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Can’t seem to decide between Quickbooks and Quicken for your business accounting needs? Both of these Intuit-owned products offer a versatile and effective business management solution for business owners. Whether you own a small, medium or large-size business, you can’t go wrong with either Quickbooks or Quicken.  However, there are some subtle nuances between the two that owners need to be aware of.  Taking the time to identify the needs of your business and pairing it with the right accounting software will save you time and money in the long run.

Transaction Detail

Quickbooks offers a greater amount of freedom when creating transaction details. Let’s face it, not all transactions are ‘normal,’ and if you need to remember something about a sale or transaction, you can include it in the memo field. Having a larger area for transaction detail means you can include specifics like person/organization, payment method, etc. This may seem like a small and relatively insignificant feature, but it’s a huge help when trying to perform audits in the future.

Inventory

Unfortunately, there’s no inventory method available in Quicken. If you run or manage a product-based business, you’ll need some form of management system to keep track of inventory; otherwise, you’ll have to do it manually (never a good idea!). The good news is that Quickbooks does in fact offer inventory management. All versions of Quickbooks come standard with inventory management, allowing retail stores and product-based business to automatically keep track of their inventory. Each time a product is sold, Quickbooks automatically deducts it from your account. This is helpful for the obvious reason of maintaining a steady inventory of products, but it goes one step further by notifying you when your supply is running low.

Payroll

We really can’t talk about the differences between Quickbooks and Quicken without mentioning payroll. Assuming you run a business with other employees and not a one-person S-Corp or LLC, you’ll need to a payroll system in place to pay your workers. Quickbooks makes the process of paying your employees a breeze thanks to its integrated payroll system. I hate to say it, but there’s no payroll system currently offered with Quicken, which is just one more reason why so many business owners prefer Quickbooks.

Simplicity

The one area where Quicken shines over Quickbooks. If you’re looking for a simple, out-of-the-box accounting solution for your business, Quicken might be the best choice. Quickbooks is slightly more technical and requires a greater amount of time to learn. However, learning Quickbooks will prove to be well worth it in the long run.

One of the many reasons why business owners should choose Quickbooks Online as their primary accounting/management platform is because it allows customers to make payments using a credit card. Whether you are subscribed to Simple Start, Essentials or Plus, all Quickbooks Online versions offer credit card payment processing. If you’re looking to branch out your professional operations by accepting credit card payments, keep reading to learn more about enabling this feature in Quickbooks Online.

There are a couple different methods for accepting credit card payments with Quickbooks Online, one of which is by swiping the client’s card using a USB reader. Some business owners assume these USB credit card readers are expensive and difficult to use, but thankfully this isn’t true. On the contrary, they are actually relatively inexpensive and will likely save you money in the long run. You can purchase a basic USB card reader online for about $20 bucks.

Of course, you’ll also need to set up a merchant account with each of the respective credit card services whom you wish to accept from clients. Assuming you take the route of using a USB reader, you’ll benefit from lower transaction fees. Just plug the card reader into your desktop computer or laptop’s USB port and ‘swipe’ the client’s card to accept their payment. See below for a more in-depth breakdown on the process of accepting credit card payments with a USB reader in Quickbooks.

When a customer is reader to make a purchase using a credit card, fire up your Quickbooks account and select ‘Sales Receipt’ from the ‘Customers’ tab. Go ahead and fill out all of the necessary information, including client, transaction amount, product, date, etc. When you are finished, click the ‘Payment’ drop-down box and choose the credit card they wish to pay with. Next, take the client’s credit card and swipe it into the USB reader. If the reader successfully accesses the card, it will reveal the information on your Quickbooks account. Click ‘Save’ to process the transaction and save it into your Quickbooks account.

You can also accept credit card payments through the invoice page of your Quickbooks account. From the ‘Customers’ tab, select ‘Invoice’ to fill out the appropriate information related to the transaction. Next, click the ‘Payment’ button and choose the appropriate credit card from the drop-down menu. Rather than using the USB reader, you’ll need to enter in the customer’s card number and info manually.

Are you still printing out each and ever client invoice and physically mailing them through the USPS? Not only is this time-consuming, but it’s also expensive considering the fact that stamps are now at an all-time high of $0.46 cents (expected to rise to $0.49 cents in January). A smarter, faster and more cost-effective approach is to send your client invoices through email. Whether your business is small, large or anywhere in between, opting to use email over snail mail is a better all-around choice that benefits your company in a number of ways. For a step-by-step walkthrough on how to send invoices to clients using email, keep reading.

There are several different ways to send email invoices to clients, one of which is to use the built-in email service. Note: this service is only available to users subscribed to at least one of the following services:

• Payroll
• Intuit Merchant Services
• Accountant’s Copy File Transfer
• Enterprise Full Service Plan
• Billing Solutions
• Quickbooks Pro
• Quickbooks Plus
• Quickbooks Premier

Assuming you are currently subscribed to at least one of the previously mentioned services, you can use Quickbooks built-in email service to send client invoices. This is one of the perks of subscribing to some of the various Quickbooks services.

To send a client an invoice through email, open up the invoice in your Quickbooks account and click the ‘Send’ tab from the drop-down menu, followed by ‘Email Invoice.’ I know this seems like common sense, but you would be surprised at how many users overlook this feature. You can then enter in the recipient’s email address before clicking the ‘Send’ button. Like most email services, Quickbooks allows users to send invoice emails to multiple addresses. If you with to send the same invoice to multiple addresses, separate them them with either a comma or semicolon.

Quickbooks automatically creates a default message to go along with the invoice. If you wish to customize this message before sending, now’s the time to do it. You can personalize the invoice message to anything you desire. It’s recommended that you go through the email to perform a spell/grammar check before sending. Assuming everything is accurate and correct, you can choose to either send the invoice immediately or schedule it for a later time.

So, how do you send an email invoice to a client if you aren’t subscribed to one of the services mentioned above? Thankfully, Quickbooks is fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook along with online email services. The process is pretty much the same, the only difference being how it’s sent.

Here’s a scenario for business owners to consider: your business has grown to the point where its current office/building is no longer suitable, so you move to a larger complex at a different address. Not that you’ve moved, however, all of your checks, invoices, tax documents, and other forms printed through Quickbooks display the wrong address. So, how do you fix this issue? Thankfully, Quickbooks makes the process of changing your company information quick and easy. In just a couple of minutes, you can update all of your financial forms with your new information; here’s how you do it:

Log into Quickbooks as either the administrator or a user with admin privileges. Next, go the company menu and select the option labeled ‘Company Information.’ This should bring up the current company information associated with your Quickbooks account, including name, phone number, street address, and email. If any of this information has changed (or all of it), you can update it now. Simply clear out the current company information listed in the box and replace it with your new information.

Note: if your company’s legal information is different from its standard information, you’ll need to enter it under the section labeled ‘Legal Information.’  Quickbooks automatically uses the company name, address and phone number from this section on tax documents such as 1099s, W-2s, W-3s, paystubs, etc. Most companies use the same legal information as their standard information, but some may have special setups. It’s important to check and make sure this information is correct; otherwise, your tax documents could end up being invalid.

Quickbooks also allows users its users to specify a different shipping address for their company. Under the ‘Company Information’ menu, look for a tab labeled ‘Ship To Address.’  If you want products to ship to a different address than your company’s physical headquarters, you’ll need to enter it under this field. It’s not uncommon for retail businesses to have their goods shipped to a distribution center or directly to their store, while their headquarters are located elsewhere.

There are several other options available in the ‘Company Information’ menu, including Social Security and Employer Identification Number. If a small business owner wants to transition from a sole proprietorship to an LLC or S-Corp, for instance, he or she will need to update their SSN or EIN with the appropriate information.

Time Tracking is a feature offered with Quickbooks Plus. Just as the name suggests, this feature is designed to keep track of clients’ time. Time Tracking is a feature that some businesses may use on a daily basis, while others may never use it. Business owners should analyze the goals, objectives and logistics of their professional operations to determine whether or not this feature is right for them. To learn more about Quickbooks Time Tracking, keep reading.

Does Your Company Charge Based On Time?

If you answered yes to this question, then Time Tracking will likely prove useful. It’s not uncommon for contractors, lawyers, psychologists and consultants to charger their clients based on time (note: those are just a few examples). Rather than calculating time spend with each client and manually entering in the appropriate cost, Time Tracking performs these operations automatically.

Quickbooks Time Tracker allows businesses to assign a time activity to a particular client (time spent with client), and then choose whether or not to bill them for the recorded rate. It’s an otherwise simple task that makes managing time-based expenses a breeze. Business owners are no longer forced to manually multiple the hours spent with each client by their given rate before adding it into their Quickbooks account.

Of course, Time Tracker automatically adds the appropriate time-based charges to the client’s invoice. Once the feature is set up and running, all you must do is assign a time activity to the respective client. Upon adding this information, Quickbooks calculates the cost and adds it to their invoice.

Time Tracking Allows You To Hide Your Rates

Here’s a scenario to consider: perhaps you don’t want to reveal your normal hourly cost to clients. This is an all-too-common scenario that thousands of business owners find themselves in. Thankfully, Time Tracking comes with an option to hide your rates to clients. You’ll still be able to see and adjust these rates each time you log into Quickbooks, but they’ll remain hidden to clients. This is a huge benefit for businesses that offer services at different prices based on client loyalty.

The Time Tracking window is simple and straight forward to use. It features a drop-down menu where business owners/accountants can select the employee responsible for performing the service, along with several other drop-down boxes for the client and service. In addition, there’s a calender to the right-hand side where the hours are added and a clickable box for the ‘billing’ option.

Here’s a scenario for business owners to consider: you’re talking to a potential client and make a sale, but unfortunately you aren’t in the office to record it in your Quickbooks account. I think most business owners have found themselves in this situation at some point or another. And while you can always wait until you get back to the office, there’s a chance you could forget to record the transaction in Quickbooks. Thankfully, Quickbooks offers a quick and easy solution to this problem with their versatile yet easy-to-use smartphone applications.

Quickbooks Online: Apple Users

The Apple iPhone version of Quickbooks mobile can be found here. It’s offered with a free 30-day trial, and if you like the service, you can continue using it for just $12.99/month.  Simply download the app to your computer and move it to your smartphone via USB cable, or connect to iTunes from your Apple smartphone or tablet and download it directly to your device.

While Quickbooks mobile doesn’t offer all of the features of the desktop version, users can still perform a wide variety of operations, including billing, sales receipts, track sales, manage customers, convert estimates into invoices, manage balances, and much more. With a rating of 4/5 stars on iTunes, you can rest assured knowing this app is the real deal.

Once the app is installed on your Apple smartphone or tablet, you’ll need to provide the login information to access your account. Again, this is the login information associated with your paid Quickbooks account. As long as you currently have a paid and active account, you can access it via this app.

Note: Apple users must have iOS 7 or newer installed in order for Quickbooks Mobile 3.0 to work.

Quckbooks Online: Android Users

Don’t worry Android users, Quickbooks has you covered, as well. You can access the Android version of the Quickbooks Mobile app by clicking here. Like the Apple version, this one is completely free to download and comes with a 30-day trial. Mobile users may continue to use the Quickbooks Android app for $12.99/month or $124.99/year.

Some of the many features offered with the Android version of Quickbooks Online includes invoice creation, email, create new vendor expenses, track payments, company file creation, taxes, schedule appointments, customer call notifications, download bank statements, and much more.

If you’re the type of business owner who’s always on the go, you should consider using Quickbooks Online. It’s a simple application that allows you to perform a wide variety of Quickbooks activities straight from your smartphone or tablet computer.

Is your Quickbooks chuggin’ along slower than a turtle trying to cross the road? This is more than just a nuisance; it’s a serious issue that can hinder your normal business operations. Rather than logging into your Quickbooks to perform all of the necessary account, you’ll be forced to wait around for the program to load (if it decides to load). Thankfully, speed problems such as this are typically caused by one of several different factors. Once you’ve identified the problem, you can make the necessary changes to fix it.

Reason #1) Running Too Many Applications

One of the most common reasons why some users experience slow speeds with Quickbooks is because they are running too many applications at once. Assuming you are using a Windows-based PC, you should fire up your task manager to see exactly which programs are running. Close out of any unnecessary programs and then launch your Quickbooks application. The reduced PC and memory usage should translate into faster speeds with Quickbooks.

Reason #2) Automatic Updates

By default, Quickbooks automatically updates itself once a new version is released. What’s the problem with automatic updates? Well, some of these updates may have compatibility problems with users’ hardware and/or software. Quickbooks may not realize these problems until they are reported by users. This is why it’s recommended that you install updates manually — after they’ve been tested and verified by the Quickbooks community.

Reason #3) Outdated Hardware

Of course, a third factor that may contribute to a slow Quickbooks application is outdated hardware. If you’re still using the same desktop computer that you purchased 10 years ago, then it’s probably time for an upgrade. There are a few key pieces of hardware that affect the speed and performance of Quickbooks, including processor speed and RAM. Make sure your computer has the “recommended” hardware requirements and not the “minimum.”

Reason #4) Large Company File Size

A fourth possible reason why Quickbooks is running slow is because your company file size is too large. The company file consists of all your transactions and accounting data, so it’s naturally going to take up a fair amount of space. You can reduce the size of this file, however, by taking out and consolidating unnecessary information. And if you’re worried about losing vital information, perform a backup and save your company file to a USB flash drive or external hard drive.

Are you frequently experiencing error messages or crashes when running Quickbooks? Perhaps Quickboks immediately closes itself after opening, or maybe it won’t launch at all. There are a number of reasons why problems such as these occur, but thankfully you can usually fix them by repairing the installation. While this isn’t a guaranteed fix for all problems, users should first attempt to repair the installation. And if this doesn’t work, you can then perform other troubleshooting steps. To learn more about when (and how) to repair Quickbooks installation, keep reading.

How To Repair Quickbooks Installation on Windows XP

If you are running Quickbooks on Windows XP operating system, click on the start button down at the bottom left-hand corner of your screen, following by Control Panel. This should bring up a new window full of icons. Scroll through the available icons until you see one labeled ‘Add or Remove Programs,’ click it to continue. Now you’ll see a list of all the programs currently installed on your computer. Browse through this list and right click on the one labeled ‘Quickbooks,’ followed by selecting ‘Change/Remove.’ Rather than uninstalling Quickbooks (only used as a last resort), you should repair the file. Click the ‘Repair’ button to begin the process. The entire process should only take a couple minutes, at which point it will notify you that Quickbooks has been successfully repaired.

How To Repair Quickbooks Installation on Windows 7 or 8

To repair Quickbooks in either Windows 7 or Windows 8, click on the Windows button located on your keyboard, followed by ‘Uninstall or Change a Program.’ Again, scroll through the available icons and select Quickbooks once you’ve located it. Select ‘Uninstall/Change’ and choose the repair option from the built-in tool. Upon choosing this option, Quickbooks will begin repairing any corrupt files.

Uh Oh! Repair Didn’t Solve My Problem

In the event that repairing your installation did not solve your problem, you may need to install a fresh copy of Quickbooks on your computer. I know some people are hesitant of performing a fresh installation simply because they will lose all of their settings. The good news is that you can back up your company file and import it once you’ve installed a fresh copy of Quickbooks on your computer, but the bad news is that you’ll probably lose most of your setting and preferences.

To perform a fresh installation, use the Windows add/remove programs option (previously mentioned) to remove your current installation. Next, download a fresh copy and use the built-in extractor to install it on your computer.

The purpose of a journal entry is to record a transaction in your Quickbooks account that did not occur at the point of sale. Most transactions are recorded when a sale is made; however, there are times when businesses may need to record them at other times, which is where journal entries come into play. Quickbooks automatically creates journal entries for typical transactions, such as writing a check or paying a bill, but users can manually add them at any given time. For a step-by-step walkthrough on how to record journal entries in Quickbooks, keep reading.

Note: you can only record a journal entry if you know which account receives the payment and which payment receives the debit. If you don’t know this information, Intuit recommends consulting with your accountant before attempting to record a new journal entry.

From the main menu, select the ‘Company’ tab, followed by ‘Make General Journal Entries.’ In the new window that appears, edit the ‘Date’ field to the appropriate day (when the transaction occurred).

There are a couple more steps to recording journal entries. After changing the date of the journal entry, select ‘Account’ and enter the first account in the new transaction. In the event that you’re recording an accounts receivable or accounts payable transaction, you should include one of these accounts in this field first.

Next, go down to the Credit/Debit column and enter the amount for the transaction. If the transaction was a credit for $500, then you should enter $500 into the ‘Credit’ field. If the transaction was a debit for $500, then you should enter $500 into the ‘Debit’ field. Quickbooks also gives you the option to include a note next to your transactions in the ‘Memo’ field. This is helpful for remembering where a particular transaction came from.

You should now attach the vendor/customer to the journal entry. You can scroll through the list until you find the appropriate vendor/customer, or you can add a new one. Typically, users are allowed to bypass this step by adding a journal entry without attaching a vendor/customer to the transaction. If you are recording a journal entry with an accounts receivable or accounts payable transaction, however, you must include a vendor/customer.

There a few other optional steps remaining, such as attaching a class to the journal entry. Once all of this information is added, click ‘Save & Close’ to finish the process. Congratulations, you’ve successfully added a journal entry to your Quickbooks account!

Reconciliations are a fundamental part of maintaining an accurate, balanced Quickbooks account. Users who fail to reconcile their accounts on a regular basis will likely experience erroneous transactions, missed transactions, and other clerical errors. Whether your business is small or large, accounting errors are bound to happen, which is why Quickbooks makes the process of finding them fast and painless thanks to the reconciliation process. But once you’ve located the discrepancies, how are you supposed to fix them?

Discrepancy Caused By Incorrect Opening Balance

There are several different occasions when Quickbooks users may notice a discrepancy in their account, one of which is when  the opening balance is incorrect. If you noticed the opening balance on your account didn’t match up to your financial reports, you should attempt to fix it by scrolling through the register to fix the problematic transaction. Depending on the size of your business along with the number of transactions you perform, this may or may not be an easy process. Continue scrolling through the transactions until you find the one that’s responsible for the discrepancy, at which point you can adjust it accordingly.

In the event that you’re unable to locate the problematic transaction, you can fix the problem by ‘undoing’ your previous reconciliations until the opening balance is accurate. Don’t be afraid to undo several reconciliations until the balance is correct. Quickbooks allows users to fix problems such as this by reversing their reconciliations.

Run a Reconciliation Discrepancy Report

If you haven’t done so already, go ahead and run a reconciliation discrepancy report. This will provide useful information on what exactly is causing the error. If any transactions were deleted or edited, they will show up here. Reconciliation reports show changed made to the account since the last reconciliation; therefore, you should continue undoing your reconciliations while running a report in between each one until you’ve found the source of the problem.

To run a reconciliation discrepancy report, click ‘Reports’ from the main menu, followed by ‘Banking’ and ‘Reconciliation Discrepancy’ Reports are typically finished within a minute, and once it’s finished, you can browse through any changes made since the last reconciliation.

Other Tips on How To Fix Reconciliation Discrepancies:

• Make sure to include interests and fees in transactions.
• Look for changes in reconciliation discrepancy reports.
• Watch for deleted or modified transactions.
• Double check the ending balance in your Quickbooks account.