QuickBooks Online (QBO) is a popular cloud-based accounting software that helps small businesses manage their finances. With its customizable features and scalable plans, QBO can be tailored to fit the needs of any business.
How to Customize QBO for Your Business
When setting up your QuickBooks Online account, you will go through an initial setup process to connect your business bank and credit card accounts and set up users. But customization does not stop there. Here are some ways to further adapt QBO to your business’s requirements:
Set Up Classes
Classes allow you to categorize transactions across multiple profit-and-loss accounts. For example, you can have a gym equipment class to track treadmill, elliptical, and strength machine purchases all in one place. Classes help generate reports for specific projects or departments.
Add Custom Fields
QBO provides standard fields for contacts, accounts, items, and transactions. You can save time by adding custom fields like purchase date or serial number rather than entering them in the description field. Custom fields improve organization and reporting.
Create Budgets
The budgeting feature in QBO enables you to plan your profits and manage cash flow. You can create budgets based on income and expense accounts. Then run budget reports to analyze performance. If you have seasonal revenue, budgets help anticipate peaks and troughs.
Configure user roles.
Restrict employee access as needed by setting permissions for each user role under Access Settings. For example, you may want to limit part-time employees to adding expenses while managers approve transactions in QBO. Custom roles improve security and accountability.
Build custom reports.
Leverage the customization options under Reports to view the financial data you need. Modify standard reports or create new ones and save them as PDFs or Excel files. For example, pull a sales receipts report for a region or an inventory report by item type.
Plan Options to Scale Your Setup
QBO offers four pricing plans: Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. The higher planes unlock additional features, users, and reporting as your business grows. Consider the following when picking a solution:
Number of users needed
More users cost more monthly. Evaluate if you need user permissions to safeguard data integrity or if the admin can handle everything. Upgrade if you outgrow a plan’s user allowances.
Third-Party Integrations
Apps like payroll, CRM, or POS software typically require the Plus plan or higher for integrations. The Advanced plan can handle the most custom apps. Factor in integration needs when selecting a plan.
Accounting Complexity
If you only need to track basic income and expenses, then Simple Start fits the bill. But building custom reports, managing inventory, tracking budgets, or using classes require Essentials or higher.
Leverage add-ons for additional functionality.
QBO integrates with value-adding third-party apps called add-ons that can customize the solution even further to your business requirements.
Time tracking with TSheets
TSheets is a popular add-on for workforce management. Employees can clock in and out on mobile or the web and track work across clients or projects. The hours sync directly with QBO payroll.
Foreign Currency with XE Money
For small businesses with international clients, XE Money simplifies reporting in multiple currencies. It automatically applies daily exchange rates within QBO rather than manual calculations.
Corporate Credit with Bill.com
Bill.com replaces manual invoice creation with automated billing and collections. It integrates with QBO to reconcile client invoices and payments and keep AR up-to-date. This saves hours over conventional billing.
There are hundreds more apps spanning time tracking, inventory management, shipping, marketing automation, and beyond. Integrated CRM software and point-of-sale solutions are also popular.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions small business owners have about tailoring QuickBooks Online to their needs:
Can I customize invoices in QuickBooks Online?
Yes, the custom invoice functionality lets you add your logo and change fonts, colors, and layout to present your brand professionally. You can also customize sales receipts and estimates.
How do I handle inventory management in QuickBooks Online?
The Essentials plan or higher enables inventory tracking. You can create detailed item lists with cost and sales data, take periodic counts, and generate valuation summaries. Or explore third-party add-ons like Fishbowl for more advanced needs.
Reaching small business success requires financial tools tailored to your processes. Leverage the extensible features in QuickBooks Online to track detailed data, secure company information, enable employees, and gain insights—all customized to how you operate. Revisit your setup as your needs evolve to ensure the software scales in step with your company.