Set Company General Preferences

With General still selected on the left side of the Preferences dialog box, click the Company Preferences tab at the top of the box.

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Choose whether you prefer to have time shown in Decimal or Minutes format. The Minutes choice is significant if you use QuickBooks for tracking time.

Check the Always Show Years as 4 Digits (1999) box, or uncheck the box if you want to display two-digit years.

If you change vendor or customer information that appears on a form, QuickBooks will prompt you to update the records for that customer or vendor with the new information. Checking the last check box on the Company Preferences tab prevents QuickBooks from changing previously saved information.

Click OK.

Timesaver

You can quickly update customer or vendor information while filling out a form. With your cursor in the customer or vendor field, press Ctrl+L to open the customer or vendor list. Double-click the name of the customer or vendor you want to edit, make your changes, click OK to save the changes, and then press Esc to close the list.

Important

Save your changes. Any changes you make in the QuickBooks preferences dialog box are ignored by the program if you click the “X” or press Esc to close the preferences window. Be sure to click the OK button to save all your changes.

For Your Information: Easy Keyboard Shortcuts for Entering Dates in QuickBooks You don’t have to use any special keys like Ctrl or Alt to take advantage of these shortcuts. Just place your cursor in a date field and type the letter or symbol listed here: Action Shortcut Today t Increase date by one day + Decrease date by one day - First day of week w Last day of week k First day of month m Last day of month h First day of year y Last day of year r Display date calendar Alt+down arrow