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accountants and bookkeepers

How to manage multiple clients on QuickBooks Online Accountant

Accountants and bookkeepers are constantly juggling many responsibilities and priorities. So having access to exceptional technology is vital.

QuickBooks makes it as easy as possible to work across multiple clients and simultaneously manage different tasks, all from one convenient platform. From adding and managing clients, to creating client notes and documents and preparing BAS and completing other tax work, cloud accounting streamlines work at tax time and all throughout the year.

This is the third article in a series that recounts the experiences of a fictitious accountant, Emily Everest, who recently started a new role at DENTT Accounting and Bookkeeping. Emily is learning all about QuickBooks cloud accounting in her new role.

These articles draw on the insights from the QuickBooks’ 2023 roadshow, which details all the great functionality QuickBooks offers.

Adding and managing clients with QuickBooks Online Accountant is easy

Let’s start by letting Emily tell how easy it is to add and manage multiple clients with QuickBooks Online Accountant.

Add and manage clients in few steps

It’s super simple to add and manage multiple clients in QuickBooks. All I need to do is log in and click on the "Clients" tab in the left navigation menu. To add a new client, I just click on the "Add Client" button on the Clients page, click on the "Create new client" link and fill in their information. Then, I select the client's business type and the QuickBooks Online version they will be using, click on the "Save" button and their account is all ready to use.

If I need to manage existing clients, I just navigate to the Clients page, where I can see a full client list. I can use the search bar to quickly find individual clients. When I’m in a client's profile, I can access lots of features like the client's books, tax information, documents and more.

Easy client management with client notes

In QuickBooks Online Accountant, client notes are a great way for me to easily add and manage information for multiple clients. These notes help me keep track of important details, such as conversations I’ve had with clients and other particulars about their accounts.

Once I have logged in, I chose the client I want to work on from the list. Once I’m in their profile, I can navigate to the "Notes" tab and add a new note by clicking on the "Add Note" button.

I can add a title, details and specify the type of note, like general, to-do or important. Also, it’s easy to view, edit and delete notes and I can do keyword searches when I need to find something specific. I can also link notes to transactions like invoices or bills if I want more context.

If I need my boss Maggie to check something, all I need to do is write @maggie in a note and she’ll receive a notification that tells her I have a query. I can also share notes with clients if I need their feedback or if I want more information about something.

Client notes are a great way to centralise information and organise my work during this busy time of year.

Take the stress out of managing your firm

QuickBooks centralises client documents

Having an easy way to manage client documents is a life saver, especially at tax time. QuickBooks Online Accountant makes it simple for me to securely exchange files and collaborate with clients by streamlining the way I share and manage important financial documents like invoices, receipts, bank statements and other files.

I can upload documents directly to the client's QuickBooks Online file and attach them to different transactions like invoices and bills. Or I can just store them as general documents.

QuickBooks Online Accountant makes it easy for clients to let me know if they have a question or if they need help with something specific. I can convert their requests into actionable tasks, set due dates and track a task until it’s done. It’s so efficient and there’s a record of everything I’ve done with the client.

Clients can see documents in their QuickBooks Online account as soon as they have been uploaded. If they need to tell me something, my clients can leave comments or notes on documents, which means we don’t have to email back-and-forth.

Also, I can create folders or categories to group documents together, making it easier to locate specific files. Plus, Maggie can set permissions to control who can view, edit, or delete documents.

Accurate billing thanks to superior time tracking

When my workload increases during tax time, it’s important I accurately track the time I spend on client-related tasks like consulting, bookkeeping and tax prep.

Time capture in QuickBooks Online Accountant helps me to accurately record billable hours and simplifies invoicing. I use the built-in time tracking feature to record the time I spend on different jobs, and I can manually create time entries by entering start and end times for tasks. Sometimes I use a timer to track the time it takes me to complete a job.

I can link time entries to clients or projects to keep track of how long I spend on different things. It means when I bill clients, I know I’ve accurately recorded my time and I can see a clear breakdown of how much time is allocated to different activities.

I can also mark different entries as billable or non-billable. Billable time entries can be included on client invoices, while non-billable time entries are for tracking purposes only and won't be billed to the client.

It’s also easy to convert time entries into an invoice and QuickBooks Online Accountant automatically calculates the total amount based on the hourly rates associated with each time entry.

Tax time made easy

QuickBooks Online Accountant does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to more detailed work around tax and Business Activity Statement (BAS) prep for clients’ accounts. The software automatically calculates goods and services tax (GST), Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding tax and other obligations, based on the client's financial data.

The "Books Review" feature also gives me a full overview of a client's books, including the chart of accounts, income and expense transactions, balance sheets and other financial reports. It’s a great way to identify any discrepancies, errors or areas of improvement in their financial records, so I can give them accurate advice and support.

These are the main QuickBooks’ features I have been exploring since I started working with DENTT Accounting. But I learn more about the platform every day, which makes my work more efficient and fun as I get to know the technology and my clients better!


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