Whether you run a small-scale business or a bigger enterprise, managing income and tracking experience is essential to maintain its financial health. There are several tasks involved in the accounting side of a business – be it paying bills, invoicing customers, preparing taxes, and generating reports, to name a few. You expect each of these tasks to be done efficiently, which is where QuickBooks software comes into the picture.
Being a popular business accounting software, QuickBooks helps business owners in switching from manual accounting/bookkeeping to automated accounting. This desktop software allows you to pay bills, prepare taxes, manage inventory, and more. It automates various types of transactions related to inventory, employee payroll, accounts payables, and receivables. The best part is that it is available without burning a hole in the pocket.
QuickBooks software is also available in different versions, each with distinct features and benefits. Depending on the uses of QuickBooks specific to the business, one can select the right version – QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Accountant, or Enterprise. Even industry-specific QuickBooks editions are also available if the business falls into particular industries like retail, manufacturing, etc..
If you are still puzzled by the manual accounting processes and are looking for reasons to switch to QuickBooks, let’s help you forward toward making the right decision with the primary benefits of QuickBooks.
- Automated Expenses/Bills Tracking
Maintaining different paper-based files to record distinct expenses and bills to be paid is a time-consuming process. Besides this, there is a risk that losing any of the files or making any human error can lead to a mismatch in accounting calculations. QuickBooks desktop software enables business owners to track expenses and bills automatically without significant human intervention.
It is easy to connect credit card or bank account details with the software and then categorize different expenses. Instead of manually checking transactions, one can record them in the software directly. This will also save time and effort to be invested in various redundant record-keeping activities.
- Intuitive interface
Like many other business owners, you might haven’t switched from manual accounting to accounting software yet because of the fear that it would be difficult to use. Being unable to use the accounting application easily might make you miss various numbers to be considered for business accounting. However, the reality about the uses of QuickBooks is quite the opposite.
One of the very reasons why millions of businesses across the globe use this application is its user-friendly interface. Its streamlined navigation and intuitive features make it easy to use even for first-time users. With successful login into the QuickBooks account, the most critical business information like P&L data, sales, expenses, and invoices are easily accessible.
- Reliable reporting
No matter how many customers a business serves through its offerings, the owner would certainly want to know about the invoices created and sent, bills paid, accounts created, and taxes calculated. Doing this all manually can lead to errors in data accuracy, which is where the benefits of QuickBooks come to the rescue.
The accounting software provides you with report frameworks, invoice reminders and support, a chart of accounts, and more. You can also benefit from accessing different types of reports, such as General ledger, Profit and Losses, Recent transactions, and Cash flow statements, to name a few. Easy reporting ultimately means better and faster decision-making.
- Online payment support
Getting paid by your clients on time is indeed a big thing for many businesses. If yours is one of them, you would have to wait for them to write a check to accept payments. Because of external dependency, there can be significant delays in getting the payments. Again, QuickBooks can solve this problem with its online billing feature.
Using this feature, you can send invoices to clients via email and charge them via their credit or debit cards. Amidst the rising relevance of digital payments, adding the digital payment angle can give it a much-needed competitive advantage.
- Payroll processing
Whether you have five, ten or a hundred employees working for the organization, you want to keep them all happy. The issue with manual payroll processing is that any small mistake can make many of your employees unhappy – something you would never want. Amongst many other benefits of QuickBooks, there is simplified payroll processing.
You can utilize QuickBooks Payroll either as a full-service or self-service solution to pay up to 50 employees via direct deposit or check. Under the full-service package, one can even get the year-end W-2 tax forms for state, local, and federal taxes calculated automatically.
- Simplified tax filing
Amidst the current tax season, the last thing any business owner would want to face is accounting errors. It’s that time of the year when business owners want to share every bank statement and transaction details with their accountant for verification, tax calculation, and filing of tax returns. Any possible delay in obtaining the right number may lead to hefty fines for non-compliance with tax laws.
QuickBooks can make your tax preparation process easier by allowing you to monitor the total income and file tax returns without errors. One can get unified access to all the data that can be shared with the CPAs for verification.
- Multiple supported add-ons
QuickBooks desktop software has a limited feature set that automates various accounting activities. However, this does not mean you cannot make it do more for the business. With the easy availability of 700+ QuickBooks add-ons and simplified integration, one can add more features to this basic software.
QuickBooks add-ons are third-party software modules that can be integrated with QuickBooks software to add more features. For instance, Bill.com add-on is meant to ensure secure electronic payment acceptance via credit card, ACH, or PayPal. Once it is integrated with QuickBooks, one can perform any billing update without much effort.
Does Small Business Need QuickBooks Software?
Since there are several versions of QuickBooks software available in the market, many of you might feel confused thinking whether it is meant for a small business. The truth is – you can streamline various sides of business using this comprehensive accounting software. The right selection can be made based on the following parameters:
- Business size
For a small business, the most basic version of QuickBooks – QuickBooks Pro can be used instead of relying on a spreadsheet or any free accounting software.
- Bookkeeping needs
For businesses dealing with lots of monthly transactions, the need to track revenues and expenses in detail cannot be ignored. This is where the uses of QuickBooks can take the center stage.
- Compliance requirements
As a business grows, one may need to adhere to legal compliance and financial reporting requirements. This accounting software can help businesses stay compliant and avoid any legal issues.
Do More with QuickBooks Cloud Hosting
By placing QuickBooks software around the accounting strategies for your business, you can benefit from automation on various fronts. While QuickBooks desktop software requires local computer installation and can only be accessed through such dedicated systems, take it to the cloud with the help of QuickBooks cloud hosting and benefit from remote accessibility of the software.
When hosted in the cloud environment, QuickBooks becomes accessible from anywhere and anytime. It also frees up the computing resources of a local computer as the software files and data are migrated to the cloud. The best part is that it can fit the budget of almost every small business.
For example, Ace Cloud Hosting is a renowned Quickbooks hosting provider for thousands of clients on the cloud. Their basic hosting plan – Essentials, is priced at $34.99 per user per month (billed annually), including assisted migration/setup, 99.999% uptime, multi-user access, and more. As your business grows, you can easily scale up the hosting plan to Business (priced at $39.99 per user per month (billed annually). This is particularly helpful during tax season to get more things done in less time.
