The last step is changing the display options in your bank register. I refer to this process as daily reconciliations in QuickBooks.īy clearing transactions through the bank register to the last online daily balance you can effectively balance your books on a regular basis. The next step of managing your cash flow effectively is to reconcile your accounts manually on a weekly or daily basis. Items such as mortgage payments and auto loan payments usually occur each month and the amounts rarely fluctuate.įor items that are recurring payments or deposits I simply memorize those transactions in QuickBooks and have them post automatically to QuickBooks 10 days in advance of when they will post to my bank or credit card account. I do this by entering not only transactions that have posted to my account but also those transactions that I know are coming. By entering my financial data on a regular basis for all of my accounts I can really drill in on my cash flow situation. The biggest benefit I find when using QuickBooks for personal bookkeeping is the ability to manage cash flow. I also feel that many people don't use QuickBooks because they have never used it before and find the program intimidating to learn.Īlthough I use QuickBooks in many ways to manage my personal and family bookkeeping I wanted to touch on the three key ways I use the program. I think that QuickBooks is a much more powerful program than some of the other options.

There are other programs like Quicken or Mint, but I happen to like using QuickBooks. I use QuickBooks to manage my personal family finances.

Using quicken for personal finance