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3 Ways to Receive Payments in QuickBooks Online

September 16, 2025 by Admin

Subscription Billing on Laptop, Automate Recurring Payments for Business Success, Vector Flat IllustrationGot customer payments coming in? QuickBooks Online has multiple ways to accept and record them.

One of the biggest challenges small businesses face is managing a steady cash flow. Keeping income ahead of expenses is a constant balancing act. QuickBooks Online can help. With easy-to-use forms and a convenient mobile app, it helps you track and deposit incoming payments with ease.

Do you ever receive instant payments for certain products or services? Ever need to record a sale on the go—both for your records and your customer’s? Or maybe you send out invoices and want to ensure payments are accurately logged once they come in. QuickBooks Online has you covered in all these scenarios. Plus, it offers automation tools that speed up the payment process—so you can get paid faster and focus on growing your business.

Let Customers Pay Online

If your business sends invoices for products or services, QuickBooks Online makes it easy to record customer payments. While you can manually enter payments, there’s a faster, more efficient option: QuickBooks Payments. This built-in merchant service lets you accept credit card and bank payments electronically—helping you get paid quicker and streamlining your cash flow.

Once QuickBooks Payments is set up in QuickBooks Online (contact us if you need help), your invoices will include integrated payment options for credit cards and electronic checks. Each invoice will feature a payment button, allowing customers to easily enter their payment information. You’ll be able to track when an invoice is viewed, paid, and deposited. Simply open your list of invoices and click on one to view its details. A timeline panel will slide out from the right side, showing the invoice’s history and status. Plus, you can opt to receive notifications for invoice activity.

If you prefer to record payments manually, find the unpaid invoice in your list and click the Receive Payment link at the end of the row. This opens the Receive Payment screen, where you can fill in any missing details and save. You can also find the same link on the invoice screen itself or from the Invoices page (SalesInvoices).

You can receive payments manually in QuickBooks Online from an invoice itself or from the Invoices page.

There’s no cost for setting up a pay-as-you-go account in QuickBooks Payments. There are only per-transaction fees:

●     ACH bank payments are 1%.

●     It’s 3.5% if the payment comes in through an invoice (Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit cards, etc.) or if the payments are keyed in.

●     If you swipe a card, you’ll pay 2.4%

There’s also a $0.30 fee per transaction. Transaction fees are slightly lower if you pay $20 per month. Payments that come in before 3 p.m. PT should be in your account the next business day.

Accepting Payments Through GoPayment

To take payments while you’re on the road, you’ll need a free mobile card reader from Intuit that connects to your smartphone. It supports tap, chip, and digital wallet payments. You can also manually enter card details (see above rates). To process transactions, you’ll need to download the GoPayment app, available for iOS and Android. The app lets you add product names, prices, and images to make checkout faster and easier. Multiple layers of security are in place to help protect your data during mobile transactions.

Receiving Instant Payments

Sometimes, you’ll receive payment right after delivering a product or service. In these cases, QuickBooks Online allows you to create and provide a sales receipt on the spot. Just click +New in the upper left corner, then select Sales Receipt in the Customers section. The form that opens will look similar to an invoice or estimate. Choose the customer in the upper left corner, and fill out the remaining details as you normally would. When you’re finished, click Save and send to email the receipt. You’ll have the option to preview it before sending and to print it.

The Undeposited Funds Account

The Undeposited Funds account in the QuickBooks Online Chart of Accounts

If your customer paid you on the spot with a credit card, that payment would be processed in your QuickBooks Payments merchant center. But what about a physical check? QuickBooks Online defaults to the Undeposited Funds account for sales transactions. You can change this, but we don’t recommend it. This account temporarily holds payments—typically cash and checks—that haven’t yet been deposited into your bank.

It’s a good idea to review this account regularly to ensure you’re not leaving funds languishing. Hover your mouse over the Transactions link in the toolbar and click Chart of Accounts. Scroll down until you find it, as pictured above. To combine the transactions in the Undeposited Funds account to make a bank deposit, click +New in the upper left corner and then click Bank deposit under Other. Make sure the Account in the upper left corner is set to the account where you want to deposit the funds. Click the box in front of each check you want to deposit (or Select all), then Save.

To see your deposit information, click Reports in the toolbar, then  click Deposit Detail under Sales and Customers. You’ll have to list the deposits individually on your physical deposit slip. Make sure that the slip matches what you see in QuickBooks Online.

If you need help or have questions, feel free to contact us to schedule a consultation. While the process of receiving payments isn’t overly complicated, it’s essential to ensure every payment is recorded accurately and deposited correctly into your bank accounts.

Filed Under: QuickBooks

How QuickBooks Online Helps You Track Mileage

June 22, 2022 by Admin

qb-progress-invoicingWith gas prices so high, you need to track your travel costs as closely as possible. Consider getting a tax deduction for your business mileage.

If you drive even a little for business, it’s easy to let mileage costs slide. After all, it’s a pain to keep track of your tax-deductible mileage in a little notebook and do all the calculations required. If you do rack up a lot of business miles, you probably forget to track some trips and end up losing money.

QuickBooks Online offers a much better way. Its Mileage tools include simple fill-in-the-blank records that allow you to document individual trips. You can either enter the starting point and destination and let the site calculate your mileage and deduction or enter the number of miles yourself.

If you use QuickBooks Online’s mobile app, it can track your miles automatically as you drive (as long as you have the correct settings turned on). Here’s a look at how all of this works.

Setting Up

To get started, click the Mileage link in QuickBooks Online’s toolbar. The screen that opens will eventually display a table that contains information about your trips, but you need to do a little setup first. Click the down arrow next to Add Trip in the upper right corner and select Manage vehicles. A panel will slide out from the right. Click Add vehicle.

quickbooks online tips

You’ll need to supply information about your vehicles before you can start entering trips.

You’ll need to supply the vehicle’s year, make, and model. Do you own or lease it, and on what date was the vehicle purchased or leased and put into service? Do you want to have your annual mileage calculated by entering odometer readings or have QuickBooks Online track your business miles driven automatically? When you’re done making your selections and entering data, click Save.

Entering Trip Data

You can download trips as CSV files or import them from Mile IQ, but you’re probably more likely to enter them manually. Click Add Trip in the upper right corner. In the pane that opens, you’ll enter the date of the trip and either the total miles or start and end point. You’ll select the business purpose and vehicle and indicate whether it was a round trip. When you’re done, click Save. The trip will appear in the table on the opening screen, and your current possible total deduction will be in the upper left corner, along with your total business miles and total miles.

If you want to designate a trip as personal, click the box in front of the trip in that table. In the black horizontal box that appears, click the icon that looks like a little person, then click Apply. Now, the trip will appear in the Personal column and will not count toward your business tax-deductible mileage.

quickbooks online tips

When you select a trip in the Mileage table, you can mark it as personal so it’s not included in your business tax-deductible miles.

Personal Trips Can Count, Too

If you use your vehicle(s) for personal as well as business purposes, tracking some of those miles can also mean a tax deduction. For tax year 2022, you can deduct 18 cents per mile for your travel to and from medical appointments. Note: Medical mileage is only deductible if medical exceeds a certain percent of AGI. Be sure to check with the IRS yearly tax code, as they update the mileage amounts annually.

And if you do volunteer work for a qualified charitable organization, the miles you drive in service of it can be deducted at the rate of 14 cents per mile. You can also claim the cost of parking and tolls, as long as you weren’t reimbursed for any of these expenses. Obviously, the IRS wants you to keep careful records of your charitable mileage, and QuickBooks Online can provide them.

QuickBooks Online doesn’t track these deductions, but you’ll at least have a record of the miles driven.

Auto-Track Your Miles

The easiest way to track your mileage in QuickBooks Online is by using its mobile app. You can launch this and have it record your mileage automatically as you’re driving. Versions are available for both Android and iOS, and they’re different from each other. They also have more features than the browser-based version of QuickBooks Online, like maps, rules, and easier designation of trips as business or personal.

quickbooks online tips

The iOS version of Mileage in the QuickBooks Online app

In both versions, you’ll need to click the menu in the lower right corner after you’ve opened the QuickBooks Online app and select Mileage. Make sure Auto-Tracking is turned on. Your phone’s location services tool must be turned on, too. There are other settings that vary between the two operating systems. You can search the help system of either app to make sure you get your settings correct if the onscreen instructions aren’t clear enough.

Of course, you won’t see the fruits of your mileage deductions until you file your 2022 taxes. But you can factor these savings in as you’re doing your tax planning during the year. Please let us help if you’re having any trouble with QuickBooks Online’s Mileage tools, or if you have questions with other elements of the site.

Filed Under: QuickBooks

Bundling Items in QuickBooks? Build Assemblies

March 20, 2022 by Admin

If you regularly sell the same groups of products, you can save time by creating assemblies.

Some things just naturally go together. If you manage a fast-food restaurant, for example, you probably sell similar combinations frequently, like a double cheeseburger, fries, and a soft drink. If you run a car dealership, there are numerous ways to upsell your customers by adding accessories, maybe at a discount. Even very small businesses can bundle items. You might sell handmade jewelry and want to put together a package that includes cleaner and cleaning cloths for one price.

You can, of course, continue to sell all of those products separately. But you may find you can bump up your sales (and profits) by creating assemblies (sometimes called “kits”), bundles of items that are sold as one unit. You can build these automatically if you’re using QuickBooks Desktop Premier or above. Here’s how.

Putting Items Together

If you’re already creating item records and recording product sales in QuickBooks, you probably already have Inventory turned on. If you don’t, open the Edit menu and select Preferences. Click Items & Inventory, then Company Preferences. Make sure the boxes are checked for the options you want.

Haven’t started creating item records yet? We can help with that if you have questions about how QuickBooks handles this. In fact, we encourage you to contact us about this critical process, because some of the records’ fields may be foreign to you. If you want to try it on your own, open the Lists menu and select Item Lists. Click the down arrow next to Item in the lower left corner and then click New. The New Item window will open.

Since you’re going to be building assemblies, you have to create records for all of the products that will be included. So choose the Inventory Part option under Type. Complete the rest of the fields here and click OK.

Once you have enough product records created to start building assemblies, go through the same steps you went through to open the New Item window. Rather than selecting Inventory Part under Type, though, click on Inventory Assembly. Instead of defining a single item in this window, you’ll be choosing the components that will be included. This is your Bill of Materials.

You won’t have to complete every field in this window, but several are required. Give your assembly its own Item Name/Number. Then, so you know what you’ll be pricing, jump down to the Bill of Materials window and select the items that your assembly will include in the table provided. If you completed all of the fields in the product records, QuickBooks will fill in the other columns on each line except for quantity (QTY), which you must enter.

When you’ve completed the table for your assembly, enter the Total Bill of Materials Cost in the Cost field above it, then supply the Sales Price that you will charge. Select the correct Tax Code and Income Account. Then go down to the bottom of the screen under Inventory Information and select the appropriate Asset Account. You’ll also need to specify at what point new assemblies should be built (minimum and maximum). There are four other fields on this line that QuickBooks will fill out once you start building assemblies and selling them.

Building Assemblies

The hard work is over now. When you want to actually start building assemblies, open the Vendors menu and click Inventory Activities | Build Assemblies. Select the kit you want by opening the drop-down menu next to Assembly Item. The items you selected will appear in the table below. QuickBooks will also display the maximum number of kits you can build given the quantity of inventory on hand. Enter the number you want in the Quantity To Build field and click the Build & Close button.

Now, when you go back to your item record, you’ll see that QuickBooks has filled in the On Hand number to reflect the assemblies you just built.

The process of building assemblies may feel a little foreign at first. And if you’re going to keep some on hand, you’ll need to pay extra attention to your inventory levels, which you can do by running the Inventory Stock Status by Item report. So, this is an area where you may need to consult with us. We’re available to go over inventory and assembly concepts with you, or any other element of QuickBooks.

Filed Under: QuickBooks

How to Create and Use Vendor Records in QuickBooks Online

November 20, 2021 by Admin

Keeping your supplies coming in may be difficult right now. Be sure you know your vendors and track their records carefully.

Your company counts on its supply chains to keep operations running smoothly. When it falters, you can have trouble creating and shipping products. Problems may even crop up that have a negative effect on your internal business needs.

We don’t have to tell you that COVID-19 has interrupted supply chains. The pandemic has been catastrophic for many small businesses because of this, and because income has been suddenly and sharply reduced. Some financial help is available, and we hope you’re able to take advantage of it during these extraordinarily difficult times.

It’s perhaps more important than ever to carefully track your income and expenses, and we hope you’re using QuickBooks to do so. Among the software’s financial management tools is the ability to maintain thorough records of those vendors that make up your supply chain. Let’s take a look at how this works.

Creating Vendor Records

We’ll go through the steps for creating vendor records, though you may have at least started on these already. Hover your mouse over Expenses in the toolbar and select Vendors. If you’ve already added some, you’ll see them in a list. To create a new one, click New Vendor in the upper right. Most of the form is easy to complete; it’s primarily contact information.

There are a few fields, though, that need special attention. These are:

  • Cost rate/hr and Billing rate/hr. These help you track time costs for your projects. Don’t enter anything here if you pay vendors via bills or expenses.
  • Terms. Due on receipt? 15 days? 30 days?
  • Account no. and Business ID No. You should have these on file.
  • Track payments for 1099. Put a check in this box for any 1099 contractors.

When you’re done, click Save. This vendor will now appear in your list.

Taking Action

You can do a lot of your work directly from QuickBooks’ Vendors page. This screen displays a list of all of your vendors, along with columns for their Phone, Email, and Open Balance. At the end of each row is an Action column. The link there reads either Create bill or Make payment, depending on whether there is an outstanding balance.

Click on the down arrow in that column to open a list of additional options. If there is a zero balance, you can Create expense, Write check, Create purchase order, or Make inactive. If money is due, your options are to Create bill or Create expense. Icons in the upper right allow you to print the list, export it to Excel, or change the column settings.

Collecting Your Billables

Before we look at vendor records in QuickBooks, we’d like you to check a couple of settings to make sure you’re billing your customers for every expense they incur with you. Click the gear icon in the upper right corner and select Your Company | Account and Settings, then click on Expense. Among others, you’ll see these options:

 

To add a Customer column to expense and purchase forms, click in the first box pictured in the image above. To Make expenses and items billable, click in the second box and add a default markup rate if you want. Do you want to Track billable expenses and items as income? If you’re not sure, ask us. And if you’ve set up sales tax in QuickBooks and want to add that to billable items, check that box, too. When you’ve finished with these and the other questions under Bills and expenses, click Save.

Now is the time to focus on the importance of cash flow and vendor relationships by maintaining good vendor payable records. You want to keep your relationships with your suppliers in good status. If you’re having trouble tracking cash flow or dealing with any other element of your accounting (or QuickBooks itself), please do contact us. We want to support you through this difficult period as much as we can.

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

COVID-19 is affecting the supply chains. Do whatever you can to ensure that your vendor relationships maintain a good standing. QuickBooks can help. Find out how here.

You should be using QuickBooks to track your accounts payable status these days. Communicating with vendors about any potential payment problems is essential to maintaining your relationship. Here is how QuickBooks can help manage it.

Is the pandemic affecting your company’s cash flow? We can help you use QuickBooks to better manage it.

The Vendors page in QuickBooks can show you quickly where you have open balances. Be sure you’re tracking those carefully these days. Find out how here.

Filed Under: QuickBooks

How to Create Estimates in QuickBooks Online

July 19, 2021 by Admin

Businessman and woman working on computersWhether you sell products or services, you may need to create estimates in QuickBooks Online. Here’s how it’s done.

It would be nice if you could just instantly invoice every sale. But sometimes your customers need to know what a particular purchase will cost before they make the decision to buy. So you need to know how to create an estimate. If the sale goes through, you’ll of course want to send an invoice.

QuickBooks Online automates this entire process. It even helps you track the progress of your estimates by providing a special report. Here’s how it works.

Just Like An Invoice – Almost

The process of creating an estimate in QuickBooks Online is almost identical to creating an invoice. You click the New button in the upper left and select Estimate.

QuickBooks tips

Creating an estimate in QuickBooks Online is like creating an invoice, with a few differences.

When the form opens, you’ll notice one difference right away. Directly below the Customer field, you’ll see the word Pending next to a small down arrow. Click it to see what your options are here. You’ll be able to update its status later. Select a Customer to get started. If this is a new customer, click + Add New and enter at least the name. If you want to build a more complete profile at this point, click Details and complete the fields in the window that opens. To send a carbon copy or blind copy of the estimate to someone else, click the Cc/Bcc link.

Next to the Estimate date, there’s a field for Expiration date. Enter that and continue on to add the products and/or services that will be included, just as you would on an invoice. If you’re generating an estimate for a new product or service, click + Add new in the drop-down list. A panel will slide out from the right that allows you to create one.

You’ll see more options for your estimate at the bottom of the page. You can add a message in the message box (or leave the default message if there is one). You can also Customize it, Make recurring, or Print or Preview it. When you’re satisfied, Save it, and send it to the customer.

QuickBooks tips

You can preview your estimate to see what the customer will see before saving it.

Updating the Status

Your estimate will not be considered a transaction until you accept it. To do this, click the Sales link in the toolbar, then All Sales. Find your estimate in the list by looking in the Type column. Click the down arow next to Create invoice to see your other options there. You’ll see that you can Print or Send it or save a Copy.

Click Update status. In the window that opens, click the down arow next to Pending. From the list that drops down, select Accepted. You can also mark it Closed or Rejected. If you choose any of the last three options, another window opens that allows you to enter the name of the individual who authorized the action and the date it was done.

Click Create invoice if your estimate was accepted. You’ll have three options here. You can invoice your customer for:

  • The estimate total.
  • A percentage of each line item.
  • A custom amount for each line.

QuickBooks tips

When you locate your estimate on the Sales Transactions page, you’ll have several options for managing it.

After you’ve made your selection, click Create invoice to open the form with the amounts filled in based on your preference. Complete anything that’s unfinished but do not change any of the product or service line items. Save it, and your invoice is ready to go. You can always check the status of your estimates by running the Estimates by Customer report.

Creating and tracking estimates is as easy as working with invoices. You may run into difficulties, though, if you need to do anything beyond that point with estimates, such as modifying it and re-submitting them. We’re here to answer any questions you might have about this. It’s important that you get your estimates and their subsequent invoices exactly right, so you don’t lose money or sales. Let us know if you want to go over these concepts.

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

Do your customers want to know what something will cost before they order it? Create Estimates in QuickBooks Online.

Once you’ve had an Estimate approved by a customer using QuickBooks Online, you can turn it into an invoice.

Not sure what the status of all of your QuickBooks Online Estimates are? Run the Estimates by Customer report.

You can invoice customers for only a portion of an Estimate in QuickBooks Online. We can help you do this.

Using QuickBooks accounting software to track of your daily business transactions will help you organize expenses and manage cash flow, so you can be in control of your finances. Call Newton Sankey & Co. at 631-474-2500 to get started now or request your free consultation online.

Filed Under: QuickBooks

Why You Need Year – Round Tax Planning…

May 20, 2021 by Admin

Business team busy at work…and tips on how to do it.

The IRS may have granted us a reprieve for filing our income taxes this year, but we hope you’re well into your preparation for 2020 income taxes – or finished with them. Tax planning shouldn’t be a task on your to-do list every April. It should start January 1.

You won’t know what legislation Congress will pass before December 31 that will affect your taxes, but the planning and recordkeeping you do throughout the year will help minimize last-minute panic and frustration. It can also reduce your total tax obligation.

There are other reasons why you should treat tax preparation as a part of your overall financial planning. As the year progresses and you monitor your income and expenses, you can make adjustments that will have impact on your tax bill.

If you’re filing an individual return, you need to learn how major life events like marriage, children, unexpected unemployment, a new side gig, or a change in home ownership will affect you, and how to adjust accordingly. If you have a small business, this attention to money in and money out is even more critical. You don’t want to come to the end of the year and discover that your income is significantly higher than the total of your expenses, and you haven’t paid nearly enough in estimated taxes.

Waiting until the last minute is unwise for other reasons. For example, you may learn that you’re missing critical documents like receipts and official tax forms from employers. Further, what happens if an emergency comes up in early April and you’re unable to finish? Yes, you can file for an extension, but that also requires that paperwork and possibly a payment be submitted by the deadline.

Year-round tax planning gives you the opportunity to control what you can while anticipating what could happen. Sometimes, tax legislation comes early in the year, like the American Rescue Plan did in 2021. You probably already know how that will affect your 2021 taxes. If you’re conscientious about your bookkeeping throughout the year, you’ll be in a better position to gauge how both tax law changes and your own unfolding financial situation might alter your tax obligation.

How Do You Plan for Taxes?

Here’s the best answer we can give you to that question: Treat every day like it’s April 14. You don’t have to scrutinize every single expense and determine its tax implications (though you should, for major purchases), but there are a number of ways you can prepare.

Consider using a financial software program or website, or at least Excel. If you’re filing individually, you can start tracking your income and expenses in a free service like Mint or pay to use, for example, Quicken or Simplifi. These applications allow you to import transactions from your financial institutions, categorize them so you know what is tax-related, and run reports that can help you in your tax preparation.

Develop a manual system for organizing your taxes. If you don’t want to go digital, visit an office supply store and invest in suitable paper or a ledger book, file folders, and anything else that you can dedicate to only tax-related documentation. Keep all receipts in one place.

Keep abreast of tax legislation. Tax law changes are reported in newspapers and magazines, on websites, and on television news. Pay close attention, especially to those that will affect you.

Change your withholding if necessary. If you’re a W-2 employee and you’re getting large refunds, talk to a benefits representative at your company about changing the number of allowances you claim. Refunds are nice, but you could be putting that money to use yourself during the year.

Look at IRS tax forms. If you’re taking on a side gig or starting your own small business as a sole proprietor in 2021, you’re going to want to acquaint yourself with the IRS Schedule C. You can look at the 2020 version now to see what information you’ll have to supply. Pay close attention to the types of expenses that are deductible and track them carefully. You might even look at the instructions.

Consult with a professional. This is an especially good idea if you’re starting a new business this year and/or you’ve experienced life changes that could affect your taxes. We can help you come up with a plan to prepare for tax filing throughout the year. With that in hand, we’d also be happy to do your tax preparation for you when the time comes. Contact us, and we’ll schedule some time to meet.

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

You may have just recently filed your 2020 income taxes, but it’s past time to start planning for 2021. Ask us how.

Starting a side gig or sole proprietorship in 2021? We can help you understand how very different your income taxes will be.

Leaving your 2021 income tax planning until 2022 is risky. Let us help you start that process now.

Do you have a system for tracking income and expenses? It can help you minimize your 2021 tax obligation through smart planning.

Are you an individual or business owner who’s interested in lowering your tax burden? Call us at 631-474-2500 and ask to speak to a tax accountant now or request a consultation online and we’ll contact you.

Filed Under: QuickBooks

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