Save Time and Boost Accuracy with computer based accounting software

QuickBooks can be a very helpful piece of software when it comes to your regular accounting processes, such as payroll, but be careful not to overlook features that are added to the software on a regular basis.

In many small businesses, having your payroll processed by an accountant or outside payroll company is a costly monthly expense. With QuickBooks' payroll module, payroll processing is simple and can be done in house.

QuickBooks is continuously adding features to its software that can save time and allow for more accurate processing. To help ensure you haven't missed some new feature that could be valuable to your business, consider visiting an online forum.

The forums can be helpful and visiting one should be one of the first steps you take when you encounter a problem. Chances are someone else has had the problem before and you can correspond with other QuickBooks users who are trying to use a function that may be of assistance to you.

To access the online forums, open your QuickBooks program, click on Help/QuickBooks Online/User to User Forums.

The forums are divided into specific areas of QuickBooks, so look for the area that is giving you a problem and search through the postings.

You can also login and post a question and you should get replies within a few days.
For immediate assistance, you can contact our firm and we may be able to assist you, or call QuickBooks Tech Support or a Certified ProAdvisor near you.
The business owner can provide employees with access to the software and limit that access to time entry. This way, employees will access the time entry portion of QuickBooks daily to enter their hours worked and allocate it to appropriate customers if required.

When you are processing payroll, you simply select the dates for the pay period and QuickBooks will pull together the hours worked. As an added bonus, when you prepare invoices, you can select to bill customers for the employee's time by selecting Time/Costs on your invoice screen.

If you don't want to provide employees with access to QuickBooks, there is a timer that can be set on employees' desktops that can be used to track time entries. The data can then be imported into your QuickBooks file. This feature is only available in QuickBooks Premier -- Accountants and Bookkeepers Edition.

When your company has more than one division, QuickBooks has a category of classes that are very easy to use. Using them involves entering the class of your income or expense when posting entries. You can then view reports that will display the details of each division and their respective incomes or losses.

There are also industry specific versions of QuickBooks for Accountants, Contractors and Non-Profit industries.
The Contractors version, for example, enables a construction company to:

Issue progressive invoices based on estimates given to the client.

Compare estimates to actual invoices,

Compare profit and loss by job, and

Set up a vendor as a subcontractor therefore allowing for ease when filing the Canada Revenue Agency required Form T5018.
Talk to your accountant about how the special features of QuickBooks can help you work smarter not harder.