It’s summertime and thoughts naturally turn to bookkeeping! Well, not really. But thoughts do turn to getting away for a much-needed vacation. In the old days, getting away meant not having access to your business’ accounting records while you were away. But in recent years, we have seen a slew of exciting online bookkeeping software tools – with equally exciting names like Wave, FreshBooks, Zoho, and Xero –that allow you to have access to your accounting information from anywhere. It was only a matter of time that QuickBooks, an industry leader in bookkeeping software, jumped on the bandwagon with QuickBooks Online (QBO). QBO takes an already versatile and robust tool and adds a number of new features to bring it into the tech age.
QBO allows youto access your books any place, on any computer, tablet or mobile device. By having this access,it allows you to, for example, bill a client directly at the job site, pay invoices, or get a quicksnapshot of how the company is doing, even if you are not at the office.
As a cloud-based platform, automatic backups of all data are performed, allowing you not to worry about having a USB stick or having enough space on the computer. All your data is securely savedon the cloud, using the same security as our banking institutions do, with fully implemented privacy options.
QBO allows you to have multiple users as well (when you choose the ‘Essentials’ versionand higher). You can providedifferent users withpartial or full accessto your books. You can add employees as users and utilize the integrated time sheet option, in order to invoice billable hours out of QBO. You can also give your accountant access to your QBO!
Saving your documents directly to QBO allows you to have them anywhere you access QBO. You can attach files to send with your invoice. You can sendinformation directly to your accountant or even better, your accountant has access when s/he logs into your QBO. It savestime, andit facilitates apaperless office.
Another feature that QBO has that is handy for today’s fast paced world is being able to connect your bank accounts and credit cardsdirectly to QBO. Thisallows you to downloadyour bank and credit card statements to make it easy to reconcile. Once programmed, you can ‘add’ your bank or credit card transations automatically with a click of a button to save you time.
Having QBO mobile allows you to sendinvoices and estimates to clients on the spot, get customers signature on the spot, and get paid faster with electronic payment. QBO also interfaces with many mobile apps, making recordkeeping seamless. QBO allows you to take photos of your receipts and categorize expenses, and always knows how your business is doing with real-time reports. Data can be synced from popular apps like TSheets, Square, and others, directly into QBO.
If you are an existing QuickBooks desktop user, the decision to move over to QBO is worth thinking seriously about. You will get the same robustness and functionality that you have grown to love, now at the touch of your fingertips, from anywhere. QBO has the same features as the desktopversion, such as tracking your expense, invoicing your clients, preparing reports, memorizing your transactions, recording deposit(s), reconciliations, inventory management, tracking time sheets, andprocessing payroll. Your desktop data can also be exported into QBO in order to make migration and transition straightforward.
To recap, some of the benefits of using QuickBooks Onlineare;
- online and automaticbackups,
- sending invoices and acceptingpayments on the spot,
- importingbank and credit card transactions,
- seamless reconciliation tools,
- time tracking,
- app and e-commerce integration
- online document management and
- having remote access and data security to manage your books.
If you are new to bookkeeping software, then QBO can be a good investment in an established software that will grow as your business grows. QuickBooks is fully scalable – it can take you from a start-up to managing a large business with hundreds of employees. QBO also has the added benefit of offering impressive reports and dashboards.
QBO remains fairly price competitive, offering varying price points ranging from a monthly fee of $13-$40, depending on the version. Right now, all of these are being offered through a ‘Canada Day Sale’ at half off the regular price, through the QBO website.
It is important to understand your needs before you invest in any software. Many new bookkeeping software tools have emerged in recent years, and some have gained tremendous popularity. Newer software tools can be less expensive (some are even free, running generally on advertisement revenue) and may suffice well for simple start-up businesses. However, consider whether these would be able to support you as your business grows and as your needs change. Consideration should be given to features such as bank reconciliations, accounts receivable and payable modules, processing payroll, inventory tracking, time sheet capabilities, document management, customer/vendor portals, and so on.
If you are interested in learning more about bookkeeping or QBO, contact Don Armstrong, our lead Financial Services Representative (FRS). Our FRS team can assist you in a wide variety of ways, including but not limited to: assessing your bookkeeping needs, training and support on bookkeeping and QBO, bookkeeping oversight or regular touch-ups, preparation for a year end (compilation, review or audit), or full-service bookkeeping.
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