Disclaimer: Please note this article is not financial advice. The purpose of our blog is purely educational, so please consult a professional accountant or financial advisor before making any financial decision.
What an easy life it would be if everyone were as smart as computers. All the computations and processes are just within our heads, answers derived in an instant. Yet, even human beings have limitations. Despite these constraints, we’ve developed some of the greatest inventions that complement our capabilities in various fields.
One prime example is accounting software—an elevated and more accurate version of the traditional manually inputted books and spreadsheets.
You must have heard of Quickbooks for small business (desktop) and how it makes accounting so much easier. We’ll discuss here why it is a must-have and how you can utilize it for your business.
Quickbooks Small Business (Desktop): A Brief History
The history of Quickbooks dates back to 1983 in the foundation of Intuit by Scott Cook and Tom Proulx, but it was only in 1998 that Quickbooks developed from the accounting software called Quicken.
It became a famous tool favored by business owners without accounting experience. Nonetheless, because of professional accountants’ demands for software with double-entry, can be audited, and follows accounting standards, Quickbooks has been developing more reliable software versions.
Today, it is one of the most popular software for small to medium businesses and freelancers worldwide, especially in the US.
Why Use Quickbooks for Your Business
Quickbooks small business desktop was used by 4.5 million customers worldwide in 2019, and with the continuous growth of eCommerce because of the pandemic, more and more are needing accounting assistance. If you are among the population looking for an accounting solution, here are the reasons why Quickbooks online will be helpful for your business.
Up-to-date books
The only way for accountants to create accurate reports about your business is to have all the data about your business finances tracked and monitored by bookkeepers. When you sign up for a Quickbooks plan, the first thing you will be offered is up-to-date books, so it would help to provide all the receipts and documents for the past months to complete a whole year of tracking. Once your books are up-to-date, it would be easier to categorize and store the latest and incoming transactions—income and expenses. Then, when you run reports, all details are accurate and complete.
Freelancer-friendly
Many individuals these days begin as freelancers, managing their businesses on their own and wearing different hats to save costs. While there are areas in your sprouting business that you can do independently, it is better to rely on experts or software for accounting, as you will thank yourself later, especially when tax season comes. Besides, the first area you need to accomplish is accounting to track the money coming in and out.
Even though you are still a one-person team, you’ll be relieved that your finances are organized, and once you expand your team and have your accountant, you’ll have data that you can readily interpret for decision-making.
Startups and small businesses
As a small business, you must have had transactions with several suppliers and developed regular customers over time. Entering into agreements on payment terms is now a common thing as well. Through Quickbooks desktop software, you’ll experience the following comforts:
- Quick generation of invoice
- Invoices arrive at clients with a “Pay now” button for faster payment processing.
- Recurring transactions have recurring invoices too!
- You can also pay suppliers quickly through cashless transactions because of online banking, credit card, and other payment method integration.
All these transactions are recorded and categorized in the system, so you’ll see your finances in real-time.
Easy processing of payroll
You have been using Quickbooks since the days you didn’t have to worry about payroll because only you and a few members were there. Now that you already have several employees for payroll, know that Quickbooks is still a reliable tool.
How it works:
- Quickbooks has a time tracking system you can utilize, so the data you get can be given monetary value and processed using the same software.
- Taxes are automatically computed, filed, and paid.
- You have data on time rendered by your employees and the costs you can use in decision-making for future projects.
Manage your inventory
Does your business involve selling on different eCommerce platforms like Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, Woocommerce, and Squarespace? To get a full view of your performance using only the Quickbooks desktop for small business software, integrate the inventory management functions offered by the different sites. Directly see how your inventory goes and input data from sales and when you replenish your supplies.
In your busy schedule, skipping the hassle of opening too many accounts and just looking at Quickbooks saves a lot of time. When weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports come, you do not need to extract data from the eCommerce sites as they are already on Quickbooks.
All data in one software
Tax season is coming, or you want to see how your projects and your business as a whole are sailing. Whether you do it on your own or you have a Quickbooks accountant who does these, having all the data you need in one place makes reporting and auditing way faster and accurate too. Because you could categorize all transactions as they come, there is no need to cram, causing more mistakes.
Quickbooks even has a tax penalty protection worth $25,000 to ensure you will be compensated for any mistakes for accuracy on paying taxes.
Affordability
Do not compare software per dime if you are trying to decide which one to have. Check the offers in every plan as compared with another accounting software instead. By comparing the programs and their offers, you’ll see if the investment is worth it.
Quickbooks has four plans:
- Simple start - $12.50/month
- Essentials - $25/month
- Plus - $40/month
- Advanced - $90/month
Some software does not offer expense tracking for their basic plan, but you’ll get this as well as unlimited invoices in all Quickbooks plans. In a basic plan, you can manage up to 1099 contractors. Your taxes are cared for, cash flow and reporting are all covered.
Tips To Utilize The Software
To utilize the amount you will invest for the software, make sure to pick the right plan. While the Advanced Plan has the most offers, check the needs of your enterprise. A Simple Start Plan function may already be enough for your needs.
Adjust the plan you subscribe to as you grow your business
Check out all the offers in each plan. The Simple Start may be best for freelancers, but you may continue to sign up for the more expensive plans with more coverage as you grow your business.
If your main goal is to track your inventory from your main eCommerce business and oversee different projects, it would be best to have the Plus Plan because of the inventory and project management.
The ability to access your financial data increases with the plan and the capability for more complicated reporting levels up.
Use live bookkeeping
There is no need for hiring in-house or getting a freelancer and enjoying assistance from professional bookkeepers with Quickbooks. It is the first thing you can utilize when you sign up for Quickbooks and continuously use it because of the live bookkeeping.
How it works:
- You’ll be partnered with expert bookkeepers.
- You can book video calls with them for live bookkeeping and consultation.
- Keeping your books up-to-date is a bookkeeper’s responsibility.
- Through the data categorized and tracked by the bookkeeper, you’ll know the current status of your business and can decide based on data about your next business steps.
Maximize reporting capacity of the software
The more your business grows, the more reports you’ll need to check not only about your business finances but everything like the following:
Accounting reports:
- Profit and loss
- Balance sheet
- Accounts receivable and payable aging
- Revenue by customer
Marketing and advertising:
- Advertising cost of sales
- Click-through-rate
- Conversion rate
- Pay-per-click cost
- Website traffic
- Impression rate
- Sales orders
More business reports:
- Inventory tracking
- Sales and revenue report
- Job costing
The best capability of Quickbooks, from the basic plan to the advanced ones, is its reporting capability. In addition, it offers basic analytics that will assist you in decision-making. Make sure to remember this as you scale your business.
Integrate other applications you use
Quickbooks can integrate more than 650 applications in its system, so if you use different applications for your business, chances are, they are compatible with Quickbooks integrations. You can put all your system is one software, which gives you the following benefits:
- All your data is protected in the cloud.
- You can easily generate reports from all the data from different applications.
- You won’t be confused about finding certain information as you can look at a single software only.
- The data from the other applications can also be categorized and sorted accordingly by Quickbooks.
Make the most of your unlimited invoicing.
When you compare one software to another, you will notice that they may all offer invoices, but other software has a limited number of invoices you can generate. However, this is not the case with Quickbooks, as the brand offers unlimited invoices from the basic to the most expensive plan. Make sure to create invoices for all transactions to make the most of the offer and ensure all transactions are accounted for. Using these invoices also ensures that you get the payment your clients owe you, especially if invoices are scheduled and automatically sent. There is no room for you and your customer to forget.
Get Quickbooks Software Assistance Here At Unloop!
Looking at all the offers of Quickbooks, can you imagine how you can run your business more effectively as a small business owner? You can easily track your money and manage your cash flow. Integrations will help you keep all essential information in one software, and you can generate reports quickly too! You can do all these whether you are on the Quickbooks desktop version or through the mobile app.
If you are unsure how to use Quickbooks or delegate the task to experts because your plate is already full, you can always count on us here at Unloop. We have a team of accountants and bookkeepers who are well-versed in using Quickbooks for accounting. So delegate the task to us by giving us a call. We’d be happy to assist you!