At the end of the day, we all need to file taxes. We can file our personal taxes online, with an accountant or the brave ones do it themselves. When it comes to our businesses, we need to make sure everything is entered and filed properly. While some may use paper and pen and others start off with a simple Excel spreadsheet, with time and G-d willing, business growth, we need to find a better solution to keep track of all our accounting needs. Read below to learn about QuickBooks and why it’s highly recommended. 

How to access QuickBooks

There are different versions of QuickBooks, depending on your particular needs. One of the big decisions you must make is whether you want to run QuickBooks locally on your computer as a software program or via the cloud, with no actual software.

Software: For those who opt with the software versions, they purchase QuickBooks as a one-time payment and install it on which ever computers they want. For each company, you create one data file which is shared amongst all the computers, so that all the users are able to access and edit the same data.

Online: For those who prefer the online version:

Pros:

–  All the users can access the program from any web browser. This alleviates the need to install the software and share the data file from one main computer. 

–  The accountant can access your account with an “accountant view” at no additional fee.

– Receive all updates automatically and at no additional charge.

Cons:

– Pay a monthly fee and never actually own the product. 

– Some functions may be limited (compared to the software version).

Click HERE to see the entire list of products made by Intuit for Small Businesses. 

Users

For the software version, you can install QuickBooks on as many computers as you wish. However, to allow multiple people to be logged in simultaneously, you are required to purchase additional licenses. Therefore, you only need to purchase licenses for the anticipated amount of users at one time, which may not necessarily be the same amount of users overall.

Industry compatible

While there are many different types of businesses (whether it be manufacturing, professional, service or retail), they all have pre-built modules in QuickBooks for your particular needs. The first time you open the program, it asks you some questions to ascertain what you do and sets up your account within QuickBooks to represent the industry standard for your needs.

Integrates with many other systems

Considering QuickBooks is a highly popular product, many programs look to integrate with QuickBooks.

What does this mean?

While every business may use an industry specific program to manage their business, the program may not provide any or limited accounting features. Therefore, many businesses use an accounting product along with specific software for their industry. If QuickBooks can “talk” to your other program, then there is no need to enter the data again into QuickBooks from your other system.

What QuickBooks does

Accounts receivable: QuickBooks allows you to keep track of relevant client information as well as what they owe and what has been paid.

Accounts Payable: Are you in business? If yes, then you know that there is no shortage of vendors. How do you keep track of incoming bills, what was paid and how it was paid? This is all taken care of in the “vendor” section of QuickBooks.

Payroll: For free, you can enter your employees’ payroll information. This is important for the end of the year accounting statements as well as the ability to print pay stubs if needed. For an additional charge, QuickBooks can run your payroll for you as well.

Reporting: Do you want to see how much you owe or are owed? How sales are going? Once all your data is entered into QuickBooks these and many other reports are easily generated and viewable to get instant updates on your company’s status.

Accountants are comfortable with QuickBooks 

While spreadsheets may seem cheaper, many accountants charge hourly. Therefore, being prepared and having everything in an orderly fashion in a program the accountant is comfortable with will assist in lowering your accounting fees.