7 QuickBooks Tips Every Small Business Needs to Know

QuickBooks Online is a go-to solution for businesses of any size, including accountants who manage a business’ finances.

QuickBooks can help keep track of their business finances and make sure that everything is accounted for. So if you want to improve your accounting process, here are some QuickBooks things to know and tips on how to fully maximize its features.

What is QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is an accounting software developed by Intuit. It mainly caters to small and medium-sized businesses, offering on-premises (QuickBooks Desktop) and cloud-based versions (QuickBooks Online) of their application. According to Future Market Insights, QuickBooks is the most popular accounting software for small businesses.

Both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online provide robust accounting functions and tools. The key difference is that QuickBooks Desktop is locally-installed with an annual license pricing model, while QuickBooks Online is accessible online with a monthly subscription. You can check out this QuickBooks Online review to find out more about the benefits of choosing cloud-based over on-premises.

With QuickBooks, you can track your business expenses, customize invoices, and run reports in just one place. You can also connect your bank to QuickBooks to get a full view of your cash flow. It can also manage your inventory, tax compliances, receipts, and payments. You can also download its mobile app version to access its features.

QuickBooks has a lot more to offer. So check out these QuickBooks tips and tricks to find out how you can fully maximize its features.

Tips you should know

1.    Customize where you can

Modern workplaces have their own needs. It’s important that you find a software that fits with your workflows and accommodates your demands. Fortunately, QuickBooks allows you to customize many of its features according to how you want it to work for you.

For example, you can customize its layout to make it more appealing to you. So if you want your QuickBooks to show more than one window or change its color scheme, you are free to do so. You can also pick and arrange which tools would appear in your icon bar. This way, you can easily access the features that you use the most.

Another aspect of QuickBooks that you can customize is its reporting. You can dictate what kind of reports would appear and how they would be presented to you. Likewise, it has a “Favorite tab” where you can put all your favorite reports for easier viewing.

Lastly, QuickBooks allows you to toggle on or off certain automated functions like invoicing, bills payment, and applying for credits.

2.    Take advantage of automation

Accounting can get tedious due to its numerous repetitive tasks. It’s important to understand the importance of accounting software for small business. Thankfully, one of the best QuickBooks features is its automation tools. You can use it to automate recurring invoices so that you don’t have to manually send invoices to your customers each month. It can also send late invoice reminders to customers who haven’t paid you yet.

Another task it can automate is expense tracking. It lets you set up recurring expenses so that it will automatically add them to your accounting books. You can also use QuickBooks to pay bills automatically. This way, you don’t have to worry about penalties for late payments.

Other tasks it can automate are report generation, transaction matching, signing checks, and inventory accounting. This offloads a lot of tasks from your plate, giving you more time to focus on other important responsibilities.

3.    Eliminate manual data entry

Manually typing lines of data after data can be time-consuming. Not to mention, you risk committing errors in the process resulting in typos, miscalculations, duplications, and others. One wrong entry can force you to do the entire thing all over again. Worse, it can even have repercussions on your finance management or legal compliances.

The good news is that QuickBooks can eliminate manual data entry entirely. QuickBooks allows you to bulk import or export data from or to other solutions so that you don’t have to type every single one of them down. In just a few clicks, you can synchronize data across all your platforms to make sure that you have your numbers right.

You can also connect QuickBooks with live bank feeds and all your business accounts. This will automatically update your balances and transactions in the software so that you can accurately keep track of your cash flow.

4.    Centralize all financial data

Spreadsheets are great for accounting. It’s easy to use and accessible, but that alone is not enough. One of the common problems with just using spreadsheets is that it undermines the unity of data in your business. What happens is that you go back and forth between several spreadsheets to obtain or update data.

Avoid spreadsheets tug of war by using QuickBooks. With QuickBooks, you can centralize all your financial data in one platform. You don’t have to sort through your files, folders, or cabinets just to find an invoice, receipt, or information. QuickBooks makes everything accessible in just a few clicks.

Its features include transaction history, expense and invoice tracking, and audit trail. It can also provide a complete overview of your finance and accounting via its regular reporting.

5.    Leverage data analytics

Data plays a critical role in business growth. It helps business owners make smarter decisions and better strategies to improve their operations. According to Deloitte, 70% of businesses are expanding their abilities to use data. With today’s digital tools, small businesses can easily gather and analyze data from different aspects of their operations including their accounting.

QuickBooks, for example, has data analytics and report generation features you can use to gain valuable insights from your financial data. It tracks your finances, generates financial statements, and lets you know how your business is doing.

You can also use QuickBooks to monitor your top money made via its revenue stream dashboard. This gives you an overview of your sales trends and pinpoints specific areas in your operations that produce more profit.

6.    Integrate with other solutions

Being one of the most popular accounting software in the market, QuickBooks can easily be integrated with other systems. For example, you can integrate it with some online banking apps and payment gateways. You can also connect QuickBooks with your email so that you can seamlessly send invoices to your customers.

Another software you can integrate with your QuickBooks is inventory management software like SOS Inventory. This allows you to track your inventory and calculate its costs throughout different stages. Moreover, inventory management can alert you whenever your stocks are running low and prevent you from overstocking.

7.    Use keyboard shortcuts

One of the best QuickBooks Online tipsis to use keyboard shortcuts. Knowing these keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time while doing your accounting. QuickBooks have several of them so that you can quickly navigate the software. With just a few buttons, you can create new invoices, register accounts, and close windows.

These shortcuts are also available in QuickBooks Desktop.

Stay ahead with QuickBooks

Accounting is an important aspect of any small business operation. Any mistake in your accounting can make or break your business. Invest in QuickBooks to make sure that you keep track of your finances.