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QUICKBOOKS CERITIFICATION

Setting up a QuickBooks Online company


New client needs and type of subscription they need
Creating a new QuickBooks Online company account
This is how we’d set up a company for any client who requested it. Note that with this kind of
direct subscription, the client is billed directly.
1. From the QuickBooks Online pricing screen, she selected a Plus Account
2. Terri had an Intuit ID already so she just needed to sign in
3. She had to confirm her identity and she could choose to have the code texted to the
mobile number registered to her Intuit account, or have it emailed. She chose an option
and selected Continue
4. She entered the six-digit code that has been sent to her and selects Continue
5. Then she entered Terri’s Tech as the company name and, from the drop-down list,
specified the length the business had been in operation as Less than 1 year
6. Terri can add more information later so she selected All Set and the job is done!
Now, Terri needs help setting up her company in QuickBooks Online, and she has asked you to
be her accountant. She needs to send out an invite that you, as her new accountant, can
accept. That means she can be added as a client into your QuickBooks Online Accountant
Practice.

Tools
New Client Checklist-Terri’s Tech
Inviting an accountant—and accepting an invitation
This is what Terri needs to do to invite an accountant:
7. Select the Gear icon and select Manage Users
8. At the bottom of the page, select Invite Accountant and follow the instructions
9. The invite will be emailed to you as the accountant—more on this in a moment
10. Your status on Terri’s Manage Users page will show as Invited until you accept the
invitation. Once you accept the invitation your status will change to Active.
Accepting an invitation
It’s time to accept the email invitation from Terri!
When you are invited by email to become an Accountant User, just open the email and select
accept in the invitation.
You will be required to sign in with your Intuit ID.
When you sign in to QuickBooks Online Accountant, you will see a Success! box indicating that
the client is now part of your client list. Select your client list and they’ll be there as a new
addition.
ProAdvisor tip
When you set up your clients in the real world, the recommended way is to select Add a Client
from within QuickBooks Accountant.

Company settings

How can QuickBooks Online help?


It’s easy to change company settings within QuickBooks Online. You can customize and
personalize the settings to suit your client’s needs, such as adding a company logo.

Account and Settings


Account and Settings enables you to select and complete the right fields based on your client’s
needs. There are lots of additional features that will personalize this account for Terri’s
business.
By selecting the pencil icon to the right of the page, you can edit any of these settings. For
example, you can add a logo to the account, specify her industry type, and add another email to
her account.
There are five fields within the Company tab. Just select the highlighted areas to find out more.
1. Company name

2. Company type

3. Company info
4. Address

5. Communications with intuit

Changing company settings

Starting from the client company account homepage (called the Dashboard), in this case Terri’s
Tech:
a. Select the Gear icon
b. Select Account and Settings
c. Select the Pencil icon in the Contact info block
d. Enter Terri’s company email: terri@example.com
e. Enter her phone number: 650-555-1234
f. Enter her website details: territech.com
g. Select Save
h. Select the Pencil icon in the Address block to open editing
i. Add the following address details:
123 Main Street
Anytown
CA 94043

j. Select Save
k. Select the top right X to close that window and return to Terri’s Dashboard

ProAdvisor tip
The more details you add to the customer’s account at the start, the quicker you can fully utilize
the power of QuickBooks Online.

Sales settings
How can QuickBooks Online help?
QuickBooks Online allows you to customize the sales forms for your client’s needs.
From personalizing the look and feel of invoices to match your client’s branding, to setting up
default invoice terms, shipping details, and discounts, QuickBooks Online Sales settings help
make invoicing a quick and easy task.

The different sales settings


There are seven categories within the Sales tab and you can customize each one.
Question marks by each field offer more information to help you understand how the
configuration setting is used in QuickBooks Online.
Let’s have a look at each category in a bit of detail:
1. Customize

In this area, you can edit invoices that turn heads and open wallets!

 In the Design section, you can choose from five templates, make logo edits, select from 18 color choices, choose from
four fonts and three font sizes, and of course, print the invoice out to see if the look and feel is for you
 In the Content section, you can modify the data that will show on the sales form
 In the Emails section, you can customize the subject line and the greeting that will accompany the invoice when it is
emailed from QuickBooks Online
 In the Payments section, you can activate options for the customer to pay by bank transfer (ACH) and/or credit card

2. Sales form content


In this area, you can choose the invoice terms, such as Net 15, Net 30 or Net 60-day payment terms, or even add a term
of your own. You can set preferred delivery methods for new clients, and these can be changed by your client on a case-
by-case basis. You can activate shipping fields and define custom fields to add to the sales form. You can configure
custom transaction numbers, and add fields for service date, discounts, and deposits.

3. Products and services


In this area, you can add the Products/Services, SKU, Quantity, and Rate columns to your sales forms. This will be very
handy for Terri once everything has been set up.

You can even set rules to give discounts to certain customers on certain services.

This is also where you turn on inventory.


4. Messages
Sales forms can be printed and mailed or sent via email. This section allows you to customize the default email message
that will be sent. You can also Copy (cc) yourself in and Copy or Blind Copy (Bcc) to another address.

5. Reminders
There is a default email message that is sent with reminders. You can select the user greeting and client name, and
change the default message here. Just remember to save your changes!

6. Online delivery
The online delivery functionality is another great automation tool in QuickBooks Online. The settings offer the options to
attach a sales form as a PDF to a plain-text or HTML email message.

The best way to send invoices to customers is by using the Online Invoice feature. This allows you to send emails to your
customers with a prominent button to View Invoice that will take them to an interactive web-page view of the live
invoice in QuickBooks.

One really cool thing about this feature is that it shows the customer the current balance owed on the invoice after
payments have been applied. Don’t check the box in the settings to attach the invoice as a PDF. This means that the
customer who receives the email will interact with the online invoice rather than an attached PDF.

7. Statements

Statements are sent to customers to show them a summary of their outstanding invoice balances. The Statement
settings section lets you configure whether you want to show a single line for each invoice and payment or whether to
include all detail lines. And you also have the option to show an aging table at the bottom of the statement to show the
amount due and by how many days it is overdue.

Changing sales settings


Now, Terri wants to take advantage of QuickBooks Online Invoicing features to help speed up
and track customer payments. You want to make sure this is turned on in her Sales settings.
There are three possible options. These are Online invoice, HTML email and Plain text email.
You want to change this setting to Online invoice for Terri.
Here’s how to change the email options:
a. Select the Gear icon
b. Under Your Company, select Accounts and Settings
c. Select the Sales tab and scroll down to Online delivery
d. Under Email options for sales forms, uncheck the Attach sales form as PDF

There’s nothing wrong with attaching sales forms as PDFs. However, by deselecting
this option, your clients will see the benefits of the the great tracking functionality of
QuickBooks Online’s online invoicing that we want to encourage Terri’s customers to
use.
e. Under Email options for invoices, from the drop-down list, select Online invoice
f. Select Save
All done!
ProAdvisor tip
If you have a client using online invoicing, don’t check the box beneath Online invoice (Attach
invoice as pdf). This encourages customers to select the link in the email. It also records the
time and date stamp when they open the invoice, thereby confirming they have received it!

Expense settings
How can QuickBooks Online help?
QuickBooks Online has everything you need to customize the expense and purchase forms to
meet your client’s needs, and to help streamline their money-out processes.

Manage Expense settings


To manage the settings related to expense and purchasing transactions, navigate back to
Account and Settings.

Under bills and expenses


Show Items table on expense and purchase forms

Turning this on gives Terri a great advantage: She will now see the Items grid on her purchase transactions. If she uses
items on purchases, she can run reports on how much of a specific service or product is being purchased, and create
reports on purchases by item (such as IT equipment or service charges).

This feature is only available in QuickBooks Online Plus

Track expenses and items by customer

By enabling this feature, the Customer column will show on expense transactions (checks, expense,s and bills), which
allows you to assign expenses to customers and enables you to create a Profit & Loss by Customer report.

This feature is only avialable in QuickBooks Online Plus

Make expenses and items billable

A billable expense is a work expense you can invoice a customer for, with or without built-in margin.

For example, if a customer reimburses travel expenses, and Terri takes a taxi to meet them, she can record her fare as a
billable expense and then add it to her next invoice to them.

If you turn this feature on, it adds a Billable column to the expense and purchase forms (available in QuickBooks Online
Plus). There’s the option to set a default markup rate, add sales tax, and decide whether to track billable expenses as
income.

This feature is only available in QuickBooks Online Plus

Default bill payment terms

You can also speed things up for Terri by setting default bill payment terms. For example, you could set a default bill
payment term of Net 60 days to help Terri’s cash flow, or even set a customized term.

Setting it as a default here means it will auto-complete the field for Terri when she enters a vendor bill. She still has the
option to override it for a specific bill if she needs to.

Under Purchase orders


Use purchase orders

Turning this on will allow Terri to enter purchase orders from the Quick Create (+) button at the top of the QuickBooks
Online page (available in QuickBooks Online Plus).

By selecting to use purchase orders, you can add custom fields for Terri with her own titles. You may use automated
serial transaction numbers, or custom transaction numbers. This is a great way to manage purchase orders by number.
Default email message sent with purchase orders

If Terri decides to start using purchase orders in the future, another cool feature here is the option to customize the
default message that will appear at the bottom of each purchase order.

ProAdvisor tip
Think about advising clients about negotiating standard bill payment terms with vendors to
help with cash flow. Once a default has been set, the process of entering bills will become
quicker.

Changing Terri’s expense settings


Let’s look at how this is done:
a. Select the Gear icon
b. Under Your Company, select Account and Settings
c. Select the Expenses tab
d. Select the Pencil icon next to the Bills and expenses area
e. Select Net 30 from the Default bill payment terms drop-down
f. Select Save
Payment settings
How can QuickBooks Online help?
QuickBooks Payments is the unique ACH debit and merchant service solution that powers
QuickBooks Online. It lets customers pay online, instantly, from invoices.
Customers can pay you through an emailed invoice, in person or through the phone
Key features
Okay, now you’ve seen an overview, let’s recap on the main points. Because Terri hasn’t
applied for a QuickBooks Payments merchant account before, you will need to discuss the two
different plans with her to decide which one will suit her needs best.

 One plan has a monthly fee and a lower rate per transaction for credit-card transactions.
 The other plan has no monthly fee with a higher rate per transaction for credit-card
transactions.
The merchant service plans include Amex, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover. Once Terri has
applied for QuickBooks Payments, Intuit will verify her details. If she’s approved, her merchant
account will be created.
Once this has been done, Terri will be able to start enjoying all the great features QuickBooks
Payments has to offer. With prior authorization, customers can pay via an online invoice, just by
selecting a Pay Now button, or in person via a card reader. Alternatively, they can pay through
pre-authorization or via phone when Terri has set this up. Terri can also type in credit-card or
bank account information directly in QuickBooks Online on the Receive Payment screen.

 She can email invoices that contain a link, allowing her customers to securely view and
use the Pay Now
 Her customers can easily pay via credit card or ACH debit (electronic bank transfer) with
the click of a button. What’s more, if they pay by bank transfer, there is no cost to Terri.
Awesome!
 Of course, she will still be able to accept payments in person or over the phone.
QuickBooks Payments processes credit-card payments directly from the QuickBooks
Online Sales Receipt and Receive Payments
 She can also use a card reader to receive payments in person via the mobile app.
 Once a payment is made by ACH debit, funds will move electronically directly from the
customer’s bank account to Terri’s bank account. There is typically a two-day window
between the time the payment is submitted and the time it arrives in Terri’s bank
account.
 The receive payment transaction, subsequent batched bank-deposit transaction, and
even the merchant service-fee transactions are all automatically recorded in
QuickBooks Online by the QuickBooks Payments service. QuickBooks Payments is
unique in allowing the merchant to get paid, and recording the accounting too!
ProAdvisor tip
QuickBooks Online means businesses can accept payments by credit card or bank transfer, right
in the invoice. QuickBooks automatically matches payments with invoices to save time.

Setting up QuickBooks Payments


The first stage of the process is to sign up for QuickBooks Payments, then we’ll look at the
settings that are available.
a. Select the Gear icon
b. Navigate to Account and Settings

c. Select Payments section in the left menu

As Terri’s accountant, you haven’t applied for a QuickBooks Payments merchant services
account yet, so it will show as Not subscribed.
d. Select Learn more
e. Select Set up payments

Okay, you’ll see that some of the fields have already been populated with information that
you entered earlier. There are three sections to complete to get Terri set up for online
payments. You need to enter information about her, her business, and her bank details.
f. Because you are using a dummy address, select the checkbox next to Use the address I
entered
There are five further fields that you can complete. Enter the following:
g. Industry category: Professional Services
h. Industry: Computer Maintenance, Repair and Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
i. Business type: Limited Liability Company
j. Federal Tax ID (EIN): 94-1121121

k. Leave the last field as Less than $4,999


l. Select Next

Enter the following information:


m. First name and Last Name: Terri Roberts
n. Date of birth: July – 31 – 1962
o. Personal phone (same as business): 650-555-1234
p. SSN: 5555
q. Title: Managing Member
r. Check the box for Home address is same as business
s. Select Next

This last page is where you will add the client’s business bank account number and
bank routing number. You then select Submit.

So, for now, we are all done!

Connecting to an existing QuickBooks Payments account


As Terri didn’t already have an existing QuickBooks Payments merchant account, she needed to
apply for one.
If you have a client that already has a QuickBooks Payments account (also known as
GoPayment, or QuickBooks Merchant Services, or Intuit Merchant Services, or Intuit Check
Solution), you can connect the existing merchant services account to your client’s QuickBooks
Online company by clicking Connect to an existing QuickBooks Payments account.
ProAdvisor tip
It’s best when the person connecting QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Payments is the master
administrator of the QuickBooks Online company and the merchant account.
If you have trouble with this step, contact the QuickBooks Payments support staff to map the
services together on the back end. If the applicant expects to process more than $7,500 per
month using QuickBooks Payments, call 866-827-9500 for special pricing.

ProAdvisor tip
Setting up QuickBooks Payments is a great way to streamline the invoicing and payments
processes for your client.
Best practice is to have the business owner fill out the merchant application. Here are some
things to be aware of:

 The AC should not be primary owner of the client’s MAS account


 Signing up for a MAS account includes accepting an agreement
What’s more, the business owner can even sign up from their mobile app, helping them get
paid even when they’re on the move!
See the link in Resources for more information.
Advanced settings
How can QuickBooks Online help?
Advanced settings within QuickBooks Online gives you, the professional, the ability to
customize how your client’s QuickBooks operates, from changing the accounting method to
setting them up for multi-currency, or automating workflows.

Advanced settings to suit your client


The Advanced settings tab has all the fine detail of the accounting settings. As the professional,
it’s up to you to make sure they are set up for Terri’s needs. It’s generally not an area that you
want clients changing themselves because they might not understand the implications of the
changes they make.
Usually, these settings will be set up at the start of a new client subscription. That’s not to say
you can’t go back in and change them later!
Okay, let’s take a look at the categories. The Advanced settings tab includes the following eight
categories:
a. Accounting
Here, you can set the first month of the fiscal and income-tax year, and whether a
cash- or accrual-based accounting method will be used. This is also where you come to
close the books and set a password (more on this later).
b. Company type
You can select the company type tax form, such as Partnership, Corporation, Limited
Liability Company, etc.
c. Chart of Accounts
In the Chart of Accounts, you have the option to turn on account numbers. You can
also set default accounts for shipping, discounts, and the billable expense income
account (if those features are enabled in the Expense settings).

d. Categories
This offers to Track Class or Track Location, or both. This is useful if the client wants to
categorize their company activity in additional ways to Chart of Account categories. It
adds a class and/or location field on forms. Examples of types of classes are: different
departments, different lines of business, different sales people or partners and, of
course, different physical locations.
e. Automation
The automation feature can automatically pre-fill fields for you on the basis of what
your client input previously. So for Terri, this could be for vendor expenses. It would
be time-saving for her if some of the fields were pre-populated. Other options include
applying credits to invoices, invoicing unbilled activity, automatically applying bill
payments, and copying estimates to invoices.
f. Projects
Here, you can switch on project progress tracking, which lets you see all the sales,
expenses, and timesheets by project. This is a one-time setup option; you can’t
reverse it later.

g. Time tracking
Our time-tracking settings include adding a Service field to time sheet, which allows
specific tracking/reporting by service item. You can select to make a single-time
activity billable to the customer, show the billing rate to users entering time, and
specify the first day of the work week.
h. Currency
You can also enable multi-currency in QuickBooks Online.

This is definitely a setting to use with caution.

Key points you need to know about multi-currency:


 It must be turned on before importing any data
 You can’t change your home currency
 Once you turn it on, it will add extra fields to the QuickBooks Online database
 Once you turn it on you can’t turn it off again!

I. Other preferences
Other preferences include the date and number formats, plus the option to specify
how customers are referred to. For example, a charity would probably rather talk
about “donors” than “customers.”

You can also choose to be warned if a duplicate check or bill number is used. It’s a
good idea to turn these on regardless of the business!

Changing settings We said it’s a good idea to turn on warnings for duplicate check and bill
numbers, so let’s go ahead and apply this change to Terri’s QuickBooks.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The individual steps are below for you to follow.
a. Select the Gear icon
b. Under Your Company, select Account and Settings then select the Advanced tab

c. In the Other preferences section, check the options to Warn if duplicate check number
is used and Warn if duplicate bill number is used
d. Select Save

Chart of Accounts
How can QuickBooks Online help?
When you first set up QuickBooks Online, your answers to the Startup Interview questions will
help QuickBooks choose a default Chart of Accounts for you. As a ProAdvisor, you want to take
some time reviewing the default Chart of Accounts and deciding how it should be customized
to suit your client’s needs.

What is the Chart of Accounts?


The Chart of Accounts is a list of the categories QuickBooks uses to summarize money
movement from a company’s financial statements.
There are five basic types of accounts:

 Income
 Expense
 Asset
 Liability
 Equity
Think of each of these types as a kind of bucket used to catch the various transactions of your
client’s business. Each of these buckets’ contents in turn flow into the client’s financial
statements. The type of account determines on which financial statement the account shows.
How can you access the Chart of Accounts?
You can easily access the Chart of Accounts table from your client’s QuickBooks Online
Homepage. Simply select Accounting from the left navigation to jump straight there.
Let’s take a look at how Terri’s Chart of Accounts has been set up by default, based on the
answers we gave in the Startup Interview. You can download the full report from Tools.
ProAdvisor tip
Some accounts in the Chart of Accounts are essential to the functionality of QuickBooks Online
and QuickBooks sets them up for you if you need them:

 The A/R and A/P accounts are required for invoices and bills
 QuickBooks sets up the Sales of Product Income account when inventory is turned on.
Inventory Asset and Cost of Goods Sold are needed for inventory
 Uncategorized Income and Uncategorized Expense are default accounts for online
banking activity
 Unapplied Cash Payment Income and Unapplied Bill Payment Expense are used in cash
reporting and constructive receipt income
When you add a new account, the category type determines on which financial statement this
account will show and where, so it is very important that you choose correctly! Assets,
liabilities, and equity accounts show up on the Balance Sheet. Income and expense accounts
show up on the Profit and Loss report.
Changing the Chart of Accounts
Now that we’ve thought about what Terri needs, let’s go ahead and update her Chart of
Accounts.
In this activity, we’re going to add the following new accounts:

 Checking account
 Credit-card account
 Savings account
We’re also going to change the details of the Sales account to reflect the fact that Terri has a
service-based business.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The individual steps are below for you to follow.
a. Open the Chart of Accounts by selecting Accounting from the left navigation menu

You will see the current list of accounts. Let’s start by adding a Checking account.
b. Select New to open the Account window
c. Select Bank from the Category Type drop-down list. This is your general account type
d. Select the Detail Type drop-down list then select Checking

The Name field will automatically populate with the same name as the Detail Type
selection, but we can change this to suit the client. We could also add a Description,
make it a Sub-account or set an opening Balance. Don't add the opening balance even
though QuickBooks Online allows us to. The opening balance will be entered by using
a transaction.
e. Select Save and Close
f. Have a look to see if you can now see Checking in the listed Chart of Accounts
Tip: We can sort the columns alphabetically by selecting the Name heading.
Now we can follow the same steps to add another two accounts using the details below.
Credit card account
Category Type: Credit card
Detail Type: Credit card
Name: Credit card

Savings account
Category Type: Bank
Detail Type: Savings
Name: Savings
The next thing we need to do is change the details of the Sales account for Terri to reflect the
fact that her income comes from performing services for clients.
a. Scroll through the Chart of Accounts list and find the Sales account
b. There’s an Action column on the right-hand side of the screen. Select the Action drop-
down for the Sales account then select Edit
c. Change the Detail Type to Service/Fee Income
d. In the Name field, enter Service/Fee Income
e. Select Save and Close

QuickBooks Online will warn you that changing the type or detail type of an account
may affect your accounting and reporting, and ask you if you’re sure you want to do
that. As Terri’s accountant, you know what you’re doing, so you can go ahead.
f. Select Yes
Okay, we’re nearly there. Just do a final check to make sure you can see the new and amended
accounts listed in Terri’s Chart of Accounts, and we’re all done!

Products and Services


How can QuickBooks Online help?
Products and Services in QuickBooks Online is another excellent feature to help get things
organized.
Listing your items in this way, with details of prices, descriptions (if it’s taxable), and purchasing
information may take a few minutes to set up, but saves time when it comes to entering
transactions.
If you can get your clients into good habits early on, it will be easier for everyone in the long
run.

What is the Products and Services list?

The Products and Services list contains the items that will appear on your client’s purchase and
sales transactions. Each item must be mapped to an account in the Chart of Accounts. Every
time an item is used in a transaction, the appropriate entry is made behind the scenes.
Inventory (Plus only)
These are products that you purchase and sell for which you want to track quantities on hand,
such as a hard drive, monitor, or memory sticks. (You must subscribe to QuickBooks Online Plus
to use this feature.)
Non-inventory
These are products bought and sold where it isn’t necessary to track quantities on hand, such as
wiring used in an IT installation.
Service
This includes services that you provide to customers, for example, technical support onsite and
online.

Bundle
This is a collection of products and services that you sell together, for example, a monthly
maintenance plan that includes technical support onsite and online.

ProAdvisor tip
Note that you cannot use a product/service on a purchase transaction unless you’re in
QuickBooks Online Plus.

Adding a product and service item


It’s easy to enter your first service: Just go to Products and Services then enter the information.
We’re going to add four entries today. Let’s get started:
a. Select the Gear icon. Select Products and Services in the List column

b. Select Add a product or service


c. Select New
d. Select Service

There are several fields to complete. It’s good to add as much detail as possible so your tables
will be full of useful information and your reports will look great!
It’s good to have all the information about the product or service on hand.
e. In the Name box, type Onsite Service
f. Leave the Category section blank
g. Select Save
h. The bottom of the screen is where we enter the sales information, like a product or
service description, the sales price/rate, and where we code the item to the appropriate
income account (this will link it to the Chart of Accounts). Add a description of Onsite
services provided. This will go on the sales form when it is created
i. Under Sales price/rate type in $125
j. Under the Income account, select Service/Fee income
k. Select Save and close

The Products and Services screen will now show the new entry.
Let’s add the next service that Terri provides.
a. Select New
b. Select Service
c. In the Name field, type Monthly Maintenance Plan
d. In the Sales information field, type Monthly Maintenance Plan
e. Sale price/rate is $500
f. In the Income Account drop-down, select Service/Fee Income
g. Select Save and close
The new entry will be listed. Let’s add the following two entries:
a. New: Service
b. Name: Virtual Support
c. Sales price/rate: $100
d. In the Sales information field, type Virtual Support
e. And the last one: Income Account: Service/Fee Income
f. Select Save and new
Next entry:
a. New: Non-inventory
b. Name: System Hardware
c. Sales price/rate: $0
d. Income account: Sales of product income
e. Select Save and close
Well done! These will all be showing in the Products and Services table.

Importing Products and Services lists

There’s a quicker way to input Products and Services into QuickBooks Online if you have a
bunch of them, and that’s by importing a list. So if your client has a list of Products and Services
in a spreadsheet, you can do a quick import.
In a nutshell, this is how:
a. Open your client’s QuickBooks company
b. Select the Gear icon
c. Under the Tools column, select Import Data, then select Products and Services

It’s a good idea to download the sample file to see the naming conventions, how the
columns are ordered, and the fields that can be imported. You can give this list to your
client and ask them to populate the columns with their data. Check that your list
matches the sample file. Alternatively, you could change your spreadsheet to
correspond with the sample spreadsheet, making sure the columns are in the correct
order.
d. Select Browse and find the Excel or CSV file, then select Next
e. Ensure the fields you want to import are mapped correctly
f. Select Import
Done!
Have a look at the short video to give you more information about Products and Services and
how to import a list of items!
ProAdvisor tip
You can download a copy of the sample file from the Import Products and Services screen. To
make it simple, QuickBooks Online customizes the columns depending on which settings you
choose in Account and Settings. So all you have to do is erase the sample data and add your
client’s data.
ProAdvisor tip
You might want to enter all your products and services in one go or as you go along, but either
way, did you know that you can export a products and services list from the Reports tab to an
Excel sheet? You might want to do this if you need to update pricing.

Adding customers
How can QuickBooks Online help?
QuickBooks Online gives you and your clients a great set of tools for managing their customer
details. You can start simple, by adding customers individually, or really speed the process up
by importing them as a list.

Customer details
When you set up a new customer you can decide how much information you want to record
about them.
Start by entering the basic customer information, such as name and contact details.
In the Customer Information screen, there are five tabs that allow you to add additional details.
These include tracking a customer’s taxable status, recording preferred payment methods or
attaching a contract.
Address
The Address tab allows you to have different billing and shipping addresses.
Notes
The Notes tab is where you can enter notes about your customer, such as products,
specifications, or shipping account info.
Tax info
This is where you indicate whether your customer should be charged sales tax, and select a
default tax code. You could also store the customer’s resale number in the “exemption
details” field.
Payment and Billing
The Payment and Billing tab is where you set preferences for payment method, preferred
invoice delivery method and terms. If you enter a credit card as the preferred payment
method, you can actually enter the credit card details.
Attachments
The Attachments tab is where you can associate a document with the customer. This could be
a contract or a customer resale certificate.
ProAdvisor tip
When you set up a new customer, it’s a good idea to enter as much information as you can.
This helps you fully utilize the power of QuickBooks Online database when creating reports and
working with your list data.
It may save time upfront to skip fields, but you may regret it later when you realize that your
lists are not complete.
QuickBooks Online Accountant dashboard.

Your practice

This area contains links to areas that are designed to support your practice activities.

Here, you can find links to view your list of Client companies, see the Team section where your practice members are
listed (along with their access rights), and the ProAdvisor section, which has great tips for ProAdvisors to develop their
business and move clients online. This section also gives access to the certifications.

You can also access the Work space, where you can create projects and tasks and there’s a link to the Apps space with
apps that can help your practice and support clients.

Your Books

In this area you’ll find everything you need to run the firm’s books.

This is the firm’s QuickBooks Online company to use for its bookkeeping. Not all QuickBooks Online Accountant firm
team users have access to the firm’s books but if you do, you can dive in to see expenses and sales dashboards, or
reports that will give you all the information you need about how your practice is performing.

Go to Client’s QuickBooks

This is where you’ll find links that will take you to your client’s QuickBooks Online accounts.
Select the client you want to view and you’ll jump right into their QuickBooks Online company, landing on their
Dashboard.

This Client Switcher stays with you in all of your client’s QuickBooks Online companies. If you want to jump into another
client’s QuickBooks Online company, you don’t have to go back to QuickBooks Online Accountant’s Client List. Just go to
the Client Switcher and jump companies.

Search

Need to find something in a hurry in QuickBooks Online Accountant? Just use the search box to find what you need. This
box searches the Your Books area.

Select the box to see a list of recent transactions, or type in text or amounts to search for transactions or reports.

Global Quick Create

The Quick Create (or + icon) is used in QuickBooks Online Accountant to create clients and team users for the firm.

Gear icon

The gear icon in QuickBooks Online Accountant takes you to a sub-menu with various lists. Team users who don’t have
access to the firm’s Your Books will not see some options that control the firm’s QuickBooks Online Accountant settings.

ProAdvisor tip
The top navigation toolbar in QuickBooks Online Accountant offers some great tools for
accounting professionals. Notice that when you are on the firm’s QuickBooks Online
Accountant Client list, Team list, ProAdvisor area, or Your Books, the top toolbar remains green.
This tells you that you are in QuickBooks Online Accountant and not in a client’s QuickBooks
Online company.

Adding a new customer

How can QuickBooks Online help?


QuickBooks Online gives you and your clients a great set of tools for managing their customer
details. You can start simple, by adding customers individually, or really speed the process up
by importing them as a list.

Customer details
When you set up a new customer you can decide how much information you want to record
about them.
Start by entering the basic customer information, such as name and contact details.
In the Customer Information screen, there are five tabs that allow you to add additional details.
These include tracking a customer’s taxable status, recording preferred payment methods or
attaching a contract.
Address
The Address tab allows you to have different billing and shipping addresses.
Notes
The Notes tab is where you can enter notes about your customer, such as products,
specifications, or shipping account info.
Tax info
This is where you indicate whether your customer should be charged sales tax, and select a
default tax code. You could also store the customer’s resale number in the “exemption
details” field.
Payment and Billing
The Payment and Billing tab is where you set preferences for payment method, preferred
invoice delivery method and terms. If you enter a credit card as the preferred payment
method, you can actually enter the credit card details.
Attachments
The Attachments tab is where you can associate a document with the customer. This could be
a contract or a customer resale certificate.
ProAdvisor tip
When you set up a new customer, it’s a good idea to enter as much information as you can.
This helps you fully utilize the power of QuickBooks Online database when creating reports and
working with your list data.
It may save time upfront to skip fields, but you may regret it later when you realize that your
lists are not complete.
QuickBooks Online Accountant dashboard

Adding a new customer

1. Go to the Sales Center and select the Customer tab

Hint: If this is the first customer you have added to Terri’s Tech, you are taken
straight to an easy entry screen. If you've been here before just select New
customer in the top right
2. Enter the customer name, phone number, and email from the business card
3. Select the Save button
4. You now want to edit this customer’s details to add some additional information
5. Select the Edit button in the right
6. This customer is not taxable and you need to enter their reseller number. Select
the Tax info tab and enter their reseller number (92-12345) in
the Exemption details
7. Select Payment and Billing and set their preferred payment method to Credit
Card. Select Save
ProAdvisor tip
To make it easy to import customer lists into QuickBooks, we recommend downloading the
Customer list sample file as a template.
Simply download this sample file then copy and paste the data you have received from your
client (or from another system) into each of the columns. Once you’ve correctly formatted
your Excel data, you’re ready to go.

1. First, we need to download Terri’s Customer list to our local computer


2. Go to the Sales center and select the Customer tab
3. Select the New Customer drop-down on the top right
4. Select Import Customers
5. Select Browse and find Terri’s Customer list downloaded in step 1
6. Select Next
7. Check that each QuickBooks Online Field is mapped correctly to the field on
Terri’s spreadsheet

Hint: She may not have provided customer information for every field. Don’t
enter anything in the opening balance field because this will make adjustments to
the GL for each customer upon import.
8. When the mapping is correct, select Next
9. The Import screen displays the data before we actually import it into QuickBooks
Online

Hint: You can make changes to the data here if you need to. We’re happy with
what Terri has sent us, so can move on to the import.
10. Select Import. QuickBooks will tell us if the data was imported successfully
Adding vendors
What can clients do:
>quickly enter vendor bills with information such as the remit-to address and the due date.
>keep track of expenses by vendor and run reports that will provide insight into which vendors
she is spending the most money with, and what items or services are purchased.
Company
>Display Name field will automatically populate based on the information that you entered in
the Company field
>if the vendor is an individual, or you want the contact person to be listed, you should fill in the
first and last name at the top of the screen.

Print on check
>This field should be automatically populated, based on what you entered in the Company field
>If payee is different from the company name> remove the check mark and enter the company
name that checks should be made payable to

Address
>address where Terri will mail her payments
>remit-to address

Email, phone, mobile, fax, website

Billing Rate and Terms


>Expenses lesson, you set up default payment terms for all vendors
>needs to change the default payment terms for any vendor, she can do so here in this Vendor
profile screen.

Account number
>vendor’s account number

ADDING A VENDOR
manually add a vendor

1. Select Expenses from the left navigation


2. Select Vendors
3. Select Add a Vendor
4. Enter Kim’s Computer Components to the Company field
5. In the Address field, add 987 Vendor Street, Chicago, IL, 12345
6. In the Email field, add
Kimscomputercomponents @example.com
7. Phone: 555-5578
8. Mobile: 555-555-5578
9. Fax: 555-1234
10. Leave the Opening balance as zero
11. In the Terms drop-down, select Net 30
12. Enter the date
13. Select Save 
This entry will now show in the Vendor table.
Importing a vendor list
>covered in the Products and Services lesson

1. First, we select the Terri’s vendors file and download it to the Desktop of your PC


or Mac so you can find it quickly
2. From the Dashboard, Select Expenses in the left navigation
3. In the Expenses screen, select the Vendors tab at the top left
4. Select the drop-down arrow next to the green New vendor button and
select Import vendors
5. Now browse for the Terri’s vendors file you downloaded
6. Select Next 

Because the fields have been set up to match QuickBooks Online format, they
will have imported correctly. It’s a good idea to have a look at the sample file for
future reference and then you can advise your client on how to prepare the lists
for import. 
7. Select Next to move to the final stage
8. Select Import
All the vendors and their details should now be in the vendor list, in the Expenses
screen under the Vendors tab ready to use!

Same process on importing list of customers


Setting up bank feeds
Bank feeds
> links to your online banking and credit-card accounts and feeds the transactions directly into
the Banking Center (for review and match up transactions, make edits where needed, or add
transactions at the tap of a button)

Connecting bank feeds

 Go to the Banking Center in the left navigation


 If it’s the first time you’ve been here, select Connect, otherwise select Add
account
 Select your bank
 Use the same username and password to sign in as you would if banking online.
(You might want to do this with your client so they sign in to their bank and you
don’t have their banking password.)

It might take a couple of minutes for your bank’s computers to talk to QuickBooks
Online! 
 Choose the bank account you use for the business and the account in
QuickBooks Online you’re connecting to
 If you don’t see a QuickBooks Online account in a list that matches your bank
account, don’t panic. Just select Add New
 Choose the account type, either bank or credit card, and choose a detail type
 Give the account a name, then select Save

It’s that simple!


QuickBooks Online connects to the account and by default downloads all the
transactions for the last 90 days.
ProAdvisor tip
By default, QuickBooks Online will import 90 days of transactions during the first import, but
you can choose to change the date range you want to bring in by selecting Need to change the
date range?

You will want to do this if transactions in the bank or credit-card account have been reconciled
using the Reconcile Tool in QuickBooks Online, or if you’ve converted from QuickBooks Desktop
and the bank account was reconciled in that program.

Transactions that have been reconciled using the Reconcile Tool


> can never be matched to a downloaded Bank Feed transaction.
You’ll want to choose the date range closest to the date of the most recent reconciliation, but
that includes all the transactions for the current period.
Manually importing transactions

1. First, we need Terri’s bank upload file on our computer and we need to know
where to find it!
2. Next, on Terri’s homepage, select Banking from the left navigation
3. Select Upload transactions manually
4. Select Browse and upload Terri’s bank info from wherever you saved it on your
local computer
5. Under QuickBooks Account, from the drop-down window, select Checking
6. Select Next
7. Your screen will soon display Congrats! You’ve uploaded a file
If we now select Let's go, we'll see the imported data on the Banking screen.
Well done!
ProAdvisor tip
Connecting a bank account and or credit card to QuickBooks Online is easy. Over
16,000 financial institutions allow their customers to connect their accounts to
QuickBooks Online.
But fear not, if a financial institution does not participate, you can still upload bank feeds
to QuickBooks Online if the transactions can be exported from the banking website in
.QBO, .QFX, OFX, or .CSV, formats.

Additional setup tasks


Getting started with sales tax in QuickBooks Online
Sales Tax Center
> manage all your sales tax tasks. You can:

 See when tax payments are coming up


 View sales tax liability reports that you can customize by date, tax agency, and
more
 Change sales tax settings, like adding new tax-collection agencies if you start
expanding into new states

ProAdvisor tip
As part of understanding your client’s needs, you should find out what their sales tax
requirements are for their business and locality. Key questions are:

 Do they do business in more than one state?


 To what agencies do they need to pay their sales tax?
 What is their filing frequency?
Set up a basic sales tax in QuickBooks

1. On the left navigation, select Taxes


2. Select the Set up Sales tax button
3. QuickBooks should already know Terri’s address because it was entered when
we set up her company, so we just need to select Looks good to confirm, then
select Next
4. The next screen identifies if Terri sells products and services in other states. She
doesn’t, so we select No and then select Next to move on

If clients sell in multiple locations, the correct sales tax for each location needs to be
calculated. QuickBooks Online can take care of that. It just needs to know where the
product is being sold and the agency involved, and it calculates the relevant tax for that
state. As your client’s company grows, the sales tax agencies can be added or edited.
Now we need to add some details of Terri’s local tax office and some dates. Once
again, QuickBooks Online helps us out here.
Let’s fill in the details as follows:

1. The most recent beginning of a quarter is January for Terri, so select this from
the drop-down
2. Her reporting interval is quarterly, so select this option next
3. Set the start date as January 1, 2017
4. Select Next and you’ll get the message that we’re done. Yep, it was that easy!
Applying sales tax
Now that you’ve set up sales tax rates in the Sales Tax Center, the tax owed on invoices will be
calculated automatically based on:
Terri’s location
Her customer’s location
The tax category for the product/service
You and Terri no longer have to select the tax rate—QuickBooks Online works it all out for you.
Paying sales tax
Sales Tax Center
>keep track of how much sales tax she owes to tax agencies.
> can view her sales tax owed by month, quarter, or year, and adjust which period you need.
>can also adjust the accounting basis (cash or accrual), if needed.
> it’s time to pay the tax agency the sales tax that’s owed and file tax returns , you can get the
information from the Sales Tax Center.
>Typically, you need to go out to the state’s website to pay the tax and file forms, and then
record it in QuickBooks
>can also link up ProConnect Tax Online with QuickBooks to simplify workflow and save
yourself a significant amount of time—and benefit from a seamless, end-to-end experience that
translates a client’s QuickBooks Online books into a tax return.
>>>On your QuickBooks Online Accountant Client dashboard, in the Tax column or
>>>Select Trial Balance from the accountant toolbox menu

Payroll offerings
Built in to QuickBooks Online:
QuickBooks Online Payroll, and QuickBooks Full Service Payroll.

QuickBooks Online Payroll (QBOP)


>do-it-yourself option.
>use the New User Checklist to gather the necessary information to complete the setup.
QuickBooks Online Full-Service Payroll (QBFSP)
>do-it-for-me option — a complete payroll service with a team of US-based payroll experts to
take care of payroll for your client.
>guarantees 100% accuracy, so the payroll setup, payday and taxes are done right
>ever an issue, Intuit offers full tax representation to take care of it for you.

Employees
There is also the option to add employees to QuickBooks Online, without setting up
payroll.
All of these options can be accessed from the Employees Center in the left navigation
menu.

ProAdvisor tip
Did you know that you can sign up a business for either of these payroll options in
QuickBooks Online Accountant when you initially add a client to create their
QuickBooks Online subscription?
This allows you to bundle their payroll subscription with their QuickBooks subscription
and save money!

Extra lists
Payment methods
>displays Cash, Check, and any other ways you categorize payments you receive from
customers.
>you can print deposit slips when you deposit the payments received
>Some examples of other payment methods are ACH or EFT. Also, you may want to have
payment methods for each type of credit card accepted.

Terms
>displays the list of terms that determine the due dates for payments from customers, or
payments to vendors
>can also specify discounts for early payment.

Attachments
>displays the list of all attachments uploaded
>can add, edit, download, and export your attachments
>an also see all transactions linked to a particular attachment
Manage team and client access
Setting access rights and functionality
Team users in QuickBooks Online Accountant
>staff members of the accountancy firm that oversees client files and the QuickBooks Online
account.
>alternatively be bookkeepers or tax preparers not in the firm, but still need access to the
client.
>Team users will get access to client files but clients won’t see the names of the user and they
will not see individual staff names. All the client is aware of is that they are working with an
accountant specialist, or ProAdvisor. They could, in fact, be working with two or three.
>When any of your staff members sign in and perform a task for a client, the audit log shows
the user as Your Accountant for the activity undertaken
Managing team users and their access
three levels of access
Full access
>allows the user to edit QuickBooks Online Accountant firm information, modify team users,
update the firm’s wholesale subscription billing account, and access the firm’s books
Basic access
>gives the user view-only access to QuickBooks Online Accountant firm information, but no
access to team and subscription billing, and no access to the firm’s books.
Custom access
>select a different mix of these permissions for the team user.

Team user details


>accessed from the left navigation pane under the Team tab
> grid with the names of the firm’s staff, their title, email address, type of access, and status
> two icons above the grid: a print icon and a gear icon.
>gear icon is to change the settings for the number of rows showing, and to specify compact
rows.

ProAdvisor tip
Did you know that if you add a member of your team to the client’s QuickBooks Online file as
an accountant user, they will have the same permissions as a company administrator?

Firm users cannot have custom access that determines what they see in the client file, including
payroll. Rather, they can see all information or none at all.

Adding a Team User

1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online Accountant


2. Select Team in the account left-hand menu
3. Select Add user
4. Enter Alison Ganz under name and add the email address
as Alison.G@firmname.com  (this is just for this example)
5. Select Next 

You can set custom access to your firm’s admin and own accounts here. Note the guide
to the different levels of access on the right. 
6. We want the new bookkeeper to have Custom access to your Firm’s information, so
select that from the first Access drop-down list

We can choose whatever access level the team member needs to have by selecting
access levels to your Firm’s administration information and books. We can see
information on each category by rolling your mouse pointer over it. Vikram, as a
bookkeeper, needs access to the Firm’s books. 
7. Select Yes for each of the headings Customers and accounts receivable and Vendors and
creditors
8. Then select Next
9. Here, you can set access to specific clients, so let’s give our bookkeeper access
to Terri’s Tech from the Specify client access screen
10. Select Save 

That’s it! We’ve successfully added a team user to your Firm’s books and enabled that
user to access the client’s QuickBooks Online account. 

To view the Client access rights of a specific client from the Client List,
>select the Client’s name and, in the upper right, select Edit. 
When scrolling down, a section will show all Team Members and if they are checked,
they can access the client.
Managing user permissions for a client account
four types of user permissions
>wanted to give one or more of her employees access to the account
Regular or custom user
> can control which areas of QuickBooks the user has access to.
Company administrator
>gives access to all areas of QuickBooks Online
>including settings and full access rights to all other services the QuickBooks Online company
subscribes to (such as payroll and Intuit Payments).
Reports only
>Users sign in to a special version of QuickBooks Online that gives them access to almost all
reports, except payroll and list reports that include contact information. (QuickBooks Online
Plus only.)
Time-Tracking only
>enables users to sign in to a special version of QuickBooks Online that only has timesheets
ProAdvisor tip
Did you know that if a client has a QuickBooks Online Plus subscription, they will have
unlimited reports and unlimited time-tracking of users? Additional user packages can be
purchased too!

Adding and managing user types

Terri has two changes to make to her QuickBooks Online account user settings.
The first is to change the user access for Tim so that he can create and send invoices. 

Let’s set Tim up right now. 

1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online and navigate to Terri’s Tech


2. Select the Gear icon
3. Select Manage Users
4. Select New and a pop-up window will appear with radio buttons to select
5. Select user type Regular or custom user
6. Select Next 

There’s lots of helpful information here about the different access levels and
rights. This will be great for Terri so that she can get permissions just right when
she does this in the future. 
7. Select the Limited radio button and check the Customer and Sales box so we can
give Tim access to invoicing
8. Select Next
9. The new screen asks questions about access rights, preferences, and
subscriptions. We don’t need to change these, so just select Next
10. Fill in the Name field with Tim Hobson and the email field
with  Tim.Hobson@example.com
11. Select Next and Finish and you’ll see the entry in the Manage Users screen. Note
that the access is pending. Tim will get a notification email with a link, and will
need to sign in to get full access 
Terri has just called with a new request she hopes we can help with. She needs a new
subcontractor, Rhonda, to be able to make entries to track her time. 
Staying on the same Manage Users screen:

1. Select New
2. Select the Time tracking only radio button
3. Select Next
4. In Employee or Vendor, select Add New and type Rhonda Collins into the text box
5. She’s already categorized as an employee in the drop-down list
6. Select Quick Add and you’re done! 
We can see these two newly added users in the Manage Users list, and it will show
them as Invited.
ProAdvisor tip
Did you know that if you add a member of your team to the client’s QuickBooks Online file as
an Accountant user, they will have the same permissions as a Company Administrator

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