How much insight do you have into your business’s finances?
At The Number Works, we work hard to ensure that our clients completely understand their businesses’ financials and that they’re fully aware of what is happening with their bottom line.
But what if you’re going at it alone without an accountant, bookkeeper, or other financial professionals? How can you get the kind of financial insights that you need to grow your business?
Let us introduce you to a powerful QuickBooks Online feature that can help you keep your finger on the pulse of your finances: Reports!
QuickBooks Online
Suppose you currently handle your finances through Excel spreadsheets and put your business receipts in a box. In that case, it’s definitely time for a significant upgrade in the way you manage your financial information!
There are many online accounting systems that can help you make this upgrade, but our favourite, by far, is QuickBooks Online (QBO).
In our opinion, QBO’s cloud-based service offers business owners the best mix of features, ease of use, and affordability. As everything is hosted in the cloud, you can access information about your business’s finances on any device that has an internet connection. And with its flexible plan structure, you can pick the version of QBO that best meets your needs and budget!
QBO Reports
There are over 120 reports that you can run through QuickBooks Online, depending on your plan. These reports can offer you insights into almost every aspect of your business, including:
- Sales
- Purchases
- Inventory
- Banking
- Payroll
- Accounting
- Budgets
- …And many more!
Many businesses will only use a small number of these reports, while others might use all 120. The best part about QBO is that you can customize your Reports Center to only see the reports that apply to your situation.
How to Run a Report
To get started, click on the Reports option in the sidebar. You’ll then need to pick one of the categories. At the top of the screen, you’ll see several options, including Standard, Custom, and Management. After you’ve learned how to set up reports, you can focus on these other options. For now, select Standard.
This is the area where you select the type of report you want to run. If you wish, you can click on the Star next to a report, and it will appear in Favorites at the top of the Standard report page for easy access.
Once you’ve selected a report category, it will appear on the screen. To update your report at any time, you can click on “Run Report.”
Customize Your Reports
From here, you have many options for customizing the information you see in your chosen report.
For example, you can select a date range at the top for your report from the presets, or you can choose “Custom” if you only want to see a specific set of dates.
You can also select either accrual or cash-basis accounting. You have the option to compare your current report to a previous period or customize the report so you won’t need to see any rows that contain zeros.
At the top of the report, you can select how you want the information sorted, along with adding notes. Notes can be an invaluable feature if you plan on sharing reports with an accountant or bookkeeper.
If you click on the “Customize” option to the right, you can pick more specific options, including filters. You can then save all of these customizations, allowing you to access your customized reports from the Reports menu in the future without needing to alter any of the settings!
Creating reports is easy, but the tricky part is understanding them. That’s where The Number Works comes in! We can help you get a better handle on your business by teaching you how to interpret the numbers to ensure you know the state of your current finances.
The Number Works also helps small business owners learn how to use some of the more complex features of QuickBooks Online, including reporting. If you’d like to learn more about QuickBooks Online and how it can help you grow your business, please feel free to get in touch with us today!