In 2023, QuickBooks stands out as a highly favoured accounting software among small businesses. Whether you seek to transition from manual bookkeeping, tame complex spreadsheets, or upgrade from your current software, QuickBooks offers an affordable solution.
To give you a better understanding of this software, this guide will give you a rundown about QuickBooks’ features and functionality and show you how it streamlines financial management.
What is QuickBooks?
Though renowned for its bookkeeping software, QuickBooks extends its offerings to encompass various accounting and finance solutions tailored to small businesses. Some of these include:
QuickBooks Payroll: Featuring self-service or full-service options, it facilitates payment to up to 50 employees via cheque or direct deposit, while also automatically calculating and filing year-end W-2 tax forms for local, state, and federal taxes in the case of the full-service package.
QuickBooks Commerce: This platform consolidates all orders and inventory data on a central dashboard, providing real-time order status. QuickBooks Commerce is scalable, enabling the addition of new sales channels or the creation of a B2B commerce platform integrated with online marketplaces.
QuickBooks Online: Offering cloud-based accounting, QuickBooks Online ensures accessibility from anywhere and anytime, with additional invoicing capabilities.
QuickBooks Live: Through QuickBooks Live, businesses can collaborate with expert bookkeepers to fulfil their bookkeeping needs.
QuickBooks Payments: This feature enables the generation of pay-enabled invoices, setting up recurring invoices, and facilitating digital payments on the go, catering to customers’ preferred payment methods.
QuickBooks Time: For tracking billable hours related to employees, clients, or projects, QuickBooks Time works seamlessly with QuickBooks Payroll and Payments.
All these applications seamlessly integrate with each other and the core QuickBooks accounting software, providing a comprehensive accounting and payments ecosystem for small to mid-sized businesses.
How QuickBooks Works
Emphasising flexibility and scalability, QuickBooks offers the convenience of choosing individual services rather than committing to all at once. You can begin with a single app, like accounting or payroll software, and gradually incorporate others as your business expands. Should your needs change over time, you have the option to remove or upgrade services accordingly.
A typical QuickBooks setup might involve starting with the accounting software and later adding QuickBooks Live for personalised assistance. As your business grows, you can onboard full-time employees, contractors, and freelancers, prompting you to opt for QuickBooks Payroll for seamless monthly payments and QuickBooks Time to efficiently track billable hours.
Tailored Solutions for Every Business: QuickBooks Software Choices
Invoicing
Invoicing is a critical aspect for many businesses, particularly those offering services or working with freelancers. QuickBooks simplifies the process by allowing easy creation of invoices from scratch or previous estimates. You can even set up recurring invoices and share them with clients via mail or printed copies. The software provides convenient reporting, displaying information on outstanding invoices, total amounts due, and details of each invoice’s payment status.
Bills & Expenses Tracking
When setting up QuickBooks, you can link your bank and credit card accounts, enabling automatic tracking of bills and expenses. However, manual entry is also possible for transactions made in cash or by check. QuickBooks offers various reports to analyse your bills and expenses, making it easy to keep track of upcoming payments and ensure timely bill settlements.
Employee Time and Expense Tracking
QuickBooks simplifies tracking employee and subcontractor time and billable expenses. Users can enter their data through the QuickBooks mobile app or submit it manually for bookkeepers to enter. This feature allows for accurate records and efficient management of project-related costs.
Online Payments
To maintain a positive cash flow, QuickBooks Payments facilitates accepting online payments when sending invoices from the app. The platform supports transactions in multiple international currencies, ensuring convenient payment options for customers. All transactions are automatically recorded for easy tracking.
Payroll
Payroll processing is a crucial function for businesses, and QuickBooks offers a payroll add-on that calculates payroll automatically as frequently as needed. Three plans cater to varying business needs, with options to grow and add features over time. The plans include Core for small to mid-sized businesses, Premium and Elite with added features like same-day direct deposit and expert setup assistance.
How Quickbooks Can Benefit Your Business
Choosing QuickBooks as your accounting software significantly enhances the likelihood of seamless integration with other platforms your business utilises, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, leading to optimized processes and improved efficiency.
Here are some additional ways QuickBooks can enhance your business:
Financial Statements Made Easy: QuickBooks provides convenient access to essential financial statements, including balance sheets, profit and loss (P&L) statements, cash flow statements, and filing taxes. You can easily share these statements with your accountant for filing purposes without requiring login credentials.
Effortless Inventory Management: Managing inventory, tracking sales, and correctly accounting for expenses can be challenging without automation. QuickBooks simplifies this process by automatically updating expense accounts and taxable income as items are sold and payments are received.
Simplified Taxation: QuickBooks eases the burden of tax time by automatically calculating your income, expenses, and even payroll taxes. It streamlines the preparation of tax returns, allowing you to provide all the necessary information to your accountant quickly. Additionally, you can scan and upload receipts in real-time using the QuickBooks mobile app, eliminating the need to collect them later.
QuickBooks empowers you to monitor financial aspects such as income, expenses, employee expenses, and inventory in real-time, making tax compliance a breeze. With financial worries taken care of, you can concentrate on increasing your business’ growth and maximising your revenue.
Need help with your QuickBooks account or have questions that weren’t covered in here? No need to worry! If you’d like to explore the services we provide and how we can contribute to the growth of your business, feel free to get in touch with us.
At Green and Peter Chartered Accountant, we take pride in our expertise in QuickBooks, and we’d be more than happy to help you make the most of this powerful accounting platform.
Don’t hesitate to reach out – we’re here to support your business and ensure you have a smooth and successful financial journey with QuickBooks!
