QuickBooks Tips - Keyboard Shortcuts #2-Dates

Here is the second installment of keyboard shortcuts that I find most useful and easy to remember, namely Dates.  These are easy to learn, and can also cut down on your data entry time, which is good is more ways than one.

Use these when you have just tabbed or advanced into a date field on forms:

• Next/Previous Day -- using the "+" or "-" (plus or minus) keys when you are in a date field advances the date forward one day at at time (plus key), or backward one day at a time (minus key).   This can be most helpful when you are entering data that falls within a shorter time frame.
• Shortcut Letter Keys -- Certain Letters will bring a particular date into the date field.   The only one I truly recommend using here is "T" for Today.   Pressing the letter T on your keyboard while in a highlighted date field will, as you can guess, enter in the current date.   I use this frequently to bring back the current date if Plus/Minus would take too many keystrokes.  Some of the other shortcut keys are: W=first day of the Week; K=last day of the weeK; M=first day of the Month; H=last day of the montH; Y=first day of the Year; and R=Last day of the yeaR.  They really aren't too difficult to remember, as you can see they are the first and last letters of the time period you are seeking, but I haven't found that they are useful often enough in my work.
• Alt-Down Arrow:  By pressing Alt + Down Arrow on your keyboard, you can bring up the Date Calendar to select a date to enter in the field.  A little note here, once you pull up the Date Calendar, besides being able to select the date using your mouse, you can also use the shortcut letters and/or the directional keys (up, down, left, right) to navigate to the date, and press Enter to select it -- this keeps you from having to reach for the mouse each time you need to enter a date.  This one is big on my list of recommend-to-learn keyboard commands for an additional reason, and that is because it works in any field that has a drop-down list, such as Vendors, Customers, Items, etc.  Being able to bring up the drop-down lists and navigating to the item you need without reaching for the mouse can be a big time-saver.
• Manual Date Entry -  Just a quick tip from me here.  When it is easiest to just type in the date in a date field instead of using any of the shortcuts, if you type the full six-digit date (ex: 050616), it is not necessary to enter the "/" (ex: 05/06/16).
  

So, that is installment #2 for you.   I look forward to any comments, suggestions, or questions you may have!    ​