Many small businesses do not record every sale for each customer. They may not use a point of sale system, instead they may use a cash register, a specialized program (like for medical offices) or another method to record sales. These businesses need to record a summary of sales in QuickBooks. They want to know ‘How can I record daily sales’ in QuickBooks?
The types of businesses who would want to record a summary of sales in QuickBooks include these types of businesses:
- Restaurant, bakery, bar, deli, etc.
- Gift shop
- Retail store
- eCommerce with website sales
- Doctor, dentist or other medical office
- Spa, hair salon
- Many other small businesses
There are several names for recording a summary of sales in QuickBooks including a Daily Sales Summary, Zero Sum Sales Receipt, No Hassle Sales Receipt or other names.
First, you need to set up items to record sales. Determine what level of detail you want to track sales and the capacity of the register, etc. for tracking sales by category. For example you could set up items such as:
- Taxable and non-taxable sales
- By Department — men, women, kids, accessories, etc.
- For restaurants — appetizers, entrees, desserts, bar, etc.
Consider the register tape or report and how you can summarize sales and set up service items as needed. Then, set up payment items for the methods of payments accepted, such as:
- Cash/Check
- Visa/MasterCard
- American Express
- Discounts or coupons
- Gift cards redeemed
- Other
Using the register tape (Z-tape) or report with the sales information, enter a Sales Receipt in QuickBooks which should net to Zero as shown in this image (click the image to see it larger).
You may want to customize the Sales Receipt Template to add custom fields to track additional information (like customer counts, etc.). Memorize the Sales Receipt with zero amounts for each line. Then, you can just enter the actual amounts for each day. For more details, search QuickBooks Help for ‘Enter Daily Sales’. For restaurants, there is a detailed blog post from The Sleeter Group here.
Note: Track Sales Taxes according to the level of detail needed for the sales tax returns. For inventory, use a periodic inventory method — record purchases directly to cost of goods sold. Periodically count and value the inventory on hand and adjust to actual. Consult with your accountant or tax professional for assistance.