QuickBooks Online Advanced

QuickBooks Online (QBO) Advanced is the top-tier QuickBooks Online subscription plan. As mentioned in the first chapter, it includes all of the features found in QBO Simple Start, QBO Essentials, and QBO Plus, in addition to many more features. Some of the features are as follows: you can add up to 25 users, it includes 48 additional custom fields, you can create customized performance charts, it has granular user permissions similar to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, it has workflow automation to reduce manual tasks, it offers the ability to import invoices and budgets, and it allows you to do batch data entry. These are just a few of the many features included in QBO Advanced.

QBO Advanced is ideal for businesses that are currently using QBO Plus and have outgrown it, as well as current QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise customers looking to move to the cloud. The ideal business has more than 10 employees, sales receipts that exceed $500,000, and annualized...

Accessing the QBO Advanced test drive account

To demonstrate the key concepts outlined in the introduction to this chapter, we will use the QBO Advanced test drive account. This account includes data for Craig’s Design and Landscaping Services, a fictitious business. There are a couple of ways in which you can access the test drive account. You can log in to your existing QBO account, click the Help icon, and type test drive in the search field. The second way to access the test drive account is to paste the URL into a new web browser page. Copy the URL in step 4 and bookmark it for next time.

Follow these steps to access the QBO Advanced test drive account:

1. Log in to your existing QBO account.
2. Click on the Help icon located in the upper-right corner of the home page, as indicated here:

Figure 17.1: The Help icon

3. In the QB Assistant pane that pops up, click the test drive button as indicated by the first arrow in the figure below...

Setting up customized fields

Custom fields can be used to filter customers, sales, purchasing, expense, and vendor reports. QBO Advanced is the only QBO subscription that includes customized fields. A total of 48 custom fields can be created in QBO Advanced. Custom fields are split between customers, sales, purchase/expense, and vendor fields. A total of 12 custom fields are available for each of these 4 groups.

Follow the steps given here to add a custom field:

1. In the upper-right corner of the QBO screen, click on the gear icon, as indicated here:

Figure 17.5: The gear icon

2. Select Custom fields, as indicated in the following screenshot:

Figure 17.6: Custom fields in the LISTS menu

3. If this is your first time adding a custom field, the following window will appear. To learn more about how custom fields work, click the See how it works link to watch a two-minute video:

   Figure 17.7: Custom fields window

   Click...

Managing customized user permissions

QBO Advanced gives you more control over what areas of QuickBooks you can give users access to. In Chapter 3, Migrating to QuickBooks Online, we discussed the five user types available in all subscriptions: standard user, company administrator, reports only, time tracking user, and accountant user.

In addition to these user types, QBO Advanced also includes four additional user roles: Accounts Receivable (A/R) Manager, Sales and Inventory, Workers and Sales reports, and Custom roles.

A brief explanation of these roles follows:

• A/R Manager: This role allows the user to access the entire sales cycle, with the exception of sales and bank deposits. Sales and bank deposits give the user the ability to receive payments in undeposited funds and create bank deposits.
• Sales and Inventory: This role combines sales and inventory access into a single role so that stock levels can be updated as needed.
• Workers and Sales reports...

Using workflow automation

Workflow automation is used to remind those responsible for tasks that those tasks need to be completed. Reminders to pay a vendor, make a bank deposit, or approve invoices can automatically go out via email, mobile devices, or push notifications to one or more persons who are responsible for completing a given task.

Follow these steps to access workflows:

1. Click on the gear icon.
2. Select Manage workflows below the TOOLS column, as indicated here:

Figure 17.19: The Manage workflows option in the TOOLS column

3. If this is your first time creating a workflow, the following window will appear; if not, you will see the Create workflow button:

   Figure 17.20: The Workflows window

   Click the Create workflow button.

4. The following Workflows screen will appear:

   

   Figure 17.21: The Workflows screen

   There are two primary sections to a workflow: Templates and My Workflows. A brief explanation...

Importing invoices and budgets into QuickBooks Online

In Chapter 5, Managing Customer, Vendor, and Products and Services Lists, we covered importing customers, vendors, and products and services into QuickBooks. In this section, we will show you how to import invoices into QuickBooks. Importing your data into QuickBooks can save you a lot of time that would have been spent manually entering this information into QuickBooks. In addition to saving time, importing data will ensure more accuracy and consistency than manual data entry. If you use budgets in your business, you may want to consider importing your budget data into QuickBooks. Importing budgets is only available in QBO Advanced.

Follow these steps to import invoices into QuickBooks:

1. From the gear icon, select Import data, as indicated in the following screenshot:

   

   Figure 17.24: The Import data option under TOOLS

2. The Import Data screen will appear:

   

   Figure 17.25: The Import Data screen...

Batch-creating invoices in QuickBooks Online

Batch-creating invoices is an alternative to importing invoices into QBO. It’s ideal for businesses that need to create several invoices that will include the same (or similar) services. For example, a property owner may need to bill their tenants for monthly rent. If you have 10 tenants that pay $1,000 a month, you can quickly generate 10 invoices using batch create.

Follow these steps to generate a batch of invoices:

1. Click the + New button located on the left navigation bar, as indicated below:

Figure 17.34: The New button

2. Select Batch transactions under the OTHER column, as indicated in the following screenshot:

Figure 17.35: Selecting Batch transactions

3. The Batch Transactions screen appears as follows:

   Figure 17.36: The Batch Transactions screen

   This screen resembles and works like an Excel spreadsheet. First, you will select the transaction type you...

Reclassify transactions

The Reclassify transactions feature is not new. However, in the past, it was only available for accountant users; now it is available to admin users who have a QBO Advanced subscription. The Reclassify transactions feature allows you to modify a batch of transactions all at once. For example, if you find that the expense account for checks written to a vendor has been categorized incorrectly, you can use Reclassify transactions to make the correction for a batch of checks at once.

Follow the steps below to access the Reclassify transactions feature:

1. Click on the gear icon and select Reclassify transactions, as shown below:

Figure 17.41: Selecting Reclassify transactions

2. The following screen will appear:

   

   Figure 17.42: The Reclassify Transactions screen

   A brief explanation of the information required in this screen is as follows:

   • Account types: From the dropdown, you can select profit and loss accounts...

DocuSign integration

One of the newest features in QBO Advanced is the integration of DocuSign. You can now easily sign, send, and manage digital documents directly from your QuickBooks Online Advanced account. eSignatures allow signees to receive and sign documents from any computer or mobile device with an internet connection.

Please note that the DocuSign feature is disabled for the test drive account, so you will not be able to follow along if you are using it. Screenshots in this section have been taken using a non-test drive account.

Below is a screenshot of what this feature looks like when the DocuSign app is downloaded and implemented:

Figure 17.43: DocuSign notification

In the bottom-right corner of the preceding screenshot, there is a notification that alerts the user that they can send estimates to their customers with DocuSign.

Using online backup and restore

Similar to QuickBooks Desktop products, you can save a backup copy of your QBO data with your QBO Advanced subscription. This feature gives your accountant or administrative personnel the ability to continuously back up data and then restore it to a point in time as needed. Online backup and restore captures transaction data, list data, and other elements such as attachments, company information, exchange rates, and preferences. However, it does not record things such as custom reports, recurring transactions, and bank feeds.

You can access the backup tool from the gear icon. After clicking on the gear icon, select Backup Company, listed below the TOOLS column.

Here is a brief description of the three types of backups available:

• Backup: This type of backup saves everything in the chart of accounts. You can also undo unwanted changes made to vendors, customers, settings, and other data if you need to.
• Restore: This backup allows...

Utilizing the Performance Center and custom charts

QBO Advanced offers the ability to create custom KPI dashboards and other user-defined charts. This will give you insights into those areas that might require additional oversight or management. The Performance Center is only available in QBO Advanced. One of the features within the Performance Center is custom charting. Custom charting allows you to visualize your financial data in chart format, which can be easier to understand than just plain numbers. You can create a chart that allows you to include up to 10 groups of values on a single chart.

For example, revenue can be tracked by products and services, classes, locations, projects, and employees. You can also micro-filter specific customers, classes, locations, and more.

The following datasets can be used to create custom charts:

• Expenses
• Revenue
• Gross profit
• Net profit
• Accounts receivable
• Accounts payable
• Cost of Goods...

Business analytics with Excel

Business analytics with Excel, also known as Spreadsheet Sync, can be used to track business performance by using Excel to create custom charts and graphs with your QuickBooks data. You can use pre-made templates to build consolidated reports for multiple companies or for a single entity. With Business analytics with Excel, you will be able to access Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which will enable you to make good business decisions using real-time information.

Follow the steps below to access Business analytics with Excel, also known as Spreadsheet Sync:

1. Click on the gear icon and select Spreadsheet Sync as shown in Figure 17.48:

   

   Figure 17.48: Selecting Spreadsheet Sync from TOOLS

2. The following window displays:

   

   Figure 17.49: Start-up tips for Spreadsheet Sync

   In Figure 17.49, there are three steps that you need to take to start using Spreadsheet Sync. You select open link, trust the add-in, and...

Priority Circle membership

Another feature that sets QBO Advanced apart from other QBO subscriptions is it includes membership in Priority Circle. Priority Circle membership gives you access to three types of services: a dedicated account team, 24/7 premium support, and QBO on-demand training.

These services are ideal if you have a medium or large team that needs to get up and running on QuickBooks quickly. Unlimited access to these services is included in the QBO Advanced subscription, so there is no additional charge.

Here is a brief description of the services included in Priority Circle membership:

• Dedicated account team: This includes access to a team of QBO experts who can provide answers to the most common product-related questions. These experts will be familiar with your business when you call in, which will ensure that the answers you receive are applicable to your business needs.
• 24/7 premium support: This service includes front-of-the-queue access...

Summary

In this chapter, we have provided you with a detailed look at the features that are only available in the top-tier QBO plan, QBO Advanced. The topics we covered included accessing the QBO test drive, using customized fields on forms, setting custom user permissions to control what areas of QuickBooks you give other users access to, how to use workflow automation to streamline deadline-driven tasks, importing invoices and budgets to save time, utilizing batch-entry transactions to create invoices, reclassifying transactions, DocuSign integration, the options you have for backing up your QBO data, how the Performance Center and custom charts work, an overview of Business analytics with Excel, and what’s included in Priority Circle membership. Now that you have a better understanding of what’s included in QBO Advanced, it will help you to determine whether it is the right subscription for your business.

This is the final chapter of this book. Be sure to review...