Over 7 million businesses use QuickBooks to power their accounting operations. It’s known for its user-friendly interface, deep integrations with software providers, and powerful automation capabilities for key bookkeeping and accounting workflows.
So, how exactly can teams use QuickBooks, and what are the benefits of implementing this software? Continue reading through this guide as we walk through the main features and how to use QuickBooks.
What is QuickBooks?
QuickBooks is an accounting program by Intuit. It’s available as a cloud-based solution, QuickBooks Online, or a desktop application, QuickBooks Desktop. There are several subscription tiers available, making it suitable for solopreneurs, small teams, and growing companies.
The core platform helps companies keep track of expenses and revenue and manage the general ledger. The tool automates critical accounting workflows, automatically syncing transaction details from a connected bank account and categorizing them appropriately.
Beyond this core functionality, QuickBooks offers additional solutions like payroll, payment processing, invoicing, and time tracking.
It integrates with a wide range of enterprise tools, including Square, PayPal, Amazon, and Shopify, to streamline accounting and bookkeeping workflows.
Key features of QuickBooks
To get a better understanding of what QuickBooks is and how it works, let’s walk through the main features of the platform.
Bookkeeping and invoicing
The core QuickBooks functionality supports essential bookkeeping and invoicing needs. Teams can link their business bank account to QuickBooks, enabling automated income and expense tracking and smart categorization. This all but eliminates the need for bookkeepers or accountants to manually organize transaction data.
Additionally, QuickBooks helps teams get paid faster with simplified invoice creation. It offers a free invoice generator and templates, so companies can generate personalized invoices and send them directly to customers via email or as PDF downloads. Users of the Essentials plan or higher also get support for recurring invoices.
Payroll
Available as a standalone tool or an add-on to the core bookkeeping platform, QuickBooks also has a payroll solution.
There are three tiers of payroll plans to choose from, starting with the most basic Payroll Core option, including full-service payroll, automated taxes and forms, an employee portal, and next-day direct deposit.
More advanced features are available in higher-tier payroll plans, including same-day direct deposit, time and project tracking, 24/7 support, expert setup, document e-signatures, tax penalty protection, and a personal HR advisor.
Financial reporting
With all the business’s financial information compiled in one location, QuickBooks can help streamline business and financial reporting using real-time data.
The Plus plan and higher include AI-powered profit and loss insights for surfacing trends and anomalies, budget creation and management, and AI-powered balance sheet insights to help reduce hidden costs.
For more advanced reporting features, the Advanced plan includes forecasting, a custom report builder, dashboards, and a KPI scorecard.
Bank and expense tracking
All QuickBooks users can take advantage of automated bank feeds. Users can connect their business bank accounts to QuickBooks so that all transaction data syncs automatically to the platform.
It also helps with expense management, offering receipt capture on the go. QuickBooks will automatically match receipts to tracked expenses or create a new expense if needed.
Teams who work in the field can also use the mileage tracking tool, making it easier to track miles and designate business and personal trips with a simple swipe.
Getting started with QuickBooks
Onboarding to any new software solution takes time and effort to get used to the interface and customize the platform to the company’s needs. Luckily, QuickBooks has a user-friendly UI, plenty of available resources, and live support available to make this a smooth transition.
Here’s what new users can expect while getting started with QuickBooks:
Initial setup and configuration steps
New QuickBooks users should evaluate their unique needs and choose the correct plan accordingly.
While setting up the new account, users will enter their basic company information and connect the business bank account.
To prepare for incoming payments, users should expect to:
- Customize sales forms
- Set payment terms
- Add customer data
- Enter data for products/services
To set up the system for tracking expenses, users will need to:
- Customize expense forms
- Configure billable expenses
- Adjust custom categories
- Organize the chart of accounts
- Set up payroll
User-friendly interface and navigation
Part of the appeal of QuickBooks is that it’s a powerful tool that has a user-friendly interface. This makes the platform easy to use on a daily basis, plus it makes for a shorter learning curve for users who are new to the platform.
Since transactions are automatically imported to the system from a connected bank account or other integrated solutions, the platform offers simple bookkeeping with minimal manual data entry.
From there, it’s easy to navigate to the platform’s main features to utilize the data in reporting and dashboards.
Resources for training and support
QuickBooks offers a wide range of resources to help new users get onboarded and optimize their experience. Here are some of the resources and support options available:
- QuickBooks community: A place where users can connect to get tips on using the platform, ask questions about features, and learn from others who are in a similar position.
- Live training: Attend live webinars and training sessions held by QuickBooks experts.
- Experts: Connect with a local accountant or bookkeeper for tailored guidance on bookkeeping, taxes, and payroll.
Benefits of using QuickBooks
Teams of all sizes can benefit from the efficiency and accuracy gains that come with using QuickBooks. Here’s a closer look at what to expect:
Time-saving automation features
A clear benefit to using a tool like QuickBooks is that it helps bookkeepers and accountants automate time-consuming tasks like transaction data entry, invoice processing, and bank reconciliation.
Rather than poring over spreadsheets and manually entering details for each, a company’s general ledger can be automatically updated in QuickBooks once it’s connected to the business bank account.
The benefits here only increase with each function that the team handles with QuickBooks, including invoicing, payroll processing, and employee time tracking.
Enhanced financial visibility and reporting
QuickBooks can also provide better insights into a business’s financial positioning. Teams can generate financial reports in a few clicks, providing real-time visibility into spending data, sales performance, and overall profitability.
With real-time syncing from the business bank account, teams can be confident they’re using complete, up-to-date information to power better decision-making.
In other words, QuickBooks makes it easier to gauge financial health and performance on demand, without preparing financial statements through manual efforts.
Scalability for growing businesses
Adopting QuickBooks can be particularly useful for growing businesses. No matter the industry or business size, scaling accounting operations is a challenging endeavor.
QuickBooks helps by automating key time-consuming workflows, offering flexible plans to adapt to the company’s changing needs, and providing an easy-to-use interface that makes onboarding new personnel quick and easy.
Integrating QuickBooks with other tools
As mentioned above, QuickBooks integrates with hundreds of other business applications across categories like payment processing, project management, inventory management, and document management.
These integrations enable seamless data sharing across a company's key platforms. Teams can continue to use their preferred third-party tools for finance and workflow management while ensuring relevant data flows into their accounting platform.
Notable QuickBooks integrations include:
- Bill
- Stripe
- HubSpot
- Gusto
- Shopify
- Amazon Business
- Expensify
Integrate QuickBooks Online with Bill
BILL Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable integrate with QuickBooks, helping to simplify payment tracking and account reconciliation.
With this integration, the details for bills and expenses made with BILL flow directly into QuickBooks Online for simplified tracking.
Teams that use QuickBooks for receipt tracking can enjoy automated two- and three-way matching from BILL, verifying that receipt details, purchase orders, and payment details stored across both platforms all align correctly.
To get started, sign up for your free trial of BILL today!
Frequently asked questions
What exactly does QuickBooks do?
QuickBooks is a bookkeeping and accounting software solution that helps businesses track spending and income, prepare invoices, and generate reports. The platform uses automation to streamline key workflows, with add-on features like payroll and time tracking to help companies pay their employees.
Is QuickBooks good for beginners?
Yes, QuickBooks can be a good accounting solution for beginners. It is generally considered an easy-to-use and intuitive tool that helps users onboard quickly. However, users should have some foundational knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping to use the platform effectively. Even if users need a bit of extra guidance, QuickBooks offers plenty of resources to help new users get started on the platform.
What is the difference between QuickBooks vs Excel?
QuickBooks and Excel can both be used to record transactions, conduct data analysis, and generate financial reports. However, QuickBooks is a much more scalable solution that’s specifically designed for accounting and bookkeeping tasks, unlike Excel, which is a general spreadsheet tool. Excel might be useful for solopreneurs as a free tool, but it quickly becomes too clunky and inflexible to support a growing organization.
What features are commonly found in accounting software?
Accounting software, including QuickBooks, typically has features like income and expense tracking, a chart of accounts, invoicing, payment processing, bill management, and native integrations.
