In 2023, one of the most popular accounting programs for small enterprises will be QuickBooks. QuickBooks may be a solid solution without breaking the bank, whether you wish to abandon manual bookkeeping, your spreadsheets have become multithreaded hydras, or you seek a better alternative to your present software.
This article will explain what QuickBooks is and how it functions so that you can comprehend the various ways it can save you time and help you stay on top of your financial accounts.
What is QuickBooks?
Although QuickBooks is most well-known for its bookkeeping software, it also provides small companies with a variety of accounting and financial solutions. Here are a few instances:
QuickBooks Payroll: enables companies to pay up to 50 employees through check or direct deposit. It is offered as a self-service or full-service solution. Your year-end W-2 tax forms for local, state, and federal taxes are computed and submitted immediately if you choose a full-service plan.
QuickBooks Commerce: It displays all of your orders and inventory on a single dashboard and lets you know the status of each order in real time. Using QuickBooks Commerce, you can easily construct your B2B commerce platform, introduce new sales channels, and interact with online marketplaces. QuickBooks Commerce is extremely scalable.
QuickBooks Online: With QuickBooks Online, you can save your accounting records on the cloud and access them from any location at any time. Additionally, this service provides billing capabilities.
QuickBooks Live: Live, you can collaborate with a professional bookkeeper to handle all of your bookkeeping needs.
QuickBooks Payments: With QuickBooks Payments, you can create pay-enabled invoices, set up recurring invoices, and receive payments electronically while you’re on the move. Your clients can use any means to make a digital payment.
QuickBooks Time: Time to keep track of the billable hours for your staff, clients, or projects. With QuickBooks Payroll, tracking time is simple, just like tracking payments.
The seamless integration of each of these applications with QuickBooks accounting software creates a complete accounting and payment environment for your small and medium-sized business.
How QuickBooks Works
You are not need to enroll in every QuickBooks service at once, despite the fact that there are several possibilities accessible. As your business grows, you might start with only one tool, such payroll or accounting software. Any service that you outgrow can be upgraded or removed as necessary.
An example of a normal QuickBooks setup would be to first sign up for the accounting program, then install QuickBooks Live to further personalize your configuration. As your company expands, you add full-time staff members, independent contractors, and freelancers. Then you may register for QuickBooks Time to keep track of billable hours and QuickBooks Payroll to simplify monthly payments.
QuickBooks Software Options
Invoicing
One of the most important tasks for many organizations, especially those that offer services or depend on independent contractors, is billing. Invoice creation in QuickBooks is simple, whether you’re starting from scratch or using a previous estimate. Even an invoice for recurring payments may be created.
Then you may mail the invoice to your customers or print it out and mail a paper copy. You can simply run and examine reports on things like the number of unpaid invoices, the overall sum of customer debt, and the specifics of each invoice (whether it is paid or unpaid).
Bills & Expenses Tracking
You may link your bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks while configuring the program. Once finished, QuickBooks will automatically keep track of your invoices and spending.
Automatic bill monitoring does not preclude manual bill tracking, though. Whether it is a manual cash or check transaction, you may quickly record it straight.
A number of reports are available in QuickBooks to assess your invoices and expenditures. If you have a record of your bills, you can simply keep track of forthcoming payments to make sure that you pay your debts on time.
Tracking of employee time and expenses
Tracking time and chargeable expenditures incurred by workers or subcontractors is a breeze using QuickBooks. They may either send it manually and a bookkeeper on your end will input the information in the app, or they can enter it themselves using the QuickBooks mobile app.
Paying Online
You understand as a business owner how crucial it is to have a consistent positive cash flow. You may take online payments more easily with QuickBooks Payments when you issue invoices from the app.
If your business has operations in several foreign countries, QuickBooks enables you to take payments in native currencies. Naturally, it is better to start by verifying that QuickBooks accepts payments in the currencies you use. Every transaction is automatically logged as it happens.
Payroll
Processing payroll is a crucial task for every firm. As frequently as you like, the payroll add-on automatically calculates payroll. Your company has the opportunity to scale up and add features as needed with three plans. The Core plan includes all the essentials for a small to midsized business to get going, while the Premium and Elite plans provide extras like same-day direct deposit and professional setup help.
How Quickbooks Can Benefit Your Business
Signing up for QuickBooks considerably enhances the likelihood that other platforms your company may use, such as customer relationship management software (CRM), will interact with it and expedite procedures because it is one of the top brands in the accounting software market. Currently, QuickBooks is giving two separate promotions: join up and receive a 50% discount on your first three months, or try it out for free for 30 days.
Here are some other ways QuickBooks might help your company grow.
Financial Statements at Your Fingertips
All typical financial statements, such as the balance sheet, profit and loss (P&L) statement, cash flow statements, and taxes filed, are readily available to you. You may print off these statements for your accountant and give it to them when you file your taxes, or you can invite them to see them online without a login name or password.
Straightforward Inventory Management
It may be highly time-consuming to manually track inventory when you sell it, record the information in the appropriate expenditure account, and determine your taxable income at the end of the fiscal year.
QuickBooks simplifies things by carrying out every task automatically. Any time you get payment for an item from your inventory, the appropriate expenditure account is updated and automatically reflected in your taxable income.
Easy Taxation
There are several reasons why tax season is stressful and difficult. Because it automatically calculates your income and spending as they occur, QuickBooks makes things simpler for your company.
Taxes are computed automatically every cycle, even for payroll, which has a significant tax responsibility.
You may quickly print off all the data your accountant needs in order to complete the taxes and mail it to them.
The QuickBooks mobile app makes it simple to scan and submit receipts in real-time, so you don’t have to scramble to gather them when it’s time to file your taxes. You might also invite them to see the reports on their own and download any files they require.
QuickBooks Pricing
Both a desktop application and an online SaaS (software as a service) approach are offered by QuickBooks Online. However, after May 31, 2022, access to add-on services for QuickBooks Desktop for Windows 2019 was stopped.
The following plans are offered by QuickBooks Online, the fundamental accounting program (the price list is lowered by 50% for the first three months):
Self Employed: This membership option, which costs $7.50 per month or $15 per month, is designed particularly for independent contractors and freelancers.
Simple Start: The simple start package is perfect for you if you still run your business alone but it has expanded to the point where you require more functions in the accounting software. It costs $15 per month initially, then $30 per month.
Essentials: This is the strategy for you when your firm expands and you need to add more individuals, such as your accountant, bookkeeper, or finance team lead to the accounting software. You may add up to three people to this plan, which also includes time tracking and bill management services. It costs $27.50 a month, followed by $55 a month.
Plus: The Plus plan allows you to add up to five users to the program and helps with inventory management, project estimation, and profitability for $42.50 per month for the first three months, followed by $85 per month.
Advanced: The advanced plan lets you add more than five users for $100 per month for the first three months, then $200 per month after that. From within the app, you can manage employee expenses, pay bills in batches, automate workflows, and restore data.
As of the time of writing, QuickBooks Online was giving all membership options a three-month 50% discount.
Conclusion
With QuickBooks, you can easily and conveniently complete your tax responsibilities while keeping track of financial activities including revenue and spending, staff costs, and inventory in real-time. You can concentrate on promoting business growth and income when you are free from financial concerns.