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5 QuickBooks Online Add-On Apps You May Need

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Not finding quite everything you need in QuickBooks Online? Here are some handy add-on apps available.

QuickBooks Online may work for you just fine as is. After all, it was designed to meet the needs of the millions of small businesses that want to manage and track their income and expenses, create records and transactions, and run reports to gauge their financial health. QuickBooks Online was also designed to grow along with your business. But there’s no need for Intuit to add internal features to do so. In fact, that would make it too expensive and unwieldy for many companies.

Instead, Intuit has partnered with other small business websites to provides add-ons–applications that extend the usefulness of QuickBooks Online in one or more areas, like accounts receivable and payable, inventory, and expense-tracking. They integrate easily to share data and do the extra work you need. Here are some of them to consider.

Bill.com

Bill.com automates your accounts receivable and payable processes. It supports electronic billing and payment, as well as multiple approval levels.

You can certainly enter and pay bills using QuickBooks Online. And you can send invoices to customers and receive payments. But adding a connection to Bill.com gives you more advanced options for accounts receivable and payable. Simply send your bills to Bill.com by scanning, emailing, faxing, or taking a picture with your smartphone. The site’s automation tools turn them into digital records and route them through your specified approvers. Once approved, they’re paid electronically or by paper check. Invoices are just as easy to process; customers can pay by using PayPal, credit card, or ACH. Bill.com’s mobile app makes it possible to keep up with invoices and bills while you’re out of the office.

Expensify

Are your employees still paper-clipping receipts to handwritten expense reports? This method is unnecessarily time-consuming – and often inaccurate. Expensify solves both problems. Your staff can take photos of receipts with their smartphones. Expensify then converts the expense information into coded digital records and submits them for approval based on your company’s policies. Credit card purchases can be automatically imported, too. All data is synchronized with QuickBooks Online in real-time and coded to reflect your preference of QBO’s expense accounts, customers/jobs, etc. Once you’ve approved a report, you can have the money deposited in the employee’s bank account the next day.

TSheets Time Tracking

TSheets employee scheduling software automates tasks that QuickBooks Online doesn’t do: scheduling and remote time-tracking for your hourly employees. Your staff no longer has to fill in paper timesheets. Instead, they can use their smartphones to track their hours and GPS location points. And while Excel is certainly better for creating schedules than paper, TSheets takes over that task, too. After you’ve approved timesheets, that information is sent over to QuickBooks, ready for use in your payroll processing.

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Your employees can easily “punch” in and out using their smartphones. TSheets also uses GPS technology so that your staff members’ locations are always known to you.

SOS Inventory

QuickBooks Online performs some basic inventory management tasks. You can create records for items and use them in transactions, and keep track of the number of items in stock so you know when to reorder (or have a sale). SOS Inventory goes well beyond those capabilities. You can create sales orders, track cost history and serial numbers, and document work-in-progress (WIP). SOS Inventory supports multiple locations and the entire pick/pack/ship process.

Insightly CRM

You can create thorough customer records in QuickBooks Online and document some of your interaction. But it doesn’t facilitate true Customer Relationship Management (CRM) nor project management. Insightly CRM does both. It lets you build exceptionally thorough customer profiles so that you can view social streams, email history, and any events, opportunities, or events related to them. Its project management features include the ability to track by pipelines or milestones, define contact roles and custom fields, and generate advanced project reporting.

QuickBooks Online Integration Key

All of these apps can work in standalone settings, but their integration with QuickBooks Online and their mobile capabilities create powerful partnerships that help you serve both your customers and your employees in ways that QuickBooks Online alone can’t.

We’re not trying to sell you applications here. Our concern is that you’re getting as much out of QuickBooks itself as you can. We can steer you toward add-on solutions if that seems necessary, but we’re always happy to work with you on getting to know QuickBooks Online better and matching its capabilities to your company’s needs.

Check Once, Check Twice – Find the Errors in Your Tax Return Before You File

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Closeup of female accountant looking through the receipts while working on a report.

Everyone makes mistakes, but making a mistake on your income-tax return can cost you. It could delay your refund, boost your tax bill, require an amended return or even trigger an audit. Before you submit your return electronically or put it in the mail, double-check to make sure you haven’t made any errors.

Simple slip ups

Many tax-return mistakes are simple ones. Ensure that you’ve entered the correct name, address and Social Security number for every person listed on your return. Another frequent error is to enter the right information on the wrong line. So it pays to go through your return line by line.

Clear up confusion

It’s important that you use the right filing status. If you’re not sure which filing status is right for you, use the interactive tool “What is My Filing Status?” on www.irs.gov. You can also check the IRS website to figure out who you can claim as a dependent. Once you determine who qualifies as your dependent(s), verify that you have checked the appropriate exemption boxes for your personal, spousal and dependency exemptions.

Correctly calculate credits and deductions

If you’re claiming any credits, such as the dependent care credit, you need to follow the instructions carefully. And check that you have completed the necessary forms or schedules. If you’re taking the standard deduction, verify that you are claiming the correct one. You can use the chart in the Form 1040 Instructions or use the interactive tool “How Much is My Standard Deduction?” on www.irs.gov.

Check your math

It’s very easy and common to make simple math errors while preparing your tax return. It’s a good idea to double-check that you’ve added and subtracted all numbers correctly and that you haven’t transposed any numbers. Ensure that you used the right column on the tax table when figuring out your tax.

Final details matter

Don’t be in such a rush to finish your return that you forget a few final, simple steps. If you’re filing a paper return, verify that you (and your spouse if it’s a joint return) have signed and dated the return. Attach Copy B of each Form W-2 that you received from your employers. Attach each Form 1099-R that shows federal tax withholding. And attach all other necessary schedules and forms in sequence number order. Make a copy of the return and all attachments for your own records. Use the correct mailing address from your tax form instructions, and include a check or money order if you owe tax. And, finally, check that you put sufficient postage on your envelope.

Connect with our team today for all the latest and most current tax rules and regulations by calling 212-880-2617 or requesting a consultation online.

Is a Tax Refund Really a Good Idea?

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It’s hard not to like a tax refund. And many taxpayers receive them — over 116 million federal income-tax refunds were issued to individual taxpayers in 2014, according to IRS data.

If you expect to receive a refund this year, here is some food for thought.

Plan for Your Taxes

The reason you are receiving a refund is that you paid too much tax, either through wage withholding or by making payments of estimated tax. Instead of giving the IRS what amounts to an interest-free loan, you could have invested your money or used it for other things during the year.

It might make sense to have your employer withhold less tax from your wages or to reduce your quarterly estimated tax payments. But don’t pay too little. Then, you would have a large tax bill to pay when you file your taxes — and you could be subject to an underpayment penalty.

Make Hay This Year

Now let’s look at this year’s refund. What are you planning to do with it? Something impulsive, like take a vacation or make a purchase you wouldn’t otherwise make? If your finances are in good shape, then go for it. If not, you might want to consider the following possibilities.

Debt reduction. If you routinely carry credit card balances, use your refund to make a dent in your debt. With the average interest rate on credit cards around 18%, any reduction will help improve your financial situation.

Retirement savings. Unless you already have a healthy nest egg, investing your tax refund in a tax-advantaged retirement account is a step toward a more secure future.

College savings. Both Coverdell education savings accounts (ESAs) and Section 529 college savings plans provide tax benefits — two good ways to use your refund to save taxes and help with future expenses.

Emergency fund. If the money you have socked away for emergencies is running low, your tax refund could replenish it. If you don’t have an emergency fund, consider using your tax refund to start one. Aim for having enough liquid savings to cover between three and six months’ worth of expenses.

Connect with our team today by requesting a free consultation online for all the latest and most current tax rules and regulations or give us a call at 212-880-2617

Reduce Your Taxes with These Year-End Investment Moves

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Counting money

The end of the year will be here sooner than you think. Before you get caught up in the holiday bustle, take a little time to consider year-end investment moves that may help reduce your 2016 income taxes.

Get help from your losers

If you’ve realized a capital gain from selling an investment, review your portfolio for investments that haven’t been performing up to your expectations. Selling underperforming investments can generate capital losses that can be used to offset capital gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income.

Here’s how it works. Let’s say you have a $5,000 capital gain from selling shares in a mutual fund* earlier this year. You’d like to offset your gain by selling shares in another fund that has consistently shown losses on paper. Your strategy might be to sell enough of your shares in the second fund to realize an $8,000 loss. The loss would offset your $5,000 capital gain, and you’d be able to use the additional $3,000 to offset the same amount of ordinary income.

Look at your winners

If you’ve already sold investments at a loss, it may be a good time to take capital gains on other investments you’ve hesitated to sell because of the tax consequences.

Taxes should never be your only reason for selling an investment. Reviewing your portfolio with your financial professional and talking with your tax advisor can help you determine what makes sense for your situation. Give us a call today to learn how we can help at 212-880-2617. You can also request a free consultation online.

* Because mutual fund values fluctuate, redeemed shares may be worth more or less than their original value. Past performance won’t guarantee future results. An investment in mutual funds may result in the loss of principal.

Mutual funds involve risk and are offered by prospectus (and summary prospectus, if available), which you can get from your registered representative. Carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the investment company before investing.

The prospectus will include this and other information; read it carefully before investing. Investing involves risks, and there is no guarantee that any one strategy — including diversification — ensures a profit or protects against a loss in a declining market. You should consult with your financial professional regarding your particular situation.

What You Should Know About the QuickBooks Online Mobile App

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QuickBooks Online’s mobile app lacks some features found in the browser-based version, but it provides mobile access to tools you may want on the road.

First, it’s free (except for your mobile data plan costs). Second, it’s good. And QuickBooks Online’s mobile app offers more functionality than you might expect. Available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, it gives you remote access to the features that you probably use most frequently on your desktop or laptop.

Figure 1: The navigational menu in QuickBooks Online’s mobile app slides out from the left side (iPhone 6+ version pictured here).

Why Mobile?

Since you can already access QBO on a laptop, why would you need an app that’s missing some of the main site’s functionality?

You don’t, necessarily. If your work doesn’t take you out of the office much and you don’t travel for the business, downloading the app may just create one more icon on your smartphone screen that you always see but never open.

But you may want to consider using it if you, for example:

  • Want to work at home or in a coffee shop on your off hours,
  • Regularly purchase items or services that you will submit as expenses to your company,
  • Sell something on the spot and want to create a sales receipt,
  • Need to nail down a sale by creating an invoice immediately,
  • Get a question from a customer or vendor about a past transaction, or,
  • Have to look up a price and description for a product or service.

Figure 2: Using QuickBooks Online’s mobile app, you can create sales transactions wherever you are.

Many Limitations

QuickBooks Online’s mobile app is far from a replacement for the browser-based version. It has numerous limitations. For example, there’s no dashboard – no home page that gives you an overview of your finances and provides reminders about tasks that need to be done. Rather, the app opens to Company Activity, a list of the most recent transactions.

Customer and vendor records are not quite as detailed, and you can’t view or work with your Chart of Accounts. Some settings can be altered, but not nearly as many as on the main site.

There are only two reports available, Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet, which is a tiny percentage of what’s offered online. You can’t enter and pay bills, create purchase orders, or work with payroll. And you can’t check inventory levels.

But the app isn’t designed to be a management or everyday tool. You wouldn’t begin your QuickBooks Online experience with the mobile version; setup and high-level functions like reports, bank reconciliation, and assignment of user roles would be done online by the administrator. There’s a separate application for Intuit’s online payroll, and activities like issuing credits and defining recurring transactions would more likely be done from the office.

While they’re laid out differently, the QuickBooks Online mobile app manages to pack a lot of detail in a small space. It includes the features that a remote worker would most likely need to use. And some of those are quite comprehensive. Forms in the app, for example, lack very little compared to those in the browser-based version, especially those that deal with expenses and payments, which are often done outside of the office.

Figure 3: The QuickBooks Online mobile app looks different from the browser-based version, but it’s very easy to use, and some screens are quite detailed.

Examine Your Workflow

The ability to do accounting work on an app away from the office offers convenience and flexibility that browser-based QuickBooks Online doesn’t. First off, mobile applications show a degree of professionalism and responsiveness to customers and vendors you meet with outside the office. And it keeps you in touch with some of your financial data when you’re on the move.

But can using it create problems? Possibly. Data entered in the app shows up in the browser-based version as soon as it’s entered and saved. But you or your administrator wouldn’t necessarily know to look for an onslaught of expenses or invoices, and by the time they’re discovered, there could be some complications.

So if you’re planning to let employees loose on the QuickBooks Online mobile app and you expect that they’ll use it frequently, it’s best to establish policies ahead of time and make sure that the work that’s done remotely will mesh with the rest of your accounting activities. We can help you prepare well for your new mobile capabilities, give us a call at 212-880-2617.

Not setup on QuickBooks Online yet? We can help, request a free consultation through our website to get started today!

Why It’s Important to Keep an Eye on Your Cash Flow

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cash flow | nyc accountant

If profits are up and the projections look good for the next month or two, should you kick back and relax? Maybe not. No matter how positive other signs may be, if you’re not keeping a close eye on your company’s cash flow, things could go haywire.

Even a temporary crunch resulting in late debt payments could cause your credit rating to fall and your cost of borrowing to rise. If you miss a loan payment or two, the lender might even call the loan. Here are some suggestions to help you maintain a healthy cash flow.

Develop a Cash Flow Budget

Projecting inflows and outflows on a month-to-month or week-to-week basis provides a critical snapshot of your business’s cash position and shows whether you’ll have enough cash on hand to meet your needs.

Improve Delivery

This may seem like a no-brainer, but if it’s been awhile since you evaluated operational procedures, it might be time to take another look. The more errors you can avoid, the better. New technology may offer some new ways to improve efficiency and lower costs.

Tighten Up on Credit

Wait to see how reliably new customers pay before extending credit. Then get credit reports and bank references, especially if the amounts involved will be significant. If you have late-paying customers, call to remind them their accounts are overdue. (You know what they say about squeaky wheels.) Switch perennial late payers to COD.

Beef Up Billing

Send bills as promptly as possible — the sooner they’re in the mail, the sooner your billing cycle starts. Crunch some numbers to see whether it makes sense to offer early-pay discounts. Make sure your payment terms include a penalty charge for past-due amounts.

Settle Disputes

Resolve shipping and billing errors as quickly as possible so customers don’t delay payment, which could put the squeeze on your cash flow.

There’s another way a cash crunch could take a toll: Without cash on hand, you might have to pass up opportunities to grow your business.

Whether you need individual or business tax advice, turn to Haque CPA, a New York City, NY CPA. We’ve got the answers you’re looking for, so don’t wait. Call us today at 212-880-2617 or request a consultation online.