How to use QUICKBOOKS ONLINE (2022) - YouTube

hey there i'm James you're watching Accounting Stuff

and in this video i'll give you a quick guide to QuickBooks Online

i made a similar one a couple of years ago but QuickBooks Online has changed a bit since then

so let's refresh ourselves

What is QuickBooks Online? QuickBooks Online is a popular cloud accounting software

it's made by an American company called Intuit and it's specifically designed for small businesses

What does QuickBooks Online do? it lets you record, sort and store

all your businesses transactions in one place

So which version of QuickBooks Online is right for you?

if you click on my affiliate link in the description then you'll see three or four options

depending on where you're based simple start, essentials, plus and advanced if you live in the US

you can try these out for free or dive straight in with the discount

and if you clicked the link then you'll be supporting this channel so thank you!

each of these charges you a monthly fee

on the left we have simple start which comes  in the cheapest it's the most basic version  

of QuickBooks Online and it works well for small  businesses that sell services or digital products  

you only get one user though if you want more  then you might want to consider essentials instead  

it gets you three users, time tracking and helps  you manage and pay your bills

if you sell physical products then you'll need QuickBooks Online Plus to handle your inventory

this version also lets you track your profit by project advanced is aimed more towards

medium-sized businesses you're allowed up to 25 users

and you're able to customize access by role you'll also get batch invoicing,

automated workflows and some fancier analytics QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based

accounting software so all of these run in your browser it doesn't matter whether you're using a mac or a pc

and they let you upgrade or downgrade at any time so no stress

What does QuickBooks Online look like?

Like this! welcome to the QuickBooks Online Dashboard

up here we have your company name and logo today we're looking at Craig's Design and Landscaping Services

which is the sample company to the left of me we have the Navbar

with the New Button right at the top this is where we do most of our day-to-day tasks,

run reports stuff like that which we'll get into in a moment

if you don't like the Navbar then you can hide it by clicking on these three lines up here

that will give you some extra space if you need it and in the top right corner we have my experts,

help, search, the notification bell, settings and  a link to your Intuit account

behind me we've got the business overview you can see summaries of your invoices, expenses,

profit and loss, sales and your bank balances to the right this data can be a little sensitive so you can use

the privacy button to hide it from any prying eyes  alrighty then how does QuickBooks Online work?

let's start with these buttons up here if you want to invite your accountant then you can  

click on the my experts button if you don't have one then you can search for one here as well

or if you're doing it yourself then good for you  you can ignore this entirely

the help button brings up the QuickBooks assistant bot which can help with some of your basic questions  

you can also use this to reach a human or have a look through the frequently asked questions

when you click on the search button you'll see  a list of all your most recent transactions

you can also find your older ones here as well and make changes to them if you need to  

settings is very important if you're firing up QuickBooks for the first time

then this is where you go to set things up there's three main columns

your company, lists and tools under your company you can find your account and settings

in here you can do things like add a logo and change your company name

just be aware that these changes do show up  on your invoices

you can also add your employer identification number or your social security number for taxes

and below that you can pick a tax form based on your company type

and choose an industry then we have your business contact information

your company's email, your customer facing email, your phone number and your address

to the left you can check your usage limits, customize your sales and expenses

and fiddle with your advanced settings perhaps you want to turn on account numbers

or multi-currency anyway let's 'X' out of this and pop back into settings

click on manage users if you want to add people to your QuickBooks account

the different user types give different levels of access next up is your chart of accounts which brings up

a complete list of all your businesses accounts please be careful with this one because these accounts

should be tailored to your business if you're getting started and you're new to bookkeeping

then i'd definitely recommend getting some help from an accountant

next up we have QuickBooks Labs you can go here if you want to turn on plugins like Quickbooks Themes

this is where you can access Dark Mode if that's your thing

under the list column you can manage all of the products and services that you sell

you can also check your recurring transactions to see what's been scheduled to be paid each month

up here in the tools menu you can order business checks, import data into Quickbooks

from Excel or Google Sheets or you can bring in your QuickBooks Desktop data

if you're making the switch there's an option to reconcile your accounts,

add a budget and see the audit log which tracks user activity

then there's smartlook and the resolution center in smartlook you can share a code

with your accountant to let them see your screen

now that that's out the way let's take a  look at the Navbar

right here at the top we have the New Button we click this when we want to create things

for customers, vendors, employees and other stuff too for example if you sell something to a customer  

then you might need to create an invoice so that they can pay you

add a new customer or pick one of your regulars from the drop down menu

select what you sold them, pick a quantity and a rate

add in the sales tax or a discount if you need to and that's all there is to it, save and send  

QuickBooks will generate the invoice for you and email it directly to your customer

Nice, now let's head back to the Dashboard you sell things to customers and you buy things from vendors

there's two ways to record purchases you can use expenses or bills

if you've already paid for a good or service then you'll want to click expenses

maybe filled up your car at a gas station enter the amount, what you paid with, attach the receipt

to keep things organized and save and close alternatively if you want to save time

you can snap your receipt on your phone instead of using the QuickBooks App

that will scan it straight into the system bills are for situations where you buy something

and haven't made the payment yet the form looks very similar to the expenses one

but this time you need to enter the terms and a due date

that's the deadline that you need to make the payment by besides that it's the same deal as before

just fill out the details, attach a copy of the bill and any other support

and then hit save or save and schedule the payment

under the employees column you can manage  your payroll if you've added that on  

and fill out timesheets in the other column you can post journal entries

these are a bit technical so i wouldn't mess with them unless you're comfortable with how accounting works

this is the kind of thing that i teach on this channel  so if you'd like to learn about that

then why not click subscribe?

below the New Button we have the Dashboard button followed by the banking tab

this is where you link your business's bank account  and credit cards to QuickBooks

it's one of the first things you should do when getting up and running

every day QuickBooks will automatically and securely pull in all your transactions

it'll then try it's best to match them to your invoices, bills and expenses

that you entered using the New Button if it's done this correctly then all you'll need to do

is click match to confirm do not panic if you come across

any uncategorized income and expenses pick the customer or vendor that it relates to

select a category, attach your support and click add

sometimes you might find yourself categorizing the same expenses over and over

if that's the case then you can speed things up by creating a bank rule

next on the Navbar is sales this sectionis all about your income and invoices

at the top you'll find a graph of your business's income over time

if you want to look at a different period this year for instance

then you can change it in the top corner  below that there's a summary of your invoices

at a glance you can see what's been paid and what  hasn't your overdue invoices are colored in orange  

if we move through these tabs then we can see all  your sales transactions and invoices

which have been nicely arranged by urgency if something's overdue then you can click here

to email them a reminder which can save you a bit more time

up here you can manage your lists of customers and your products and services

after sales we have expenses this is all about the money flowing out of your business

we've got a complete list of all your bills and expenses if we head to the vendors tab then you can see

all your suppliers along with a summary of what you owe again overdue bills are colored in orange

you can click on them to see the full list and arrange the payments

if you're signed up to plus or advanced then you can track your expenses and profitability by project right here

then we have payroll where you can manage all your employees and contractors if you added that on

the time tab is where you track and manage timesheets if you're using essentials, plus or advanced

and then we have the reports tab this is where you run all your financial statements

that my latest videos have been about  your income statement, your balance sheet

and your cash flow statement click on the little star if you want to add something

to your favorites the income statement or profit and loss

is where you monitor your financial performance it gives you a summary of your revenues and expenses

over a period of time if you want to see your cash inflows and outflows

over a period of time as well then take a look at your cash flow statement

the balance sheet shows you your financial position it gives you a snapshot of your

assets liabilities and equity at a point in time reports like these are key to understanding your business

in the taxes tab you can manage your sales tax if you're registered for that

monitor your mileage in the mileage tab which you can track using the QuickBooks Online App

then there's the accounting tab where you can find your chart of accounts

and the bank reconciliation the bank rec is where you reconcile all your transactions

between QuickBooks and your bank account I recommend that you do that at the end of every month

to keep things nice and in order finally my accountant is the place where you connect

with your accountant and invite them to look at your books

and that's all we've got time for if you're thinking of signing up

then remember you can use my affiliate link if you'd like to help support this channel

cheers for watching have a good one!