Intuit Upgrades QuickBooks Payments for Credit Card Processing
Intuit is now going to make it even easier to see and understand the fees associated with QuickBooks Payments, also formerly known as Intuit Merchant Services. Currently, when a credit card payment is deposited to a bank account, you will see a corresponding fee with "BANKCARD DES:DISCOUNT" in the memo. This fee will only be the percentage of the payment as if was a swiped, qualified card, for example. It is not until at the end of month when the credit card statement is generated that any remaining amounts are deducted as one lump "monthly" fee for all payments that are subject to higher percentages, such as mid-qualified and nonqualified corporate and reward cards. This has always been confusing because
a
) the end of the month total fee gets confused with any set monthly fee just for processing credit cards, depending on the plan and
b
) you have to wait until the monthly statement to see what the actual % rates and associated fees for only the
total
payments per discount rate were.
This will all change soon:
You will see new category descriptions for amounts posted to your bank statement.
Intuit Deposit - All deposits for your payments.
Intuit Tran Fee - All transaction fees for payments you accept.
Intuit Account Fee - Any debit or credit to your account related to account fees.
All transaction fees during the month will reflect the actual percentage amounts of your payments as they are posted. There will be no more adjustments at the end of the month.
A simpler, easy-to-read monthly statement. I haven't seen an example of this yet, but I sure hope it will no longer have that faded, courier font like it was produced from a typewriter.
A new number for all voice authorizations: 888-301-3246. I've never had to do a voice authorization so I don't know how this compares to before.
Customer credit card statements will show your business name starting with IN * for payments charged to their credit card.
I always thought that Intuit statements were clearer than other credit card payment processors, who I believe make it very difficult for merchants to compare rates, especially when they tack on so many little fees here and there. And with this upgrade, Intuit will be even more transparent. With the added convenience of being able to process and view credit card payments immediately and have them batched automatically and deposited in QuickBooks, this is just one more reason why I always recommend QuickBooks Payments to my clients.
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.
QuickBooks Connect Conference: Accountants, Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs, and Developers Take QuickBooks Online to the Next Level
Today is the last day to register with early bird pricing of only $169 for the Conference pass and $369 for the Conference pass + QuickBooks Deep Dive event for Intuit's
conference in San Jose, California from October 21st - October 23rd. This will be a unique opportunity for accountants, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and developers to all be in the same place together in the expanding ecosystem of QuickBooks Online.
For the Accountant, the latest news is the offering of Advanced QuickBooks Online Certification Training, only available at this event with the opportunity to take the exam and be certified before its official release on November 5th.
For Small Businesses: learn strategies for hiring the right employee, following regulations, and connecting with customers via social media.
For Entrepreneurs: gain insight on starting a business, getting funding, and mentoring with business experts.
For Developers: learn how to build and market your own app using the powerful
and talk to small business owners and accountants to learn what they crave in an app.