QuickBooks Features: A Comprehensive Guide to Working with QuickBooks

Are you someone who has just started a business? You need to get a solution for bookkeeping and accounting-related needs? Probably, you are in need of accounting software that is designed for keeping track of income and expenditures.  

Intuit’s QuickBooks is one of the most trusted and best solutions tried by many small to medium-sized business owners. There were around 3.3 million QuickBooks users, as of 2019. More than 40% of them were small business owners. CPAs also use QuickBooks software to keep track of their accounting.

You must be thinking what is behind the enormous popularity of this QuickBooks or in a simple term, what is QuickBooks? Well, this 30-year-old accounting software is easy to use. But is this the sole reason why to consider what is QuickBooks used for? The simple answer will be no.

There are plenty of Quickbooks features that are simply great for those who are all new to this accounting world. QuickBooks is one of the simple accounting automation software. 

 In this article, we will tell you about QuickBooks features and a comprehensive guide to working with it.

What is Intuit QuickBooks? 

Intuit created this accounting software long back in 1983 to offer solutions for personal, tax management, and business-related needs. Quickbooks is such a tool that is designed in a special way to manage your accounting and finance-related needs .

You can use QuickBooks to invoice customers, generate reports, provide online payment options, and audit taxes. There are multiple versions of QuickBooks available in the market. Now, what is the best QuickBooks for you?

Let us write down the types of the QuickBooks product or various versions of the QuickBooks. A user can select the version that suits him or her the most. The versions are QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks for Self Employed, and QuickBooks for Mac.

QuickBooks Desktop is the oldest one among all versions of QuickBooks available today. As time changes the need of the customers also alter based on the availability of the new technology. Their need to accomplish the accounting tasks of multiple projects is constant. 

At present, QuickBooks Online is the most popular one. This QuickBooks product is in demand because it supports cloud-based technology. Cloud technology is ruling the world, just like the cloud-enabled version of QuickBooks.

QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, and QuickBooks for Mac are designed for small business owners. Any of these versions of QuickBooks selected by you will help you to manage the accounting, payroll, income, and expenditure. In a nutshell, QuickBooks is the best tool for those who want all-in-one accounting-related solutions for them.

On the other hand, QuickBooks for Self employed is great for CPAs or accounting professionals. Those who are not sure about what QuickBooks enterprise is- learn the basics of QuickBooks for self-employed at first.

Suppose, you are someone who has just joined the world of accounting or a CPA. You are seeking a solution where you can keep track of the accounts receivable and accounts payable of clients. They can even capture sales receipts, review transactions, communicate with customers, and track expenses.  

Why this QuickBooks is so Popular?

As an accountant or a small business owner, you can easily understand why so many individuals select this QuickBooks software program. Doing this also assists you to strengthen your footsteps in the market. You can connect directly with your current prospective clients with the help of this QuickBooks software. 

 Simply put, Intuit’s one the best products is QuickBooks software. The way they have done the marketing for the product is also commendable. Primarily, Intuit claimed that QuickBooks was so simple that even a small business owner can operate.

You must be thinking then why finance professionals like to use this QuickBooks. By now, you must have understood what QuickBooks is used for.   This software, as in QuickBooks features, is so lucrative that it allows their accounting firms to grow bigger .  

There are multiple advantages of using this QuickBooks software to solve accounting and bookkeeping-related needs. That is why this QuickBooks appeals to the majority of prospective clients. Here are the reasons why QuickBooks is the favorite accounting software:

• Convenient to Use

The first question which comes to your mind after exploring any software or a new tool is how simple it is? When it comes to the QuickBooks, anyone will agree with the fact that this particular tool is super easy to use. Right after opening the main screen, you will be able to see all QuickBooks Online features available on the main screen. All you need to do is just try and use the particular option you want to put into effect.

• QuickBooks Online Features

One thing anyone will admit is that this QuickBooks is loaded with various features related to accounting, finance management, and bookkeeping. Everything is designed and placed in a simple way. 

Any small business owner or an accountant can easily figure out how to make use of this accounting software properly. It is not true that other software does not have features to get your work done. The way you can manage your accounting with QuickBooks is something to swear by.  

• Easy to Get Access to the Knowledge Base

There are many accountants and bookkeepers who are all proficient in QuickBooks. No fear, even if you are a small business owner who does not have ideas on handling the accounting software. At first, you can try to explore the knowledge base or the help section available on the website.   In case, if that is not sufficient for you, you can try to get your QuickBooks Proadvisor certification done. 

Now let us see who all needs to use QuickBooks on day to day basis in accounting and finance related activities

Who should Use QuickBooks? 

QuickBooks is an accounting solution that accountants, small business owners, CPAs, and independent tax practitioners- everyone uses to deal with finance.   Anyone who is associated with accountancy- must try this application at least once by them.  Those who can benefit from QuickBooks include:

• Small Business Owner

Men and women who run small businesses want to do their accounting by themselves. For some reason, if they need any help, they can easily consult a QuickBooks ProAdvisor to take help from them.

• Freelancers or Independent Tax Practitioners

Freelancers or independent tax practitioners need to manage multiple clients at the same time. They need an all-in-one accounting software like QuickBooks for them.

• Sole Proprietor

A sole proprietor or someone who is handling a micro business is in need of this QuickBooks software. They are the only people who have to run the business on their own. 

• Retail Business Owners

QuickBooks can be a great accounting software solution for retail business persons. This automatic accounting solution is perfect for payment processing and sales tax compliance.

•  Side Business Owners

We often come across people who maintain a side business. For the obvious reason, they need an automated solution for bookkeeping-related tasks. QuickBooks saves their time when it comes to accounting and bookkeeping.    

• CPAs

CPAs and accountants who are associated with a small or medium-sized business handles accounting responsibilities. They need this QuickBooks as their bookkeeping and accounting-related solutions.  

Which Version of QuickBooks is the Best? 

Now that you are kind of familiar with what QuickBooks is and its functionality. This is the best time to know about various types of QuickBooks. In this way, you can understand what is the best QuickBooks for you? 

The particular version of QuickBooks you need for your business can be completely different from the one your competitors are using.  A thorough understanding of your industry type and the number of employees can help you to select the perfect QuickBooks version.

Intuit provides only basic details about many of its applications. The very generic idea of trying out a QuickBooks Online application may not be proven beneficial for everyone. However, the most popular product of Intuit’s QuickBooks is QuickBooks Online. 

There are two basic versions of QuickBooks available up and running in the industry. The first  one is QuickBooks for Desktop. Now, under this QuickBooks, there are a few classifications in the versions of the same program.  

These types of QuickBooks are available in the market. QuickBooks Desktop Pro, QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, QuickBooks Desktop Premier, QuickBooks Desktop Premier Plus, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, QuickBooks Mac.

Those who all want to know more about what is QuickBooks enterprise, kindly pay more attention to this part. It will help you to understand various versions of the QuickBooks.

This QuickBooks Enterprise has a few variations: 

• Contractor Edition

• Professional Services Edition

• Nonprofit Edition

•  Manufacturing Wholesale Edition

• Accountant Edition

•  Retail Edition

But, now most of the users are gravitating toward the QuickBooks Online version as it operates in the Cloud environment. This Online version does not need to get launched while using it. Now, we are going to learn more about the versions or variations of the QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Online has many versions. The very basic one is the Simple Start, followed by the Essentials, Plus, and Advanced versions. A user can select as per their need and pricing bracket.

Finance Management with QuickBooks 

Finance management and QuickBooks work hand in hand. Intuit has applied several decades of experience to a product that seems like a complete package. It has just everything you can wish to have to organize and manage your finances.  

What is the QuickBooks experience? This time, we will tell how to get the most out of this QuickBooks software. All you need to know is the in and out of the program. QuickBooks help you to manage your finance.

QuickBooks is highly effective when it comes to managing your finance and running your business properly.

Here is the list of tasks that you can easily do with the help of any accounting automation tool like QuickBooks.

Track Income and Expenditure

A business owner can easily keep track of their payable and receivable easily with the help of QuickBooks. Like other exciting QuickBooks features, this one is also one of the most sought after features. It allows a business owner to track all business income and expense-related records.   

Share Unlimited Invoices

If you are a QuickBooks user, you can share unlimited invoices with the help of this software. This feature is available in all plans for the desktop and online versions. 

Work Remotely

This COVID-19 pandemic propels the pace of remote working. Accounting automation software like QuickBooks is the best option for modern-era small business owners. Be it your home or anywhere in the world, you can send invoices and receive payments from your customers easily.  

Manage your Inventory

Managing your inventory needs a lot more time. It seems difficult for small business owners as they need to handle their business single handedly. Sync with the sales tools you are using with this QuickBooks. 

You can easily track your stock levels, check deliveries, track vendors and more. If you are not sure about what is a vendor in QuickBooks, managing inventory will be a little difficult.  

Protect your Company Data

All your confidential data will get backed up automatically. You can easily protect your customer information with the same security and encryptions just like any bank. 

QuickBooks Proadvisor for Business Development 

QuickBooks by Intuit is not just a regular tax filling or tax preparation software. It offers a complete or comprehensive set of financial and accounting tools for small to large enterprises. QuickBooks is typically the go to choose for small business owners. In a broader term, QuickBooks provides accounting, bookkeeping and inventory management services to the businesses.

QuickBooks by Intuit is undoubtedly a great choice for small business finance management. Selecting the best version of QuickBooks that suits your business needs can be a daunting task for you. That’s when we select QuickBooks ProAdvisor. You must be thinking what is the QuickBooks Proadvisor? 

This program allows accounting professionals to become an officially certified by QuickBooks. Basically, this QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification course is a mandatory to become an expert in QuickBooks.

This course is absolutely free of cost. All the training tools, webinars, modules, live courses are completely free of cost to become QuickBooks Proadvisor. 

QuickBooks offers certifications in several areas of specialization-

• QuickBooks Desktop

• QuickBooks Online

• QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

• QuickBooks Online Advanced

• QuickBooks Online Payroll

Advanced certifications are also available for those who want to have a deeper understanding of the QuickBooks Proadvisor certification. The advanced training sessions are given by the QuickBooks experts. Post this training session, the candidate needs to pass an extra examination.

This advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification degree boosts your reputation and improves your familiarity with the QuickBooks system.  It allows a person to serve their clients in much better way. 

Most Popular QuickBooks Features

QuickBooks is one of the most popular automated accounting software in the world. Anyone who is associated with accounting or runs a small business- swear by this QuickBooks. You must be thinking what is the reason behind the enormous popularity of this QuickBooks? Well, the first thing you should keep in your mind is that QuickBooks features.

There are many different features that keep getting on and added frequently. As most of the QuickBooks users are using the online version of the QuickBooks. We will discuss QuickBook’s online features as well. Here is the list of the features that you can vouch for while taking this QuickBooks as your accounting partner. 

Pay and Schedule Bills Faster 

The latest version of the QuickBooks added by far the best feature in the year 2022. Now you are allowed to add your credit or debit card to schedule and pay the bills faster. Bank transfer is also allowed. Vendors can collect their money instantly. 

Advanced Processing Power

QuickBooks is incorporated with the most modern 64 bit advanced processing power. This latest version of the processing power is great to process all input and output related data properly. 

Select from Multiple Customer Contacts

Now the QuickBooks online features allow you to save all contacts digitally instead of putting back and forth manual efforts. A user can check the automated customer contacts and select the particular contact as per their choice. 

Upload Documents

You can easily attach the necessary document like transaction details while chatting with that particular customer. 

Track Mileage Automatically 

Post COVID-19, this QuickBooks Online feature is doing the rounds maong small business owners. Suppose, you are associated with a particular business where traveling takes most of your time. This automatic mileage tracking of a particular transaction can be proven very helpful for you.

QuickBooks Online Vs. QuickBooks Desktop 

You have gathered enough knowledge on QuickBooks and can tell others about the QuickBooks experience. Now, we will discuss about what is the best quickbooks for you?  

QuickBooks is loaded with various features. But again, both  versions of QuickBooks are equally good. Do you have any doubt on which version can be good for you? 

Here is the tabular representation of the features of QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online for your convenience.  

Benefits of Using QuickBooks 

Well, we all are aware of what is QuickBooks used for when it comes to accounting and bookkeeping for small businesses. Now this is the time to know about the benefits of using QuickBooks in your business. Try to learn what Intuit QuickBooks is. Know 

the benefits of QuickBooks will always help you to stay ahead of your competitors. 

Run Payroll on QuickBooks

One of the primary benefits of QuickBooks is that you can run the payroll service at the same time. This software will automatically calculate, file and pay taxes on the behalf of your business.  

QuickBooks can do the reporting and invoice reminder 

QuickBooks offers a plethora of reports including ledger book management to manage balance sheets. With the help of QuickBooks payment take care of the invoicing, you can even set recurring invoice sending systems. 

QuickBooks Integrate with Third Party Services

 A user can add apps as per the specific area of choice. Right from integrating ecommerce apps to adding apps related to inventory management, you can add a long list of apps.

Mobile Friendliness

One of the greatest benefits of the QuickBooks is that QuickBooks can be accessed or used from your mobile device. You can sync data across all devices and take backup of all of your data in the cloud.  

Affordability

QuickBooks is an affordable accounting software. There are plenty of plans available starting from 25$. The number of users is something you need to check the plans. But all plans are equally great and affordable for small business owners and accountants. 

In Conclusion 

QuickBooks is simple to understand and use but getting a thorough knowledge of the same can be a bit troublesome initially. Performance and functalitywise by far this QuickBooks is the best option. 

As a small business owner, you may not get the most of this application at a go. In that case hiring a QuickBooks ProAdvisor can help you to get the most out of this QuickBooks.  The basic thing like cleaning up the QuickBooks application, you can manage on your own. 

We hope you liked reading this article and going to explore the in and out of every QuickBooks features. This comprehensive guide on QuickBooks should be enough for you to get started with QuickBooks.