I get a lot of questions from business owners about the “best practices” companies should have when it comes to using QuickBooks Online. Of course, every business is as unique as a fingerprint, and the “best” practices for a business are just as unique as the business itself. But here are a few I have put together that I think every business should build a habit around.
1) When it comes to data entry, make sure you have a written plan in place that can answer the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY questions
a. Who is responsible?
b. What are they responsible for?
c. When and how are these individuals accountable for completing this process?
d. Where can you find the completed task to review?
e. Why are you creating this process? What is the end result you are looking for?
Answering these questions will help you keep your data entry process clean, concise, and consistent!
2) Make sure you reconcile ALL your bank accounts at the end of the month! Don’t skip out on this opportunity to fix data entry errors and catch bank errors before they become too complicated (and expensive) to fix! If you have no idea how to reconcile your bank accounts, click on the link below and watch a quick video on the basics of how to reconcile your bank accounts. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/getting-started-with-
QuickBooks/how-to-reconcile-an-account-in-QuickBooks-online/ta-
p/174119
3) Review your work, by reviewing your financial statements. So many of my clients are in such a hurry to be done with the data entry, they forget to double check your work. There is one way to quickly double-check your data entry, just by glancing at your financial statements. Here is the trick -> look for the negatives! Super easy right? But it’s true! Traditionally speaking, there should not be any negatives on your profit and loss; if there are you should take a closer look, more than likely there is a data entry error that needs to be fixed!
If you need more help, want more details on the suggestions above and how you can start applying these “best practices” to your business or if you have a specific question you would like me to address, please feel free to reach out to me via e-mail – rita@plemonscpa.com, or click on the “Let’s Meet” button at the top of this page and schedule a training session today! Thank you for reading, I hope it was helpful!
Rita McDaniel
Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor