Help Articles

QuickBooks Online uses a timeout feature for your security. This feature helps prevent unauthorised persons from accessing your data when you're away from the computer. So, if you are working in QuickBooks Online and is inactive for a period of time, you will see a "time out" security message. The default setting is 1 hour, but that setting can be changed for up to 3 hours. Change the time out duration in QuickBooks Online Go to Settings ⚙️, then select Account and Settings. Select Advanced. Select Edit ✎ from the Other preferences section. Choose 1, 2, or 3 hours from the Sign me out if inactive ▼ dropdown menu. Select Save then Done. A few things to remember: QuickBooks Online measures your time of inactivity from the last time you moved your mouse, clicked, or used your keyboard on any transaction form. If you are timed out, sign back into your company to continue where you left off. The timeout setting can only be changed by the Master Administrator and it app

You can view your QuickBooks Online payment history directly in your product. If you need a copy or would like to view your payment history, please follow the steps below to access your payment history information. Select the Gear icon at the top. Choose Account and Settings. Select the Billing and Subscription tab. Choose the View Payment History hyperlink. Important: The billing history will display the last six (6) months' bills. Statements are visible the day after the billing date - not the same day.

Learn how cash and accrual accounting methods affect VAT. The accounting method you use — cash basis vs accrual basis — can affect the amount of VAT you owe. In this article, we'll explain how. Understanding cash vs accrual When you use the cash basis method, you report your income when you receive it. When you use the accrual basis method, you report your income when you bill it. For example: View the difference Depending on your location, there may be additional rules that govern when to use a cash or accrual basis. Talk to your accountant about which method is most appropriate for your company.

QuickBooks Online can automatically track your sales tax for you through the Tax feature. To use the tax feature, you need to first turn it on and then create your tax codes as necessary. If you are using QuickBooks Online in Ireland, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates or South Africa, a default set of GST/VAT codes are created for you automatically. These represent the most commonly-used GST/VAT rates and you can add additional tax rates or deactivate tax rates at any time. In some countries, QuickBooks Online offers customers the ability to select from a list of commonly-used (VAT/GST/GCT/IVA/ITBIS/TOT) rates. These rates are provided for informational purposes, are not tax or accounting advice, and we recommend you consult your own tax or accounting advisors regarding the applicability of these rates. In addition, you can add and Deactivate tax rates. If you do not see a list of tax rates, these instructions can help you create the ones you need. Turn o

If the credit card info box says Powered by Stripe please see article Stripe Decline Response Codes.If not, please continue to the article below.Below are possible reasons why a credit card authorisation might be declined: Invalid account number Expired credit card Overlimit or past due General decline, no other information provided by processor Issuing bank will not electronically authorise the credit card Billing Address in QuickBooks Online does not match the address on your statement If you feel the credit card has been declined in error please contact your credit card issuer for the exact reason.

What happens after you enter a tax adjustment? When you enter a tax adjustment, QuickBooks automatically adds a general journal entry to show the adjustment. The adjustment is shown as a general journal entry in the related section of the Tax Detail report. AArmas - added topic(s) in taxonomy section - 09/17/2021

Learn how to customise your sales forms by location in QuickBooks Online. You can customise sales forms by location to make it easier to track sales by a specific site. The custom location details show on both printed and sent forms. Your sales forms use the address details in your company settings by default. To change the location on your sales forms, turn on location tracking, then add a custom location. Turn on Location tracking Select the Gear icon and choose Account and Settings. In the Advanced tab, go to Categories and select the edit (pencil) icon. Note: Depending on your version, you will find preferences for Categories under either the Advanced or Company tab. Check Track locations. Select Save, then Done. Add location Select the Gear icon and choose All Lists. Choose Locations. Select New at the top. Enter the location then choose and customise the following options, if needed. Is sub-location This location has a different title for sales forms.

Learn how to export your reports to Microsoft Excel from QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Online gives you the flexibility to generate reports to get insights about your business. And you can export them to Excel if you want to use your reports outside of QuickBooks. You can also export all your QuickBooks transaction data. We'll show you how. How to export reports from QuickBooks Online to Excel Go to Business overview and select Reports (Take me there). Search for and select the report you want to export. At the top of the report, select the Export icon. Then select Export to Excel. Save the file somewhere you can easily find, like your Downloads folder or your desktop. Note: If you’re missing data when you open the report in Excel, the file's in protected view. In Excel, you’ll need to select Enable Editing to view the full report. Need data that isn’t found in basic reports? You can create custom reports to get the data that matters to you most.

Multicurrency is available as an advanced feature within QuickBooks Online. This feature tracks your foreign currency transactions including any exchange gains or losses you might incur. For countries where we offer multiple versions of QuickBooks Online, multicurrency is available in our Essentials and Plus versions. If you don't see the Currency section in the Advanced tab of Account and Settings (or Company Settings), and you have customers and/or suppliers that deal in a currency different than your local currency, then you'll have to upgrade the version of QuickBooks that you're currently using. You have to turn on this feature before you can use it. Once it is turned on, you cannot disable it!

Learn more about Projects in QuickBooks Online. You can use Projects to track job costs and keep everything in one place. Here's what you can do with Projects. Can I budget by project? Yes. This is a great way to get a project estimate. After you create your budget, select the Subdivide by Customer option. Then select the customer and project your budget is for. Can I delete a project? Yes. If your project has no transactions and no balance owed, you can delete it. If you need to delete an active project that has a balance, move the transactions to another project, sub-customer, or customer first. Then you can delete it. You can also reactivate deleted projects. Here's how: Go to Projects, then select the small gear ⚙️ icon on the Projects list. Select the Show deleted projects checkbox. Select the Options ▼ drop-down menu, then choose what you want to do with your deleted project. Why can't I see the Projects Transaction list? Depending o

If you are subscribed to more than one company, you can switch between them quickly: Go to Settings ⚙. Under Profile, select Switch Company. From the list, select the company you want to switch to. The company you selected will now be active.

The Advanced account settings is where you or your accountant initially set up your company file. Note: Advanced account settings vary by region. How to set up Advanced account settings Go to Settings ⚙, then select Account and settings. From the left menu, select Advanced. Select the Pencil icon for each section below to modify your settings. You now know how to set up your Advanced account settings.

Learn how to handle the accounting in QuickBooks Online when a customer's cheque bounces. Or follow these steps if you need to record one of your own bounced cheques. Did your customer pay for their invoice with a cheque that didn't go through? Unfortunately, customer cheques sometimes bounce. We're here to show you how to handle the accounting in QuickBooks Online. What you need to record These steps can be complicated, but doing them correctly balances your accounts so you have a clear record of what happened. Here's what we need to do: Show the amount of the customer's check was deducted from your bank balance. Show the bank charged you a fee. Mark the customer's invoice they were supposed to pay as "open" and unpaid. Charge your customer a fee for the inconvenience (this is up to you). Send a statement to tell the customer what they owe you for the original invoice and any fees. How to record a bounced cheque There are a few ways to handle the accounting. You can use an expe

Learn how to see your best sellers, what’s on hand, the cost of goods, and more. Use reports to get helpful insights on the things you buy and sell, and the status of your stock. We’ll show you which reports to run depending on what kind of info you want to see. To get started, go to Reports, then select Standard. Once you're there, here's what you can do. See your best sellers Go to the “Sales and customers” group of reports. Then run these reports to see your sales by products and services: Sales by Product/Service Summary: Your total sales for each product and service. Sales by Product/Service Detail: Your sale transactions by product or service. Check what’s in stock Go to the “Sales and customers” group of reports. Run these reports to know what’s on hand, so you always have what your customers want: Stock Valuation Summary: The quantity on hand, value, and average cost for each product. Stock Valuation Detail: Your transactions for each stock item, and how they affect quan

Learn how to download your data from QuickBooks Online. There's a simple way to export your QuickBooks Online reports and lists. This means you can easily download the data entered into your file to your local hard drive. Export your reports and lists You can export the following reports and lists into individual Excel files contained in a zip format in one process: Reports: General Ledger, Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, Journal.Lists: Customers, Employees, Suppliers. To export your report or list: Select the Settings ⚙ icon from the tool bar. Under Tools, select Export Data. On the Reports tab, set the date range. Add or remove items from the Reports and Lists tabs by toggling the slider. Select Export to Excel. You'll be prompted with confirmation that the data has been exported. If you need to export a different report, here's how to export reports to Excel. Note: You can customise your report to export the data that matters to you mos

If part of the page in QuickBooks Online is cut off or there is no scroll bar to view the rest of the page from, here are a few areas to check: The browser's zoom settings Note: The zoom function can be easily activated without you getting any notifications. Mozilla Firefox If the page is bigger than the browser window, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and the minus (-) key repeatedly to zoom out and make the page smaller. Ctrl and the plus (+) key will zoom in and make the page larger. If you have a wheel on your mouse, you can also hold the Ctrl key down then move the mouse wheel forward or back.This will work on any page that is either too big or too small, not just QuickBooks Online. Google Chrome On the upper right, select the menu icon (it looks like a three-dotted line). From the menu icon, locate the Zoom option. When you find that the page is bigger than the browser window, select the minus (-) icon to zoom out and make the page smaller or choose the plus (+) t

Learn how to reverse a journal entry to swap the debits and credits, or delete it entirely. You should only create journal entries as a last resort or with the help of your accountant. If you need to, you can reverse a journal entry to update and correct it. Or, if you created the entry by mistake, you can delete it. Reverse a journal entry If you need to allocate a transaction between two accounting periods or fix a debit and credit error, follow these steps. This simply reverses the debits and credits - it doesn't delete the original journal entry: Select Settings ⚙️ and then Chart of accounts. Find the account you created the journal entry for. Then select Account history. Find the journal entry in the account register. The word "Journal" should be in the Ref No. or Type column. Select the journal entry to expand the view. Then select Edit. Select Reverse. Select Save. When you reverse a journal entry, QuickBooks creates a new journa

Find out which default or special accounts can be deleted, edited, or merged in QuickBooks Online. When you create a company, QuickBooks Online creates specific accounts by default. Other special accounts are created when certain features are turned on in the settings. We’ll show you the accounts you can delete, edit, or merge. Looking to remove an account from your chart of accounts? See how to remove accounts you no longer use. Accounts that can’t be deactivated The following default accounts are created automatically. You can’t delete them or use them for any other purpose. Undeposited Funds (also called Payments to Deposit): When you record a payment to your company, the funds are added to this account until you deposit them into your bank account. Opening Balance Equity: This is the default account for adjustments. You can only edit the name of this account, if necessary. Retained Earnings: This account reports the net income of your company on the Balance Sheet report. You ca

Learn how to reorder anything that’s running low or out of stock. Stay ahead of back orders. Reorder stock and other supplies with QuickBooks Online. Then, track the items when they arrive to keep your stock up to date. Here's how. Step 1: Check if you have low stock or out of stock items Check for low stock or out of stock alerts, so you can prioritise ordering what you need the most. Go to Get paid & pay and select Products and services (Take me there). At the top, you’ll quickly see if you have low stock or out of stock items. Select Low stock or Out of stock to see those items. How QuickBooks knows what items are running low QuickBooks knows when something’s running low if it’s at or below its “reorder point,” or the threshold when you should reorder more stock. You can enter reorder points when you add new products. If your existing products don’t have reorder points, you can edit those products to add them. Step 2: Create and send a purchase order A purchase order is

Learn how to set budget targets for each class in QuickBooks Online Plus. New to class tracking? Classes represent meaningful segments in your company, like store departments or product lines. Check out our class tracking overview to learn if it’s the right tool for you and how to get started. If you track transactions by class, it’s easy to plan ahead for each segment. You can create a budget by class based on profit and loss from the last financial year. This helps you set more manageable budget targets for each part of your business. Then, you can run reports to see your progress toward your goal, so you can stay on track. We’ll show you how. Step 1: Review your profit and loss by class If you haven’t yet, check your profitability by class from your last financial year. Make sure the numbers are right. When you’re ready to add a budget, these figures will help you base your targets on last financial year’s financial performance. Go to Business overview, select Reports (Take me t

Learn how to record or pay back your employees' business-related expenses in QuickBooks Online. If they used their personal funds to pay a business expense, you can pay them now or record the expense first and pay them later. We'll show you how. Note: If you need to reimburse a contractor, make sure they're set up as a supplier. Then, you can add a bill and pay it. How to pay your employee now Select + New. Select Cheque or Expense. Select the Payee ▼ dropdown and find the name of your employee. Select the Category ▼ dropdown, then select a liability account. Note: If you don't have one yet, you can add a new account. Enter the other information: Amount: Enter the amount owed to your employee. (Break down the amount into different line items if tracking or making billable for multiple customers.) Billable: (Optional) Check the box under Billable if you wish to offset the expense onto your customer's invoice. Customer: (

You may incur bank charges when receiving payments from your customers. As a result, you may experience dilemma on how to record the bank charges. To record bank charges: Select + New. Select Journal Entry. Then, enter the Journal Date. Under the empty table enter the following double entries: First line, Account: Trade and other receivable / Accounts Payable, Credit: Amount, Name: Customer name Second line, Account: Bank charges expense account, Debit: Amount Select Save and Close. To settle the open invoice with the Journal Entry: Go to Bookkeeping, select Transactions, then select All Sales (Take me there). Locate the invoice which has incurred the bank charges. Select Receive payment on the top right of the invoice. Under the Receive payment page, tick to select the invoice and the Journal Entry (located at the second table below) Make sure the Amount received is the correct (total invoice amount - bank charges = Net amount received) Select Save

The first step to recording a loan for a customer is to determine the purpose of the loan: Are you going to use the loan to close all open invoices? Follow the steps here. Is the loan intended for other purposes (regardless of whether or not it is a customer) and you intend to write a cheque? Follow the steps here. Option 1: Loan to close all open invoices Step 1: Create an account to track the loan and its repayment Select the Gear icon at the top, then Chart of Accounts. From the upper left, select New. Set the Account Type to either Other Current Assets or Current Assets.Note: Create an Other Current Asset if the loan is to be repaid within the current financial year. Create an Other Asset if the loan will be repaid after the current financial year. Choose Loans to Others in the Detail Type drop-down. Add a recognisable name like "Customer Loan-Lastname". Select Save and close without entering an opening balance. Step 2: Create a journal entry This journal en

If you receive an advance payment from a customer, you can easily record this in QuickBooks Online using Receive Payment feature. The followings are some easy steps to follow: First, make sure you have the customer listed on QuickBooks Online. If you have already listed the customer on QuickBooks Online, then you can skip this step and continue to step 3. If not, go to Get paid & pay and select Customers (Take me there). Create a new customer by filling out all the information, then Save. Select + New. Select Receive Payment. Create a receive payment by select a customer using the dropdown arrow. Under the Account column, select the invoice, then enter the amount of payment received Select Save and New.

Learn how to record paying back a capital investment. After you record an investment, you may need to record paying yourself, partners or co-owners back at a later date. This is called a capital disbursement. Paying with an actual cheque If you’re going to send someone a paper cheque, follow these steps: Select + New. Select Cheque. Enter the person or business you’re paying back. For the Cheque no. enter a cheque number. Enter the following information in the Category Details section. First line: The equity account you use to track the investment in QuickBooks, and the amount you're paying back today. Second Line: Expense account you use to track the interest you pay, and the amount of interest that is part of your payment today. Other lines: Any additional fees and their appropriate accounts. Select Save and close. Paying with a debit or credit card If you’re paying someone back with a debit or credit card, you can record the repayment as an expe