Top 14 QuickBooks Online Tips (Including Keyboard Shortcuts)

Online banking, also known as bank feeds, is one of QuickBooks Online’s most helpful and time-saving features. When you connect an account, QuickBooks downloads and categorizes bank and credit card transactions for you automatically―you only need to approve the work. You can connect as many accounts as necessary.

Linking an account in QuickBooks Online

To connect bank transactions and credit card accounts in QuickBooks Online, select Link Account on the Banking tab, add your account, and then follow the onscreen steps to link your account information. You may read our guide on how to connect your bank accounts to QuickBooks Online and how to connect your credit card to QuickBooks Online for the in-depth processes.

Keyboard shortcuts help save you time and allow you to keep your hands on the keyboard as you enter information. Use the keyboard shortcuts summarized in the table below when working in a transaction window.

QuickBooks Online has two basic sales items: products and services. We recommend creating items for every product or service you provide so that issuing invoices and entering purchases will be much quicker. This will also give you more detail with reports, allowing you to track financial info by product or service. Read our guide to learn how to set up your products and services list in QuickBooks Online.

When creating an item, you’ll have four types to choose from Noninventory, Service, Bundle, and Inventory. Bundles and Inventory tracking are only available with QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. Bundle allows you to package and sell multiple items as a single product or service while Inventory allows you to track exact quantities and costs of products on hand.

Adding a product or service in QuickBooks Online

The Undeposited Funds account keeps a record of payments in QuickBooks until you deposit the same payments at your bank. Banks often combine all the cash and checks you deposit into a single transaction. Once you have your deposit slip and know which payments your bank combined, you can do the same in QuickBooks. This makes tracing the deposits in your account register in QuickBooks to your bank statements much easier.

You can think of the Undeposited Funds account as a virtual “lockbox” that you store your payments in until you’re ready to take them to the bank. For more information, check out our tutorial on how to record bank deposits in QuickBooks Online.

Steps for Using the Undeposited Funds account (Source: QuickBooks Online)

To ensure accurate financial data, you must reconcile your bank accounts monthly, ideally when you receive the alert that your bank statement is available. The process can be done quickly if you connect your online bank accounts to QuickBooks Online and perform regular upkeep throughout the month. By reconciling, errors like duplicate entries and incorrect amounts can be identified because you’re matching transactions entered in QuickBooks Online against transactions shown on the bank statements.

To reconcile your bank account:

• Step 1: Click on Accounting from the left menu bar and select Reconcile.
• Step 2: Choose the account you wish to reconcile.
• Step 3: Enter the ending account balance and date from your bank statement. You may also enter the service charge or interest earned if needed.
• Step 4: Match your transactions until the bank reconciliation has a difference of zero.
• Step 5: Click Finish now to save your changes.

Preparing to reconcile a bank account in QuickBooks Online

Classes represent different aspects of your business like departments or product lines. You can use classes to obtain deeper insights into the sales, expenses, and profitability of each part of your business. Once you turn on the feature, you can assign classes to transactions.

Here’s how to enable class and location tracking:

• Step 1: From your dashboard, click on the gear icon and select Account and Settings.
• Step 2: Select Advanced, then choose the Categories section to edit.
• Step 3. Toggle the Track classes and Track location buttons to on.
• Step 4: Under Assign classes, select One to entire transaction or One to each row in transaction, whichever you prefer. Check Warn me (not shown) when a transaction isn’t assigned a class. This is optional, but it’s good to turn it on so that when you look at reports, you know that everything has been classified.
• Step 5: Select Save and then Done.

Turning location and class tracking on in QuickBooks Online

After completing the steps above, class and location fields or columns are added to your forms, so you can assign each transaction a class and location. After assigning transactions, you can print many reports separately for each class or location.

QuickBooks Online lets you upload and save attachments to any transaction. This makes referencing source documents easier and more efficient. To add an attachment, follow the steps below:

• Step 1: Open an invoice or other transaction.
• Step 2: Click the Attachments icon in the bottom left corner.
• Step 3: Browse for the files you want to attach.
• Step 4: Click Save.

Adding attachments to an invoice

QuickBooks Online lets you view the source document when viewing the transaction. This is helpful for receipts, bank statements, copies of transactions, and so on.

Rather than entering individual transactions manually that occur repeatedly, you can automate the process by setting up recurring transactions. These include bills, rent payments, income, and purchase orders from suppliers. It helps save you time and also serves as a reminder for upcoming transactions.

Setting up a recurring transaction in QuickBooks Online

Recurring transactions are available with QuickBooks Online Essentials and Plus, and you can create them by following this process:

• Step 1: Select the Gear icon at the top right of the screen.
• Step 2: Under Lists, select Recurring Transactions.
• Step 3: Click New.
• Step 4: Select the type of transaction to create and select OK.
• Step 5: Enter a template name.
• Step 6: Choose a type, such as scheduled, unscheduled, or reminder.
• Step 7: Enter the necessary information.
• Step 8: Save the template.

You can also set up recurring invoices by clicking Make Recurring at the bottom of the invoice window.

Adding a recurring invoice in QuickBooks Online

Instead of using separate software to pay your bills online, you can pay directly without having to leave QuickBooks. Using Online Bill Pay, you can pay bills and send checks easily without asking your vendors to set up anything on their end. It lets you use a credit card to pay a bill, and then QuickBooks Online will send a check to your vendor. You can also pay 1099 contractors with paper checks and bank transfers, pay invoices, and schedule bill payments in real time.

You need to activate Online Bill Pay from your QuickBooks Online account before you can use it. To do this:

• Step 1: Click on +New.
• Step 2: Select Pay Bills Online.
• Step 3: Set up your bank account information.
• Step 4: Follow the prompts to connect your bank account then save your changes.

Access Pay Bills Online in QuickBooks Online

Note that QuickBooks Online Bill Pay is available in all versions of QuickBooks Online, except Accountant.

To view available reports, click on the Reports menu item on the left navigation bar. On the Reports page, you’ll see that it’s divided into three tabs: Standard, Custom, and Management Reports. At the top of the Standard page is the Favorites page. You can add any report to this list by clicking the star button next to it.

Favorite reports in QuickBooks Online

If you’re new to QuickBooks Online, you can benefit from the QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor program. One of the reasons QuickBooks Online is so popular is that it sets you up with Intuit-certified local bookkeepers and accountants—experts who have demonstrated their proficiency with QuickBooks products by passing a series of exams.

With the program, a local certified public accountant (CPA) or bookkeeping expert will help you accomplish various tasks in QuickBooks, such as setting up your QuickBooks company, reconciling bank and credit card transactions, and generating the reports you need to file tax returns.

To find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, you may browse through Intuit’s directory to find an accountant near you, depending on your city, state, and ZIP code. You can narrow your preferences down by specifying the type of services you need and the industry you’re in, such as manufacturing, construction, property management, and nonprofit. Alternatively, you can sign up for QuickBooks Live, which connects you to a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, but you’ll have to work with them directly within the QuickBooks platform.

Finding a ProAdvisor on the QuickBooks website

With mobile accounting becoming a norm among modern businesses, it’s crucial to have a mobile app that lets you access your favorite accounting features from your smartphone. The QuickBooks Online mobile app includes nearly all the features found in the desktop interface, with some added functions, like receipt capture and mileage tracking. It can be downloaded on Google Play and the App Store.