Accounting
Newest Features in QuickBooks Online Advanced Speed Workflow
Many accountants and bookkeepers who want to build and/or maintain a cloud-based practice have turned to QuickBooks Online Advanced – Intuit’s latest cloud-based offering – to meet the needs of their fast-growing, high value clients who may be ...
Nov. 15, 2019
Many accountants and bookkeepers who want to build and/or maintain a cloud-based practice have turned to QuickBooks Online Advanced – Intuit’s latest cloud-based offering – to meet the needs of their fast-growing, high value clients who may be outgrowing their current solution.
Who is the ideal client for QuickBooks Online Advanced? Growing businesses whose needs have become complex. These businesses are typically poorly served by expensive, multi-functional systems of which they only use a fraction of the features. They have a larger staff they need to give access to the books at varying levels, process hundreds of checks and invoices, and have complicated reporting needs.
First launched in Fall 2018, Intuit has added more features[1] – all based on customer feedback – to QuickBooks Online Advanced to make it even more robust for fast-growing, complex businesses. Here’s a summary of what’s new:
Batch entry of checks:
In addition to batch invoicing where users can create and batch hundreds of invoice transactions at a time, QuickBooks Online Advanced now includes batch entry of checks.
“Our research shows customers can create invoices 37 percent faster with batch invoicing2,” said Nima Patel, Senior Marketing Manager at Intuit. “Now, batch entry of checks will provide efficiency to the time-consuming, repetitive process of check entry.”
Users can batch enter checks with category or item details, or easily duplicate line items for multiple categories for a single check. They can also add up to 150 checks at once.
In addition, two other new features to batch entry will soon be available: batch edit of invoices and batch entry of expenses. Look for more content on these two features in the near future.
Google Sheets integration:
Previously, reports could only be exported to Microsoft Excel and PDF. With more cloud-based practices and businesses of all kinds using Google Tools to collaborate and share information, clients can now export reports directly to Google Sheets with a single click. By simply linking QuickBooks Online Advanced and Google accounts, users can more easily collaborate on reports in Google Sheets.
Workflow hub:
Growing companies often struggle with scaling manual workflows. Powered by automation, Workflow Hub is QuickBooks Online Advanced’s answer to this challenge. Now workflows can be automated to save time and increase productivity, making it easier for businesses to work inside QuickBooks Online Advanced. Initially, the Hub will include workflow templates that can be set up to automatically send invoices, reminders for bank deposits, and reminders to send invoices.
“Our research has shown that scaling manual workflows is a constraint as companies grow. With Workflow Hub, companies can scale these workflows with the power of automation to save time and increase their productivity,” said Jason Sage, Senior Marketing Manager at Intuit.
Custom roles:
Today, QuickBooks Online Advanced offers custom user permissions, and more options are coming to this feature. Coming soon will be custom roles which will have more granularity on permissions and users will be able to assign each staff member to a specific role with unique access permissions. For example, users can be assigned and put into various “buckets” by their function within the business, such as a sales associate or accounts receivable clerk.
Dashboard widgets:
Also coming soon to QuickBooks Online Advanced will be dashboard widgets for revenue streams and cash flow. Revenue streams will show the business’s top three revenue streams, at a glance. The cash flow widget will show net and operating income for the business. Both will provide the opportunity to dive deeper for more analysis. Patel says this is something accountants will find value in.
“Accountants tell us the number one challenge their fast growing, complex clients face is managing cash flow — not only being more aware of their cash on hand, but also managing it for the short and long term,” she says. “Accountants can use these tools to stay on top of key money makers and cash flow.”
These are the newest additions to a list of already impressive features available in QuickBooks Online Advanced. Other features include smart reporting powered by Fathom, enhanced custom fields, a third accountant seat, Priority Circle membership and up to 25 users with full and simultaneous access.
Learn more about these and other features of QuickBooks Online Advanced and take a test drive to see for yourself how it works.
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[1] This information is not intended to outline Intuit’s general product direction, represents no obligation, and should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.
[2] Based off of tests comparing QuickBooks Online regular invoice workflow with QuickBooks Online Advanced multiple invoice workflow. QuickBooks Online Advanced supports the upload of 1,000 transaction lines for invoices at one time. Number of invoices imported depends on number of transaction lines in the .CSV file. Customers received remuneration for participating in the tests.