David H. Ringstrom - QuickBooks Online For Dummies

Many add-on apps are available for QBO. Intuit rose to the top of the small-business accounting world by empowering third-party developers to create apps that enhance the functionality of QBO, and over time, you can expect more apps to be developed.

In Chapter 1, I use the term apps to describe the versions of QBO available from mobile device stores (such as Google Play and Apple’s App Store). In this section, when I refer to apps, I mean add-ons developed to enhance the functionality of QBO. You can browse the available offerings at this slightly unwieldy address: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/app/apps . Or you can choose Apps from the navigation bar, as shown in Figure 2-2.

As shown in Figure 2-3, you can click any app to view a description, price information, and sometimes a video tutorial.

FIGURE 2-2:Take a trip to the App Center to search for additional functionality for QBO.

FIGURE 2-3:Choose any app in the App Center to view the underlying details.

Although add-on apps can provide additional functionality in QBO, you may still encounter limitations. QBO won’t allow you to do the following things, for example:

Track your balance sheet by class.

Process more than 350,000 transactions annually without QBO Advanced.

Manage a robust inventory.

Part 2

IN THIS PART …

Become familiar with the QuickBooks Online interface.

Manage list information needed to use QuickBooks Online.

Enter transactions in QuickBooks Online to update your company’s books.

Manage bank and credit card transactions.

Use the payroll functions of QuickBooks Online.

Chapter 3

IN THIS CHAPTER

Establishing a new QuickBooks company

Understanding the QuickBooks interface

Modifying the Chart of Accounts

Working with company settings

Customizing forms

Enabling multiple currencies

After you subscribe to QuickBooks Online, the next step is creating your company. If you’re migrating from QuickBooks Desktop, you can import most of your data, or you can allow the QuickBooks Setup Wizard to walk you through the process, as shown in this chapter. You even have the option to have a live bookkeeper assist you.

See Chapter 13or ask your accountant for help if you’re migrating from QuickBooks Desktop. You can choose a full migration, which includes most transactions, or you can import only the lists, which I cover in Chapter 4.

If you’re in the market for an accountant or bookkeeper, visit the ProAdvisor marketplace at https://quickbooks.intuit.com/find-an-accountant/ to seek expert advice from certified QuickBooks advisors. Or try the QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping service at quickbooks.intuit.com/live .

After you complete the sign-up process for a QuickBooks Online account, the setup process begins. The process is much shorter than the one you go through to set up a QuickBooks Desktop product company, and you need the following information:

Your company’s name and address.

The industry in which your company operates.

Whether you want to import company information from a QuickBooks Desktop product.

The way you want to handle payroll. (You can always opt into one of the QuickBooks Payroll (QB Payroll) offerings later.)

To purchase or start a 30-day trial of QuickBooks Online, follow these steps:

1 Visit quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing .This page has the current pricing as well as any sale prices.

2 Look for four boxes describing the Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced subscriptions.If you’re looking for QuickBooks Self-Employed, scroll down past the boxes to the Freelancer section. Typically, you can choose between a free 30-day trial and three months of reduced prices for Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus. The Advanced subscription doesn’t offer a free trial, but you can access the test drive at qbo.intuit.com/redir/testdrive_us_advanced . For more information, see Chapter 2and quickbooks.intuit.com/accounting/advanced .

3 To sign up for a free trial, click the slider button above the QuickBooks versions to activate Free Trial for 30 Days (see Figure 3-1). Be aware that the price you ultimately pay for QuickBooks depends on whether you choose the Buy Now option or the Free Trial for 30 Days option. If you opt to buy now, you’ll pay less for your subscription because discounts don’t apply to the free trials. Be aware that promotional pricing usually ends after three months. However, ask your accountant if they’re able to extend a ProAdvisor Preferred Pricing discount to you, which I discuss in Chapter 12. FIGURE 3-1:Use the slider button to toggle between a short-term discount and a free trial.

4 Click the Try It Free button for the version you want to try.If you see a Select button instead of Try It Free, click the Free Trial for 30 Days button. The optional Add Payroll page appears; this page allows you to add a free payroll service test drive to your QuickBooks trial if you want.

5 Click Add to Trial or Continue without Payroll to move to the Checkout screen.You can always add payroll later, so don’t feel that you need to make a heat-of-the-moment decision here. But your payroll trial will be free for 30 days as well.

6 Review your choices and then click Checkout to establish your QuickBooks Online account.The amounts shown are what you’ll be charged each month for your subscription.

7 Fill in your email address, mobile number, and a password (see Figure 3-2).Your password must be between 8 and 32 characters and consist of a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and one or more special characters (such as an exclamation point or pound sign). The email address and password will serve as your credentials for accessing QuickBooks. Your mobile number will be used to recover your account if you mislay your credentials. If you already have an Intuit account, look for the tiny — and I mean tiny — Sign In link.