A Quick Look At Quickbooks

by Karen Stern

It’s no secret that tax and accounting software, such as QuickBooks, can drastically improve how a small business maintains its books and more. If you haven’t explored the options made available to you in previous editions, now is a good time to discover what QuickBooks 2015 has in store for you and your small business:

• Ability to post comments on your reports. A new clean design, paired with the ability to provide insights and context to your data, will make interpreting reports much easier.
• More inclusive filter options. You can now filter “Other 1” and “Other 2” data sets. These data sets are typically used to capture “other information” on transactions and work as a custom field but do not need to be predefined.
• Ability to send company file to accountant. This is not a new feature but merely a more streamlined version of a process that had previously been overly complex in terms of selecting the right kind of copy to send, the right file and the right method to send the data. Now you can send a copy of your company file directly from QuickBooks to your accountant by saving it on any Internet-based shared folder. Once you set it up, you have a one-click send option for future files.
• Enhanced Income Tracker. This tool is great for viewing graphical representations of your “money-in” transactions, letting you see what payments you’ve collected and what transactions you’re behind on. New for 2015, you can see your unbilled time and expenses and control which of those details you want to show in the tracker.
• Prevention of negative inventory. This new preference prevents you from posting transactions that would result in a negative quantity. A new Negative Item Listing Report allows you to see which of your items currently have negative quantities. These features will prevent ramifications incurred on an item’s average cost when an item’s quantity goes negative.

Karen Stern (314-983-1204 or kstern@bswllc.com) is partner in charge of BSW Small Business Services, which provides small business tax and accounting services.