Some people look forward to their business accounting. Those people use QuickBooks Online. Don’t believe us? Read on.
So, you’re not a QuickBooks Online user. That’s okay – we’re not here to judge. Maybe you feel like you don’t have time to learn a new software system. Or maybe you’re doing just fine with your current setup and see no need to change.
Quick question for you, though. How long would it take you to figure out:
- What your total expenses for this quarter are?
- Whether or not your business is profitable as of today?
- How much you’ve sold every month this year?
- Which invoices are overdue?
If you’re using QBO, the answer is – the few seconds it takes you to sign on to the website.
That’s not an exaggeration. The first thing QuickBooks Online displays is what’s called its Dashboard. This is the site’s home page, which contains an array of charts and account balances that provide a quick overview of your finances. Click on an element here—say, a checking account balance—and you’ll be able to drill down and see the details behind it. Click on the Expense graph, and a transaction report opens.
Your First Hours with QBO
QuickBooks Online works like other online productivity applications you may have used. It uses toolbars and buttons for navigation, drop-down lists and blank fields for data entry, and clickable links to open new related screens to trigger actions. It’s really intuitive.
We can walk you through the early steps, which involve tasks like:
- Using the provided setup tools to customize the site.
- Connecting QBO to your bank and credit card company websites so you can work with transactions.
- Creating records for your customers, vendors, and the products and services you sell (you’ll be able to add new ones as your business grows).
- Learning about QBO’s pre-built reports.
- Familiarizing yourself with the site’s workflow.
- Making the transition from your current accounting system.
How You’ll Benefit
Once you’re comfortable using QuickBooks Online, you’ll discover what millions of small businesses have already learned, that the site helps you:
- Get paid faster. You can sign up with a payment processor to accept credit cards and direct bank withdrawals, which can speed up your customers’ responses to invoices.
- Minimize errors. Once you enter data, QBO remembers it. No more duplicate data entry that can cause costly mistakes.
- Find any detail in seconds. QBO has powerful search tools that allow you to find what you’re looking for quickly.
- Serve customers better. Because your customer profiles include transaction histories, you’ll be able to deal with questions and problems quickly and accurately.
- Bill time as well as invoice products. QBO supports sales of time-based services with capable time-tracking tools.
- Improve your customers’ and vendors’ perception of you. Your business associates will know that you’re using state-of-the-art technology by the forms you share and the customer service you provide.
- Save money and time. It does take some time to make the transition to QuickBooks Online. But you’ll quickly make that up with the hours you’ll save on accounting tasks.
- Be prepared to grow. Because all of your financial data is organized and easily accessible, you’ll be able to quickly generate reports that help you plan for a more profitable future.
- Handle accounting anywhere. Although you may do the bulk of your accounting work on your desktop or laptop, you’ll have access to many of the site’s features on your smartphone.
We’re Here to Help
We’ve helped countless sole proprietors and small businesses move their accounting operations to QuickBooks Online, and we’ve seen the difference it’s made in their productivity as well as their attitude toward financial management. Contact us, and we’ll be happy to do the same for you.
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Joe Gibbons, CPA is managing partner of Gibbons & Gibbons, P.C., a Northern Virginia-based accounting and business advisory firm that specializes in working with law firms and other professional service providers.
