The experienced QuickBooks Desktop user’s guide to getting around in QuickBooks Online

Daisy Flowers has been using QuickBooks Desktop (QBD) for over 10 years, knowing it inside and out. But, after converting her business over to QuickBooks Online (QBO), Daisy felt lost because the QBD Home Page was missing. For years, the Home Page was the first thing that Daisy saw upon logging in into QBD, and she could use it to perform almost every task she needed, all from one convenient location. Now, that the Home Page is gone, Daisy doesn’t know what to do anymore. How was she going to enter her bills, receive her customer’s payments, record bank deposits, and reconcile her bank accounts? She shuddered at the thought of clicking link after link just for something as simple as entering a vendor bill. However, Daisy shouldn’t panic, because all the actions that Daisy was used to performing in QBD are available and easy-to-find in QBO. Today, I’ll show you and Daisy the experienced QuickBooks Desktop user’s guide to getting around in QuickBooks Online.

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The tasks that you were used to performing in QuickBooks Desktop are available and easy-to-find…
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Getting familiar with QuickBooks Online

Everything starts with a solid foundation. And, the best way for Daisy to start is by learning how to get around QBO 2017.

Most of the actions from the QBD Home Page are performed from the Quick Create Icon (that’s the + icon which turns into an X).

In this post, I will be showing you and Daisy how to perform tasks primarily using the Quick Create Icon. This is the quickest shortcut for most tasks in QBO, but the same task can be performed multiple ways in QBO, just as it can in QBD.

To make this transition easy to understand, let’s use the QBD Home Page (like the one below) as a reference point. We’ll go over the Home Page’s five primary sections (Vendors, Customers, Employees, Company, and Banking), and for each section, I’ll show where you where Daisy can perform the same tasks in QBO. Now let’s jump right in.

How to perform Vendors Section tasks in QBO

Let’s begin by going over how Daisy can perform some common tasks from the Vendors section of the QBD Home Page right here in QuickBooks Online. Common tasks from the Vendors section include:

• Creating Purchase Orders
• Entering Bills
• Paying Bills
• Managing Sales Tax

To Create Purchase Orders, Enter Bills, and Pay Bills

1. Select the Quick Create Icon.
2. Look for the Vendors heading.
3. Select Purchase Order to create a new Purchase Order.
4. Select Bill to create a new Vendor Bill.
5. Select Pay Bills to pay an open Vendor Bill.

To Manage Sales Tax

1. Go to the Left-Hand Navigation Bar.
2. Select Taxes.
3. You will be taken to the Sales Tax Center. You can use the sales tax center to view the sales tax your business owes and record sales tax payments.

How to perform Customers Section tasks in QBO

Now, let’s go over how Daisy can perform some common tasks from the Customers section of the QBD Home Page here in QuickBooks Online.

Common tasks from the Customers section include:

• Creating Estimates
• Creating Invoices
• Receiving Payment
• Creating Sales Receipts
• Creating Refunds & Credits

To Create Estimates, Enter Invoices, Receive Payments, and Enter Sales Receipts:

1. Select the Quick Create Icon.
2. Look for the Customers heading.
3. Select Estimate to create a new Estimate.
4. Select Invoice to create a new Customer Invoice.
5. Select Receive Payment to receive customer payments on an open invoice.
6. Select Sales Receipt to create a new Sales Receipt.

To create Refunds & Credits:

1. Select the Quick Create Icon.
2. Look for the Customers heading.
3. Select Refund Receipt to create a refund.
4. Select Credit Memo to create a credit for an open customer invoice.

 

How to perform Employees Section tasks in QBO

Let’s continue by covering the tasks that Daisy can perform from the Employees section of the QBD Home Page here in QuickBooks Online.

Common tasks from the Employees section include:

• Turning on Payroll
• Entering Time
• Paying Employees
• Paying Liabilities

To Turn on Payroll:

1. Select the Quick Create Icon.
2. Look for the Employees heading.
3. Select Payroll with the arrowing pointing up.

 

To Enter Time:

1. Select the Quick Create Icon.
2. Look for the Employees heading.
3. Select Sales Single Time Activity OR Weekly Timesheet.

To Pay Employees and Pay Liabilities:

Start by getting set up with QuickBooks Full Service Payroll. Once QuickBooks Full Service Payroll has been set up, Daisy can pay her employees and payroll liabilities by:

1. Going to the Left-Hand Navigation Bar.
2. Selecting Workers or Employees.

How to perform Company Section tasks in QBO

Moving right along, we’ve reached the Company section. Now let’s explore where Daisy can perform some common tasks from this section of the QBD Home Page in QuickBooks Online.

Common tasks from the Company section include:

• Viewing the Chart of Accounts
• Viewing Items & Services

To see the Chart of Accounts:

1. Select the Gear Icon.
2. Look for the Your Company heading.
3. Select Chart of Accounts.

To see the Items & Services list:

1. Select the Gear Icon.
2. Look for the Lists heading.
3. Select Products and Services.

 

How to perform Banking Section tasks in QBO

We’ve finally reached the last section of the QBD Home Page; Banking. Let’s go over the tasks from this section that she can perform in QuickBooks Online.

Common tasks from the Banking section include:

• Recording Deposits
• Writing Checks
• Entering Credit Card Charges
• Reconciling

To Record Deposits:

1. Select the Quick Create Icon.
2. Select Bank Deposit to record a new customer deposit.

To Write Checks and Enter Credit Card Charges:

1. Select the Quick Create Icon, that’s the plus (+) icon.
2. Look for the Vendors heading.
3. Select Check to enter a new check.
4. Select Expense to enter a new credit card charge.

To Reconcile a bank account:

1. Select the Gear Icon.
2. Look for the Tools heading.
3. Select Reconcile.

Closing

Now that we’ve gone through the experienced QuickBooks Desktop user’s guide to getting around in QuickBooks Online, Daisy can rest assured that she won’t have to click link after link just to perform a few essential tasks. She now understands that most of the tasks she was used to seeing on the QBD Home Page can be found by selecting the Quick Create Icon or the Gear Icon in QuickBooks Online. She can be confident that she ultimately made the right decision to convert her company to QBO, and is now ready to dive into her efficient workflow with QuickBooks Online.

 

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