How to Use QuickBooks Online
Bookkeeping and accounting are integral parts of running a business. Many small businesses turn to QuickBooks Online to make this process easier. This article will provide an overview of how to use QuickBooks Online, one of the most popular bookkeeping and accounting tools available today. It will cover all the essential features, including creating invoices, tracking expenses and more.
What Is QuickBooks Online?
QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based accounting software designed to help small and medium businesses manage their finances more efficiently. It is a comprehensive tool that simplifies recording income, expenses and other payments, making it easier for business owners to track and analyse their finances.
What Is QuickBooks Online Used for?
Creating estimates and invoices
QuickBooks Online makes it easy for businesses to create accurate and professional estimates and invoices quickly and efficiently. You can customise each document with branding elements such as logos, fonts, colours, images, messages, payment terms, discounts, taxes and more. Additionally, the system allows you to save templates so that you don’t need to recreate documents each time.
Tracking sales and cash flow
Using QuickBooks Online allows you to gain insight into your financial performance 24/7. You can view incoming payments, monitor expenses, review balance sheets and more with just a few clicks.
Managing your customers and suppliers
With QuickBooks Online, you can create customised customer profiles that include all the relevant contact information and any notes or payment records. This makes it easier for you to keep track of who owes what and when they need to pay.
Setting up QuickBooks Online
To begin using QuickBooks Online, first create an account online at quickbooks.intuit.com. After signing up for an account, you will need to enter basic company information such as business name, address and contact information like your email address, website and company phone number. In account and settings, you can also specify the fiscal year start date, accounting method (whether cash or accrual) and accounting currency.
Connecting Your Bank Accounts
QuickBooks Online can help you manage all your finances in one place. Once connected, users will have access to real-time updates for every account and be able to monitor their spending habits more easily than ever before.
To connect your bank accounts, go to Bookkeeping, Transactions and then Bank Transactions. Select Connect Account. Type your bank’s name, credit card number or credit union name in the search box. Click Continue. Log in to your bank using your user ID and password, and proceed as directed. Choose the accounts you wish to connect, then choose the account type. Choose a time period for downloading transactions (e.g., 90 days, 24 months, among others). Click Connect.
Navigating the QuickBooks Online Dashboard
The QuickBooks Online dashboard is a central hub where you can access all the essential financial details of your business. By gaining a deeper understanding of your business performance, you’ll be able to make more informed decisions that lead to growth and profitability.
In the dashboard, you’ll also find Create and Search buttons. The former lets you manage transactions, including invoices, estimates, bills and timesheets, to ensure that you stay on top of your finances. Meanwhile, the latter allows you to analyse all your recent transactions quickly.
The dashboard gives you access to the Projects, Workers, Reports and Accounting tabs. With Projects, you can manage income, expenses and labour expenses for projects. The Workers tab allows you to automate employee and contractor payroll saving you time and reducing human error. With Reports, you can check your business’ performance by running profit and loss reports. And with Accounting, you can easily contact your accountant or account manager when you have account bookkeeping or management accounting questions.
Importing Business Data
Importing business data into QuickBooks Online is an effective way to streamline a variety of tasks. It can help save time and increase accuracy when tracking income, expenses and other financial data.
QuickBooks Online allows you to import the following information: bank transactions, customers, suppliers, chart of accounts, products and services, invoices, bills and journal entries. To ensure your data imports correctly, you’ll need to upload spreadsheets in a particular order. Information on customers comes first, followed by suppliers, products and services, invoices and bills. QuickBooks Online accepts CSV files, Google Sheets and XLS/XLSX files.
Creating Invoices
Creating invoices is an essential part of running a successful business, and QuickBooks Online simplifies the process of creating invoices.
To create one, select + New, then Invoice. Choose a customer from the Customer dropdown. Make sure the invoice date is correct. Click on a product or service in the Product/Service column, and specify a Quantity, Rate and Amount. Afterwards, choose a tax option. To send the invoice to your customer, select Save and send.
Tracking Expenses
QuickBooks Online offers a comprehensive suite of tools that make tracking expenditures easier than ever before.
The software allows users to categorise expenses by client or project, record receipts electronically, link bank accounts for seamless reconciliation and generate reports easily. Businesses can also create custom expense categories and subcategories, so they can create an expense tracking system tailored to their business. Plus, QuickBooks Online makes it simple to review historical financial data quickly, making it easy to detect errors or suspicious spending patterns over time.
Setting Up Payroll
To run payroll, select Run payroll from the Employees or Payroll menu. Choose a pay schedule, and then click Continue. Make a selection of the employees you wish to pay, and make sure the bank account, pay period and pay date are correct. Make necessary changes to the employee’s payment method, and if applicable, enter hours worked. Click Preview Payroll, followed by OK. Upon completion, click Submit payroll, and you’re done! If you want to print your paycheque, choose Print paycheques, and then click Finish payroll.
Consult Nigel B Butler Ltd for Your Bookkeeping and Accounting Needs
QuickBooks Online allows businesses of all sizes to manage their finances with ease. But learning how to use the software takes time. If you require more assistance with your bookkeeping and accounting, consider Nigel B Butler Ltd.
Nigel B Butler Ltd offers reliable and accurate bookkeeping and accounting services. We provide top-notch customer service and are always up to date with the latest accounting regulations.
Whether you need to file a tax return or stay on top of your management accounts, our team of dedicated professionals has years of experience and in-depth knowledge that can help you feel confident about the accuracy of your financial records. Contact us today.