How to Use QuickBooks Online More Efficiently
What if a few simple tips and tricks could reduce the amount of time you spend using QuickBooks Online? You’d want to learn, right?
Here are six ways you can shave seconds off everyday tasks and become a more efficient user of QuickBooks Online:
• View Multiple Windows for Easy Multitasking
• Utilize Attachments for a Paperless Environment
• Customize and Automate Emailing Reports
• Know the Keyboard Shortcuts
• Utilize Bank Rules
• Set Up Recurring Transactions
View Multiple Windows for Easy Multitasking
There are some tasks that would be faster if you could view multiple windows at the same time, such as reviewing two or more reports side-by-side and creating a payment on one screen, while reviewing a bill on another. Browser tabs allow you to open multiple windows, making it easy to compare, cross-reference and multitask.
Tip: To open a new tab, hold the Alt key and hit D+Enter in quick succession (Alt+D+Enter). To view screens side-by-side, click and hold the mouse on one of the tabs and then drag and drop the window to another monitor. You can open as many tabs as needed across multiple monitors. NOTE: This Tip assumes that you are currently using more than one monitor. This would not be applicable to anyone using only a single monitor for their work.
Utilize Attachments for a Paperless Environment
As more organizations implement a long-term remote work plan, creating a paperless environment is one way to help team members share information more efficiently. The attachment feature within all transactions allows you to include attachments such as a contract to an invoice, a subcontractor’s Form W-9 to a vendor record and a vendor bill to the bill transaction recorded in QuickBooks Online.
Tip: Find the attachment section at the bottom of a transaction, then click and drag or browse for a file. You can add more than one document to a transaction as long as it does not exceed the 20MB file size limit. Accessing the attachments is easy – locate the Gear Icon > Attachments. You can also import additional reports such as bank or credit card statements.
Customize and Automate Emailing Reports
Do you have reports that are distributed on a regular schedule? Automate the process! Set up a custom report to be automatically emailed to a specific person or group. For instance, you could have a collection or sales report emailed to you every week to help you stay on top of open invoices. You can also schedule financial statements to be emailed to you each month.
Tip: Create and save a custom report or group of reports, then set up the email schedule. For month end reports, be sure to set the Next Date to the 1st day of the following month to capture all of the transaction activities for the month.
Know the Keyboard Shortcuts
QuickBooks Online is full of short-cut keys to help you take action fast.
Tip: To access the list of short-cuts alongside your Company ID, hold Ctrl+Alt+? at the same time while in your QuickBooks Online company file. This will open a list of shortcuts to be used while navigating the QBO file. For example: On a main page, like the Dashboard or Customers, Ctrl+Alt+A opens the Chart of Accounts. On a transaction, Ctrl+Alt+S at the same time saves the current transaction and opens a new transaction.
Utilize Bank Rules
Categorizing downloaded transactions from your bank into the right accounts can be very time consuming. QuickBooks Online can automatically categorize transactions if you set up bank rules for common expenses, such as regular suppliers or vendors and utility payments.
Tip: Add a payee and the posting account for transactions that meet the criteria set up in the bank rule. You can also create detailed rules so specific transactions are automatically accepted into your books from the Banking page. Selecting Auto-Add helps decrease the time needed to review transactions.
Set Up Recurring Transactions
How about one more tip to save time and minimize mistakes? Rather than manually entering individual transactions that occur repeatedly, you can automate the process by setting up recurring transactions. This enables you to automate repetitive journal entries, customer invoices and checks. Recurring transactions can also be used to create a template for complicated or long journals or invoices.
Tip: As you enter the transaction you want to repeat, select the Make Recurring button at the bottom of the window. This will allow you to set up the template name and frequency the transaction should recur. All recurring transactions can be found by going to the Gear Icon > Recurring Transactions. From here you can edit and use the templates, change the frequency and duplicate the template for new recurring transactions.
Start practicing! There is a QuickBooks Online Plus demo company file available to everyone at QBO.intuit.com/redir/testdrive. You can test tools within sample data, rather than on your live data file. If you have any questions or wonder if there is an easier way to do something, reach out to our Intuit Certified ProAdvisor.
