How to Set Your QuickBooks Up For Success in 5 Easy Steps

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How to Set Your QuickBooks Up For Success in 5 Easy Steps

Accounting automation programs are incredible… but if you think it’s as easy as pressing sign up, you could be automating a nightmare. Proper setup is crucial to success.

There are several online bookkeeping applications to choose from for many types of businesses. Although they can be similar in nature, we chose to focus on one accounting application and learn it well: QuickBooks Online. 

Quickbooks Online is great if you need remote access to the books. QBO also has a huge app library to help you with keeping track of inventory, expenses, and more.

Every accounting system has a few key items involved in the setup. If not set correctly in the beginning, the result is financial information you won’t be able to rely on.

Here are 5 crucial steps in setting up your QBO software.

1. Chart of Account

This is the backbone of your Financial Story and needs to consist of the 5 account categories – Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenue and Expenses.

QBO, like most accounting software, allows you to set up your own. However, you should seek the assistance of someone that has a total understanding of what each account means and how it is linked to a subledger.

2. Connect your Bank Accounts and Credit Cards

This set will allow for some automation to take place.  As your bank has new transactions happening, new items will appear in your bank feed.

These will appear as entries that you need to make. QBO will already fill in the data and the amount of the transaction and then will ask you choose the customer or vendor, choose the appropriate tax category and choose which chart of accounts account to use (typically, which Sales or Expense Account).

3. Payroll

If you have payroll to set up, we strongly encourage that you seek the help of a professional to help with the migration to QBO.

Setting employees up with year-to-date payroll can be difficult and having the correct information is vital when it comes to preparing year-to-date payroll stubs and year-end T4s.

4. Prior Year and Current Year History

If you are moving from the desktop version of QB to the online version you can work with QBO directly to migrate the data for you.

Know that the support of a professional bookkeeper will be truly helpful with this process.

5. Get Training

We have encountered countless setups that are done incorrectly, which leads to all the work having to be re-done.  If you invest in training with a bookkeeping training specialist you will earn back the value of the associated costs 10 times over the costs of having to have someone clean up messy books.

Having someone that understands your unique needs and how to apply those needs into your accounting software will outweigh the fees for having the program set up.

Want to know more? Click here to learn about our software training and setup program.