How does QuickBooks work 

When you ask the question How does QuickBooks work the inevitable answer is it depends.

No two businesses are alike. The way you use QuickBooks will be impacted by your business needs, accounting experience and QuickBooks knowledge.

Equally we believe that there is no one size fits all when it comes to QuickBooks users. You may like the idea of automation and be looking to save time by automating your bookkeeping processes or you may be more comfortable with manual entry.

Some of our clients want to dive straight into automation and connect the bank feed from day one others prefer to work towards a more automated approach. With QuickBooks you need to consider the automations that will work well for your business and how these automations fit to improve your business processes.

Once you understand how QuickBooks thinks and behaves you can make the right choices for you and your business

We have clients who are trained to use QuickBooks Online in a similar way to the approach taken when using QuickBooks desktop.

Other clients wish to automate bookkeeping processes as much as possible (connecting bank accounts, using bank rules, uploading CSV files and using OSR apps like AutoEntry or Receipt Bank.)

We help businesses all over the UK to understand the options and make decisions on the levels of automation which would benefit the business.

If you are experiencing any of the following issues, we can help you to understand and address the problem with the appropriate QuickBooks Training;

• Mixing different approaches (both automated and manual) resulting in duplication

Whilst we advocate evolving you bookkeeping processes to save time by transitioning from manual to automated processes be careful not to mix approached. Once you start using the bank feed mixing manual entries with those fed from the bank can be an issue.

• Creating deposits instead of matching to invoices

Be careful with the use of deposits. When added from the bank feed make sure you are not duplicating your sales

• Creating expenses instead of matching to bills

When considering How QuickBooks works it is important to understand when to use expenses and when to input bills. Not forgetting the option to add a Cheque

• Adding Expenses via the QuickBooks picture function (app) and also via the bank feed.

Mixing different automated process can improve efficiency and save time when used well. Make sure you process these transactions once and avoid duplication

• Adding memorised transactions and rules in QuickBooks® leading to duplicate entries

Used appropriately Memorised transactions can be a time saver in QuickBooks for some businesses. Our training sessions can assist in making sure you use appropriate automations

• Connecting and processing via the bank feed but not completing the reconcile

Make sure you reconcile your bank and credit card accounts. If you are having

problems with reconcile we can show you how to find and address the issues.

• Not protecting your QuickBooks file with a closing date

Your QuickBooks data should be protected. Do you know what closing date is set in your QuickBooks file?

• Setting up products and services incorrectly

Having problems with how entries are posting in QuickBooks. One of the key areas in understanding how QuickBooks works is appreciating the connection between the Products & Services you create and the Chart of Accounts

• Mis-posting to uncategorised income, uncategorised expense or uncategorised assets

If the entry is in uncategorised it’s not posted correctly. Learn how to find and correct uncategorised postings. Once you know why this is happening you can improve accuracy in you file

• Creating rules which result in duplications of transfers between bank accounts

Having issues with transfers between bank accounts. Automating transfers via bank rules is a time saver but make sure you don’t transfer twice

• Posting refunds to incorrect accounts / with incorrect vat codes

Post refunds in QuickBooks can result in mis-posts and incorrect vat treatment. These   are not the easiest transactions to handle and are common areas we address during QuickBooks training sessions and reviews.

Remember , you can always change your approach to automation as your business needs change

To find out more about how Katara training can help, click below to get in touch or call 01256 764406