As you reach closer to the end of the year, organizing finances is the first priority for every business. A bookkeeping solution that is simple, secure and scalable is exactly what you need at this point. QuickBooks accounting is a tool which provides a rich archive for account tracking, invoicing as well as vendor and employee management. While it is a simple tool that solves most of your accounting needs, it can be difficult to be pro at it right from the start. Therefore, with a few simple tips and steps, you will be on the way to managing your numbers with ease.
Find an Accountant
Migrating all of your finances to QuickBooks requires the services of a professional accountant/bookkeeper so that you can discuss the details with someone who has experience in managing such tasks. Every business has unique need. A professional accountant is best suited to understand them and match your business specifics with the QuickBooks accounting tools. You must oblige by certain state rules and regulations as well as set right conventions for tracking business expenses. This is all best handled by someone who is familiar with the process.
Review QuickBooks’ Basics
Getting acquainted with the tools should be your next step, even if you consider yourself to be an avid learner. The Getting Started tab in the software allows you to know how it works and the way it thinks about managing your expenses. QuickBooks recognizes revenue as ‘Money in’ and expenses as ‘Money out’. Therefore, you must get acquainted with these terms for efficient use. The flow of the revenue and expenses is classified as ‘Getting around’. Knowing these QuickBooks accounting basics will ensure that you are ready to use it to the best of its abilities.
Secure Everything
Security is one of the most important factors when it comes to managing your finances. Before you use QuickBooks for anything else, your first priority should be to set a unique and complex password by navigating to the ‘your account’ tab in the software. The passwords should be regularly updated because the tool will be directly linked to your bank account. Apart from setting up passwords, you can use advanced hardware on your computers that are resistant to hacking and viruses. Keeping backup data is also important so that any unwanted situation related to data loss can be avoided.
Enter Business Essentials
QuickBooks lets you manage all business essentials on the go but, for that, you must first enter everything manually. Enter your financial information and other details in the ‘company’ tab under the ‘preferences’ link. Most critical details will vary on your type of business and preferences. However, some of the basic elements of every business are related to reporting forms, tax ids and reporting calendars. Once you have entered all details, ensure that they are updated and error-free. Any mistake can be fatal because everything is interconnected.
Enter Client Info
The ‘customer’ tab in QuickBooks accounting is one of the most important for you because customers are the ones who will eventually bring profit to your company. While mentioning all relevant customer information is vital, it is critical to determine the payment method adopted by the customer. You will have to ask them if they will pay with cash, credit card or a check. Setting the right option at the start will help you sort out many issues related to payments later on. Send them a test invoice to ensure that everything is working smoothly.
Track the Money Flow
The banking tab on your QuickBooks accounting tool is used to determine how and where your money is spent and what is actually coming into the business. ‘Write checks’, ‘cash expense’, ‘deposits’, and other similar tabs must be used to record your expenses and sales. ‘Activity’ reports will show who is responsible for specific transactions which is important as you need to keep a check on everything.
After everything is set up, you are ready to generate a profit and loss report which gives you a clear picture of where your business stands. All of this is done with just a few simple clicks and a QuickBooks accounting tool.
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