the payments that were made during the statement period.

How to Set Up QuickBooks Customer Statements

There are three features that you can activate in the QuickBooks customer statements setup section. The primary difference between them is the level of detail that you want included on the statement.

Below you will find three options for setting up QuickBooks customer statements:

1. List each transaction as a single line. Notice in the example below, there are no details on what products or services were purchased. However, this example also includes the Due Date and the Open Amount due.

2. List each transaction, including all detail lines. Notice in the example below, there are details listed for each item the customer is being billed for (i.e., Rock Fountain = $275, Sprinkler Pipes = $16.00, Tax = $23.28). Unlike the example (above), you do not see the due date or the open amount; however, any amount received will also show up in the detail lines below.

3. Show aging table at the bottom of the statement. This table is a summarized A/R Aging report that shows the age of the outstanding charges owed by the customer. I recommend that you always show this table on every customer invoice to alert customers of any past due amounts.

Once you have made your selections, be sure to save your changes.

Tips on QuickBooks Customer Statements

As discussed, sending QuickBooks customer statements is not necessary if you send invoices to your customer for all items they have purchased. However, if you do decide to send statements, there are a few tips I would like to share with you.

Listed below are four tips on sending QuickBooks customer statements:

1. Verify Accuracy of Statement Prior to Sending to Customers

Before sending out QuickBooks statements, make sure that the products and services that appear on the statement are complete and accurate. This includes ensuring the quantity, description, and pricing information is correct.

2. Confirm All Payments Received Have Been Applied to the Customer’s Account

In order for the statement to reflect the correct accounts receivable balance, you must enter all payments received to the customer’s account prior to sending the QuickBooks statements.

3. Send QuickBooks Statements by Email

To ensure customers receive their QuickBooks statements in a timely manner, sending statements via email is preferable. The sooner your customer receives the statement, the sooner it makes them aware of how much they owe you, which will help you to get paid faster.

4. How to Print Statements in QuickBooks

You can print statements in QuickBooks for a group of customers or you can pick and choose which customers to print statements for. From the QBO Create menu, select Statements and follow the on-screen instructions to make your customer selections.

Wrap Up

That wraps up the lesson on Setting Up QuickBooks Customer Statements. The next lesson in our QuickBooks Online Training Course will be How to Set Up Expenses. In this lesson, we will show you how to track your expenses and manage your accounts payable.

To learn more about managing income, expenses and reporting in QuickBooks, download our free, 39-course QuickBooks tutorial here.

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To access this course or any of the others in the series, click here.

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