Running a small business is a challenge, but it's not impossible if you have the right tools. Solutions like QuickBooks can take a lot of the legwork out of running a business. You can offload tasks like payroll processing, tax compliance, budget tracking and online payment acceptance. You can also run financial reports on your company, granting insight into spreadsheets and other financial information that could make or break a crucial business decision. It can also integrate with 500 apps, so you can keep using the programs that help your business run smoothly and QuickBooks will integrate seamlessly with them.
If you run a small business, you've likely heard of Intuit and its all-encompassing financial solution, QuickBooks. It's important, however, to understand exactly what QuickBooks can do for your business, how it can save you time and why you should consider offloading some of your business's operations to a software solution.
What can QuickBooks do for your business?
Tax compliance
One of QuickBooks' most advantageous features is its built-in tax compliance offering. Processing payroll is complicated and time-consuming. Before you even get to the tax portion, you must calculate hours, input hourly wage, decide on a pay schedule, understand employee withholdings and make the necessary adjustments. QuickBooks' Payroll solution not only handles all of this, it also calculates employee tax withholdings and business tax payments on a quarterly and yearly basis. Payroll taxes are a challenge to figure out, let alone process. Take solace in knowing QuickBooks' Payroll solution can handle all aspects of your business's tax situation. It's also one of the only solutions out there that offers a 100% no-penalty guarantee.
Cash flow and tracking expenses
One of the biggest challenges small businesses face is cash flow. Whether you're a new business owner or a seasoned veteran, cash flow (having enough money to cover your business's various expenses) is difficult to maintain. One thing that can help you understand cash flow is visibility into where your money is.
One of QuickBooks' strengths is its tracking: You can understand expenses, invoices, income and other aspects of your business's financial situation. The reporting features allow you to see directly into your business's financial situation. QuickBooks connects to your bank and credit card accounts; it downloads all the transaction data and categorizes it. Beyond this basic feature, you can create reports to better understand your business. For example, you can create accounts payable reports to verify when your bills are due and better track when money will be leaving your business.
Better budgeting
Much like QuickBooks' ability to track expenses and help you manage cash flow, this software can be used to build accurate, helpful budgets. Part of budgeting is understanding where you stand financially at any given moment. With QuickBooks, you not only have same-day direct deposit, but also trusted, embedded time tracking through TSheets.
Accepting online payments
Online logistics can be a challenge for any small business, but QuickBooks has a solution that can allow small businesses to easily join the e-commerce market. By adding the QuickBooks Payments feature, small businesses can accept debit and credit card purchases as well as ACH bank transfers. It also provides next-day payment delivery, which is unmatched by competitors in this market.
This kind of flexibility can help small businesses compete in a complicated and tech-forward market. Payment method should be the least complicated aspect of doing business with customers or other businesses. With its commitment to providing small businesses with a platform to exchange money in a safe, efficient manner, QuickBooks is living its mission of creating smart connections among the business community.
General reporting features
One of the biggest highlights of QuickBooks' software is the visibility it provides into your business. It offers a way to organize your business's financial information, from payroll schedules to receipt filings to tax compliance. Understanding your business's financial situation means you can make more informed decisions for your company. It also lets you rest easy at night knowing you're backed by one of the largest providers for small business in the world.
What separates QuickBooks from competitors
There's a lot of payroll and time and attendance providers out there. These key features are what separate QuickBooks from the rest of the industry:
- 100% no-penalty guarantee
- Integrated advanced time tracking
- Same-day direct deposit
- Automatic payroll
- QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks plans and pricing for SMBs
There are several pricing and plan options for small business. QuickBooks is broken down into three main offerings: QuickBooks, QuickBooks with Payroll, or QuickBooks Payroll as a standalone offering. The QuickBooks plans are Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced. The Simple Start plan includes features like income and expense tracking, mileage tracking, and 1099 contractor management. The Essentials plan has everything in the Simple Start plan plus features like bill management and time tracking. The Plus plan includes everything the Essentials plan does and also has features like inventory tracking. The Advanced plan, which is the most robust, includes everything from the other plans as well as business analytics and a designated account manager.
QuickBooks Payroll can be added to all these standard QuickBooks plans or purchased on its own. The three payroll plans are Core, Premium and Elite. Features for Core include automatic payroll and automatic tax forms. The Premium plan includes everything in Core plus premium time tracking and expert setup review. The Elite plan is a "white glove" service that includes a designated HR manager and elite onboarding. Check out this full breakdown of QuickBooks' Payroll offerings.
For specific pricing, you'll have to check QuickBooks' website. While the company does post its pricing online, it often fluctuates with seasonal deals and other offers. If you have questions, you can use the simple chat feature to get in touch with the company's sales team.
Bottom line
The QuickBooks software offering is not a one-time fee; it's charged on a monthly basis. While it offers a free trial, its most basic plans do have a required fee per month. Overall, QuickBooks, along with QuickBooks Payroll, is a powerful small business tool. It integrates with 500 other small business applications, and you can use it to fully run the back end of your business's operations. It has several features that separate it from competitors, and it keeps the small business owner's needs in mind in its development.
QuickBooks can provide a whole host of features to help you run your business. If you want to build a successful, strong small business, you need to invest in solutions to help you build the best company you can.