When you’re a business owner, there are many digital tools you can use to make your work easier. Scheduling tools make managing your employee schedules and customer service coverage a breeze. An automated marketing process can publish your social media posts while you do the part of the job you love the most. New applications and software ideas arrive on the market every year to make entrepreneurial life a bit more manageable.
One area of business where most entrepreneurs frequently seek help is in their accounting and bookkeeping. Hiring a bookkeeper and accountant is a wise business decision that keeps your company’s finances on track. But you’ll also want software that can help you efficiently manage your day-to-day finances and make your monthly, quarterly, and year-end paperwork smoother for your accountant. One of the most well-known financial software products for business is QuickBooks Online by Intuit.
What is QuickBooks Online?
QuickBooks Online is an accounting software package designed to help small and medium-sized businesses manage their finances, either with the QuickBooks desktop application or a cloud-based version. The software is easy to set up and straightforward to use, but many businesses don’t realize the potential usefulness of QuickBooks beyond the essential functions.
What Can QuickBooks Online Do?
Most entrepreneurs associate QuickBooks Online with basic features such as issuing invoices, accepting payments, and managing and paying bills. While the accounting software helps simplify those tasks, there are other actions you can take using QuickBooks Online.
For example, you can track time using the software. You can manually enter hours worked by yourself and employees, or you can give them secure access to input their hours. You can also integrate QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) into QuickBooks to automate the process and save yourself or your bookkeeper time.
There are even more ways you can use the software to benefit your business. Here are five points in your business where you should be using QuickBooks Online:
1. Simplify Invoicing and Payments
For small businesses, getting paid accurately and on time is what keeps the lights on, and QuickBooks Online can help you get paid by doing more than just tracking your payment receipts. The software allows you to send invoices directly to clients with simple “click-to-pay” buttons, offering both convenience and flexibility. You can then use the Deposit Centre to see a clear breakdown of all your received, pending, and outstanding payments, so you’ll know which customers have paid and which ones will need a follow-up reminder.
2. Assess and Monitor Your Cash Flow
Business owners can use QuickBooks Online to assess and monitor their cash flow. Watching your received payments and sending invoices is one piece of the cash flow puzzle. With QuickBooks Online, you can also track your detailed expenses by setting up automatic imports from your online banking account, credit card accounts, PayPal, or Square. You can then customize and use the dashboard to view your payments, expenses, and other vital metrics. As a result, it is simple to take an instant snapshot of your business performance. Once you have numbers to show where your money is coming from and going, you can make informed decisions to change or improve your cash flow for your business.
3. Stay Organized for Tax Season
QuickBooks Online also helps small and medium-sized businesses stay organized. When you sync your payment accounts with your QuickBooks Online account, your expenses will automatically be sorted into predetermined tax categories to help you maximize your deductions. You can also scan and store your expense receipts directly in your QuickBooks account. All you need to do is take a photo of your receipt, upload it to your account, and the software will automatically pair it to the matching transaction. For further tax preparation convenience, QuickBooks also accurately tracks your sales tax. All these features make it easier than ever to be organized when it comes time to prepare your tax return—and your accountant will thank you for it!
4. Advanced Tracking of Performance Numbers
The data collected in QuickBooks Online can also help business owners track advanced performance stats, such as the revenue generated per customer or billable hours per customer. If you have multiple revenue streams, you’ll be able to track performance across all of them to see which are performing and which need attention. You can also customize your dashboard so you can see the metrics that matter most to you and help you gain insight into your business.
5. Keep Track of your Project Financials
The same features you use to track your business’ overall cash flow can help you track and manage financials for specific projects. With expense tracking, invoice generation, and payment tools, you can easily monitor where your project financials are at any given point in your timeline.
What Can’t QuickBooks Online Do?
QuickBooks Online is sophisticated software, not a real-time bookkeeper. The program can only track and measure what you put into it or sync. If you forget to add important expenses, or miss connecting payment account, your automated reports will not accurately reflect the actual cash flow of your business. QuickBooks is very helpful for small and medium-sized businesses to stay organized with their finances, but it does not completely replace the skills and expertise of a bookkeeper and accountant. With the popularity of the software and the magic of cloud-based computing, you should be able to find a QuickBooks Online accountant near you.
QuickBooks Online Training
Learn the ins and outs of QuickBooks Online from the experienced professionals at Schwan & Associates. You’ll learn valuable skills to help you achieve your business goals with dedicated support from our team. Whether you are brand new to the software or want to learn advanced skills, our QuickBooks Online training is designed to help you achieve your financial and business goals.
QuickBooks Online Accountants in Edmonton, Alberta
The experienced accountants at Schwan & Associates CPA in Edmonton are experts with QuickBooks Online. If you need assistance setting up your QuickBooks Online account or simply need a business accountant to work with your company, get in touch—we’ll be happy to help.
