alt="Technicalstuff"/> At some points, I may include some geeky stuff about QuickBooks, your web browser, or your computer. You can safely skip over the technical stuff if that’s not your cup of tea.
Beyond the Book
In addition to the book content, this product comes with a free, access-anywhere Cheat Sheet that lists keyboard shortcuts for QBO and QBOA and handy toolbar buttons in QBO. To get this Cheat Sheet, go to www.dummies.com and search for “QuickBooks Online For Dummies Cheat Sheet.”
You can keep the learning going with the most up-to-date information and tutorials from School of Bookkeeping (https://schoolofbookkeeping.com/). The folks there (one of which is the technical editor of this book) have broken down every version of QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks services (Payments and Payroll), and other tasks into bite-sized lessons you can watch and get back to business. Use promo code QBO4DUMMIES to save 20% on any membership.
Where to Go from Here
Simply turn the page. Seriously. You can dive in anywhere you want and come back as often as you like. You don’t have to read through this book cover to cover, as you would a Lee Child thriller, because each chapter stands alone and provides step-by-step instructions for common tasks. You should consider this book to be a reference that you can use when you need it.
That said, if you’re getting started with QBO or QBOA, you may want read the chapters in Part 1 in order. Then feel free to explore any chapter you want, using the table of contents or the index to find topics that interest you.
Part 1
Getting Started with QBO and QBOA
IN THIS PART …
Examine what QBO is and what it isn’t.
Learn the requirements to use QBO.
Meet the QBO interface.
Chapter 1
Presenting QuickBooks Online
IN THIS CHAPTER
QuickBooks Online is a web-based platform you can use to manage accounting records for a business. Business owners and employees will use QuickBooks Online, whereas accounting professionals will use QuickBooks Online Accountant. In this book, I often refer to QuickBooks Online as simply QuickBooks, and QuickBooks Online Accountant as QB Accountant. In this chapter, I introduce these products and discuss whether you should move your accounting tasks to the cloud.
Comparing QuickBooks and QB Accountant
If you own or work for a business that is looking to maintain accounting records more effectively, QuickBooks Online may be just the ticket; you can use it to manage customers, vendors, employees, and contractors, as well as the panoply of related accounting transactions. Any experience you have in QuickBooks Desktop will help you understand accounting software as a whole, but keep in mind that QuickBooks Online is a separate, distinct product written specifically for the internet. This version of QuickBooks was written from scratch, so you’re not going to see any screens that mirror QuickBooks Desktop. Also, QuickBooks Desktop certainly does some things better than its online counterpart, such as inventory tracking. But QuickBooks Desktop allows you to access your books only from certain computers, whereas you can access QuickBooks Online from any device that’s connected to the internet.
QuickBooks Online Accountant (QB Accountant) is a free cloud-based portal that accounting professionals use to access clients’ QuickBooks Online companies and communicate with clients. QB Accountant includes a QuickBooks Online company that accountants can use to account for their own businesses, but the standard subscription fees apply for any additional QuickBooks Online companies that accountants establish for themselves or their clients.
Comparing interfaces
QuickBooks Online was initially written and optimized to be used only in web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, and Microsoft Edge. Now you can use QuickBooks apps on iOS and Android mobile devices as well. A short-lived QuickBooks Online app for Mac and Windows computers has been discontinued. If you previously installed the desktop app, you can continue to use it, but it’s no longer available to install due to low use and the product will no longer be updated.
QuickBooks ONLINE ADVANCED APP
QB Accountant users can download the QuickBooks Online Advanced App for Windows by using the following steps:
1 Log into QuickBooks Online Accountant.
2 Click the Settings button.
3 Click Get the Desktop App.
4 Click Download for Windows.
5 Follow the onscreen instructions once you launch the installation file.
In a browser, an open QuickBooks company looks similar to the one shown in Figure 1-1. I cover the interface in more detail in Chapter 3, but for the time being, the most important thing to notice is the navigation bar that runs down the left side of the screen. QuickBooks Desktop offers a similar navigation aid, so this bar may feel familiar. Click any link to navigate to that portion of the program.
FIGURE 1-1: The setup window for a newly created QuickBooks company.
