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It's possible to post a transaction into a prior month without changing the accounting period. To do so, enter the transaction in the current period and save it. Next, edit the transaction and then change the date to the desired date, and then click Save (or Post). Click Yes when the warning prompt appears.

Regardless of your other back-up methods, it's a good idea to make frequent back-ups of your Peachtree data on your hard drive. To do so, choose File | Back Up, and then click Back Up Now. Select a folder on your hard drive to store the backups, and then accept the default file name. Click the Save button, then click OK when Peachtree informs you of the back-up size. This generally only takes a couple minutes to carry out. Make sure to also continue your usual back-ups onto removable media such as floppy disks, CD-R, or tape. Having additional back-ups on your hard drive gives you additional options in case something unexpected happens.

This is generally the result of a user posting a journal entry to the accounts receivable account, or coding a Sales Invoice or Cash Receipt to the accounts receivable account. To identify the problem, run a general ledger for your accounts receivable account. Any transaction that doesn't have SJ or CRJ transaction types should be corrected to post to another account. If you're still off, run a Sales Journal or Cash Receipts Journal and look for transactions that debit and credit accounts receivable.

Get a graphical view of your outstanding receivables and payables by choosing Analysis, and then either Collection Manager or Payment Manager. You can toggle between numeric and graph views. Double-clicking on a number or a graph allows you to drill down all the way to the individual transaction level.

You can streamline certain input screens in Peachtree, such as Sales/Invoicing by creating a template that only shows the fields you need. To do so, click the Template button the toolbar and then assign a template ID, such as My Template. You can then click on any field not marked as required to toggle the Show or Hide setting. Select Set Template as Default to make this be the standard input screen.

You can also streamline printing custom forms in Peachtree, such as specialized customer invoices. To do so, click the Template button the toolbar and then assign a template ID, such as Special Invoice. Select the Always Print Using a Specific Form checkbox, and then select the form to associate with the template from the drop-down. You can select the custom template at any time by choosing it from the menu after you click the Template button.

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Office Depot is one of the best places to purchase W-2 and 1099 forms. As of this writing, a 50-pack of W-2 forms for laser printers is less than $15. Search their site for "tax forms".

We're pleased to announce that we now offer data repair services for damaged Peachtree companies.