Preface

Intuit QuickBooks is an accounting software package that helps small business owners manage all their bookkeeping tasks. Its complete range of accounting capabilities, such as tracking income and expenses, managing payroll, simplifying taxes, and accepting online payments, makes QuickBooks software a must-have for business owners and aspiring bookkeepers.

The goal of this book is to teach small business owners, bookkeepers, and aspiring accountants how to properly use QuickBooks Online. Using a fictitious company, we will demonstrate how to create a QuickBooks Online account; customize key settings for a business; manage customers, vendors, and products and services; enter transactions; generate reports; and close the books at the end of the period.

QuickBooks records debits and credits for you so that you don't have to know about accounting. However, we will show you what happens behind the scenes in QuickBooks so that you understand how your actions in QuickBooks impact financial statements. We will also provide tips, shortcuts, and best practices to help you save time and become a QuickBooks pro.

In this new edition, we introduce you to the new and improved user interface that Intuit released just a few months ago. It is a step up from previous editions and is very user-friendly. We also introduce you to AI technology that has been implemented, including AI agents that automate a number of tasks that you would have normally done manually, to save you time.

Who this book is for

If you're a small business owner, bookkeeper, or accounting student who wants to learn how to make the most of QuickBooks Online, this book is for you. Business analysts, data analysts, managers, professionals working in bookkeeping, and QuickBooks accountants will also find this guide useful. If you are planning to take the QuickBooks Certified User (QBCU) exam, this book is an excellent study guide. We have also provided a list of the topics covered in the QBCU exam and cross-referenced it with the chapters in the book so you can go directly to that content.

The QBCU syllabus can be found in Appendix 2. No experience with QuickBooks Online is required to get started; however, some bookkeeping knowledge would be helpful.

The US edition of QuickBooks Online was used to create this book. If you are using a version that is outside of the US, results may differ.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Small-Business Bookkeeping 101, provides you with some basic bookkeeping knowledge that you will need to successfully use QuickBooks Online. We cover money coming in and money going out of your business, inventory and fixed asset purchases, tracking the money you owe (liabilities), how to set up and use the chart of accounts, cash versus accrual accounting, and double-entry bookkeeping.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with QuickBooks Online, starts off with a brief description of QuickBooks Online, then it outlines the key features in all four editions of the software. We also explain how to choose the right edition for your business. There are step-by-step instructions on how to create a QuickBooks Online account and how to navigate the software. In this chapter, we also introduce you to the AI technology that is now in QBO and the AI agents that help you save time.

Chapter 3, Company File Setup, shows you how to customize the QuickBooks Online account created in Chapter 1 to meet your business needs. First, we explain the documents and key information you will need to have handy for the setup. Next, we walk you through all of the available settings in QuickBooks Online and explain the purpose and benefit of utilizing the various options available.

Chapter 4, Customizing QuickBooks for Your Business, introduces customization for the chart of accounts and then dives into the different ways of connecting bank accounts and credit cards to your QuickBooks Online account, followed by granting users access to your QuickBooks data. Finally, you will learn how to discover and install apps in QuickBooks Online. Apps are a great way to help you streamline day-to-day business tasks that can otherwise be time-consuming.

Chapter 5, Managing Customer and Vendor Lists, gives you detailed insight into how to manage your customers, vendors, products, and services. This includes importing customer, vendor, and product and service data from an Excel spreadsheet and manually entering it into the software.

Chapter 6, Managing Sales Tax, covers how to set up sales tax for the various tax jurisdictions you are required to collect sales tax for, how to create an invoice with sales tax, and what reports will help you to report and pay the appropriate sales tax amount when it becomes due.

Chapter 7, Recording Sales Transactions in QuickBooks Online, starts by giving detailed information on different forms of sales, followed by information on how the customer can record payments using different methods, and finally teaches you how to initiate refunds for your customers. You will also learn how to customize sales templates with your company branding, such as adding a name and logo.

Chapter 8, Customer Sales Reports in QuickBooks Online, focuses on reports that will give you insight into your customers and sales. We will discuss what information you will find on each report, how to customize the reports, and how to generate each report. Once they are generated, we will observe when to check these reports and what decisions they might encourage us to make.

Chapter 9, Recording Expenses in QuickBooks Online, teaches you how to enter and pay bills for your QuickBooks Online account. Then, we'll start exploring how to manage recurring expenses, followed by writing and printing checks.

Chapter 10, Vendor and Expenses Reports in QuickBooks Online, dives into reports that help you manage your outgoings and have a clearer view of your profitability. The main reports that are covered are the accounts payable aging report, unpaid bills report, expense by vendor summary report, and bill payments report. You will learn how to generate and customize these reports to help you manage your expenses and cash flow.

Chapter 11, Managing Bank Feeds and Reconciling Bank and Credit Card Accounts, gives you an overview of the Banking Center in QuickBooks Online and an understanding of how the bank rules work, followed by how to edit QuickBooks Online transactions and how to reconcile bank accounts. We wrap this chapter up with a few troubleshooting tips for reconciling bank/credit card accounts.

Chapter 12, Managing 1099 Contractors and Introducing QuickBooks Time in QBO, shows you what information and key documents are needed to add 1099 contractors by inviting them to provide their W9 information electronically. We will show you how to pay contractors and how to process 1099 forms at the end of the year. If you need to keep track of the hours a contractor or employee works, you can do so using QuickBooks Time. We provide you with an overview of how QuickBooks Time works.

Chapter 13, Managing Employees in QuickBooks Online, shows you what information and key documents are needed to set up payroll, how to sign up for an Intuit Payroll subscription plan, and how to generate payroll reports. You will also learn how to file payroll tax forms and payments.

Chapter 14, Report Center Overview, highlights the key reports that you need in order to keep track of your business finances. It takes you through the Report Center, its purpose, and how to navigate it. You will then go through instructions for generating and customizing the main reports that are available, as well as how to export reports and send them via email. You will learn how regularly you need to check these reports, what to look out for, and what actions or decisions these findings might prompt.

Chapter 15, Business Overview and Cash Management Tools and Reports, discusses the three primary reports that provide a good overview of your business: the profit and loss statement, balance sheet report, and statement of cash flows. You will learn when to check these reports and how to use them to evaluate your business's performance. It also introduces you to the Cash Flow Center, where you can find important tools such as the Cash Flow Planner and audit log.

Chapter 16, Closing the Books in QuickBooks Online, covers the steps needed to close your books each month or for the year, including, but not limited to, reconciling all bank and credit card accounts, making year-end accrual adjustments (if applicable), recording fixed asset purchases made throughout the year, recording depreciation, taking a physical inventory, adjusting retained earnings, and preparing financial statements.

Chapter 17, Integrating E-Commerce Platforms with QuickBooks Online, covers the basics of integrating your online store (e.g., Shopify or Etsy) with QuickBooks Online. We cover how to find your sales channel in the QuickBooks Apps Center, the pros and cons of connecting apps to QuickBooks Online, and how to connect your sales channel to QuickBooks Online.

Chapter 18, Managing Products and...