Setting up your first business

Embarking on your Quicken Business & Personal (B&P) experience begins with personalizing your business details, which lays the foundation for the software to serve you best. By customizing your business name, industry, and type, you're enabling Quicken to tailor its categories and reports specifically to the unique needs of your business. 

Customize your business settings

If you are on the B&P tier, you will see a default business created for you. It is called My Business. You will want to customize this to suit your needs.

1. Go to the Business tab at the top of Quicken's main window to open the Business dashboard. Choose Edit My Business to customize your business details.
   

   

2. The Business Settings screen will appear. You can start by changing the business Name to reflect the name of your business. If you only have one business, you may just want to leave it as My Business unless you have an official name. The choice is yours. 
   

   

3. Choose the Industry that matches your tax form requirements. This is important because it determines the Tax Schedule you will use. Most businesses use Schedule C, but if you choose Rental property owner, you'll work under Schedule E, and if you choose Farming or agriculture, you'll be working under Schedule F. Quicken customizes your categories to your industry, so it is important to choose the right industry. If none of the industries fit you, choose Other.
   

   

4. Once you choose your Industry, your Business type will automatically populate. Chances are you won't want to change this. If you chose Other as your industry, you'll almost certainly need Schedule C. It's time to assign accounts. Dive into the account settings and set your business as the primary use for each relevant account.
   
   

   What if I use a different schedule than you have listed?

   If your business isn't covered under Schedule C, E, or F, it is still possible to use Quicken to track business expenses and income, but you would need to manually reassign the categories you use for your business to the different tax forms and tax lines. 

5. Choose a Color. Pick anything you like from the list to associate with your business. Color helps to easily identify business transactions in the register. This becomes especially important if you have multiple businesses.

6. Add a Note if you like. You can use this to add a further description of your business.