Welcome to another article in an ongoing series about creating efficiencies with QuickBooks® Online. This installment comes from Al-Nesha Jones, CPA, MBA, founder of ASE Group, a full-service accounting, tax, and advisory firm focused on empowering small business owners to build strong and sustainable businesses. Here are her recommendations:
Melio! It simplifies bill pay so much. We’re able to provide increased visibility and quick payments to vendors with just a few simple clicks.
Bank Rules. I know this is a tried-and-true one, but I continue to be amazed by how many transactions we can classify automatically with good bank rules.
Bank Statement “fetching” in the Bank Reconciliation screen. It’s not available for all banks, but for the ones that have it, this saves us some time by not having to log in to individual bank accounts to obtain statements for reconciliations.
The Reclassify Tool. This is a must for bookkeeping cleanup engagements. Reclassifying transactions in batches can save hours.
Recurring Sales Receipts. The majority of our clients are on automatic ACH payments on the 1st of the month. This saves us time and headaches because we don’t need to invoice monthly and we’re paid in advance, so it eliminates cash flow and collection issues.
QuickBooks Payments. Streamlining payment methods saves so much time. When clients accept payments in a bunch of different ways—CashApp, PayPal, Venmo, cash, credit card, and other means—matching transactions can be very difficult. If a client invoices for their goods or services, and waits around for checks or doesn’t provide their client with a specific way to pay them, we always suggest QuickBooks Payments. When a client pays via QuickBooks Payments, the payment will automatically match with the invoice, so that saves a ton of time and avoids confusion when matching payments. Funds are received within 1-2 days, so that helps to improve cash flow as well.
QuickBooks Checking. The ability to create envelopes for different savings goals and expenses (without having to open a bunch of different accounts) is really helpful. We’ve used QuickBooks Checking in our firm and also for clients to help them set aside sales tax, income tax, payroll, and emergency funds. It’s kind of out of sight, so it’s out of mind—and the fact that it’s earning some interest is nice, too!
Stay tuned for more articles about timesaving features in QuickBooks Online.
