QuickBooks Online Hacks: Boost Your Efficiency with These Insider Tips

Are you a QuickBooks Online user looking to streamline your workflow and save valuable time? This blog post is packed with insider tips and tricks, what I like to call “hacks,” to help you navigate QuickBooks Online more efficiently and effectively.

Mastering the Interface: Hidden Tools and Shortcuts

Let’s dive into some of the little-known features within the QuickBooks Online interface.

Built-in Calculators: Every money field in QuickBooks Online acts as a calculator! Instead of using a separate calculator, you can input your calculations directly into the Quantity, Rate, or Amount fields. QuickBooks will do the math for you! Use the * for multiplication, / for division, and parentheses for complex calculations.

• Date Shortcuts: Save time entering dates using these simple keystrokes:
  • T: Today’s date
  • M: The beginning of the month
  • H: The end of the month
  • Y: January 1st of the current year
  • R: December 31st of the current year
  • +: Move forward one day
  • -: Move backward one day

• Date Typing Tricks: You can also streamline date entry by:

• Typing only the month and day (e.g., 3/15) and pressing tab – QuickBooks will automatically fill in the year and leading zeros.
• Typing only the day of the month (e.g., 15) – QuickBooks will automatically fill in the current month and year.

Leveraging the Power of Search

QuickBooks Online’s search function is more powerful than you might think. It’s a quick way to find specific transactions, customers, vendors, and even run reports! Here’s how to maximize its potential:

• Dollar Amount Search: Use the dollar sign followed by the amount (e.g., $100.00) to search for specific dollar amounts.
• Combined Criteria: Combine multiple criteria within the search bar to narrow your results. For example, “100 Amy” will find transactions for customers and vendors named Amy with a total of $100.
• Advanced Search: Explore the advanced search options to filter by specific accounts, dates, reference numbers, and even search the memo or description fields.

Boosting Efficiency with Chrome Tricks

Did you know you can leverage Chrome’s built-in features to make QuickBooks Online even more efficient?

Incognito Mode: If you’re encountering problems with QuickBooks Online, try using an incognito window to see if the issue is related to your browser’s cache or cookies.

Multiple Tabs: Open multiple tabs to view various areas of QuickBooks Online at once. Use bookmarks to quickly access frequently used pages, and right-click on menu items to open them in new tabs.

Chrome Profiles: Create separate Chrome profiles for different clients, allowing you to have distinct collections of bookmarks for each client. This way, you can prepopulate an entire interface around their specific banks and integrations. This is particularly useful for working in multiple client files simultaneously.

Mastering Bank Feeds and Reconciliation

The Bank Transactions feature in QuickBooks Online is a game-changer for automating data entry.

• Customizing Bank Feed View: Use the baby gear icon in the Bank Transactions center (just above the grid on the right) to customize the view by adding or removing columns, turning on grouping by month, and showing bank details.
• Bank Rules: Create rules to automatically categorize transactions based on specific criteria. This helps reduce manual data entry and ensures consistent categorization.
• Categorization History: Use the categorization history to see how similar transactions have been categorized in the past. This is a great shortcut when you’re not sure where to categorize a new transaction.
• Sorting Bank Feeds: Sort the bank feeds by payee, description, or bank detail to group similar transactions together. This makes it easier to categorize multiple transactions at once.

Streamlining Transactions with Recurring Transactions

While bank feeds automate many transactions, recurring transactions remain essential for automating recurring tasks that bank feeds don’t cover.

• Recurring Sales Receipts: Use recurring sales receipts to charge clients automatically. This is particularly helpful for recurring bookkeeping fees or subscription charges.
• Templates: Create unscheduled recurring transactions as templates for frequent invoices, journal entries, or complex transactions. This saves time by pre-filling the information and allowing you to simply update the details when needed.

Automatic Communications: Saving Time with Reminders and Scheduled Reports

QuickBooks Online’s communication features can help you stay organized and keep clients informed.

• Invoice Reminders: Set up invoice reminders to send automated reminders to clients before, on, or after the due date. While you cannot customize this feature for individual clients, you can suggest to Intuit that they offer more granular controls in future updates.
• Scheduled Reports: Schedule management reports to send automatically to clients at regular intervals. This keeps clients informed and saves you the manual effort of sending reports.

Hidden Gems: Accessing Tools Beyond the Menus

QuickBooks Online offers some powerful features that are not readily apparent on the menus. If you’re using QBO for Accountants (QBOA), you can find them in the Accountant Tools briefcase, but did you know regular users can access them too, using hidden links? Here are a couple of examples:

• Reclassify Transactions: Use the Reclassify Transactions tool to move transactions between accounts, assign Classes, or assign Locations in bulk. Access this tool by modifying the URL: qbo.intuit.com/app/reclassify-transaction.
• Reports Options: Customize the default date range and basis for your reports by using the Reports Options tool. Access this tool by modifying the URL: qbo.intuit.com/app/accountant/reports-options.

Additional QuickBooks Online Hacks

• Clicking the Company Name: Clicking on your company name in the upper left-hand corner of the QuickBooks Online screen will take you directly to Account and Settings.
• Managing Billable Expenses: Use the Manage Billable Expenses tool to uncheck Billable expenses in bulk. This is particularly useful for conversions from QuickBooks Desktop, where Billable expenses may be checked by default. Access this tool by modifying the URL: qbo.intuit.com/app/manage-billable-expense.
• QuickBooks Status Page: Check the QuickBooks status page (quickbooks.statuspage.io) to see if QuickBooks Online is experiencing any outages. You can also sign up for email notifications to be alerted to any system issues.
• Charge Lookup: If you see a charge on your credit card from Intuit and you’re not sure what it’s for, use the Charge Lookup tool (chargelookup.intuit.com) to get details about the charge.

Conclusion

These QuickBooks Online hacks can significantly improve your efficiency and save you valuable time. By mastering the interface, leveraging search functions, and utilizing advanced features like recurring transactions and automatic communications, you can streamline your workflow and focus on what matters most – serving your clients.

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