desktop product
❯❯ Using the QBO Payroll mobile app to pay employees, view past paychecks, electronically pay taxes, and electronically file tax forms
If an accountant who is not enrolled in the Intuit Wholesale Pricing program creates a QBO Essentials or Plus company for a client, the client company can turn on QBO payroll (QBOP) from the Employees screen in the client's company (refer to Figure 2-1). Clients can prepare payroll for themselves or accounting professionals can manage all payroll functions for clients.
If the accountant is enrolled in the Intuit Wholesale Pricing program and creates a QBO Essential or Plus company for a client as part of the program, the accountant can set up the QBO company to use QBO Payroll (QBOP).
Last, an accountant can add an Intuit Full Service Payroll subscription to a client company subscription through QBOA, regardless of whether he or she is enrolled in the Wholesale Pricing Program.
Switching from QuickBooks Desktop
At this point (or maybe earlier than now), you might have been wondering if you can easily switch to QBO if you have been a QuickBooks desktop program user. And, the answer is yes. Chapter 12 provides details on importing QuickBooks desktop data into QBO. And, the import process doesn’t affect your original desktop company; it’s still available via the desktop product. After you import your data into QBO, you should run the Profit & Loss report and the Balance Sheet using the Accrual method for all dates from both QBO and QuickBooks desktop to ensure both versions show the same information.
And, if you want some reassurance that you’ll get the same accurate information from QBO that you got from QuickBooks desktop, you can “run in parallel” for a time period you specify. For example, you might decide to enter all your transactions in both versions of the software for one month; at the end of that time, you can run reports from both products and make sure you see the same information.
Where Add-On Apps Fit In
QBO doesn’t operate as a complete, standalone accounting solution. It has functional limitations. The section “Addressing payroll needs” highlights one such limitation – and shows how you can use Intuit add-ons to achieve more functionality in QBO. And, earlier in this chapter I briefly mention Intuit’s Payments app, which supports electronic customer payment processing and integrates with QBO.
But those aren’t the only apps available for QBO; third-party developers have been creating apps to enhance the functionality of QBO. And, over time, you can expect more apps to be developed.
You can click the Apps link in the Navigation bar that runs down the left side of QBO to visit the App Center and explore available apps (see Figure 2-2).
FIGURE 2-2: Take a trip to the App Center to search for additional functionality for QBO.
Click any app to navigate to a page that describes the app, provides pricing information, and often provides a video about the app (see Figure 2-3).
FIGURE 2-3: When you click an app in the App Center, you see details for the app.
Although add-on apps can provide additional functionality in QBO, some functionality is still missing; no doubt, that functionality will appear over time. For example, using QBO, you can’t
❯❯ Track your balance sheet by class
❯❯ Process more than 350,000 transactions annually
❯❯ Track labor costs
❯❯ Manage a robust inventory
❯❯ Prepare and track progress invoices
But apps are making inroads to eliminating these limitations. For example, Lettuce, an app that provided advanced inventory management features for QBO, did such a fine job of handling inventory functions that Intuit acquired Lettuce for the purpose of integrating it into QBO.
Part 2
Managing the Books for the End User
IN THIS PART …
Become familiar with the QBO interface.
Manage list information needed to use QBO.
Enter transactions in QBO to update your company’s books.
Use reports to examine the condition of your company.
Chapter 3
Creating a Client Company in QBO
IN THIS CHAPTER
❯❯ Signing up for a QBO account
❯❯ Setting up a new QBO company
❯❯ Understanding the interface
❯❯ Working with company settings
❯❯ Updating the Chart of Accounts
❯❯ Working with multiple currencies
❯❯ Examining QuickBooks Labs
After you sign up for QBO, you log in. QBO then prompts you to set up your company. With certain limitations, you can import a company if you’ve been using a QuickBooks desktop product. Or, you can use the QBO Setup wizard, as shown in this chapter.
For details on importing a company, see Chapter 12 (or ask your accountant to help you with the import). And, don’t worry, if you don’t import your entire desktop company; you can import just the list information from that company, as described in Chapter 4. Importing lists will still save you a lot of time and setup work.
Signing Up for QBO
After you complete the sign-up process for a QBO account, Intuit, by default, logs you in to your account and walks you through the process of setting up your QBO company. The process is short – much shorter than the one you go through when setting up a QB desktop product company – and you need the following information:
❯❯ Your company’s name and address
❯❯ The industry in which your company operates
❯❯ Your company’s
