QuickBooks Online

June 2025 QuickBooks Updates: Inventory, Square Integration, and What’s Coming

Earmark Team · August 6, 2025 ·

Picture this: You’re an accounting professional starting your Tuesday morning routine, coffee in hand, ready to tackle your client’s monthly reconciliation. But when you log into QuickBooks Online, something’s different. The familiar black navigation bar that’s guided your workflows for years has vanished, replaced by sleek gray buttons and flyout menus. Your muscle memory falters for a moment as you hover over unfamiliar icons, wondering if this change will derail your carefully orchestrated productivity schedule.

This scenario is the reality facing thousands of accounting professionals as QuickBooks Online undergoes its most significant transformation in years. In this episode of The Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast, host Alicia Katz Pollock and guest host Matthew “Spot” Fulton from Parkway Business Solutions broke down the latest “Now You Know” updates, revealing what’s new and why these changes matter for the future of accounting technology.

The Big News: Inventory Module Goes Standalone

The most significant announcement buried deep in a Firm of the Future article is a complete restructuring of how QuickBooks Online offers inventory features. After years of forcing users into QuickBooks Plus for inventory capabilities, Intuit is finally separating the inventory module into a standalone $40-per-month add-on.

“Until now, if you wanted inventory, you would subscribe to Plus,” Katz Pollock explains. “But they had users who were using Simple Start or Essentials, where they have their inventory in other places. They don’t need everything in Plus, but they do need QuickBooks inventory.”

This change eliminates a long-standing barrier for businesses running Simple Start ($30/month) or Essentials ($65/month) who needed inventory capabilities but couldn’t justify the cost of jumping to Plus. Instead of making that expensive leap, they can add inventory functionality for $40 monthly.

The thinking behind this move connects to QuickBooks’ broader Commerce Center strategy. “They’re doing this because of the commerce tools they’re building out,” Katz Pollock notes. “They have the Commerce Center, which is designed to be a one-stop shop, your single point of truth for integrations with shopping carts like Shopify, or your own website, or eBay or Etsy.”

But there’s a catch. Intuit is also wrapping the shipping label feature into the inventory module, sunsetting it as a standalone option. This means if you currently use shipping labels without inventory, you’ll need to either upgrade to Plus or add the inventory module to maintain that functionality.

The shipping integration actually works quite well, according to Katz Pollock’s testing. “The shipping module adds tracking right inside the invoice,” she explains. “You have those fields for the shipping address and then the tracking number. This auto-populates the tracking for you.”

Square Connector Gets a Major Upgrade

While inventory restructuring grabbed headlines, the Square connector improvements might have a more immediate impact on many practices. The previous “Connect to Square” integration had limitations that frustrated accountants and clients.

“The transactions were slow to appear. There was not a lot of transaction detail. The matching was limited,” Katz Pollock summarizes. “The way Square manages its holds and its adjustments, kind of like PayPal, it can be really confusing.”

The new Square connector addresses these pain points systematically:

Faster transaction processing. Sales now appear within hours instead of days, dramatically improving cash flow visibility.
Better transaction detail. You can now see net amounts, fees, tips, and taxes all broken out separately within each payout batch.
Improved matching. The system better recognizes and matches transactions, reducing manual reconciliation work.
Sales tax integration. Perhaps most importantly, the connector now imports and tracks sales tax automatically.

However, the new system imports individual transactions rather than daily batch summaries, which could create challenges for high-volume businesses. Katz Pollock shared concerns about a cornfield maze client who processes hundreds of daily transactions. “This integration right now looks like it’s individual sales. So that would import all hundreds of them every day, which is not going to be ideal for us.”

Intuit acknowledges this limitation, with batch summary imports planned for “version two” of the connector. The new system supports classes and locations, works with all QuickBooks Online versions, and remains free to use.

Interface Revolution: The New Dashboard Arrives

The most visible change coming to QuickBooks Online is the complete interface redesign, and it’s closer than you might think. The new dashboard represents QuickBooks’ most significant user experience transformation in years, but it’s designed to minimize disruption to existing workflows.

“Intuit has done a really good job of not making something so drastically different that we have to start over again,” Katz Pollock observes from her beta testing experience. “All of the windows, all of the transaction screens they’ve already been updating over the last two years. And so once you go into a transaction, there’s literally nothing different.”

The visual transformation is dramatic. The familiar black navigation bar disappears, replaced by a two-level system with light gray buttons and flyout menus. But beneath this aesthetic change, all core functionality remains intact.

Fulton, also beta-testing the interface, emphasizes this continuity: “Nothing’s actually changing behind it. You have pretty little icons on the far left instead of just words. And then those pretty little icons fly out to more menus, and then guess what? It’s exactly the same when you’re in that.”

QuickBooks carefully orchestrated the rollout timeline:

July 1st: Manual opt-in becomes available (with opt-out option)
August 1-30: Automatic enrollment begins (opt-out still available)
September: Mandatory transition (no opt-out option)
September 22nd: Final cutover date

This phased approach gives users multiple opportunities to adapt while providing safety nets for those who need more time. The timing also ensures completion before the next QuickBooks Connect conference, where QuickBooks will likely showcase new features built for the updated interface.

Key improvements in the new interface include:

Enhanced bookmarks. Favorite reports and frequently used screens are now accessible at the main level, eliminating menu navigation for common tasks.
Customizable dashboard. Users can hide or rearrange dashboard components to match their workflow preferences.
Intuitive navigation. The “silo buttons” (accounting, expenses, sales, customers, payroll) are actually easier to understand than the previous system.
Hover menus. Flyout menus respond to cursor hover, eliminating unnecessary clicks.

Supporting the Transition: Training and Resources

Recognizing that interface changes require comprehensive support, training providers are mobilizing resources to help professionals maintain productivity during the transition.

Royalwise is undertaking a massive curriculum overhaul. “Everything I have has to be rerecorded,” Katz Pollock explains, referring to her library of over 50 QuickBooks classes. “So, you’ve got me here for the next 15 years.”

Starting in September, Royalwise will re-teach its entire curriculum in the new interface through bi-weekly sessions. Silver and Gold members get automatic enrollment at no additional cost—a commitment that demonstrates the scale of change management required.

The training approach extends beyond just explaining new buttons and menus. They’re developing a new book series specifically for the new interface, with comprehensive volumes and specialized guides for daily workflows, inventory, project management, and payroll. A practice set with real business scenarios will help users gain hands-on experience. Preorder your copy at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FDX859WD

Fulton’s ongoing QB Power Hour sessions with Dan DeLong provide another support pillar. These live streams every other Tuesday (9 AM Pacific, 12 PM Eastern) offer continuing education that adapts to current challenges and allows real-time interaction with experts.

What’s Coming Next: AI Agents and Beyond

July’s “In the Know” session will focus heavily on AI agents—automated assistants designed to handle routine tasks like sending invoices, tracking payments, reconciling books, and managing customer leads.

Intuit is developing four types of AI agents:

Accounting agents to handle routine bookkeeping tasks
Payments agents to manage payment processing and tracking
Customer agents to oversee customer relationship management
Finance agents to provide financial analysis and insights

These agents will integrate with the new dashboard and existing workflows, representing the next phase of QuickBooks’ evolution toward more automated, intelligent accounting processes.

Other developments on the horizon include expanded CRM tools, deeper MailChimp integration, and enhanced mineral HR features for payroll Premium and Elite users. The Mineral HR platform, available since 2019, includes law alert libraries, wage calculators, employee handbook builders, and safety training courses—resources many users don’t realize they already have access to.

The Path Forward

QuickBooks understands the critical balance between innovation and disruption in professional environments. The modular approach to inventory, careful interface preservation, and comprehensive training support show enterprise software evolution can enhance rather than disrupt existing workflows.

For accounting professionals, this blueprint suggests future changes will follow similar patterns: gradual, well-supported, and designed to amplify rather than replace professional expertise. The phased rollout timelines, preserved functionality, and extensive educational resources show a commitment to maintaining productivity during technological transformation.

As these changes roll out over the coming months, they’ll provide valuable insights into how the accounting profession adapts to technological evolution. The strategies demonstrated here offer a roadmap for future innovations that prioritize professional continuity alongside technological advancement.

Ready to dive deeper into these game-changing updates? Listen to the complete episode of The Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast where Alicia Katz Pollock and Matthew “Spot” Fulton provide their full analysis of these developments and discuss how these changes will affect your practice and your clients’ businesses.

Alicia Katz Pollock’s Royalwise OWLS (On-Demand Web-based Learning Solutions) is the industry’s premier portal for top-notch QuickBooks Online training with CPE for accounting firms, bookkeepers, and small business owners. Visit Royalwise OWLS, where learning QBO is a HOOT!

QuickBooks Online Tags Retiring May 15: How to Migrate Your Data Now

Earmark Team · April 24, 2025 ·

QuickBooks Online users who rely on the Tags feature are facing a critical deadline. After May 15th, 2025, you’ll no longer be able to add new tags to transactions. This underused but flexible feature is being replaced by a modified Custom Fields alternative that comes with both benefits and limitations.

In a recent episode of The Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast, hosts Alicia Katz Pollock and Dan DeLong discussed this major transition and explained what you need to know and do before the deadline.

Why Tags Are Going Away (And Why Some Users Will Miss Them)

According to Alicia and Dan, about three-quarters of QuickBooks users never used Tags at all. As Dan explains, “When they roll out a new feature, if it doesn’t get used, it could stand to be discontinued. When I worked there, typically we wouldn’t find out who used it until we stopped it… and then people would call in droves, like, ‘What are you doing? I was using that!’

But for those who discovered Tags’ flexibility, this retirement is a significant loss. Alicia shares several creative ways professionals used Tags:

Marking transactions that needed review: “I would use a tag that said ‘for review.’ And then I could pull up all the transactions that needed review, and boom, they were all right there.”
Weather tracking at a gas station: “They used tags to say what the weather was… Is it sunny? Is it raining? Because their business is lower on rainy days, and that helped them filter out weather anomalies.”
Animal categorization at a veterinary practice: “They would tag transactions with cats, dogs, birds, rodents and reptiles and then they could see who they were providing their services for.”

Tags were particularly valuable for users on lower-tier QuickBooks plans who didn’t have access to Classes or Locations features. “If you didn’t need any of the other features in Plus,” Alicia explains, “Tags allowed you to get flexible about it.”

The Migration Timeline: Act Now

The retirement process follows this timeline:

March 17, 2025: Custom Fields was expanded across all QuickBooks Online subscription levels
May 15, 2025: CRITICAL DEADLINE – After this date, Tags become read-only
May 16, 2025 – May 14, 2028: During this period, you can view historical Tags and run reports but can’t add new tags
May 15, 2028: Complete removal of Tags functionality and all historical data

How to Migrate Your Tags to Custom Fields

If you’re using Tags, here’s what you need to do before May 15th:

Step 1: Make sure all your transactions are properly tagged. Go to the gear icon, select Tags, and click “see all untagged transactions” to catch any missed items.

Step 2: Click the “migrate tags to custom fields” button in the Tags section.

Step 3: During migration, you’ll need to:

Choose which tags to include (uncheck any you don’t want to migrate)
Name your new Custom Field (it defaults to “Tags”)
Specify that the field applies to transactions (recommended)
Select which transaction types should display the field
Decide whether the field should print on customer-facing forms

Step 4: Complete the migration. Your Tags will convert to a dropdown Custom Field with up to 100 options. If you have grouped tags, they’ll appear as “Group Name: Tag Name” in the dropdown list.

Dan notes an important distinction: “The historical transactions still have the tags on them. The new transactions won’t have the tag field – they will have the custom field available to choose.”

Critical Step: Preserve Your Historical Data

This migration doesn’t transfer your historical tag data to the new Custom Field – it only creates the structure for future transactions. Your 2025 reports will be split between the two systems.

“Run your reports on all of your tags so that you have that history permanently,” Alicia emphasizes. “When you’re looking at the Tags list, every single tag group or ungroup tag has a ‘run report’ link to the right of it.”

Save these reports as PDFs with multiple date ranges. “This is the very last time you are ever going to see a P&L related to this data,” Alicia warns.

What’s Better and What’s Worse in the New System

Improvements:

Universal Availability: Custom Fields are now available across all subscription tiers.
Increased Fields: Simple Start and Essentials now have one custom field, Plus gets four, and Advanced continues with twelve.
Dropdown Functionality: The new custom field is a dropdown, which “helps eliminate data entry errors,” as Dan points out.
Form Flexibility: Unlike standard custom fields, this new one works on both sales forms AND expense forms.
Printing Options: You can choose whether to display the field on customer-facing documents.

Limitations:

No P&L Reporting: “The big heartache is that you cannot do a profit and loss report by custom field,” Alicia explains. This is a major functional loss for many users.
Banking Feed Limitations: “You cannot apply this new custom field from the banking feed,” notes Alicia. You’ll need to edit transactions after they’re created.
No Multiple Values: Unlike Tags, you can only select one value per Custom Field on a transaction.
No Bulk Assignment: Currently, there’s no way to apply Custom Fields to multiple transactions at once, though Intuit has said this feature is coming.

Recommendations for Moving Forward

If the Custom Fields approach doesn’t meet your needs, consider these options:

Consider Upgrading: “If you’re angry because your tags are gone, you probably need to be using the right tool for the job anyway,” suggests Alicia. “Classes are way more reportable… It might be worth upgrading to Plus.”

Use Multiple Custom Fields: If you’re on Plus or Advanced, you have access to more custom fields and can create separate fields for different tracking needs.

Spreadsheet Sync: Advanced users can leverage Spreadsheet Sync to manage custom field data, including retroactively applying values to past transactions.

Stay Alert for Improvements: Intuit has already announced that bulk assignment and adding Custom Fields to deposits are on their roadmap.

The Reality Check

As Dan puts it, “If you don’t use something, it is in jeopardy of going away,” bringing new meaning to “use it or lose it” in the software world.

For many users, Tags weren’t even on their radar. But for those who built creative workflows around them, this transition requires immediate action to preserve historical data and adapt to the new system.

If you need help with the migration process or want to discuss this change, you can reach out to Alicia and Dan at unofficialquickbookspodcast@gmail.com.

Listen to the full episode for more details and insights about this important transition in QuickBooks Online.

7 Game-Changing Features in QuickBooks Modern Invoices That Save You Time

Earmark Team · March 21, 2025 ·

For accounting professionals who rely on QuickBooks, the invoice is arguably your most essential tool. QuickBooks’ modern invoice redesign represents one of the most significant overhauls in years, changing how you’ll create, send, and manage client billing.

In a recent episode of The Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast, hosts Alicia Katz Pollock and Dan DeLong explore these new modern invoices, which have been in development for about a year. Alicia says, “They originally drove us crazy, and now I’ve actually become quite fond of them”—a journey many accountants can relate to when facing significant software changes.

Getting Started with Modern Invoices

If you haven’t switched to modern invoices yet, you’ll need to take that first step manually. When viewing a standard invoice, look for the “Update Layout” button in the upper right corner. Clicking this will convert the invoice to the modern experience.

The new interface might initially seem to take up more screen space (Alicia notes her screenshot size has doubled), but the extra real estate serves a purpose. Let’s explore what’s changed and why it matters to your practice.

Smarter Customer Insights Without Switching Screens

One of the biggest improvements is accessing client information without leaving your invoice. Next to the customer’s name, you’ll find a small Intuit Assist icon that provides valuable context with one click.

“It actually does have contextual information about the customer that’s there,” explains Dan. “So it’s nice to have it all in one place. And you don’t have to navigate and look in the customer section to see those types of insights.”

This panel shows:

Payment history by method (credit card, bank transfer, PayPal)
Number of open invoices
Number of overdue invoices
Customer relationship length

Alicia appreciates this feature: “I’m kind of used to having to have multiple tabs open where one I’m doing my invoicing and in one I’ve got the customers open… now I can see my customer information without having to navigate away.”

You can also edit customer information directly from the invoice screen by clicking the “edit customer” link. This allows you to update addresses and contact details without interrupting your workflow, a significant time saver.

Better Communication Tools for You and Your Clients

The modern invoice includes four different communication fields, each serving a specific purpose:

Customer payment options: Instructions about how to pay that appear on the invoice
Note to customer: General communication that appears on the invoice
Internal customer notes (hidden): Team communications that clients can’t see
Memo on statement: Text that appears only on customer statements

The internal notes feature is especially valuable for team collaboration. As Alicia explains, you can use it to record important details like “Customer got a PITA discount”—information your team needs but clients shouldn’t see.

Sales Tax Management Made Easier

According to Alicia, address management in the modern invoice is “mission critical” for those working in states with complex sales tax rules.

The system now clearly shows whether sales tax is calculated based on your business location or the customer’s location. By toggling the “add shipping info” link, you control which address determines the tax calculation:

When shipping information is collapsed, tax is calculated based on your business location
When shipping information is shown, tax is calculated based on the ship-to-address

“For those of you who are having trouble with sales tax calculating incorrectly, this is your game changer,” emphasizes Alicia. “Pay attention to the bill to, the ship to, and the ship from boxes and make sure that you have the right addresses in the right places.”

Expanded Payment Options and Strategic Fee Management

The modern invoice significantly expands payment options through QuickBooks Payments. Beyond standard credit cards, your clients can now use:

Apple Pay
Bank transfers (ACH/EFT)
PayPal
Venmo

What makes this integration powerful is that all these payment methods work through QuickBooks Payments—no separate PayPal or Venmo business accounts are required. This means all payments are processed with the same automatic recording, fee allocation, and deposit reconciliation that QuickBooks Payments provides.

“All of the automagic things that QuickBooks payments does—like recording the payments, recording the deposits, allocating the fees, making the deposit reconciled in the bank feed—all of those things are done for you,” explains Dan.

Perhaps most interesting is the new option to have customers pay the processing fees. By turning off all standard payment methods, you’ll see a new option labeled “your customer pays the fees.” When selected, this gives clients the option to pay via ACH while covering the associated costs.

Alicia shared a practical application: When clients’ credit cards expired, she sent invoices with the “customer pays fees” option enabled. In her email, she wrote: “You’re welcome to pay this yourself. If you want to save on the fees, give us a call with your new payment information so that we can update our systems. And then you won’t have to pay the fees; we’ll pay the fees.”

The result? Three phone calls with updated card information—problem solved.

Recurring Payments Without PCI Compliance Concerns

The modern invoice also introduces an improved approach to recurring payments that addresses security concerns. Instead of storing client credit card information (which creates potential PCI compliance issues), the system now allows clients to approve automatic future payments while maintaining control of their payment details.

“This is really replacing scheduled sales receipts,” explains Alicia. “Now you can make a recurring invoice, and the customer approves it to auto pay it in the future. So it’s kind of the best of both worlds.”

Dan adds that the system “automatically checks the auto-pay functionality so that they don’t have to find it. You don’t have to tell them where it is. It’s just preselecting that option.”

Customizing Your Invoice Experience

Nearly all customization options for the modern invoice are found in the Manage panel and can be accessed via the gear icon at the top right. These settings allow you to control what appears on your invoice without changing default settings for all clients.

Through this panel, you can:

Turn specific fields on or off (shipping information, service date, SKU column)
Manage custom fields
Configure payment options and tips functionality
Add discounts (percentage or dollar amount)
Control whether discounts apply before or after sales tax
Set up recurring invoices or payments
Access client reports directly from the invoice

For those who want to see exactly what clients experience, three view options are available after selecting the “modern” template:

Email View: How the email appears in a client’s inbox
Payer View: What clients see in the payment portal
PDF View: How the invoice looks when printed

“Rather than sending a CC or BCC to yourself to see what the customer sees, it’s nice to see it all in one place,” notes Dan.

Current Limitations and Future Development

While the modern invoice offers many improvements, some limitations exist in the current version:

Design customization is limited to colors and fonts when using the modern template. To access all the modern features, you must use the standard modern layout rather than your custom templates. Intuit has indicated enhanced customization is on their roadmap.

Reminders cannot be set on an invoice-by-invoice basis yet. Both hosts expressed a strong desire for this feature: “Intuit, if you’re listening, we desperately want reminders to be set up on an invoice by invoice basis. Desperately.”

The Intuit Assist autofill feature is still in beta. This feature aims to create invoices automatically from files, images, or text, but accuracy varies, especially with line items. The hosts encourage users to try it despite limitations, as user feedback will help improve it.

Why These Changes Matter for Your Practice

These invoice improvements represent more than just interface changes—they’re part of a complete rewrite of QuickBooks Online’s underlying code.

“One of the things that’s really happening is they’re actually rewriting the entire code base underpinning all of QuickBooks Online because it originally started back almost 20 years ago,” explains Alicia. “The code that it was written on 20 years ago was modern back then. But things have changed on the programming side.”

This approach sometimes requires what Dan calls a “take a step back to move forward type of thing,” where short-term limitations enable long-term improvements. “They’re basically recreating the foundation so that new and cool features can actually take place,” he notes.

For accounting professionals, these changes deliver practical benefits:

Time savings from not switching between screens
Improved client experience with flexible payment options
Better security compliance through modern payment handling
Real-time visibility into invoice status, from creation through payment
Strategic tools for managing fees and client relationships

Most importantly, Intuit is actively seeking feedback. A prominent feedback link appears on each invoice, providing a direct channel to the development team.

“If you have a good idea, please go up to feedback and flood that feedback and let them know what you want to change,” encourages Alicia. “They are actively listening.”

Dan confirms: “Now they can act on the flood of feedback that has been coming in. They’ve been taking care of some of the more mission-critical issues. Now they’ll be able to further enhance this experience.”

Next Steps: Making the Most of Modern Invoices

To maximize the benefits of these changes, consider these practical steps:

Explore the Manage panel thoroughly to understand all available customization options
Try the Intuit Assist features even while in beta
Review your sales tax settings in light of the new address field controls
Use the view options to understand your clients’ experience
Provide feedback to help shape future development

By mastering these new capabilities, you can transform what might initially seem like disruptive changes into meaningful practice advantages—delivering better client experiences while saving valuable time.

For a comprehensive demonstration of all these features, listen to Episode 80 of The Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast, “Everything You Need to Know About Modern Invoices.”

QuickBooks Online Tests Credit Karma Financing: What Accountants Need to Know

Earmark Team · September 3, 2024 ·

In a recent Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast episode, hosts Hector Garcia and Alicia Katz Pollock discussed a significant new development in QuickBooks Online: the integration of Credit Karma financing options. This feature allows QuickBooks users to offer personal loan options to their customers directly through estimates, marking a potential shift in how small business tools operate.

This Feature Is In Testing

Note that this new feature has not yet been released generally. It is currently in beta testing and may not be available to all users. A ProAdvisor discovered it in her client’s file when the client sent an estimate to a customer. In addition to the expected messaging, the customer was invited to take out a loan to pay the invoice.

How It Works

When the QuickBooks user sent an estimate to a customer, they noticed financing offers powered by Credit Karma. In the fine print, the interest rates varied widely, from 8.49% to 35.99% APR with autopay. The loans are provided through a company called Upgrade, potentially allowing Intuit to monetize its $7 billion acquisition of Credit Karma.

Importantly, this feature will be optional for QuickBooks users. It can be toggled on or off in the account settings, giving businesses control over whether to offer financing to their customers. When enabled, the financing option appears alongside the estimated details when customers view them.

Potential Benefits and Concerns

This integration could help businesses convert more estimates into paid work by offering customers flexible payment options. As Alicia noted, “If you are somebody who gives high estimates and you know you struggle to have all of your bids accepted, this may be a way of actually getting them paid where you’re getting paid in full right up front.”

However, the hosts also raised some potential concerns:

Privacy: There are questions about how QuickBooks customers’ information might be used to market these loans.
High interest rates: The upper end of the APR range (35.99%) raised eyebrows among the hosts.
Ethical considerations: Accountants may need to consider the implications of facilitating high-interest loans to their clients’ customers.
Customer relationships: Businesses must decide whether offering financing aligns with their customer service approach.

Intuit’s Strategy

This integration is part of Intuit’s broader strategy to leverage its Credit Karma acquisition. By offering financing options within QuickBooks, Intuit aims to create a more comprehensive financial ecosystem for small businesses and their customers.

However, it’s important to note that Intuit does not directly provide the loans. Instead, they likely receive a commission for approved loans, similar to Credit Karma’s existing business model.

What Accountants Should Do

If you or your clients use QuickBooks Online, it’s essential to be aware of this new feature:

Check the settings: Look for the “customer financing” toggle in the Discounts and Fees section of the new invoice experience.
Discuss with clients: If the feature is available, discuss whether offering financing aligns with their business goals and customer relationships.
Understand the terms: Familiarize yourself with the financing options and terms to advise clients appropriately.
Monitor developments: As this feature is still being tested, watch for any changes or broader rollout.

The integration of Credit Karma financing into QuickBooks Online represents a significant shift in accounting software capabilities. While it offers potential benefits for businesses looking to close more sales, it also raises essential considerations about privacy, ethics, and customer relationships. As this feature develops, accountants will be crucial in helping clients navigate this new landscape of embedded financial services. Listen to the full Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast episode for the latest information.

Familiar Interface, Cloud Power: Meet the QuickBooks Online Desktop App

Earmark Team · July 29, 2024 ·

In a recent Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants podcast episode, accounting gurus Hector Garcia, CPA, and Alicia Katz Pollock, MAT, explored the new QuickBooks Online desktop app.

As the accounting profession continues its shift towards cloud-based solutions, the QuickBooks Online desktop app is proving to be a vital transitional tool. It provides accountants who are used to working in QuickBooks Desktop with a familiar interface while introducing the benefits of online platforms to streamline workflows and enhance client services.

But what exactly makes this app such a powerful ally for accountants navigating the choppy waters of technological change? How does it balance the comfort of traditional desktop software with the advantages of cloud-based systems? And most importantly, how can it help you serve your clients more effectively?

The Comfort of Familiarity: Navigating the New Interface

For many CPAs, transitioning to a new accounting system can be daunting. Will it be intuitive? How steep is the learning curve? The QuickBooks Online desktop app addresses these concerns head-on with its familiar interface and enhanced navigation features.

The core of this user-friendly approach is the Desktop View feature. When you open the QuickBooks Online Desktop app and log into a company file, it defaults to Desktop View, but you can toggle a checkbox at the top left side of the screen to turn it off, transforming the left navigation bar to mirror the QuickBooks Online interface. As Alicia Katz Pollock enthusiastically noted, “Turning on Desktop view made QBO look like traditional QuickBooks Desktop.”

A customizable shortcuts feature allows users to tailor their experience to their needs. As Hector explained, “You can pick and choose what shortcuts you want to put in there in order to quickly access things.” This flexibility means you can set up your digital workspace to match your unique workflow, boosting your efficiency and productivity.

The app also introduces a traditional menu structure and a new set of keyboard shortcuts. While there’s a learning curve involved, these features offer the potential for significant time savings once mastered.

These features collectively create an environment familiar to CPAs accustomed to desktop software while gradually introducing the benefits of online platforms.

Juggling Made Easy: Improved Multi-Client Management

Picture this: It’s tax season, and you’re juggling financial reports for a small business, tax returns for multiple individuals, and a quick consultation for a new client. In the past, this scenario involved logging in and out of different accounts or even switching between multiple applications. The QuickBooks Online desktop app aims to transform this hectic juggling act into a seamless, efficient workflow with improved multi-client management capabilities.

The app’s multi-instance, multi-company usage feature is at the heart of this improvement. Hector explained, “You can connect to multiple companies simultaneously without logging off.” This functionality allows you to switch between company files without logging out and back in. Imagine jumping from reviewing your small business client’s profit and loss statement to updating the books for your individual tax client with just a few clicks. This streamlined process can save precious minutes that add up to hours throughout a busy season.

The app further enhances this efficiency with enhanced tab and window management. You can open multiple tabs and windows, creating a command center for all your client work. Hector highlighted this feature, saying, “Essentially, all the windows you have open and all the tabs you have open, they’re listed in the top right. And if you hover over each of them, it gives you a little preview of the screen.” This means you can have a client’s tax return open in one tab, their financial statements in another, and perhaps a research window open in a third—all easily accessible and manageable.

For accountants, these features translate to significant productivity improvements. Seamlessly switching between clients and tasks can dramatically reduce the mental overhead of context switching. You’re no longer constrained by the limitations of traditional desktop software, where each client might require a separate login or company file. Instead, you have a unified workspace that adapts to your needs.

This improved multi-client management also opens up new possibilities for serving your clients. Do you need to quickly compare the financial performance of multiple clients in the same industry? Or perhaps you want to simultaneously apply a tax strategy you’ve just researched to several relevant clients? With the QuickBooks Online desktop app, these tasks become efficient and straightforward.

The Best of Both Worlds: Unique Bridging Features

The QuickBooks Online desktop app offers unique features that bridge the gap between traditional desktop applications and cloud-based solutions.

The crown jewel of these bridging features is the Split Screen function. As Hector enthusiastically demonstrated, “I want to see a profit and loss and a balance sheet next to each other. I don’t want to be moving too many things around. I can pull one report up on the left side and another report on the right side, collapse the shortcuts list, and close the open tabs window to make the most use out of the two screens.” This side-by-side analysis can significantly speed up your work and reduce the risk of errors when constantly switching between tabs or windows.

However, it’s essential to acknowledge that the QuickBooks Online desktop app, like any technological solution, has its own trade-offs. While it offers unique features like Split Screen, it lacks support for browser extensions that many CPAs have come to rely on in their daily work. And Hector pointed out that the app just feels slow. So, users will likely still need to have another browser open to use extensions like a password manager or Grammarly for proofreading.

“So now you’re going to put a double strain on your computer; you’re going to do all your email, banking, whatever on your browser. And then the QuickBooks app will only be QuickBooks,” Hector says.

Accountants should be aware of these potential limitations and consider their typical usage patterns and hardware capabilities when deciding whether to adopt the desktop app.

Despite these challenges, the QuickBooks Online desktop app represents a significant step forward in bridging the gap between traditional desktop accounting software and cloud-based solutions. It offers a unique hybrid experience that combines the best of both worlds: the familiar interface and robust features of desktop software, coupled with the accessibility and collaborative capabilities of cloud-based platforms.

Embracing the Future of Accounting Technology

The app’s familiar interface with enhanced navigation offers a comforting starting point for accountants and other QuickBooks users venturing into the cloud. Its improved multi-client management capabilities promise to streamline workflows and boost productivity. Its unique features, like the Split Screen function, exemplify the potential of hybrid accounting solutions.

For many accountants and business owners, this app could be the key to unlocking the benefits of cloud-based accounting while maintaining the workflows they’ve honed over years of practice. It’s not just a new tool – it’s a stepping stone to the profession’s future.

To truly grasp the potential impact of this app on your practice, we encourage you to listen to the full Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast episode. Hear directly from industry experts as they explore the nuances of this game-changing tool. You’ll gain invaluable insights into how the QuickBooks Online desktop app could revolutionize your workflow, enhance your client services, and position your practice at the forefront of accounting technology.