QuickBooks Online For Dummies

Priscilla Meli, Elaine Marmel

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780730344971
• eBook ISBN: 9780730344995
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Entreprise Applications
• Index: Computer Science

Organise business finances with the latest cloud-based accounting innovation

QuickBooks Online For Dummies, Australian Edition is your key guide to getting business finances under control. From budgeting and payroll to tax, inventory, accounts and beyond, this book shows you everything you need to know to keep the cash flow flowing. Whether you're a small business owner, accountant or bookkeeper, this guide walks you through essential bookkeeping tasks, and hands-on tutorials provide quick and practical instruction using the QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant cloud-based accounting solution. Stop juggling files and notes and calendars, stressing about what's due, what's coming and what you may have overlooked; this book shows you how to track and manage everything in one place, with alerts, reminders and detailed reports that help you gain a clearer picture of the business's financial state — and all you need is an internet connection.

Using the many helpful, timesaving features of QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant to their utmost capability requires a little insider knowledge and hands-on instruction; this book has you covered, with clear, practical guidance to help you:

• Manage payroll, invoices and accounts payable
• Track inventory, costs and expenses
• Create reports and simplify tax return preparation
• Organise finances in one intuitive place

Wouldn't you enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your finances are under control? Wouldn't you prefer the freedom to access the books on any device, at any time? QuickBooks Online can help with that, and QuickBooks Online For Dummies, Australian Edition is the ultimate guide to working with the latest innovation in cloud-based accounting.

Part 1

Getting Started with QBO and QBOA

IN THIS PART …

Compare the differences between QBO products.

Learn the requirements to use QBO.

Meet the QBO interface.

Chapter 1

Introducing QBO and QBOA

IN THIS CHAPTER

Taking a first look at QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant

Considering the cloud

Meeting requirements to use QBO and QBOA

QuickBooks Online (QBO) and QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) are web-based products you can use to manage your business’s accounting. This chapter introduces these products and discusses whether you should move into the cloud to manage your accounting. It also examines the system requirements for these products.

QBO for the Business User and QBOA for the Accountant

QuickBooks Online offers you the ability to manage your business’s accounting in the cloud. The software is divided into two products: One for the business user and the other for accountants. QBO and QBOA work on multiple devices, such as PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet and mobile devices.

QuickBooks Online (QBO) is the cloud-based product for business users who need to perform typical accounting tasks.

QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) is the cloud-based portal that accountants use to access their clients’ QBO companies, work in them, and communicate with clients and other members of their accounting team. QBOA also comes with one free company that accountants can use to track their own businesses.

Comparing interfaces

QBO and QBOA were initially written and optimised to be used in the major web browsers — Chrome, Safari and Firefox. Later, Intuit added QBO apps that you can use for Windows, Mac and Android mobile devices. In this section, you explore what QBO and QBOA look like in a browser and in the Windows app.

In a browser, an open company in QBO looks similar to the one shown in Figure 1-1. We cover the interface in more detail in Chapter 3 but, for the time being, the most important thing to notice is the Navigation bar that runs down the left side of the screen. If you've been a QuickBooks desktop user and you’ve used the Left Icon bar in that product, you might find the Navigation bar a familiar tool. The Left Icon bar and the Navigation bar work the same way; you click a link in either of them to navigate to a portion of the program.

FIGURE 1-1: An open company in QBO.

When you collapse the Navigation bar, you have more screen real estate to view the right side of the QBO interface.

At the top of the screen on the far right side, you see tools that help QBO users create transactions, search for existing transactions and view recent transactions. These tools are marked by icons as follows:

	Quick Create Tool: Shortcut to frequently used transactions
	Search Function: Including basic and advanced search options
	Settings Menu (Gear icon): Links to advanced settings and more complex functions
	Help Menu: Shortcut to support feature, including Online Chat and Forums

Figure 1-2 shows what an accountant sees immediately upon logging in to QBOA. The Navigation bar changes to support an accountant’s needs; you can read more about the QBOA interface in Chapter 13.

FIGURE 1-2: The first view an accountant sees when he opens QBOA.

When an accountant opens a client’s company from within QBOA (see Figure 1-3), the interface resembles what a client sees, with some minor differences — compare, for example, Figure 1-1 with Figure 1-3. First, you know you’re using QBOA because the top of the Navigation bar shows QuickBooks Accountant. Second, the tools used to search for a transaction, go to a report and view recent transactions are combined into one Search box near the right side of the screen. And third, the Accountant Tools menu (the briefcase icon) displays tools not found in QBO that help accountants manage client companies.

FIGURE 1-3: An open company in QBOA.

Even though an open company looks a bit different depending on whether it is opened using QBO or QBOA, the basic functionality doesn’t really change, other than accountants having more options than business users have.

Because QBOA contains functionality that QBO doesn’t have, we’ve organised this book so that QBO users can focus on Part 2 when using the product, and QBOA users can use the information in both Parts 2 and 3 to work with a company file.

To browse or not to browse …

In addition to working in a browser, you also can work in mobile apps. To find the app that works best for you, visit the Intuit Mobile App website (www.intuit.com.au/mobile).

Mobile apps are also available for Macs and iPhone, iPad and Android devices. You’ll find Pinch and Zoom functionality is now available in the mobile apps and in browsers on mobile devices.

So take your choice: Work in a browser, work in a mobile app or work in both, depending on your needs at the moment! You’re not limited; you don’t have to choose between an app and a browser. Work in one or the other, or both. The free app is a great resource for businesses with people on the road or offsite. They can have their customers sign off on orders via the tablet app, issue invoices, input expenses and receipts while all the time collaborating instantly with their teammates in the office.

An example Priscilla uses all the time to highlight the benefits of the free app is that when she wakes up, she checks her bank accounts via her mobile phone to see what has gone out and what has come in overnight (hopefully more has come in t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part 1: Getting Started with QBO and QBOA
• Part 2: Managing the Books for the Business User
• Part 3: Working in QuickBooks Online Accountant
• Part 4: The Part of Tens
• Appendix: QBO, QuickBooks Desktop and Data Conversion
• About the Authors
• Connect with Dummies
• End User License Agreement