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Frustrated With Your SWOT Analysis? 15 Templates To Download

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This post was created to provide one of the most thorough resources available on the internet in terms of SWOT analysis templates. Additionally, ideas for completing your small businesses SWOT analysis are also included.

A SWOT analysis helps you to understand the environment your small business operates in. Understanding your environment will help you to capitalize on your strengths, shore up your weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and neutralize threats.

In total, there are 15 templates available for download. Each one with a different design and representing a different type of small business.

The businesses are:

  1. Yoga studio
  2. Healthcare
  3. Restaurant
  4. Retail
  5. Financial Advisor
  6. Web Design
  7. Auto Repair
  8. Life Coach
  9. Pet Services
  10. Real Estate
  11. Cleaning Service
  12. Bed & Breakfast
  13. Bookkeeper
  14. Construction
  15. Consulting

These templates come in a variety of formats including Google Sheets (Excel), Google Docs (Word), and Google Slides (PowerPoint).

Download the SWOT analysis templates

Complete the form below and click Submit.
Upon email confirmation, the workbook will open in a new tab.

Filling out the form above will open a spreadsheet with the Google Sheets (Excel) templates.

On the Slides & Docs SWOT worksheet, you will see links to the Google Slides (PowerPoint) and Google Docs (Word) templates. Hover over the template you want to see and click the link that appears to the upper-left.

link to slides swot templates screenshot

Sheets (Excel) SWOT analysis templates

The spreadsheet templates are good if you need flexibility in terms of size. Columns and rows can be adjusted as needed. If you need to incorporate any sort of math, spreadsheets will work well. Also, generally, spreadsheet templates are easier to customize than presentations or documents.

On the flip side, spreadsheets aren’t ideal for distribution to outside parties. The presentation or document templates would serve you better for that.

Ranked SWOT for a yoga studio

ranked swot for a yoga studio

This SWOT analysis template is a relatively simple 2×2 layout. It gives you the ability to assign a numbered ranking to each Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat. This ranking gives you the ability to quantify elements of your internal and external environment in order to better focus on what matters most.

Ten rows are provided for each factor. More rows can be inserted if needed.

Competition SWOT for a healthcare company

competition swot healthcare company
Click to enlarge

This elaborate spreadsheet template doesn’t just look at your company – it looks at your competitors too. Doing so allows you to measure yourself up against the competition.

At the top, the Company Information section is where you’ll enter the Name of your company and your competitors. If you like, you can also enter a Location, Website, Revenue, Employees, and other Notes for each business.

The Company Names you enter will be carried down to the Strengths and Weaknesses sections. Since, in theory, you and your competitors share the same External Environment, Opportunities and Threats are not broken out by company.

This is a great template for companies in competitive industries. It forces you to look beyond your own environment in order to determine a strategy for gaining market share.

Flow chart SWOT for a restaurant

flow chart swot restaurant
Click to enlarge

This spreadsheet template incorporates some simple graphical elements. Through the use of arrows, the reader’s eye is led through each of the factors.

The expanded cells allow for longer bullet points to be entered if needed. Plus, the horizontal format might provide better readability. If you are planning on distributing a spreadsheet template to outside parties, this would be the one to use.

SWOT interaction for retail

interaction swot retail business
Click to enlarge

This is one of the more in-depth templates.

As recommended in my Church SWOT Analysis post, you should think about how the different factors interact with each other. For instance, how can Strengths be used to neutralize Weaknesses? How are Weaknesses preventing you from capitalizing on Opportunities? And so on…

This template allows you to document the relationships between the Internal and External Environmental factors. Doing so will (hopefully) help you to come up with goals to use during your strategy formulation stage.

With all of the information contained in this template, bullet points can’t be too long. However, rows can be inserted, if needed.

Google Slides (PowerPoint) SWOT analysis templates

Complete the form above to access these templates.

Presentation templates are good for…presentations, of course. They are designed more for form than function. Graphical elements that might not be practical in spreadsheets can be incorporated into presentations.

Presentations also aren’t as easy to customize as spreadsheets. Elements can get out of alignment and harm the effectiveness of the visuals. So, I would recommend only changing the text unless you know what you’re doing. Be sure to use Ctrl+Z if you make any mistakes!

If you want to use one of these templates, you can copy the slide and paste it in your presentation.

Simple SWOT for a financial advisor

simple swot financial advisor
Click to enlarge

This clean layout is straightforward and simple. It uses a lot of whitespace and nothing extraneous. Just the “facts,” with plenty of room to type bullet points. This makes it easy to read and understand.

Cylinder SWOT for a web design company

cylinder swot web design
Click to enlarge

Here, a few graphical elements are added for visual interest. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats are each listed on a separate cylinder.

Additionally, as is done with most of the templates, Internal factors and External factors are colored slightly different for distinction. The use of the cylinders doesn’t allow for as many bullet points as with the simpler templates. This is a good option for those who believe in minimizing words on slides.

Graphical SWOT for an auto repair business

graphical swot auto repair
Click to enlarge

Here’s another unique graphical template. Similar to the previous cylinder template. It uses the typical 2×2 format, but with thought bubbles (or clouds…) for each factor.

I think it’s a little more visually engaging than the cylinder template. However, it also has limited room for bullet points. So, it is a good choice for those who would rather elaborate verbally.

Pie chart SWOT for a life coach business

pie chart swot life coach business
Click to enlarge

This presentation template takes a step back to a simpler design.

It is made to look kind of like a pie chart. A pie chart with all the pieces the same size. This implies that each factor is of equal importance.

Lots of whitespace here. Good for someone who wants the focus to be on the information presented. That much whitespace means not much room for bullet points though. So, if you use this template, you had better keep them succinct.

Puzzle piece SWOT for pet services businesses

puzzle piece swot pet services
Click to enlarge

Determining how are your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats fit together can be a bit of a puzzle. This notion is represented by the graphic on the left of the slide.

Though graphics are used, the areas where the factors are listed is very clean and simple. There is room for six to eight bullet points for each factor. This presentation template is a good choice for someone who likes to incorporate just a little bit of design in their presentations.

Icon SWOT for a real estate company.

icon swot real estate
Click to enlarge

Here the typical 2 x 2 format is abandoned for a horizontal theme.

Additionally, the use of imagery is relied upon. Each factor has it’s own relevant icon to help reiterate what is being examined in this SWOT analysis.

This is a good template for factors that require a long explanation. In fact, entire sentences can be written for each bullet point. If you’re long-winded (like me) and don’t mind some graphics, this is a good template for you to use.

Columns SWOT for a cleaning service

columns swot cleaning service
Click to enlarge

Contrasting with the previous template, this one is a vertical design.

Here, you will want each bullet to be short and sweet. This is a good choice for presentations that went to grab attention to the fact that this is a SWOT analysis. A fact that will be tough to ignore with the acronym spelled out across the top.

It’s also a simple format that has a unique look. Most other templates don’t utilize a vertical format.

SWOT analysis templates for Google Docs (Word)

Complete the form above to access these templates.

Document templates can be used internally or externally. They have some of the pizzaz of presentation templates but without as big of a risk of ruining the formatting.

They also might make a good alternative if users are nervous about spreadsheets (yes, those people exist!). Almost everybody who is comfortable with a computer is comfortable with a document.

If you want to use one of these templates, simply copy the text and paste it into your Doc. If you’re using Word, you should be able to do the same thing without downloading.

Simple SWOT for a bed-and-breakfast

simple swot bed and breakfast

Almost identical to the simple presentation template.

This is the old reliable 2×2 design. A little bit of color is added to help it grab attention. There’s an average amount of room for each bullet point, but you should have enough room to list as many as you need.

Simple and straightforward. No frills.

Strategic planning SWOT for a bookkeeper

strategic planning swot bookkeeper

This SWOT analysis template has more than just the typical factors (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). It allows you to list your objectives beforehand. This makes it clear what you hope to accomplish by undertaking this analysis. This will help you, and others, stick to the task at hand better.

Also, at the bottom, you can write a brief summary of the impact on your strategy formulation as a result of this analysis.

This document template is a good option if you’re planning on seeking input electronically.

Summary SWOT for a construction company

summary swot construction company

This document template has a typical 2×2 matrix. But, it has an additional section at the bottom where you can write a summary of what you learned.

It is similar to the Strategic Planning SWOT, but without the objective section. Also, rather than a strategy, you’ll include a summary at the bottom. 2-3 sentences that capture the essence of the whole analysis.

This template doesn’t have a ton of room for a lot of bullet points, but there is room for medium sentence length. It is perfect for communicating the most important points from the SWOT analysis.

Guidance SWOT for a consulting company

guidance swot consulting company

At first glance, this might seem like yet another simple 2×2 matrix. But, what this document template has that the others don’t, is guidance questions. Questions that help put your mind on the correct path for determining your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

If this document template is to be shared between others in your organization, then you might find it helpful to have the guidance. It’s also helpful if this is your first SWOT and you have no idea where to start.

This guidance, obviously, takes up some of the room for bullet points. So, if you don’t feel you can keep them short and sweet, you might choose a different template.

What is a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis is a thought exercise for understanding the internal and external environment that your business operates in. It is sometimes known as “situational analysis.” Its purpose is to help in strategic planning. Specifically in conjunction with your mission statement in order to set goals and formulate a strategy for the coming year.

SWOT analysis has four main sections. These are, of course, strengths weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Strengths and weaknesses represent your internal environment. These are factors that are within your company’s control. Factors that you can do something about. That’s important to remember as you formulate a strategy based on these factors.

Opportunities and threats are factors outside of your control. Opportunities are good of course, and threats bad. These two factors represent your external environment. Since they’re outside of your control, these are the factors (opportunities) that you want to leverage and factors (weaknesses) that you want to hedge against.

Strengths are the things that your business does well. The things that your competitors and customers would say you do well. Things that you know you do well. This is no time to be humble. If you do it well, if you’re proud of it, then list it as a strength.

Weakness is the opposite of strength. Again, think about what others might say are your shortcomings. Just as you shouldn’t be humble with strengths, you shouldn’t be prideful with weaknesses. If you’re like me, you’re your own worst critic. That’s fine. At least for this exercise. List everything that really holds you back.

Opportunities are the things happening outside your walls that can benefit you. The genesis of opportunities is limitless. They can come from anywhere. So don’t be close-minded. If I can benefit you – list it.

Threats, of course, are the opposite of opportunities. But, they are also outside of your control. Much like the coronavirus pandemic we’re going through as I write this, there ain’t much I can do about it. All I can do is figure out how I want to respond to it. Don’t turn a blind eye to threats. Take control of what you can.

What’s the purpose of a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis is a key component of strategic planning. In order to formulate a plan that has a chance of success, you need to understand the environment you operate in.

Think about a sports team. As a coach/leader, you need to understand what your own players can and can not do. This is your internal environment.

But you also need to understand what the other team is capable of. How they can hurt you, and what their shortcomings are, etc. This is your external environment.

With all of this knowledge, you can put together a game plan that gives you the best chance of winning possible.

The formulated strategy doesn’t have to be rigid. Just as you would in an athletic contest, you have to be willing to adapt. Your ability to adapt will be enhanced by an understanding of your internal and external environment.

How to use a SWOT analysis

Like most elements of strategic planning, SWOT analysis gets a lot of its value through the simple act of doing it. Taking the time to dedicate just a little bit of thought to these matters goes a long way.

Beyond that, the first thing you want to do is download the templates above.

Then, you want to start brainstorming strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Set a timer if you need to and just start jotting down everything that comes to mind. There are no wrong answers. You don’t need to keep everything you write down. The point is to get in the right mindset and get some momentum in regards to the internal and external factors that affect your business.

Next, you might want to do a little research on some of the bullet points you brainstormed. Whether it be internally – by examining your own reports and financial statements. Or, externally via the internet. The point here is to find information that either backs up or negates what you brainstormed.

Now with a big old brainstormed list, you can start narrowing things down. On this site, I often reference the Pareto principle. The Pareto principle states that 80% of the results are usually attributable to 20% of the variables. Keep this in mind and focus on the most impactful strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Finally, though not every template allows for it, you want to think about how these factors interact. What do I mean by that? What I mean is – how your strengths affect your weaknesses, weaknesses affect your opportunities, opportunities affect your threats, and so on…

Set the foundation for sound strategic planning by using these SWOT analysis templates

Download (and use!) the SWOT analysis template that’s right for you from above. Beyond that, read this post on Church SWOT Analysis. Though you probably run a for-profit business, the principles will still apply. This information will help you perform a SWOT analysis that contributes to a sound strategic plan.

Also, check out the related posts below. SpreadsheetsForBusiness.com was created to help small business owners, like you, to get control of their businesses and succeed.

Credit Memos in QuickBooks Online – For Accurate Financials [VIDEO]

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qbo credit memo video featured

Video transcript

00:00 QuickBooks Online credit memos ensuring
00:02 accurate reporting okay so I let’s start
00:06 off your video off with a quick answer
00:08 so that somebody just needs to know
00:11 where to navigate to can get the
00:14 information they need the as you can see
00:17 there’s kind of a lot of aspects a lot
00:20 of quick answers to this video I will
00:21 start with the most fundamental which is
00:23 how to actually create a credit memo
00:24 okay and that’s easy enough that it is
00:28 done by going up to the new button and
00:30 under the customers heading you’re gonna
00:33 click on credit memo okay so once you
00:36 have a credit memo in there so you want
00:38 to apply that credit memo to an invoice
00:40 for a customer that’s new receipt
00:44 payment and enter the pertinent
00:56 information there back you out okay say
01:06 that you’re not able to do that ideal
01:09 thing where it makes more sense to issue
01:11 a refund rather than a credit memo you
01:14 can do that also in the new button and
01:17 hit refund receipt under the customers
01:21 column
01:34 and you’ll select the amount of the
01:36 refund there and fill out all the other
01:38 pertinent information about the customer
01:40 and then finally the customer request
01:43 statement or if you send out statements
01:45 as a matter of procedure then that’s
01:49 going to be a little different area
01:50 that’s gonna be the sales menu and
01:53 customers and you’re gonna select a
01:55 customer those sales customers okay you
02:01 just select the customer and batch
02:04 actions it’s a little tough to say and
02:07 create statements pick your statement
02:11 type your date range and send it the
02:15 customer okay so that’s it for the quick
02:19 answer now I’m gonna get into a little
02:22 more detail there’s a lot to cover here
02:25 so we’ll start plugging away okay so
02:32 first of all what our credit memos
02:35 excuse me
02:37 credit mine was the ability to credit a
02:38 customer for a particular dollar amount
02:41 next time that they receive an invoice
02:43 the credit will reduce the amount that
02:45 they owe it’s not a refund not the same
02:49 thing similar in nature but not the same
02:52 cash does not go back to the customer
02:55 which all things being equal is good you
02:58 don’t want cash leaving a business if
03:00 you can help it
03:01 it can be reflected on a customer
03:03 statement of course and should be and
03:06 will reduce the amount of accounts
03:10 receivable that you have once you’ve
03:12 created a credit memo okay so why use
03:14 them you know changing a transaction
03:19 like a past transaction can create
03:23 confusion you know if you’re tweaking
03:26 the amount that you sold it for or start
03:29 fidgeting around with you know standard
03:32 prices and and that sort of thing you
03:35 might not know the details of why you’re
03:38 doing what you’re doing so you know your
03:40 books could become out of balance if the
03:42 transaction was in a previous period too
03:44 so you know in simply discounting the
03:49 next transaction along the same lines
03:51 isn’t gonna tell the whole story you can
03:53 look back a year from now two years you
03:56 know you could send out a statement to
03:57 the customer they weren’t clear about
03:59 what happened and you don’t remember if
04:01 you deal with a lot of customers a lot
04:03 of transactions or somebody else in your
04:05 organization did it or you didn’t do a
04:08 credit memo but edit a transaction it
04:10 just can create confusion so you know a
04:13 credit memo accurately portrays the
04:15 events that took place okay it creates
04:17 what they call an audit trail it you
04:21 know allows you to look at it and
04:26 basically do what I out on this channel
04:30 is to make sure your accounting system
04:33 matches reality you know so it’s
04:37 beneficial in those terms and you know
04:43 really the the correct the best practice
04:46 so to speak when it comes to giving a
04:48 customer credit you know and a credit
04:51 memo is preferable to a cache where you
04:53 fund all things being equal sometimes
04:55 you’ll have to do a refund perhaps but
04:58 you know the reason for that is because
05:00 the old finance or basically what
05:03 corporate finance is built on a dollar
05:05 today is worth more than a dollar
05:06 tomorrow you want to keep that cash in
05:08 the organization so you can use it so
05:10 you can use it to pay employees so you
05:11 can use it to pay vendors okay so you
05:14 can reinvest it in your business and if
05:16 you send cash out to the customer
05:19 there’s no guarantee that they’re going
05:20 to return with that cash okay if if you
05:23 can get away with using a credit memo as
05:25 opposed to a refund then it incentivizes
05:27 them to come back their next purchase is
05:30 going to be less it’s going to have a
05:33 credit applied so you know it’s that’s a
05:37 couple of the reasons that a credit memo
05:39 is preferable to a cash refund with
05:43 QuickBooks Online it can be applied
05:45 automatically this is something you
05:47 specify in accounts and settings to
05:51 automatically when you create a credit
05:53 memo to apply to next invoice but yet
05:56 like I said you have to turn that
05:57 setting on
05:59 so we’ll get in a little more detail
06:02 rather than a quick answer rushing
06:04 through how to create a credit memo
06:09 again you’re gonna go to the upper left
06:14 do new button bit credit memo will
06:19 appear under customers credit memo and
06:25 then you’re gonna pick your customer
06:26 that’s going to receive the credit memo
06:32 will use won’t Duke’s basketball camp
06:36 again so you need to specify what the
06:45 credit memo was for if it’s you have to
06:50 use your judgment here if it’s in
06:52 regards to something being miss you know
06:59 something wrong on the invoice to the
07:01 customer or something an error involving
07:05 a particular product or service you can
07:06 select that particular product or
07:08 service and edit the quantity and/or
07:10 rate rate over to the right here or
07:15 potentially you could create a non
07:17 inventory product or service and
07:22 basically edit the description to say
07:25 this is a credit for you know the
07:31 customer was upset about the customer
07:33 service or something or whatever the
07:34 reason may be you know just so again so
07:37 you’ve got something a thorough
07:39 description there so you know when you
07:41 look at it years from now what you did
07:43 this for so maybe we miss billed if
07:50 that’s even a term build an error for a
07:56 rock fountain to Duke’s basketball camp
07:59 and we want to issue a credit memo for
08:03 $275 08:10 okay so we enter that information
08:14 product or service it is optional you
08:16 can just enter a quantity or rate also
08:19 and then you’re gonna hit save and new
08:23 if you want to do another you have a
08:25 couple credit memo standard Savin San to
08:27 email them the credit memo or just save
08:30 and close to exit in this case you can
08:33 preview it if you’re sending it to the
08:34 customer and you know actually let’s do
08:38 this let’s just delete this and let’s
08:44 just say we’re going to credit the
08:45 customer $275 they’re no product just we
08:49 messed up here’s our credit for $275
08:56 okay so that got sent to the customer
09:00 this is a sample company so didn’t
09:02 really send it to anybody but now it’s
09:05 in a system for Dukes basketball camp
09:08 okay so you expanse of all camp comes
09:11 back to us for more landscaping services
09:13 that’s our sample company that’s the
09:15 business they’re in and we’re gonna play
09:18 that credit to the next invoice so have
09:21 to have an existing invoice to credit of
09:23 course and it’s only necessary if
09:27 automatically applied credits like I
09:29 mentioned and account settings isn’t
09:31 selected and to do so you go to new the
09:35 upper left button receive payment and
09:44 hopefully there’s a default invoice in
09:46 here for Dukes basketball camp let’s see
09:56 doesn’t have an open invoice okay so I
10:00 picked the wrong customer there let’s go
10:03 with Geeta okay
10:06 so we’re gonna select we chose this
10:12 customer we’re gonna select the
10:13 appropriate invoice with a checkbox and
10:15 then there we go and then down below
10:24 here we would have a credit section that
10:30 we could apply to Gita’s let’s back out
10:36 of here and do it the right way
10:39 new credit memo and let’s apply it for a
10:51 friend eat it
10:57 let’s see I’m just doing them out here
11:03 over the 275 there okay now we have a
11:17 credit memo and forget it – now we will
11:25 go to new receive payment we know Geeta
11:30 has at $623 employees has standings
11:33 there I’m
11:45 is that and actually in this case they
11:51 are automatically applied
11:53 so you’ll notice the original amount 629
11:55 I misspoke but here’s the balance
11:58 at $275 doesn’t itemized it here but
12:02 you can see that it did apply it on the
12:06 next invoice if it’s not automatically
12:10 applied like I said it’ll appear down
12:11 here below where you can select the
12:12 credits that you want to apply to credit
12:14 memos to the invoices you’ve selected so
12:18 when we applied that save and send to
12:22 Geetha and hopefully it will show
12:26 applied on her PDF here no it doesn’t
12:36 that’s a little bit of a shortcoming a
12:37 little more detail would be good there
12:39 but what’s important is Geetha gutter
12:43 credit
12:44 okay so Geetha is a happy customer once
12:46 warm and you know we go back about our
12:50 business
12:52 so issuing a refund now let’s say Geetha
12:56 said no I’m never doing business with
12:57 you again I’m outraged you know it’s a
13:01 bad situation
13:02 I want to refund okay then to issue a
13:06 refund again to new we’re gonna go to
13:08 refund receipt this time the customers
13:10 column we’re gonna choose Geetha from
13:13 the drop-down customers refund receipt
13:28 choose geet okay and we want to choose a
13:38 refund payment method okay we’re gonna
13:41 do cash we’re gonna do credit back on
13:44 our credit card will do check for Geeta
13:52 and where it’s coming from want to
13:57 select that and we want to enter an
13:59 amount to that $75 and hopefully that’s
14:06 it for the refunds were issuing so we’ll
14:08 hit save and close and Geeta
14:14 there goes refund issued $275 okay now
14:22 it’s getting a little more detail about
14:25 statements statements provide
14:28 transparency to customers about their
14:30 account standing about the details of
14:32 credits refunds and that sort of thing
14:33 unfortunately the the receipt that we
14:37 issued early to get it didn’t I mean she
14:40 would probably know but it didn’t say
14:42 you know hey and you know and this is
14:44 just a preference of mine I want to know
14:46 here’s what it was you know the cost of
14:51 what I purchased from you here’s what
14:52 the amount it was this kind of buy is
14:55 and here’s the net amount that I would
14:57 owe and you know and I paid and here’s
15:00 my receipt detailing all that I didn’t
15:04 do that but the detail should be on the
15:06 statement so how to create a customer
15:11 statement it’s time again we don’t go to
15:14 new button we go to the sales menu with
15:18 select customers and we are already here
15:20 so sales customers that’s where we are
15:22 now okay then I’m gonna check box for
15:26 let’s look at eat as a count here for
15:29 the customer we want and you can do this
15:34 as in batch so you can do what have you
15:36 select here for all customers in this
15:37 case we’re just doing Geeta
15:38 she says send me stay Milan I’ll make
15:41 sure everything’s right about what you
15:43 did with my account okay eat him happy
15:46 to do that and we select that batch out
15:52 actions drop-down and create statements
15:55 okay so we want to select the statement
15:58 type that we’d like to create we’ll get
16:00 into that in a little more detail here
16:03 in just second we want whichever is most
16:05 appropriate for the situation with the
16:07 date range we’ll give her for the past
16:09 month here and yeah so let’s talk about
16:14 statement types real quick before we do
16:16 that
16:16 okay balance for word is gonna give a
16:18 list of payments and invoices that the
16:20 customer had it clarifies what is
16:22 currently do on the account open items
16:26 okay this is gonna be open invoices
16:28 detail and unpaid invoices credit memos
16:31 and unapplied payments this would have
16:33 been the type of statement we would have
16:35 santaguida before we did the settled the
16:42 invoice earlier well actually that one
16:48 might I guess since we just sent the
16:50 invoice then one might be appropriate
16:51 trans actually same it’s gonna be
16:52 transaction detail of a date range it’s
16:54 appropriate for accounts with a high
16:55 volume of transaction so let’s try this
16:56 open item here and apply it now nothing
17:08 trade balance forward then
17:20 all right because Gita’s balance is zero
17:23 now so let’s do save and send this is
17:29 what’s nice about QuickBooks Online it
17:30 gives you the opportunity to preview it
17:32 yeah this is what we want okay so not a
17:35 high volume in transactions but
17:37 specifies what we did on the account you
17:42 know we issued an invoice on 12:12 for
17:45 six hundred twenty nine ten dollars
17:47 there’s our credit memo we entered
17:49 earlier for 275 there’s a refund
17:52 we gave her for 275 obviously in the
17:54 real world you probably wouldn’t do both
17:56 but you know Gaeta was our best example
17:59 so now Gaeta owes us seventy nine ten
18:04 we’ll send that to her and there you go
18:10 okay
18:12 so have you previously created
18:13 statements and like I said there’s a lot
18:16 of detail on this one but we’re almost
18:18 through it sales on the Left menu with
18:22 all sales sales all sales we’ll just
18:26 click it here takes us to the same spot
18:32 from there we’re gonna select the filter
18:35 drop down and type statements so we want
18:41 to filter and type so drop down drop
18:45 down statements okay for the last year
18:52 well let’s apply that should show Geetha
18:54 is I think yes there it is so now we can
18:58 see it again if she calls in with a
18:59 question about her statement you know
19:02 again this isn’t all gonna happen just
19:05 boom boom boom like we’re doing it now
19:06 you know time will pass people forget
19:09 stuff you know you got a lot on your
19:11 plate as a small business owner so you
19:15 know this is how we can see again
19:17 Geeta’s a statement and she wants to
19:20 call him and speak on it then we’ll have
19:22 it in front of us and we can help her
19:24 piece together what happened so
19:29 that’s the view previously created
19:31 statements now to automatically apply
19:34 credits which is what was set up in this
19:39 particular sample account but just to
19:42 let you know how that happened
19:43 I’m gonna go to the gear in the upper
19:45 right accounts and settings under the
19:48 your company heading your company
19:54 accounts and settings then on the Left
19:57 menu we’re gonna go to advanced and
19:58 we’re going to edit and edit click the
20:01 little pencil any automation section
20:07 waiting on it here ok let’s try again
20:14 counts and settings let’s do advanced
20:21 and like I said down here in the scroll
20:26 post-it no advanced ok in in the
20:40 automation section edit and that’s check
20:47 box you’re looking for automatically
20:49 applying credits is on off set of how
20:53 you want it probably on and then you
21:01 want to click Save now will
21:03 automatically applying credits then
21:06 click done to get out of the accounts
21:08 and settings okay so that covers
21:13 everything to do with credit memos so a
21:19 lot of information there but covered
21:21 credit memos refunds statements you know
21:26 so everything kind of potentially
21:29 affected by a credit memo so there’s a
21:31 lot to you know there QuickBooks Online
21:35 is pretty simple but there’s a lot of
21:37 different a lot of things you can do you
21:40 know because business is dynamic and
21:41 you know that you know so if bookkeeping
21:46 isn’t your cup of tea if you know having
21:49 to research and how to do this stuff
21:51 every time you need to do something new
21:52 there’s a new cup of tea if you’d rather
21:54 spend your time working on your business
21:56 helping it grow and less time on menial
21:59 tasks like watching spreadsheets for
22:01 business quickbooks online videos
22:03 nothing personal I get it and you know
22:07 you just want to do more business and
22:09 less data entry okay then check out bot
22:11 keeper I’ll have a link down in the
22:12 description and what bot keeper does is
22:15 automate but keeping tasks that you hate
22:17 to do all right so it’s a artificial
22:21 intelligence powered and that’s what
22:24 does the bulk of the work and then it
22:27 also has a human touch that kind of
22:29 qualifies the artificial intelligence
22:32 transactions and you know just puts a
22:35 set of human eyes on it to to make sure
22:37 everything’s accurate timely and you
22:41 know most importantly off your back so
22:42 if it’s something you think you’d be
22:44 interested in again click that link down
22:46 in the description and check it out so
22:48 this was a long video I’ll wrap it up
22:51 here thank you for liking and
22:53 subscribing and why would you like well
22:56 if you liked the fact that I got gave it
22:59 a quick answer up front was shortened to
23:00 the point but then went into more detail
23:02 after that if you’d like that format I
23:03 would appreciate a like if you find
23:05 yourself if you’re gonna do your own
23:07 bookkeeping and you find yourself
23:08 looking up how to videos and QuickBooks
23:11 Online fairly often then consider
23:14 subscribing so you can just jump onto my
23:17 channel and see if I’ve covered it and
23:19 in that case great then if not you can
23:22 search search it on the YouTube you know
23:27 through the youtube search so hey I’m
23:30 appreciate you guys watching as always
23:32 take care

How To Create Purchase Orders, Invoices, & Estimates in QBO [VIDEO]

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qbo estimates video featured

How Do Purchase Orders Work in QuickBooks Online? Video summary

Here’s how to create an estimate in QBO:

  • Click Sales (left menu), then All Sales
  • Next, New transaction (button, top-right), then Estimate

Here’s how to create a purchase order from an estimate:

  • Click Sales (left menu), then Customers
  • Next, select Estimate (colored box, “Money Bar”)
  • Then, click “# Open estimate” (Open Estimates header) and select Estimate
  • Change from Pending to Accepted
  • Finally, change Create invoice to Copy to purchase order

Here’s how to convert an estimate to an invoice in QBO:

  • Click Sales (left menu), then Customers
  • Next, select Estimate (colored box, “Money Bar”) and then click Start invoice (Action column)
  • Finally, click Add (right side, Estimate #)

What are estimates in QuickBooks Online?

An estimate is an offer to a customer. It’s an official assessment of how much, you think, a set of products and/or services will cost them.

Technically speaking, it is a non-posting transaction. No GL entry is made in QuickBooks Online when an estimate is created.

Estimates are sometimes required by larger customers or government entities.

Though the estimate won’t result in a GL entry directly, the information from the estimate can be transferred to purchase orders (for products/services needed to complete the bid). Or, it can be transferred to invoices (to bill for the work specified in the estimate).

In both cases, you are saved the hassle of having to re-enter information.

Creating an estimate in QBO

Start by clicking Sales (in the left menu). Next, choose All Sales and New transaction (dropdown, top-right). Then, click Estimate.

Select the appropriate customer (from the dropdown). Enter the Estimate date & Expiration date.

Choose the appropriate Products/Services (dropdown). Edit the Rate and/or Amount if necessary.

When done, click Save and send (button, lower-right). Preview the Estimate and if everything looks okay, click Send and close (button).

Creating a PO from an estimate in QuickBooks Online

Start by clicking Sales (in the left menu) and choose Customers.

Select Estimate (colored box, “Money Bar”) and click “# Open estimate” (Open Estimates header).

Next, you’ll click on appropriate Estimate and choose Pending (in the upper-left, dropdown). Change it to Accepted.

Click Create invoice (upper-right, dropdown). Now, change to Copy to purchase order. Select OK (button).

Almost there…

Select Vendor (from the dropdown). Then the appropriate Product/Service (Item details, dropdown). Finally, click Save and send (button) to preview the Purchase Order. If all is okay, click Send and close.

Converting an estimate to an invoice in QBO

As usual, start by clicking Sales (in the left menu) and choose Customers.

Select Estimate (colored box, “Money Bar”) and click Start invoice (Action column).

Update the Invoice date & Due date. Click Add (right side, Estimate #). Then, enter the details for the amount to invoice. When finished, click Save and close (button).

Best Practice for Undeposited Funds in QuickBooks Online [VIDEO]

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qbo undeposited funds video featured

Video slides

Video transcript

00:00 QuickBooks Online and deposited funds
00:01 the best practice for handling them
00:06 quick answer is to enter the undeposited
00:10 funds and then enter the deposit so
00:15 undeposited funds are entered the upper
00:18 left the new button under customers and
00:23 receive payment and enter the pertinent
00:31 information there and choose your
00:32 invoices and after that when you
00:37 actually make the deposit in the bank
00:38 you also come up to the new button under
00:42 other bank deposit you’ll enter the
00:46 pertinent information up top and then
00:49 you’ll check your undeposited funds and
00:52 that you’re going to deposit okay so I’d
01:00 like to start every video on with a
01:01 quick answer like that and then after I
01:03 get into a little detail so what are
01:07 undeposited funds for starters
01:09 these are receive checks there may be
01:12 cash that aren’t yet deposited into the
01:17 bank so you want to record them as a
01:19 sale you want to send a customer a
01:23 receipt you want to acknowledge that an
01:26 invoice is no longer outstanding and the
01:30 reason you want to do that is because
01:32 you know it’s kind of a thing I’ve
01:36 always preached that you want your
01:37 software your accounting software to
01:41 match reality you want it to reflect
01:43 reality because that’s its job is to
01:46 reflect the reality of your business so
01:48 that’s why you acknowledge that this
01:51 cash has been received but you know
01:54 again the reality is also that it is not
01:56 yet been entered into or deposited into
01:59 your bank account so it allows you also
02:05 when you when you make a deposit you
02:07 know probably a lot of businesses are
02:09 going to batch a lot of checks together
02:11 you know
02:12 from client one client to client three
02:14 and client for you know for $100 each
02:17 let’s say for a $400 deposit will your
02:20 bank statements gonna reflect a 400
02:22 dollar deposit you know if you didn’t
02:25 enter these undeposited funds
02:28 individually you know the the for $100
02:32 payments you received then you know
02:37 you’d have a tough time matching it to
02:41 your bank statement okay your bank
02:43 statements gonna say 400 you’re gonna
02:45 have for $100 payment receipts so he
02:50 said this way
02:51 QuickBooks knows it was these four
02:53 payments that comprised that $400
02:57 deposit hope that makes sense we’ll get
03:01 into a little more detail here okay so
03:04 back to entering undeposited funds as I
03:08 mentioned in the upper left there’s the
03:10 new button the customers heading in the
03:12 received payment okay let’s go back to
03:15 that screen all right so the first thing
03:23 you’re gonna do is enter the customer
03:25 who made the payment of course and we’ll
03:28 just pick someone at random from this
03:30 list who hopefully I was outstanding
03:32 invoice they do so I picked Red Rock
03:36 diner and then the date the payment was
03:39 made okay that’s gonna be reflected on
03:42 the receipt and they you know again you
03:43 want that they made payment yesterday
03:46 but you didn’t get a chance to enter it
03:47 into QuickBooks until today you want to
03:49 change that to yesterday’s payment
03:51 payment date you can honor the payment
03:55 method cash check or credit I’m not sure
04:03 when credit would apply there might be
04:07 circumstances since I have it as an
04:08 option but typically I would say it’s
04:11 going to be cash or cheque and then a
04:14 reference number this could be your
04:16 customers cheque number or some other
04:18 unique identifier so if need be if there
04:21 was a problem or you needed to do
04:23 some digging around on something you
04:25 could have a valid reference number like
04:32 I said you can put a check number in
04:33 there and you want to put it in
04:36 undeposited funds is you I guess right
04:41 that’s probably why credits in here
04:43 because this is receive payment it’s you
04:45 know this is what specifies that it goes
04:47 to undeposited funds so you could
04:49 obviously receive a credit payment and
04:52 you know but not probably wouldn’t put a
04:56 ton to positive funds so and after you
05:01 enter that information up there like I
05:06 said put it under positive funds go the
05:07 next slide here if it’s in response to
05:11 an invoice then you’re gonna match click
05:14 the checkbox next to the appropriate
05:15 invoice and that is it so let’s say that
05:19 our customer Red Rock diner paid on this
05:25 hundred fifty six dollar invoice and
05:27 that’s gonna reflect down here the 70
05:31 dollar invoice is still outstanding
05:32 you can click either save and new to
05:36 enter a new undeposited funds for a new
05:39 client or if that’s your last one save
05:43 and send we’ll send a customer a receipt
05:45 so even close will do exactly what it
05:48 says and close it take you back to the
05:52 dashboard there okay so you know you’ve
06:00 entered all of your undeposited funds
06:04 and now you’ve come back from the bank
06:11 where you actually made the deposit into
06:13 your checking account so we’re savings
06:17 you want to enter that into QuickBooks
06:19 so that is also a bit new and it’s under
06:23 other bank deposit
06:31 and let’s see what do we do we just did
06:35 Red Rock diner tastes assy
06:38 well first you want to select your
06:41 account that you’re going to put it in
06:43 which most times would be checking I
06:46 imagine perhaps savings the date you
06:49 made the deposit again if you made a
06:51 deposit this also helps with if you made
06:53 it yesterday
06:55 if you made it yesterday make sure you
06:57 pay yesterday because this will also
06:59 help with you know reconciling your
07:02 checking account again you want your
07:04 accounting software to match reality so
07:08 select the accountant a date we hit the
07:12 check box next to the appropriate
07:13 undeposited funds that we deposited and
07:17 it’s a similar sort of thing you can see
07:21 Red Rock diner the date all the
07:23 information we entered previously you
07:27 have a chance to edit it here
07:29 and I can do save a new to enter another
07:33 bank deposit or save and close’ will do
07:37 save and close the show we deposited at
07:39 one hundred fifty six dollars and there
07:41 we go our transactions and QuickBooks
07:44 Online match what actually happened in
07:47 reality so that’s it it’s a pretty
07:54 straightforward sort of thing the
07:55 intuitive to enter and as long as you
07:58 understand why it’s important to enter
08:00 undeposited funds and you know the
08:04 detail and again have that information
08:06 in your accounting software match
08:08 reality you know when saying with the
08:12 deposit then yeah it was really good
08:15 like I said it’s a pretty simple thing
08:16 to do so anyhow if you know that’s
08:21 simple some other bookkeeping tasks
08:23 aren’t as simple and bookkeeping isn’t
08:25 everybody’s cup of tea particularly if
08:27 you’re a small business owner you know
08:29 your your expertise is in your craft you
08:33 know whatever whatever you’re selling
08:35 and you know bookkeeping might be a
08:39 chore for you so if that’s the case you
08:42 check out ba keeper there’s
08:44 link down in the description and what ba
08:47 keeper is basically a bookkeeping
08:50 service that utilizes artificial
08:54 intelligence to handle the bulk of the
08:58 workload and then also implements a
09:00 human element to kind of qualify things
09:03 to you know to double check to make sure
09:06 everything’s going alright so what you
09:08 know what it does though allows you to
09:11 work more on your business and less on
09:13 data entry and you know spend more time
09:17 pumping to grow so if you find in
09:20 bookkeeping to be a chore definitely
09:23 click on that link and just check it out
09:26 and see if it’s something that might
09:29 help and make your life easier so that’s
09:33 it for this video you like you know it
09:37 is format with every quickbooks online
09:41 every video that i post you know or have
09:45 been posting recently is start out with
09:47 the quick answer so you can get the
09:50 information you need right off the bat
09:51 and then doing a little more detail on
09:53 the subject matter if you like that
09:54 format being short to the point up front
09:57 and detailed and do the rest of the
10:00 video you could show that that you like
10:05 that by giving the video a like and you
10:07 find yourself searching for quickbooks
10:09 online how to videos fairly often or you
10:11 think you might search in the future you
10:13 can subscribe and then you’ll know to
10:14 check spreadsheets for business first to
10:18 see if i covered the subject and that
10:21 mean quick and easy for you so so I got
10:24 appreciate you guys watching
10:26 take care

QuickBooks Online User Types & Permission Setup [VIDEO]

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qbo user permission video featured

What types of user permissions can be set up in QuickBooks online? Video summary

Manage users in QBO by navigating the following:

Gear (icon) > Manage Users (Your Company section) > Add user (button)

Different users have different needs

A Company Administrator can perform all tasks in QuickBooks Online. An example of a Company Administrator is an owner or a trusted manager.

A Standard user is someone that you can pick and choose what they have access to. An employee would be an example of a Standard user.

A Reports only user, as you might expect, only has access to reports. There are exceptions, however. They can’t see payroll information or reports with contact info in them.

Finally, a Time-tracking only user can only see their own timesheet. Nothing else. A subcontractor is someone who might have Time-tracking only permissions.

Creating a new user in QBO

Click on the Gear (icon) and select Manage Users (in the Your Company section).

You will see a list of users.

Next, click Add user (button) and select user type. Your choices will be:

  • Standard
  • Company admin
  • Reports only
  • Time tracking only

After that, you’ll Select access rights & user settings. These settings are up to you.

After that’s done, you’ll enter the user’s contact info. They’ll then receive a notification via email and will have to sign in to QuickBooks Online to confirm access.

What about payroll access for Standard users?

Granting payroll access is a decision you must make for Standard users.

Granting payroll access is done on the Select access rights (screen).

If Standard users do not have payroll access, then individual payroll information will be masked (hidden).

For example, on Workers > Employees, nothing will be shown. The user will receive a notification that they don’t have access rights.

On the Transaction report, payroll entries will mask names. All the Standard user will see is “Payroll.”

Finally, on the Bank register, payroll entries will also mask names. Here too, all the user will see is “Payroll.”

Payroll access is not an option in the sample company. That’s why there is no walkthrough in the video.

Adding company admin access rights + user settings

Determine if this user is your accountant (my accountant). If so, check the corresponding box. You can only have one user as your accountant (my accountant).

Click Next (button) and enter the user’s First name, Last name, and Email. Since they are a Company admin there are no settings to specify.

Entering standard user access rights in QuickBooks Online

For Standard users, the first thing to decide is how much access you want this user to have?

You can give them “All” access. Which is just a little less than a Company admin.

You can give them “None” access.

Or, you can give them “Limited” access; which is access to customer and/or vendor information.

If you give them Customers permissions they will have access to the following:

  • Estimates
  • Invoices
  • Sales receipts
  • Statements
  • Charges
  • Credits
  • Customers
  • Products
  • Services
  • Sales tax
  • Receive payments
  • Run related reporting

If you give them Vendors permissions they will have access to the following:

  • Bills
  • Purchases
  • Vendors
  • Products
  • Services
  • Pay bills
  • Write checks
  • Run related reporting

If a Standard user has Limited access rights, they can’t:

  • Edit accounts
  • View quantities on hand
  • View bank registers
  • See income/expenses

Entering standard user settings in QuickBooks Online

After you determine Standard user access rights, you’ll be asked to specify their settings. There are three determinations to make:

  • Edit users?
    • Yes, No, or View only
  • Edit company info?
    • Yes or No
  • Manage subscriptions?
  • Yes, No, or View only

Finally, you’ll be asked to give their First name, Last name, and Email so that they can log in to QBO and confirm their status.

Reports only access rights/user settings

For users that you only want to give Reports only access – all you need to do is enter their First name, Last name, and Email so that they can log in to QuickBooks Online and confirm their status.

Time-tracking only access rights/user settings

For users that you only want to give Time-tracking access – you can select the appropriate employee or vendor from the dropdown.

If the appropriate employee or vendor is not yet entered into QBO, then you can click Add new and enter their info.

Then, you’ll give their First name, Last name, and Email so that they can log in to QuickBooks Online and confirm their status.

Apply For & Connect Existing QuickBooks Online Payments Accounts [VIDEO]

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Where and how to sign up for QuickBooks Payments in QBO video summary

For a new account:

  1. Gear icon
  2. Account and Settings (Your Company)
  3. Payments
  4. Learn more (button)

For an existing account

  1. Gear icon
  2. Account and Settings (Your Company)
  3. Payments
  4. Connect (button)

What does QBO Payments do?

QBO Payments allows your small business to accept payment by:

  • Credit card
  • Apple Pay
  • Bank transfer

There is a “small” fee per transaction for all of the above.

If your customer has prior authorization, they can pay online invoices with “Pay Now” button. They can also pay over the phone. Either option will get you paid quicker.

Customers have the option of entering their credit card information too. All transactions are automatically entered into QBO.

Applying for a QBO Payments account

  1. Gear icon > Account and Settings
  2. Left menu > Payments
  3. Learn more (button)
  4. Set up payments (button)

Section 1 of the application will ask for information about your business Some information will already be populated. So, enter any additional information that is needed and double-check what was auto-filled Click “Next.”

Section 2 of the application asks for owner information. Complete what is needed here.

Section 3 of the application asks for bank information Just search for your bank. When you find your bank, enter your account & routing number.

Connect existing QBO Payments account

If you have one of the following, you can connect it to QBO Payments:

  • GoPayment
  • QuickBooks Merchant Services
  • Intuit Merchant Services
  • Intuit Check Solution

Click on the gear icon and then Account and Settings.

Then, click on Payments on the left menu.

Finally, click the Connect button.

If you’re having trouble, click Help at the top of the screen and then Contact us. Support will call back and walk you through the process.

If you plan on processing over $7.5K per month be sure to ask for special pricing.

19 Minutes To Master Sales Tax in QuickBooks Online [VIDEO]

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qbo sales tax setup video featured

Video transcript

00:00 sales tax and QuickBooks Online how to
00:02 manage the quick answers our first to go
00:09 to taxes and then add or edit tax rates
00:13 and agencies or edit sales tax settings
00:15 where you can edit what you’ve already
00:18 entered and that’s like I said in taxes
00:21 and then the add edit tax rates and
00:25 agencies click new to add a new sales
00:28 tax rate or if you want to enter what
00:33 you’ve sorry edit which you’ve
00:35 previously entered click on edit sales
00:37 tax settings if you want a view
00:41 reporting on your sales tax liability
00:46 you go to taxes again view sales tax
00:48 liability report that is here here you
00:55 can specify the reporting period or put
00:59 in custom dates and you can select which
01:02 tax agency you want to see reporting on
01:05 just change those settings at run report
01:07 and finally any other sales tax setting
01:11 you might want to edit is the sales tax
01:15 category for products and services to do
01:17 that you go to sales products and
01:21 services and you get here you’ll see a
01:26 listing of your products and services
01:28 just click the one you want to edit
01:30 click Edit under the action column and
01:39 towards the bottom of the product
01:41 service information screen you should
01:45 see sales tax category okay so that’s
01:50 quick answers now we’ll get into a
01:52 little more detail about all that so
01:58 before I get into it I want to start off
02:02 with a caveat did recently QuickBooks
02:07 Online has made some changes to the user
02:11 experience and
02:13 I’m getting conflicting information
02:15 between what I see in the sample company
02:17 which is what I use for my examples
02:20 obviously I use that for purposes of
02:22 privacy so I’m seeing a difference
02:24 between that and what I’m seeing
02:28 elsewhere so what I chose to do in order
02:35 to get this video out not sit on it
02:38 forever is to basically cover both ways
02:41 so I guess whatever QuickBooks has got
02:46 going on in terms of that you new user
02:48 interface if it’s affecting you yet
02:52 then you should still be able to use
02:54 this video if it’s not you should also
02:56 still be able to use this video so with
02:58 all that said we’ll get into it here
03:03 capabilities of QuickBooks Online it’s
03:05 supposed to have a sales tax engine it
03:07 makes calculations that basically kind
03:09 of a wizard for figuring out sales tax
03:12 what it does do though once you enter
03:14 information automatically calculates
03:15 every time that you enter an invoice or
03:18 a sales receipt okay so it’s based on
03:21 the location of the sale and the type of
03:24 product and basically everything you
03:26 entered during setup there supposed to
03:29 be a sales tax enter where you can view
03:31 upcoming tax payments see liability
03:33 reports change settings and all that you
03:36 can as I covered in a quick answer still
03:38 do most of that but again
03:40 things have changed somewhat so I can’t
03:44 walk you through an example of the old
03:47 basic setup or any of the old examples
03:50 because again the sample company has
03:53 changed is different than they used to
03:56 be but here’s how the old way used to do
04:00 basic setup and you go to left menu
04:03 taxes and in setup sales tax there would
04:06 be a button there you would confirm your
04:08 address your place of business and it
04:12 would ask you if you needed to collect
04:14 sales tax outside of where your address
04:17 was and you’d click typically no they’re
04:25 in close the window then
04:27 he would also select a filing frequency
04:28 and you’d be giving guidance on that
04:30 based on your locality and the
04:35 anticipated amount of receipts you had
04:37 how often you should file unfortunately
04:40 seems for the time being all that’s gone
04:42 you’re now left to kind of sort it
04:47 figure it all out yourself I would
04:50 assume that’s a functionality that
04:52 they’ll bring back but yeah I don’t know
04:55 like I said things are a little weird
04:56 now as of the recording of this video so
05:00 the new way though you know that I’m
05:02 still go to taxes on the left menu then
05:04 like I said add edit tax rates and
05:06 agencies let that load up and your first
05:14 time you’re probably going to when
05:16 you’re setting it up you’re gonna want
05:17 to click new and you’re gonna choose
05:22 whether you do a single or combined tax
05:26 rate and if you’re not familiar a single
05:31 tax rates pretty straight forward that
05:34 would be like a state sales tax
05:35 now obviously sometimes counties and/or
05:40 cities or you know other other
05:46 governments will implement an additional
05:49 sales tax you know to pay for schools to
05:53 pay for new arenas to pay for whatever
05:57 it is so when they do that when you
06:00 start stacking sales tax rates that’s
06:03 when you’ve got a combined rate okay
06:06 what I would suggest doing until they
06:08 get to a little wizard back up and
06:10 running if they do is to go to this
06:14 address right here sales tax states calm
06:17 and that’s an easy way to look up what
06:21 the sales tax rate is in a specific area
06:23 but I would definitely double check that
06:25 against the appropriate State Department
06:29 of Revenue website just to confirm it
06:35 so once you have it entered if you want
06:39 to edit mention go to edit sales tax
06:46 settings here and this isn’t editing
06:50 being sales tax for one of the
06:54 government entities attended earlier
06:57 this is more general settings you know
07:00 as you can see do you charge sales tax
07:02 where your default sales tax is and
07:05 whether you want to make all new
07:08 customers taxable or and/or all new
07:11 products and services taxable so there’s
07:13 more general settings not the specific
07:16 settings those would be edited here of
07:18 course where you would click on the
07:21 relevant government entity and click
07:24 Edit there you can change the rate
07:37 oops what did you do there I don’t know
07:42 what happened get back on track here
07:59 a little bit more about those general
08:06 options that you can edit you know it
08:09 asked do you charge sales tax if you
08:13 sell physical goods typically the answer
08:15 is gonna be yes again the old with the
08:20 old way it used to walk you through
08:22 where you could kind of I don’t know it
08:28 gave me more guidance on what was
08:31 taxable and how much based off your
08:32 locality and everything it just doesn’t
08:34 seem to do that now but so typically the
08:37 answer is gonna be yes but it’s
08:39 complicated topic so make sure you do
08:40 your research you pick a default sales
08:44 tax that’s a drop-down like I showed you
08:47 from previously entered agencies and
08:49 then make all new customer product
08:52 services taxable depends on the nature
08:54 of your business
08:55 but I would imagine that would typically
08:56 be checked also okay so a little bit
09:02 more about tax categories for products
09:04 and services again that sales products
09:06 and services then you want to add it for
09:08 a specific product or service
09:27 so the sales tax category like I said
09:31 it’s a drop-down you can choose either
09:33 taxable standard rate non-taxable or
09:36 choose a special category if you’re
09:38 unsure you might take a look at special
09:40 categories to make sure this particular
09:43 product or service doesn’t fall under
09:45 one of those let’s take a look at that
09:48 here and this is what I was talking
09:55 about how it’ll kind of walk you through
09:57 a little bit as far as different
10:00 products and services are concerned so
10:02 if you were in the business of
10:05 professional services
10:06 you know you might click that look and
10:10 see it’ll narrow it down if your
10:13 services say photographer fall under
10:18 this category you know again you keep
10:22 narrowing it down and check the button
10:26 click the button and hit done and it’ll
10:31 apply the appropriate sales tax given
10:36 your locality like I said and a
10:40 particular product or service if you
10:45 can’t find that particular product or
10:49 service in that special category list
10:52 then just go ahead and click taxable
10:55 standard rate unless you’re certain it’s
10:58 non-taxable I used to be able to check
11:05 the sales tax calculation by looking at
11:10 sales receipt and invoices again as far
11:13 as I can tell that’s no longer an option
11:17 like if we go to all sales here sales
11:21 all sales select receipt or invoice
11:23 click on the sales tax link it used to
11:26 be where sales tax was calculated you
11:30 know it was clickable kind of hyperlink
11:33 in the bottom right and then you could
11:35 viewer edit the sales tax calculation
11:37 from
11:38 there now if we look at for instance an
11:55 open invoice that depends in part what’s
12:03 on the invoice course it’s all
12:06 non-taxable services then if something’s
12:12 not quite right
12:13 no kiddin I see we can click on another
12:17 one here I’m good
12:31 and this one doesn’t have sales tax that
12:37 was a payment though we tried one more
12:40 invoice yeah all right so anyhow like I
12:51 said it used to
12:53 obviously the functionalities gotten a
12:55 lot worse yeah that’s the way it used to
13:00 work it could be that they bring that
13:01 functionality back but the time being as
13:05 far as I can tell it’s gone the sales
13:09 tax enter the old way again and the left
13:12 menu you go to taxes and then sales tax
13:17 in some instances if you do payroll you
13:22 might see payroll taxes as a tab or a
13:30 sub option there but in this case the
13:34 sample companies and set up that way and
13:37 if it were I’m not sure if it would be
13:40 there the way the way things have gone
13:44 with these changes anyhow it did there
13:51 were a bunch of they call them cards or
13:55 whatever across the screen there where
13:57 you know they were kind of graphical and
14:01 easy to navigate like sales tax to was
14:04 their tax break down it showed you that
14:08 you know what you keep an eye on what
14:11 the sales tax do what you had accrued to
14:15 be owing all the agencies in terms of
14:19 set in terms of sales tax and tax break
14:21 down which was kind of the main area of
14:24 the screen it had sales tax amounts and
14:27 what was due this month what was
14:28 upcoming was overdue a lot of great
14:29 information then you had a opportunity
14:37 to view your return which was again
14:39 based on what it hadn’t already been
14:40 entered into QuickBooks Online when it
14:43 was time to pay
14:44 typically that was done on the say
14:47 States website where you would file that
14:49 return but you know it was all prepared
14:53 for him and it would also then record
14:56 the payment quickbooks online when you
14:57 click the record payment button finally
15:00 ur is history in the sales tax settings
15:02 sales tax settings that they do still
15:05 have where you can view at it mentor
15:06 agencies history that’s that the
15:11 comparable thing now is the the sales
15:15 tax liability report and you can view
15:19 previously paid or filed returns so the
15:23 old sales tax center had a lot of great
15:24 information now not as much I mean some
15:29 should does show what you oh here on the
15:31 main screen depending on breaks it down
15:36 by agency and that but it seemed to me a
15:41 lot more user-friendly previously there
15:47 were also the reports in the upper right
15:48 and sales tax liability report which
15:50 still has and taxable customer report
15:53 which might exist in reports now I feel
15:58 like it does let’s take a look here and
16:05 there were also shortcuts in a sales tax
16:07 center on the right side that navigate
16:10 to all the areas that fed into sales tax
16:12 calculation so you could jump straight
16:14 to him from there which was also handy
16:17 now you basically got I can mention the
16:22 sales tax owed that’s the main screen in
16:25 the sales tax center and the sales tax
16:29 liability report kind of your two
16:31 options and still-living talked a little
16:39 bit about the sales tax liability report
16:41 earlier and you select the appropriate
16:42 report period in tax agency and click
16:46 the run report button still loading
16:54 so that basically covers everything look
16:59 I know that was kind of a not the best
17:03 video ever I would love to give you more
17:10 up-to-date information but like I said
17:12 it seems like it’s in kind of in flux
17:14 for the time being so that is what it is
17:17 and I can always record a new video if I
17:20 have to in the future but so I don’t
17:25 know if you run into similar
17:26 circumstances then I did you saw me
17:28 struggling here and everything’s changed
17:30 where it’s located frankly it’s not as
17:33 not as robust as it used to be you know
17:38 and it can be a pain in the butt to deal
17:41 with so you know you’ve got a business
17:44 to run you’ve got sales that need to be
17:46 made and if you don’t have time to DIY
17:49 your bookkeeping you should check out
17:51 bots keeper what it is is a in essence
17:55 it’s a AI based bookkeeping but with a
17:58 human element to kind of qualifying
18:02 things you might say so a lot of the
18:05 tasks that you had to do are automated
18:07 and again you can work more on your
18:09 business you can work on bringing in
18:10 more sales and worry less about data
18:13 entry and worry less about slow internet
18:16 connections and fumbling around with
18:20 backwards changes they’ve made to
18:22 QuickBooks so there’s a link for that
18:25 down in the description if you want to
18:27 check that out and that’s all there is
18:30 so you know I still tried to make even
18:34 though things were a little wacky tried
18:36 to make this video quick into the point
18:38 upfront to get your answers and then if
18:41 you wanted to get into more detail you
18:43 know I tried to do that to try to give
18:45 you as much information as possible give
18:47 you this slides to reference and if that
18:50 worked for him
18:51 I would appreciate a like and if you
18:54 find yourself looking up topics on
18:57 QuickBooks Online fairly frequently and
19:00 want to skip searchbar in the future and
19:04 just check out my channel I
19:07 have posted and will continue to post
19:09 more videos if you subscribe you can do
19:13 that and yeah thanks for watching
19:15 take care

Quick & Easy Tool for Measuring Customer Profitability

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customer profitability featured

Customer profitability is measured by subtracting allocated costs from customer revenue.

The trick is to logically allocate costs – specifically Selling, General, and Administrative expenses. Understanding your customer profitability will help you make better decisions. For instance, what new customers to target and which of your current customers to part ways with. Having more good (and less not-so-good) customers will make your life as a small business owner more enjoyable.

Download a copy of the Customer Profitability workbook

Complete the form below and click Submit.
Upon email confirmation, the workbook will open in a new tab.

Why is it important to analyze customer profitability?

You’re probably wondering if some of your small business’ customers are unprofitable.

In the back of your mind, you know that some customers are better than others. Some customers are a huge headache and don’t bring in that much revenue. Others are a pleasure to do business with and drive the majority of your revenue.

It’s more than just revenue

Sure, you have an inkling of which customers are good and which are… not-so-good. But until you run the numbers, you’ll never know.

What you find might surprise you. Maybe the customer who’s a huge headache is worth it? Or, maybe the customer who seems ideal is actually unprofitable?

Revenue is the starting point. But customer profitability has as much to do with costs as it does revenue.

Build a better business with a customer profitability analysis

By understanding which of your customers are the most profitable, you can make better decisions in the future.

You will have a measurement to decide if you need to dedicate more time and resources to certain customers. Or, if you need to fire them.

Your “ideal customer” will become clearer. This will allow you to focus your marketing toward other “ideal customers.”

Also, by getting rid of not-so-good customers, you’ll likely save a huge emotional toll on yourself and your employees. Work will become more pleasurable. Which, in turn, can only help you achieve your vision for your small business.

How does a business measure customer profitability?

You know that profit = revenue – expenses. So, customer profit must equal customer revenue – customer expenses.

Customer revenue is easy enough. Your accounting software should be able to provide you with a report that tells you what you sold to who. If not, that’s Job #1 – to piece together this information or start measuring it going forward. You can’t measure customer profitability without it.

If you’re following along in the Customer Profitability workbook, you can enter customer names in row 5 of the Customer Profitability worksheet. Additionally, enter Customer revenue in row 7.

Also, for the sake of consistency, I would advise you to enter a Start and Finish Time period. This goes in cells C3 & D3 respectively. These dates won’t affect any formulas. They will, however, help ensure that your revenue and costs are compared consistently.

Costs of Goods Sold/Cost of Sales

Cost of goods sold (COGS), also known as Cost of sales (COS), are the costs your business (more or less) directly incurred to deliver that product/service to the customer.

Again, your accounting software probably captures this for you in a report somewhere.

QuickBooks Online captures this information in a report called Profit and Loss by Customer. It can be found by navigating to Reports (left menu) > Standard (tab) > Business overview (section).

Here’s what that report looks like when downloaded into a spreadsheet:

qbo profit and loss by customer report spreadsheet
Credit: qbo.intuit.com
Click to enlarge

Based on how you set up your customers and products/services in QBO, your COGS will automatically be recorded in this report. That’s a big chunk of costs right there! Customer Gross Profit is taken care of.

Learn more about gross profit maximization here.

What if you don’t have a report that totals customer revenue and COGS?

You can estimate these totals with the Customer Rev/COGS (Optional) worksheet. It will just take a little more legwork.

First, list all your Products/Services in column B. Then for each Product/Service list the average Price you sell it for. Also, the average Cost.

Again, I’ll try not to get too technical. “Cost” in this case, includes material, labor, and overhead. The total costs incurred to produce one Product/Service. If you’re unsure whether to include a particular expense, leave it off. It can always be allocated on the Customer SGA Allocation worksheet.

After you’ve listed Products/Services, Price, and Cost, then you’ll want to enter the QUANTITY PURCHASED by each customer.

At the bottom, you’ll see Revenue and COGS by customer summed. These amounts can then be entered on the Customer Profitability Worksheet. They won’t carry over automatically because this worksheet is optional.

With Customer revenue and Customer cost of goods sold entered, Customer gross profit and gross margin will be calculated. Your Customer Profitability worksheet should look something like this:

customer gross margin calculation
Click to enlarge

The shading of the Customer gross margin cells will change slightly to highlight those customers with the highest gross margins.

What about Selling, General, and Administrative expenses?

Everything up until this point has been fairly intuitive. This is where the good customers get separated from the not-so-good, though.

Selling, General, and Administrative (SGA) are those expenses that are not directly tied to any individual Product/Service. This is why you don’t see these expenses included in the QBO Profit and Loss by Customer report.

But, these expenses are very real. They are (or, at least, should be) necessary to serve your customers. So, they should be accounted for any time you speak of “profitability.”

How do you allocate these expenses to individual customers though?

You can think of each type of Expense as a pie. It’s up to you to decide on the most appropriate way to slice that pie for each customer. There are no wrong ways to slice that pie. Some are just better than others.

Start by listing Expenses in column B on the Customer SGA Allocation worksheet. Break them down into as much detail as you’re comfortable with.

For each Expense, enter an Amount to be Allocated in column C. Remember to stick to the Time period specified on the Customer Profitability Worksheet. You don’t want to allocate too much or too little.

Drivers – slicing the pie

Now, comes the creative part…

Think about what drives that Expense. Specifically, what the customer does that makes that Expense increase.

For example, Automobile expenses could be allocated by the number of miles driven for a client. Meals and Entertainment could be allocated by the number of meetings and events you took part in with the client.

Again, there are no wrong answers here because there are (usually) no perfect ways to slice the pie. Use your best judgment. If you completely draw a blank, you can always allocate that Expense evenly across all customers.

Try not to do that if at all possible, though. It’s the allocation of these costs that really separates the profitable customers from the unprofitable ones.

Back to the Customer SGA Allocation worksheet.

Enter the method of allocation in column D. Then, for each customer, break the Amount to be Allocated down in that manner. The Total of that breakdown (column O) needs to equal the Amount to be Allocated.

If all of the Totals don’t match, you’ll see an error message in cell P25.

Customer SGA expenses are totaled at the bottom and carried over to the Customer Profitability Worksheet.

Your completed Customer SGA Allocation worksheet should look something like this when you’re done:

customer sga expense allocation worksheet
Click to enlarge

The final product

If you look back at the Customer Profitability Worksheet, you’ll see that Customer SGA expenses are subtracted from Customer gross profit to give you Customer operating profit. Aside from taxes, this is essentially your bottom line for customer profitability.

Customer operating margin is also displayed. Again, the shading in these cells will change to highlight those customers with the highest operating margin.

A chart, comparing your customers is also included to help with understanding.

Your final product should look something like this:

customer profitability worksheet table and chart
Click to enlarge

How to improve

Good news! The first step to improving customer profitability is to understand it. After using this workbook, you should have a better understanding of customer profitability.

Next, look for common themes among your best (most profitable) customers. Is there anything they have in common?

How did you acquire these customers? Can you replicate it?

Can you do more business with these customers? You don’t want to grind on your best customers too hard. But, are there any more of their problems you can fix with your solutions?

Don’t just look at your customers either. Look into the mirror a little bit too. Is your company making some customers not-so-good? This might not be comfortable. But, some introspection could help you convert some of those not-so-good customers to the light side.

If some of the not-so-good customers are hopeless though, you might have to fire them. This can be a delicate situation. However, sinking money into customers that you don’t even enjoy dealing with is destructive. Do your homework on the best way to do so and let them be someone else’s problem.

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How To Set Up Bank Feeds in QuickBooks Online Step by Step [VIDEO]

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qbo bank feed featured

Video transcript

00:01 getting bank transactions into
00:03 QuickBooks Online there are two basic
00:08 ways to do this and the first is to set
00:11 up a bank feed which is connecting your
00:14 bank with QuickBooks Online so that
00:17 transactions automatically come in and
00:21 you do that by going to banking on the
00:25 left hand menu the banking tab and then
00:28 Add Account you’ll search for your bank
00:33 or credit card here and once you find it
00:38 you follow the steps signing into your
00:41 with your bank information and do that
00:46 to could finish the connection and
00:49 that’ll bring in depending on your bank
00:53 anywhere from like 30 to 90 days maybe
00:57 more transactions the other way to do it
01:02 is to manually upload transactions and
01:05 that’s done by going to the same area
01:08 banking banking and then on the Update
01:12 button here the drop down menu click
01:15 that and do file upload so that’s a
01:21 quick answer we can get into a little
01:23 more detail here bank feeds are links
01:28 like I said between your bank and credit
01:30 card accounts and the transactions are
01:34 fed into QuickBooks Online Banking
01:36 Center and that makes it easier to match
01:41 transactions to reconcile your accounts
01:44 in essence between what happens at your
01:46 bank and what you have entered into
01:48 QuickBooks Online so to connect bank
01:53 feeds like I said left-hand menu
01:55 banking Center if this is your first
01:58 time if you haven’t connected any
02:01 accounts yet you’ll select a button that
02:03 says connect otherwise like in a sample
02:07 cup in here they’ve already connected
02:09 accounts so
02:11 in this case we click Add Account as I
02:14 mentioned and like I can’t afford that
02:17 lien you walk you through every single
02:19 step because of the nature of what we’re
02:24 doing here I can’t really connect the
02:26 bank account with this sample account
02:27 company and obviously making accounts a
02:31 little sensitive and not the sort of
02:33 thing you want to accidentally put
02:37 something out there that would you know
02:39 compromise like my bank account on
02:44 YouTube so I wish I could provide a
02:47 little more step-by-step detail but I’ve
02:50 tried to do as much as I can here so as
02:54 I mentioned when you click Add Account
02:57 you’ll select find your bank you’ll in
03:03 most cases you should be able to find
03:05 your bank and should be able to make a
03:06 connection it should be rare that you’re
03:09 not able to and once you enter your
03:13 login information for the bank or credit
03:15 card then you’re gonna choose the
03:17 appropriate account that you want to
03:21 link it to in quickbooks online choose
03:26 the appropriate account rather from your
03:27 bank or credit card and then you’re
03:30 going to choose the account and
03:32 quickbooks online to link it to you’re
03:34 gonna give the account a name and you’ll
03:37 click save’ and that’s how you set up
03:39 the bank feed so as i mentioned also you
03:45 know it depends how much history is
03:47 gonna be brought in from your bank or
03:49 credit card company could be as little
03:51 as 30 days could be up to around two
03:53 years obviously it’s zero days if your
03:57 bank or credit card won’t connect
03:59 quickbooks online so if you want more
04:02 history than that and particularly if
04:04 your bank or credit card won’t connect
04:06 what do you do you have to manually
04:09 upload transactions so when you do that
04:16 there a couple things to keep in mind
04:17 you’re gonna want to first settle on a
04:19 date range because you don’t want to
04:21 import upload transactions rather
04:24 that are already in QuickBooks Online
04:27 because then you’re gonna have duplicate
04:28 transactions so first thing you want to
04:32 do is go to chart of accounts and then
04:35 view register let’s back out of this and
04:41 do just that
04:42 that’s accounting and then chart of
04:43 accounts accounting in the left hand
04:46 menu and if you come down to try to
04:57 accounts you see your checking savings
04:59 whatever account it is you want to
05:01 import transactions into you come over
05:03 to the right hand side here the action
05:05 column and click on view register scroll
05:20 to the bottom of this information and
05:26 you can see the first date for that you
05:32 have the opening balance ok so typically
05:35 what you’re going to want to do is
05:36 upload transactions that occurred before
05:41 before that date of your opening balance
05:43 if you want more of a history in
05:46 QuickBooks Online and so now that you’ve
05:51 got an idea of the date range that you
05:52 need you’re gonna go to your bank or
05:55 credit card online log in and download
05:59 transactions that’s of course going to
06:01 be different for every bank or credit
06:05 card company out there though typically
06:09 the you know it’ll be roughly roughly
06:14 the same it shouldn’t be too hard to
06:15 find you want to make sure that the file
06:18 is in the correct format when you
06:19 download it and particularly so it’s in
06:22 the Clark correct format to upload into
06:26 quickbooks online preferred formats are
06:30 CSV click QBO that’s d preferred
06:36 format qfx and the file size can’t
06:40 exceed 350 kilobytes which shouldn’t be
06:44 a problem
06:45 that would be quite a bit of history
06:48 then you’re going to navigate to the
06:51 appropriate link as I mentioned that’s
06:54 back in banking and file upload or I’m
07:18 sorry I got a little ahead of myself
07:18 there you want to make sure you choose
07:22 the account that you want to upload to
07:26 so by clicking these like Co it’s got to
07:30 go back here now checking savings
07:34 account and that so you would select the
07:37 appropriate account first then you would
07:40 do file upload here’s a couple
07:50 screenshots from my bank you know to
07:54 kind of give you an idea of what you
07:55 might look for when you’re downloading
07:57 transactions from from your bank you
08:01 know in this case it’s under accounts on
08:05 a menu and there’s a specific place
08:07 they’re designated to download
08:09 transactions you know you pick the
08:12 account you want to download from you
08:14 select your date range and you select
08:16 your final type and then you’ll get
08:22 something like this that’ll you can view
08:25 in Excel and you know then it should be
08:30 ready to be uploaded so it’s beginning
08:36 upload you’re gonna come to
08:40 the screen that was that earlier and
08:44 again I can’t walk you through this
08:46 completely but you’re gonna get the
08:49 browse for the file to upload and in
08:58 this case yeah it won’t let me don’t
09:01 have a final it won’t let me do it but
09:03 you’ll select that file and it’ll walk
09:06 you through the steps they’re basically
09:11 two to getting that information uploaded
09:14 into quickbooks online so you select the
09:19 account that you want to upload to
09:21 double check that and you want to it’ll
09:27 match it’ll make sure everything’s
09:28 mapped correctly that it’s putting you
09:31 know credits into credit call and debits
09:32 in the debit column etc and you want to
09:38 match those columns make sure the same
09:41 and they’ll give you one last chance to
09:42 edit the information that you’re
09:44 uploading and then you’ll select let’s
09:46 go and so once you get those uploaded
09:49 into quickbooks online you’ll want to
09:52 categorize the transactions and that’s
09:57 basically will be down here in this
10:00 column and the savings isn’t a good
10:03 example look at the checking here see
10:09 some of them are uncharacterized income
10:13 you’ll want to make sure every single
10:15 one of those transactions is in the
10:19 correct category quickbooks online i
10:23 don’t know specifically what they mean
10:25 by this but they say until you do this
10:26 the transactions will not quote unquote
10:28 fully be in your account then once
10:32 everything is categorized you might want
10:36 to reconcile the transactions it’s not
10:39 completely necessary but QuickBooks
10:42 advises that you do that and you may
10:44 need to edit your opening balance if
10:46 you’re uploading transactions that took
10:48 place before the eyes update
10:53 so the simplest thing to do course is to
10:57 connect that bank feed but there might
11:01 be circumstances where you want more
11:03 information than can be provided in that
11:05 bank feed so you know you you’ll upload
11:10 transactions if you don’t have time to
11:14 do it yourself with bookkeeping isn’t
11:17 your thing
11:17 check out bot keeper I’ll have a link
11:20 down in the description of this video
11:22 and basically what ba keeper does is
11:26 mixes a I you know automation with a
11:31 human element to do your bookkeeping for
11:33 you and allows you to work more on your
11:36 business particularly work more on sales
11:39 and then bookkeeping itself and as I
11:43 mentioned there’s a link to that down in
11:44 description so that’s all I got for
11:47 getting bank transactions into
11:50 QuickBooks Online if you thought this
11:53 video was you know like a quick answer
11:56 to shorten to the point answer but also
11:58 the detail that I went into and that let
12:02 me know by giving me a like please and
12:05 if you have another they find yourself
12:08 looking up information about QuickBooks
12:10 Online frequently and I think you might
12:13 need to find out find more how-to videos
12:16 in the future or subscribe

QuickBooks Online Vendor Setup | Save Time & Track Expenses

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qbo add vendor video featured

Video transcript

00:00 adding vendors and QuickBooks Online the
00:05 quick way or the quick explanation is to
00:08 simply go to expenses and quickbooks
00:11 online and click on benders and click
00:15 the new vendor button the green one on
00:18 the upper right enter as much
00:20 information as possible about the vendor
00:23 save and the new vendor should appear a
00:28 new list below if you need to enter a
00:30 lot of new vendors and then you’ll
00:32 probably want to import their
00:34 information you do that by clicking the
00:35 little drop down arrow behind new
00:37 vendors and click import vendors you’ll
00:43 be taken to this screen where you can
00:47 browse for your list your Excel document
00:54 with the vendors and click Next
00:58 map your fields and make sure what your
01:01 fields are match what QuickBooks expects
01:05 them to be or needs them to be click
01:07 Next give it one last chance to edit
01:10 everything all the different fields and
01:12 click import and that’s the quick answer
01:19 so now we can talk about adding vendors
01:22 a little more in-depth okay so there’s
01:24 two basic reasons that you would want to
01:28 add vendors to quickbooks online and the
01:32 first is because you want to save time
01:34 entering the information about vendors
01:36 on purchase forms if you have vendors
01:40 saved and then you can just choose them
01:42 from a drop-down menu all the
01:43 information you entered on that vendor
01:45 information screen will automatically
01:47 populate things like address terms those
01:51 sorts of things so it’ll save you time
01:53 second of all it gives you an
01:56 opportunity to run reports about your
01:58 vendors and for instance how much you
02:00 spent on each individual vendor so I’m
02:06 going little more in depth in that
02:07 adding vendors here and we’ll start on
02:10 adding individual vendors and like I
02:15 said and the first step is course to
02:17 navigate to the a vendor screen which is
02:21 lucking menu expenses vendors and then
02:23 click new bedroom like i said when the
02:27 new vendors added a little show up from
02:29 the list below so as I said expenses
02:34 vendors click that new vendor you’ll get
02:40 the vendor information screen here and
02:45 watching far ok so most of these fields
02:50 are pretty self-explanatory yeah first
02:54 fields company
02:55 now if the year leonard is an individual
02:57 not a company can understand last name
03:00 here these fields here or more if you
03:04 had like a contact maybe a sales person
03:09 or something at the vendor company but
03:14 if it’s just an individual their first
03:16 and last name camera display name as
03:19 this is where you can change if you the
03:24 way it’s displayed if you wanted to
03:25 display do something different from the
03:27 company you can specify that there the
03:31 print uncheck as option allows you to
03:35 change how the name will be displayed
03:41 the vendors name on the checks issued to
03:45 them for payment if you want that to be
03:48 something different besides the company
03:49 name specify that here address obviously
03:54 pretty self explanatory notes ok this is
04:00 information that you can enter about the
04:02 vendor that will only be seen by people
04:03 in your company so the vendor won’t see
04:08 this and you know you can enter any
04:12 anything that you feel is appropriate or
04:15 that somebody who’s working with your
04:18 books might need to know or need a
04:21 reference about this
04:22 vendor attachment says is where you can
04:27 attach files is such as maybe you know a
04:32 PDF of a w-9 or contracts or anything
04:35 else that’s specifically this vendor and
04:39 so you want to be able to readily find
04:46 let’s see information and an email phone
04:54 number fax number
04:55 oh that website self-explanatory
04:59 then we got a couple of fields here on
05:01 this screen you only see billing rate in
05:05 other instances you might see cost great
05:07 information about DS was a little tough
05:12 to come by but here’s my interpretation
05:16 first of all the billing rate this is
05:19 that the vendor provides a service so an
05:21 example might be a lawyer okay in that
05:26 case you know they build my day an hour
05:27 so you would enter whatever that rate
05:29 may be $100 $200 $300 05:33 whatever the cost rate will only appear
05:40 I think if you have activated projects
05:45 for your company okay and then if the
05:49 vendor is a contractor
05:52 so again information is a little hard to
05:56 find on that but you know it’s only a
06:00 field that will be used under certain
06:03 circumstances terms it’s pretty
06:08 straightforward
06:08 these are the default payment terms the
06:11 defender has you can always change these
06:14 you know when you enter on the purchase
06:19 form to what the actual terms are but if
06:24 they’re gonna consistently give you the
06:26 same terms then you can you know have
06:31 this information populate automatically
06:34 opening balance
06:36 in the answer of date for that opening
06:37 balance they’re usually gonna be left
06:40 blank QuickBooks recommends that you
06:43 leave it blank because there will be no
06:47 details about the balance captured no
06:50 transactions that will add up to equal
06:54 that balance if you do enter them out
06:56 here it’s going to increase your
06:58 accounts payable and decrease your
07:03 opening balance equity okay so keep that
07:08 in mind if the you’re bringing in an
07:11 opening balance QuickBooks recommends
07:13 you know entering the transactions and
07:18 creating a balance that way we can
07:23 outnumber ok so this is the lenders
07:26 number for your business and apostrophe
07:31 in their vendors number for your
07:34 business I know show up as a memo on the
07:37 check so this isn’t your number for the
07:40 vendors the vendors number for you ok
07:44 business ID numbers of being the
07:47 employment identification number or
07:50 social security number and that is used
07:52 when you create a 1099 for this vendor
07:55 if you create a 1099 if you do plan on
07:58 creating a 1099 you’ll want to check
08:01 this track payments for 1099 bucks ok
08:05 because that will make sure those
08:09 vendors included when you run the 1099 08:11 wizard as a rule of thumb if you know
08:15 maybe you know intuitively this is a ten
08:18 and a nine vendor maybe now I’m new to
08:20 this and the rule of thumb for issuing a
08:24 1099 is when you’re purchasing services
08:27 from this particular vendor and if
08:31 they’re unincorporated okay if they meet
08:35 both those check both those boxes then
08:38 you’re probably going to be issuing a
08:39 1099 08:42 so let’s look at the second method of
08:48 creating new vendors and it’s importing
08:50 a vendor list and again to do that it’s
08:57 this new tender button except you’re
08:59 gonna click the little drop down arrow
09:01 you can select the import vendors okay
09:07 what I recommend you do before you make
09:12 up this list and Excel of your vendors
09:16 and all their information is to download
09:17 this sample file click here and then
09:20 you’re gonna get a sample file that
09:22 looks something like this and the reason
09:24 I recommend that is because all of your
09:27 fields are going to be laid out for you
09:29 here okay it’s basically a template for
09:32 your upload and that’ll just make the
09:35 process of uploading this information
09:38 that much easier so you’ll get a file
09:40 that looks like this you want to go
09:42 through select all this dummy
09:46 information so to speak and delete it
09:51 okay and then re-enter the information
09:55 about your particular vendors once
10:01 you’ve done that and save it you can
10:03 browse for that file select it and click
10:12 next thing so then it’s gonna come to
10:16 this map data step and you know you’re
10:21 gonna compare your fields to the
10:24 quickbooks online fields make sure the
10:26 same in most cases usually quickbooks
10:29 online smart enough to know what’s what
10:32 but just make sure you don’t have a fax
10:34 number going to a phone number
10:37 you know something else you know the
10:41 field one of your fields going to the
10:44 wrong field in quickbooks online if you
10:47 okay with all of that click Next then
10:51 you better the import step this is one
10:53 last chance to edit
10:54 any of this information for all your
10:57 different vendors see for instance down
10:59 here we’ve got this note that was
11:04 included as a vendor okay so we would
11:06 just check that to not include it and in
11:11 this case we should be good to go click
11:16 import it’ll tell you how many total
11:21 were successfully imported and you’ll
11:24 see them all down here in your then the
11:27 list thing so that is it those are the
11:36 two main ways to and offenders the
11:39 quickbooks online and if you don’t have
11:45 time to DIY your bookkeeping you know
11:49 and maybe you don’t enjoy the
11:52 bookkeeping aspect a lot of people don’t
11:54 maybe you’d like to work more on your
11:56 business more than data entry work on
12:01 increasing sales you know helping your
12:05 business grow and less time on
12:09 bookkeeping and then take a look at ba
12:12 keeper that ba keeper this company i
12:16 found apparently to google back start up
12:19 and day what it does is uses AI they had
12:27 a lot of the bookkeeping and then uses
12:31 your people to kind of where necessary i
12:36 guess is the way they put it you know
12:41 with my understanding is you can take as
12:43 much control or as little as you won
12:45 over it
12:45 because what you have ba keeper do for
12:48 you and i know that it also ties in with
12:51 quickbooks online so if you like to
12:53 quickbooks online interface and i want
12:56 to be able to run reports or are used to
12:58 it or that
12:59 you know again you can use Bakke burn to
13:03 handle some of the things that can be
13:06 easily automated the the menial
13:09 transactions so to speak so there is a
13:13 link for that down in the description to
13:17 learn more from what I looked up about
13:20 the company it’s really well reviewed on
13:22 kaptara and other sites so if your book
13:26 he was driving you crazy you might check
13:28 that out anyhow if you thought this
13:32 video was a fairly short and to the
13:34 point but detail enough to give you
13:36 information that you needed give it a
13:38 like and if you’d like to not worry
13:44 about searching around on other
13:47 quickbooks online topics and like save
13:50 time you can subscribe click on my
13:52 channel I’ll have other QuickBooks
13:55 Online videos up and hopefully