Cool Features in QuickBooks Online that are Not Even in QuickBooks Enterprise
Here is a list of some of my favorite things that are in QuickBooks Online. These features are not even available in the highest version of QuickBooks, Enterprise Solutions (QBES)!
Email Memorized Reports on a Schedule
Memorized reports are great, but when you can have them emailed to yourself or a group of people on a regular schedule, you look very professional. You can put whatever subject and/or note for the body in the email and even attach the report as an Excel spreadsheet.
Automatic Download of Bank and Credit Card Transactions
QuickBooks Enterprise allows for downloading transactions in what is called Bank Feeds, but you still have to click on the Update button whenever you want to get newly posted transactions. When I tried this recently, I got a blank pop up about "Update Branding Files" which then timed out with a server error. Frustrating, not to mention that I have to put in my pin or password to the bank/credit card account every time I update. Not very practical when only the owner has access to the accounts and doesn't want to give that info to a bookkeeper.
QuickBooks Online saves your login credentials and allows you to easily change them if you get a new account or change your password. It also updates all your accounts overnight or when the bank or credit card accounts post new transactions. You can also organize the order in which the accounts appear on the Banking page by editing the Bank accounts on the right of the Home page (pencil icon). Rules are even more sophisticated because you can create one with splits, with a % of the amount downloaded to more than one category (account).
Automatic Download of Merchant Service Deposit
If using QuickBooks Payments, you still have to click on Record Merchant Service Deposits in QBES in order to bring in the batch of credit card payments. QBO does this automatically so that when the downloaded deposit comes through via Banking, it is matched.
Multiple A/R and A/P Lines in a Journal Entry
What's never been allowed in QuickBooks for Desktop, is the ability to put multiple accounts receivable or accounts payable lines in one journal entry. You have to do separate journals for each one. QBO lets you do as many as you want in just one journal entry.
Quick Loading and Easily Switch Between Companies
I've timed how long it takes to and launch and log into a QBES company file (not a large one) and it takes longer than QBO. Granted I have fast internet, but with QBO, you can quickly switch between company files without having to re-enter your password. In QBES, you can't have 2 company files open in the same year version of the software without restrictions. With QBO, I have multiple users in Chrome so that I can have more than one company file open at a time in multiple windows with full access (not limited by the primary/secondary restrictions as in QBES). But it is so easy to switch back and forth between customers or clients, especially in QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA).
No More Annoying Pop Ups!
I hate them when surfing the internet so I really hate them in QBES. There are tons of them and I am always reminded of them when I set up a new company file for a client. At least in QBO, I get a nice Tasks section with a link to view reminders on the Home page and error messages are in red on existing pages, a much more pleasing experience since we are accustomed to pop ups being obtrusive.
No More Annoying Single User Mode Restrictions!
In QBO, I can make any changes without having to ask anyone else in the account to log out. In QBES, there are so many instances where things can only be done in single user mode. This is very impractical especially in a version where you can have up to 30 users working simultaneously for a large company.
Rename Your Customer List
In QBO, you can rename your Customers to Clients, Donors, Guests, Members, Patients, or Tenants. It would be nice if we could have a custom option though to call them whatever we want. I could imagine some very creative descriptions for customers.
Mobile App
There is no longer a mobile app for QuickBooks for Desktop. There was one at one time but it's gone and it's not coming back. End of story. There is an iOS and Android app for QBO. I use the Android one and it is great for creating sales receipts. Linked with QuickBooks Payments, I can create a receipt and charge a client's credit card and send it to them via email. This is very convenient. Access to data anytime, anywhere, and on any device is a necessity these days.
Attachments
Since attachments in QBES uses a folder in the same location as the company file (if not using a Google Drive or Dropbox folder), anyone that has access to QuickBooks can delete or move this folder, thus unlinking or destroying all attachments. There is also no way to select all documents in the doc center and download them for safekeeping, which would be nice considering that this folder isn't backed up into the cloud, unless set up outside of QuickBooks. In QBO, I love the Attachments page. It not just shows me the transaction linked to an attachment, but I can click on that link and it will open that transaction. I can select an attachment and create an invoice or expense transaction that will become linked to it. I can also select multiple attachments and export them, but since they are inherently stored in the cloud, I don't have to worry about losing them. I can even add attachments to downloaded transactions, which can't be done in the bank feeds of QBES.
Online Customer Invoice Activities
I love it when I send an invoice to a client and then in QBO I can see the date and time my client viewed it. I can also write a message to my client linked to the invoice, which sends them an email with the option to reply back. It's like a mini CRM for tracking activities linked to a job.
Automatic Recurring Sales Receipts
With QuickBooks Payments, QBO lets you create monthly sales receipts that will automatically charge the customer's credit card on file and send the receipt via email. What a time saver!
QuickBooks Online is all about automation, convenience, and simplicity! I am sure there are many more features to mention, and I will certainly update this page when I can think of more.
QuickBooks Online: Security, Inventory, and Other Concerns
There is a lot of buzz among my colleagues about the climate change surrounding the QuickBooks ecosystem including the desktop and online versions. Intuit Sync Manager is going away for desktop (QBD) and the mobile app is already gone. Some of the oldtimers continue to poo poo QuickBooks Online (QBO), maybe out of reluctance to embrace change or maybe from fear of losing years of QBD knowledge and expensive technical support engagements. I have always valued having to constantly learn new things, which I thought was typical for my profession as a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, so it seems counter intuitive to deny the facts of the future and spread misconceptions and mistruths of a product. Don't get me wrong, I still think that QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions (QBES) is Intuit's best product, and it will remain the best fit for many of my clients. But since I am always touting the benefits of QBO, I get attacked on a regular basis for any of my comments. Well, maybe that is just fear-based too as the weak are always trying to sabotage the strong, right?
Ok, that's my rant opener for the year, but actually, I have been quiet for so long because everything has been going so well! I have been able to help more clients by being more productive and keeping it simple. I have either been helping QBES clients sort out and tackle complex tasks like building assemblies, setting up multiple warehouse locations, and handling other inventory hurdles one step at a time or helping QBO clients get set up and streamlined with the "simple" processes of matching transactions, reconciling, and entering tricky transaction. I love solving problems and the goal is always to make it work with what you've got and constantly come up with solutions. I've done that with my own business with patience and perseverance and I'm happy to share that expertise with my clients. I may talk a lot more about QBO but that is because they are constantly updating the product on a regular basis, sometimes every month! So, here are some new updates I am excited about:
One of the biggest concerns for those even considering QBO is security. In this day and age when credit card numbers are getting stolen from hacks into merchants and cloning, having your financial data in the cloud is concerning. I just read an article recently that Intuit was considering moving more of its applications to Amazon Web Services (AWS), but was holding off because of features not yet available. I can't find that article, but here is indication that eventually
, if it isn't already. What has happened recently, however, is a new verification process when logging into any Intuit cloud application from a new device (or browser). I have seen this so far with QBO, TurboTax Online, and Mint.com. It now asks for verification via a 6 digit pin number sent via text or email, depending on what is on file. As annoying as some may find this process, I applaud Intuit's commitment to security and making it even more difficult for hackers to access any of my online accounts.
Inventory is probably one of the biggest topics when comparing QBO to QDT. And it seems to be the area where updates are happening the most in QBO. We now have SKU, Categories, Quantity Available or Out of Stock, and Pictures. The latest is a
survey on how you can help improve inventory tracking
. Intuit takes feedback seriously so I highly recommend taking it, especially to indicate the next 5 areas they should work on. Mine were Sales Orders, Price Levels, Shipping, Assemblies, and Location and multi-warehouse tracking. This is what Premier and QBES users require and would be a game-changer if in QBO.
Another wished-for update that would address another major concern, outages, would be the ability to continue to work even if QBO's servers go down. QBO has gone down three times for me (while working in it) in the past couple years and only for a relatively short period of time (hours at the most), most recently last week on the morning of January 13th. While not major for my type of business, as it just means that I work on other stuff, this can be a major problem for multiple users working at the same time every minute of the day. While the
QuickBooks Online App for Windows
stores a cached copy of QBO data, it still can't be used if QBO's servers go down. Send your feedback (via the gear icon in QBO) to get this rolling!
The NEW QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks for Windows (Desktop)
I can't believe it has only been just over a year since my post reviewing
QuickBooks for Desktop vs. QuickBooks Online vs. Xero
and so much has changed! Since then, I have abandoned Outlook, which I had said I would never give up, and migrated my email to
so that I could take advantage of
's Gmail Gadget and Google Calendar Sync. I am so glad I did because now I am more productive and organized than before, not to mention I have discovered the many benefits of being more cloud-based, such as having my emails and appointments syncing across all devices.
When I learned that it was possible to re-import my QuickBooks for Desktop (QBD) data into QuickBooks Online (QBO), I was excited to take another look and test out the new QBO after learning about its cool features while doing the new QuickBooks Online certification. I have been actively using QBO in tandem with my desktop version, Enterprise Solutions Accountant 14.0. I know, I know...I always consult against doing any kind of duplicate data entry, but this is a great exercise to compare the two using live processes. And this is definitely what I would recommend anyone to do so that you can really see the difference, if you are concerned about switching.
One of the biggest pushbacks I hear from other ProAdvisors is that it is so much faster completing tasks in QBD. That would certainly be true if you don't actively use QBO. But once you know where everything is and learn all the shortcuts and tips, it is really fast! Of course, it helps to have a fast broadband connection. And instead of always talking about what QBD can do that QBO can't, I have some quick notes on the cool features in QBO that are
not
in QBD. This is an ever-changing list as Intuit is constanting updating QBO, unlike QBD that only gets major upgrades once per year, as their latest QBO update was just a couple of days ago. And I am probably missing some other features, so please feel free to add to this list:
Ability to show Discount and/or Deposit by the total on the invoice.
Automatically create and email invoices to customers.
Track when customer views emailed invoice; by not attaching invoice as PDF, customer has to click on link to view invoice.
Audit Log shows history of transaction and list changes with visual representations (changes in Orange) with date & time.
Audit History on each transaction.
Scrolling activities in Accountant area.
Create expenses to any source account on the fly.
Ability to put billable rate on single time activity which also shows total dollar amount to be billed.
Creating invoice for a customer shows all unbilled time and expenses conveniently on the right, which can be quickly added.
Unlimited time tracking users for employees and subcontractors.
Bank Feeds update automatically.
1099 filing included free with Plus.
Free attachments to transactions in Plus.
Help is not a pop up but rather a frame within the browser.
Import transactions from Square.
Refund Receipts instead of Credit Memos that then have to be refunded (extra step).
Reconcile reports saved automatically and shows date of when it was reconciled.
Ability to see changes in any reconciliation and fix by clicking on the amount or undo reconciliation and re-enter deleted transaction and then reconciliation (Accountant only). Undo resets ALL the reconciliations (you don't have to undo each one going back).
Reports: Exceptions to Closing Date with visual changes & Recent transactions.
Multiple A/R or A/P on Journal Entries.
FIFO inventory.
Clicking "map" for a contact goes into Google maps tab directly.
Overdue invoices in mobile app.
Check written instead of bill payment, if reconciled already, can easily convert check to bill payment by adding bill.
Can click on old uncleared checks within the reconciliation report to void.
Online Invoicing included free (without payments).
Customer can add a message and an attachment to the invoice viewed in the portal. Viewing the invoice in QBO shows all the history with date/time.
Likewise, you can post a message to the invoice that the customer will receive via email.
With QuickBooks Payments account, payments, deposits, and fees are recorded automatically.
Write off invoices using Account instead of Item.
