Quickbooks online –Where to start from?

Congratulations! You decided to use QuickBooks online for accounting or yes you bought the desktop version that gives you an option to use QuickBooks online for free for a year. You set it up going through the prompts and are now wondering what to do next. Where to start from?

Being an accountant using QuickBooks for a long time here are the two main steps that I would suggest you to go through

1. Step One-Set up Chart of Accounts

The first step would be to set up chart of accounts or import them if you have one. I personally do not prefer using their default chart of accounts since they are way too detailed and a business that is just starting up does not need so many accounts. In a nutshell, I like to keep it simple so I just import in basic chart of accounts that are tailored mostly to needs of startups. If you need one for your startup business click here to download and feel free to import it as is since it is formatted to be directly imported into QuickBooks.

Below is the screenshot of how you can import chart of accounts into quickbooks. In quickbooks online, in the left pane scroll down and click on “Chart of Accounts” (highligted below). Look for “New” highliged in green in the top right corner. DO NOT click on it but click the arrow next to it to import chart of accounts. After that just follow the prompts.

Tip: When you are on the import screen click on“Download a sample file” and use it as a tempalate to enter your account numbers, account descriptions, type, detail type etc. Import this file into quickbooks so that you do not have to format in quickbooks. All the accounts get in there seamlessly. See below for a screenshot on how to do that.

Where are my account numbers?

I ended up asking this question after I was done with my chart of accounts import. Don’t worry its easy to turn on. Click the Gear icon and look for “Account and Settings” below “Your Company” in the top left corner of the pop up. Click on it and then select “Advanced” in the left pane. Look for “Chart of Accounts” and select the “Enable account numbers” and “Show account numbers” checkbox. Hit save to save your changes. See below for the screenshots.

You are now all set with your chart of accounts.

2. Step Two- Set up to import your bank and credit card information

After all, this is the foremost reason why you are getting quickbooks online or switching to it. So that you don’t have to manually enter or import your bank and credit card information periodically.

To connect your bank to quickbooks online for continuous feed click on “Transactions” in the left pane and select “ Banking”. Simply follow the prompts on the screen that shows up. Below is the screen shot.

You are now all set to roll.

You can provide your accountant an access to quickbooks online and the best part is you do not have to send them those monthly bank statements.

Remember by connecting your bank accounts to quickbooks online you are NOT providing access to your accountant to your bank account. The only thing they get is a continuous feed of all your bank transactions in real time. This way they can keep you updated on your company’s financial health in real time.

Congratulations! on your new start

Any questions? Need assistance or help with any other quickbooks function. We are here to help. Just email us on info@mlcpas.net or call us on 631-352-0786. We provide you with 15 minutes free consultation. We are Quickbooks ProAdvisor and can assist you with all your accounting as well as tax needs.