Finding Apps and Handling Special Transactions in QuickBooks Online

So far, we have covered the most common transactions for which small businesses use QuickBooks. However, there are a few more topics that we would like to share with you. While some of these may not apply to your business when you are starting out, it’s a good idea to be aware that they exist.

First, we will start by using apps in QBO. Apps are a great way to help you streamline day-to-day business tasks that can be time-consuming. Next, we will show you how to record credit card payments from customers. This is an excellent way to get paid faster. Third, we will show you how to create professional-looking sales templates. If you have several expenses that you pay weekly, monthly, or quarterly, you should set them up as recurring transactions. We will also cover how to create and manage recurring transactions in this chapter. If you have a business loan or line of credit, you need to keep track of payments...

Using apps in QuickBooks Online

There are many benefits and a few risks of extending functionality through apps. Some of the benefits of using apps in QBO are:

• The ability to expand the functionality of the software so you can have what you need to run all aspects of your business
• Access to more than 700 apps that integrate seamlessly with QBO, allowing you to manage your inventory, accept online payments, pay your bills, and manage your eCommerce transactions
• The companies featured in the QuickBooks app store have gone through an extensive vetting process and were approved by Intuit to create apps that will help you simplify tasks, streamline data entry, and sync with QuickBooks

A couple of the risks involved with using apps are:

• The apps are not free, which means the fees charged to use the app will be in addition to what you pay for your monthly QBO subscription, so be sure to do a cost/benefit analysis to ensure you can take on the additional...

Managing credit card payments

In addition to traditional payments such as cash and checks, you should accept credit cards as another form of payment. While there are fees associated with accepting credit card payments, there are several benefits. First, you can get paid faster with a credit card than waiting to receive a check in the mail.

Second, if you sign up for a QuickBooks Payments account (https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payments/?sc=seq_intuit_pay_click_ft), you can email customers their invoice, which includes a payment link. They can click on the link, enter their payment information, and pay their invoice in a matter of minutes, which is much faster than waiting to receive a check in the mail. Best of all, QuickBooks will mark the invoice as paid, which automatically reduces your accounts receivable balance. As we discussed in Chapter 7, Recording Sales Transactions in QuickBooks Online, you can send your customers payment reminder emails, which will include a copy of...

Customizing sales templates

QuickBooks allows you to create custom sales forms to match your brand and style. Taking the time to customize sales templates will allow you to create professional-looking forms so your customers can easily see what they owe and make payments online in just a few minutes. You can customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipt templates. Follow these steps to learn how to customize these sales templates:

1. Click on the gear icon and select Custom Form Styles from the Your Company column, as shown in Figure 16.8:

Figure 16.8: Navigating to Custom Form Styles

2. Click on the New style button and select a sales template to customize:

Figure 16.9: Clicking the New style button

3. The following window will display three areas you can customize for sales templates:

   

   Figure 16.10: Three customization options for sales templates

   The following is a brief explanation of the information you can customize...

Setting up business loans and lines of credit

If you take out a business loan or line of credit, you need to track the payments that have been made, as well as the outstanding balance owed in QuickBooks. This will ensure that your financial statements include the money that is owed to all creditors. If this information is not included in QuickBooks, it will not show up on your financial statements. If this information is not reported in your financial statements, you will have inaccurate reports and you could miss out on legitimate tax deductions.

In this section, we will cover how to set up a business loan or line of credit, how to track payments, and how to stay on top of the outstanding balances owed.

Adding a business loan or line of credit to the chart of accounts

The first step to properly tracking loans and lines of credit in QuickBooks is to set them up on the chart of accounts. We will do this next. Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Accounting and select...

Managing petty cash

Petty cash is a small amount of money that’s used to cover incidentals such as postage, lunch for the office, or other items. Petty cash is generally no more than $500 and is kept under lock and key and managed by the business owner or someone designated by the owner. Like all business expenses, you need to keep track of all your receipts so that you can record the expenses in QuickBooks.

In this section, we will discuss how to track petty cash, record petty cash expenses, and reconcile the petty cash account. Let’s get started by creating a petty cash account.

Adding a petty cash account in QuickBooks

In order to track petty cash in QuickBooks, we need to add a petty cash account to the chart of accounts.

Follow these steps to add a petty cash account:

1. Navigate to the Accounting section, as shown in Figure 16.17:

Figure 16.17: Navigating to Accounting

2. Select the Chart of Accounts and then click...

Recording bad debt expense

If you’re in business long enough, there will come a time when a customer is unable or unwilling to pay you. If you use cash basis accounting, you don’t need to record bad debt expense because you don’t have accounts receivable. However, if you do extend credit to your customers and, after attempting to collect the payment, you become aware that you will not be able to collect payment, you should write off the bad debt. This will ensure that your financial statements remain accurate and that revenue is not overstated.

There are three steps you need to follow in order to write off bad debt: first, you need to add a bad debt item to the products and services list; next, you need to create a credit memo; and finally, you need to apply the credit memo to the unpaid customer invoice. We will walk you through these steps in this section.

Creating a bad debt item

The first step of recording bad debt expense is to add an item to...

Tracking delayed charges and credits

Delayed charges and credits are used to keep track of services that are provided to customers so you can bill them sometime in the future. For example, if someone provides weekly pool maintenance to customers but does not want to bill them until the end of the month, delayed charges are ideal for keeping track of the services that are provided each week. These weekly services can easily be added to an invoice when it’s time to bill the customer.

Follow these steps to record delayed charges:

1. Click on the + New button and select Delayed charge, as shown in Figure 16.33:

Figure 16.33: Navigating to Delayed charge

2. Fill in the necessary fields to record the delayed charge, as shown in Figure 16.34:

   

   Figure 16.34: Completing the Delayed Charge form

   Brief descriptions of the fields to fill in are as follows:

   • Customer: Select the customer from the dropdown menu.
   • Delayed Charge...

Summary

In this chapter, you have learned how to handle many special transactions in QuickBooks Online. You may be able to take advantage of a few of these now or keep them in your back pocket for later on when you need them. To recap, you now know how to locate apps in the QuickBooks app store and add them to QuickBooks. We have shown you how to manage credit card payments from customers and how to customize sales templates such as invoices to fit your business style and brand. For those expenses that occur often, you know how to add them to QuickBooks as recurring transactions and use them when needed. If you obtain a business loan or line of credit, you know how to set these up in QuickBooks and track payments. For those incidental purchases, you can create a petty cash account, track purchases, and reconcile the account, just like bank accounts. We also discussed the importance of recording bad debt expenses, which you now know how to record in QuickBooks to ensure that your financials...