Whether starting or expanding a business, it is always important to find the accounting software that best fits a company’s needs. With so many options out there, this can be an overwhelming decision. We are commonly asked, “Is QuickBooks Online the right software to use?”. While there is not a clear answer to this, let’s take a look at some of the favorite QuickBooks Online (QBO) features that could benefit your business.

Bank Feeds: Each month, all bank and credit card accounts should be reconciled: this captures all the appropriate revenue and expenditures. Manually entering these transactions can often be tedious and frustrating. In QuickBooks Online, there is the option to link bank and credit card accounts to the program. This will automatically download every transaction that has cleared the bank into a holding area—the bank feeds.

Once transactions are imported into the bank feeds, it is easy to code the revenue and expenditures to the appropriate chart of account categories. There is also the option to set up rules, which allows the software to automatically code transactions into the program. Using bank feeds is an efficient process for reviewing transactions and bank reconciliations are seamless.

Cloud-Based Software: One of the most common capability requests is to be able to access the software from anywhere.  While there are ways to have multiple users for QuickBooks Desktop, it is more cumbersome than QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based software through Intuit. This means the data is safely stored and easily accessed through a web browser. Employers can easily add users and give access to their data. Clients also love that they can access their data from any device.

Accounting Firm Access: Businesses like the ability to have their QBO with the option to add multiple users and accounting firms. All it takes is an email address to invite the firm. Once the invitation is accepted, there is instant access to the company’s books.

Payroll E-File Abilities: Running payroll and making sure the taxes are filed correctly can be a daunting task. A payroll subscription can easily be added to a QuickBooks Online account.  

We often hear that this payroll software is user friendly: easy to enter employees, process payroll, and even pull reports. A convenient feature in QuickBooks Online is the ability to e-file payroll taxes and forms. Businesses can link their EFTPS account with QuickBooks Online. Once this is set up, payroll tax liability payments can be scheduled straight from QuickBooks Online. Not only does the payment get made it also automatically schedules the payment in the correct posting period and year.

Notable Mentions: There are many other favorite features of QuickBooks Online. A few notable mentions are as follows: the ability to easily pull reports, the ability to track revenue by class and the ability to easily customize chart of accounts.

Accounting software can be overwhelming and confusing. Ketel Thorstenson has a team of QuickBooks Pro-Advisors that are trained and knowledgeable in QuickBooks Online. If you are contemplating using QuickBooks Online, have questions or want training in the software, we are here and happy to help!