QuickBooks Online Getting Started Guide
QuickBooks Online Getting Started Guide
Copyright
2015 Intuit Inc. All rights reserved. Intuit the Intuit logo, Lacerte, ProAdvisor,
ProSeries and QuickBooks, among others, are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other parties marks are the
property of their respective owners.
Version: 2.0
Notice to Readers
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to QuickBooks Online .................................................................... 3
Case Study ......................................................................................................... 4
Setting up QuickBooks Online ............................................................................ 5
Navigating QuickBooks Online ......................................................................... 11
Take the QuickBooks Online Tour .......................................................................... 11
Take the QuickBooks Online ipad/iphone Tour......................................................... 14
Company Setup ................................................................................................ 18
Company Settings ............................................................................................... 18
Manage Users ..................................................................................................... 19
Multiple Currencies .............................................................................................. 22
Importing Your Data ........................................................................................ 23
Customers .......................................................................................................... 24
Suppliers ............................................................................................................ 26
Chart of Accounts ................................................................................................ 26
Products/Services................................................................................................ 26
Downloading Transactions: Linking your Bank Accounts .................................. 28
Linking your Bank Accounts or Credit Cards for Automatic Bank Feeds ....................... 29
Importing your Bank Transactions ......................................................................... 31
Setting up Bank Rules.......................................................................................... 32
Creating and managing Quotes ........................................................................ 34
Creating Quotes .................................................................................................. 34
Creating and Sending Quotes on a ipad/iphone ....................................................... 35
Creating and Managing Invoices ...................................................................... 37
Creating Invoices ................................................................................................ 37
Managing Invoices............................................................................................... 38
Creating Invoices on a ipad/iphone ........................................................................ 39
Customising Invoices ........................................................................................... 40
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Table of Contents
Company Setup
Company Setup
CASE STUDY
Introduction
This story is about a new small business called North Shore Locksmith
Jack Gordon, owner of North Shore Locksmith is a
Locksmith by trade. Jack has been working as an
apprentice contractor for 5 years and loves his job as a
locksmith.
He has always dreamed of starting his own business. His
mates and family have given him lots of encouragement to
get out on his own and start their new business.
After months of planning, Jack has decided that now is the
right time to start his new business. Jack has done his
research and there arent many locksmiths providing
services in the North Shore. It is a great place to start a
business.
Jack is going to purchase a few assets like a professional
Ryobi drilling machine, drill sets, padlock tools, key blanks,
etc.
After a reference from his bookkeeper Jack decided to sign-up to QuickBooks Online to keep on
top of his books. To keep costs low, Jack will run the company on his own until he feels
comfortable hiring his first subcontractor.
To get started Jack is visiting his bookkeeper to help him get setup to manage his own books.
Company Setup
Company Setup
Company Setup
5. In the Set Up QuickBooks step, QuickBooks Online asks for more information about your
business company. It compares your businesss business type with other companies
using QuickBooks Online and optimizes the setup for you.
Jack is a locksmith so you can enter Locksmith
In the Your Industry field, enter Locksmith. A long list of industry types appear
Choose Locksmith Services
Company Setup
6. The next field lets you tell QuickBooks Online what your business sells. QuickBooks
Online can track the sale of products, services and other types of sales. Jack plans to sell
products and services so select products and services option.
7. The next step is to choose the Company Type. North Shore Locksmith will be setup as a
sole trader. This is not a required field, but you can choose the type of organization that
you are setting up.
8. The next step is a question that asks; Do you want to import from QuickBooks for
Windows or MYOB? North Shore Locksmith is a start-up business so they do not need to
import data from another source.
Company Setup
9. The last step is to tell QuickBooks Online about your businesss preferred payment methods.
Select all the methods that apply. North Shore Locksmith will accept several different payment
methods. Select Cash, Cheque, Credit card/debit card, Bank Transfer and PayPal.
10. Click Save and Next.
Company Setup
QuickBooks Online completes the basic setup of your businesss QuickBooks Online company
file. The results of the setup are displayed in a graph. The graph displays information about
businesses like yours using QuickBooks Online. In the right hand column of the Set Up
QuickBooks window, you see a list of features and transactions that QuickBooks Online has
enabled for your business.
North Shore Locksmith is now setup! This completes the basic setup.
11. Click Save and next to complete the setup and go to the Home window.
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Company Setup
NOTE: QuickBooks Online works best in a Chrome browser, but it also works with
Internet Explorer 10, Safari 6 or Firefox. Its useful to bookmark your login page and
memorize your login username so its easy to login anytime on your same computer, tablet
or laptop device.
Enter your QuickBooks Online User ID and password and select Sign In.
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Company Setup
The Home Page displays a summary of key information and provides links to quick tips to
help you get the most out of QuickBooks Online.
The Company setting is located in the top right corner of your QuickBooks Online screen,
and is accessed by clicking on the gears icon.
To access the Help function, click on the question mark next to the company menu in the
top right corner.
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Company Setup
The Global Navigation in the center of the screen gives you quick access to:
Quick Create Use this feature to quickly access the four key transaction types.
Clicking on Show More expands the list to include all the available transactions.
Recent Transactions Use this feature to display a list of your recently recorded
transactions, each of which can be opened by clicking on the selection.
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Company Setup
The left-hand navigation bar provides access to your lists and all primary transactions.
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Company Setup
1. You can download the free QuickBooks Online mobile app (specific to iPhone, iPad, or
Android) from the iTunes store or Google Play. You can then simply login using your
QuickBooks Online username and password.
3. The navigation on the iPad app is similar to QBO on the browser. There is a left and right
hand side panel of options available by selecting the menu and plus buttons on the top
left and right hand side of the screens respectively. For the iPhone the plus sign is at the
bottom of the screen.
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Company Setup
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Company Setup
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Company Setup
COMPANY SETUP
The Company Settings feature is designed to allow you to customize QuickBooks Online to your
specific business requirements and uses.
Its important to define your Company Settings before you enter or upload transactions, so that
your entries are uniform. Your settings can always be modified or changed based on your needs
after the initial setup is completed.
NOTE: The features and screen captures shown here are those available in QuickBooks
Online Plus. Some features are not available in QuickBooks Online Simple Start or
Essentials.
COMPANY SETTINGS
Company Settings are accessed by selecting the gear icon or company name in the top right
corner of the screen.
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Company Setup
You can edit any of the company settings by clicking on the option and making your change.
Once complete, click Done to update your information.
MANAGE USERS
You can give other users access to QuickBooks Online by selecting Manage Users in the Your
Company section of the Company menu.
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Company Setup
To set up new users, select New in the upper right side of the screen. You will be asked to
enter the name and email address. When you create a new user, you can restrict or expand
access as follows:
An email invitation with a link to your company file is sent automatically to anyone who you
invite. New users must accept the invitation to gain access to your company file.
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Company Setup
QuickBooks Online users can invite up to two accounting professionals (for example, a
bookkeeper and an accountant) to access their QuickBooks Online data for free, in all versions
of QBO (SimpleStart, Essentials or Plus).
To invite your accountant and/or bookkeeper to have access to your QBO data:
Select Manage Users in the Company menu.
Select Invite Accountant at the bottom of the screen.
Enter the accounting professionals name and email address. This action will generate an
email invitation, which includes a unique link to accept and gain access to your QuickBooks
Online data using QBO Accountant.
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Company Setup
MULTIPLE CURRENCIES
If you do business with foreign suppliers and/or customers, QuickBooks Online can be set up for
multiple currencies. Simply select Currency Centre from the Settings section of the
Company menu.
This will open the Currency Centre. If you would like to activate multi-currency, click the Set up
currencies button. When multicurrency is enabled, any foreign-denominated transaction will
track three values: foreign currency amount, exchange rate, and the equivalent amount
denominated in the home currency, Australian dollars.
QuickBooks Online tracks fluctuating exchange rates, and it also calculates exchange gains and
losses automatically.
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CUSTOMERS
TIP! To save time and insure your data is imported correctly and requires minimal cleanup, be sure to preview and reformat your data file to match the sample data file (see the
Download a sample file hyperlink).
To import your customers data:
Select Customers.
Choose File and browse to select your customer .xls or .csv import file.
Find and highlight the source import file, select Open or double-click on the import file
name to select it.
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Note the green checkmark next to fields that QuickBooks Online has matched up with or
mapped to the import files columns. If necessary, change the mapping of any field, and
select Continue.
Make any desired or required (signified in red, if any) corrections to the information in the
preview screen and then select the button to Import the records.
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SUPPLIERS
To import your supplier data into your QuickBooks Online company file, follow the same process
as above. Remember to select Suppliers when specifying the type of data and then pre-format
and select your Supplier xls or csv file accordingly.
CHART OF ACCOUNTS
To import your Chart of Accounts data into your QuickBooks Online company file, follow the
same process as above. Remember to select Chart of Accounts when specifying the type of
data and then pre-format and select your Chart of Accounts .xlsx or .csv file accordingly.
NOTE: It is important to import the Chart of Accounts data before importing the
Product/Services data to insure your Product/Services data falls into the correct accounts and
will minimize the need to reclassify or reassign your data after importing.
PRODUCTS/SERVICES
Products and Services are generally imported last, and as noted above, they can only be
imported after the Chart of Accounts is set up. Please contact you Pro Advisor to set-up your
Chart of Accounts.
The procedure for importing Products and Services is similar to that of importing Customers and
Suppliers.
Again, match the fields and make any required changes to the mapping, click Continue.
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Make any desired or required (in red) changes and import the records.
As with all imported lists, the Import Summary confirms the number of imported products
and services.
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DOWNLOADING TRANSACTIONS:
LINKING YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS
You can save time and reduce errors by downloading your transactions directly from your bank
and credit card accounts from a secure online connection.
Once you have established a secure connection with your bank your transactions will
automatically transfer or feed to your QuickBooks Online Company file. Alternatively you can
elect to import your bank transactions manually, by downloading the data from your bank or
credit card and then uploading the data files to your QuickBooks Online account.
If you have set up automatic bank feeds, transactions are securely imported into the
Downloaded Transactions feature automatically.
Once these transactions have been imported, QuickBooks Online will instruct you to do the
following:
Automatically match these imported transactions with a transaction you have already
recorded
Recall how you managed a similar transaction previously. It will suggest to allocate it to the
same account and payee again
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2. Locate your financial institution by selecting it from the list or by typing its name and
clicking Find.
3. Enter your user name and password to enable QuickBooks Online to automatically download
your account transactions directly into your QuickBooks Online account.
NOTE: If your bank or financial institution is not listed or if you prefer not to have your
bank account linked, you may also download your transactions from your bank in a csv
format and then upload them into QuickBooks Online manually.
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4. Once connected, tick the bank accounts you want to connect to QuickBooks Online then
choose the Account type from the QuickBooks Account drop down list provided.
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From the drop-down list of accounts in QuickBooks Online, select the appropriate bank
account to which the files transactions are to be compared and uploaded and choose
Save.
A message will appear indicating that your bank data has been saved.
Click Finish.
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CREATING QUOTES
Quotes can be easily accessed from the Create or Quick Create menu.
To create an invoice:
1. Go to the
Quick Create at the top of the QuickBooks Online screen or via the left-hand
navigation panel.
2. In the Quick Create window, select Quote.
Complete the on-screen quote, including selecting a customer, with the desired date, quote
number, whether amounts are tax inclusive/exclusive/out of scope of GST, Products and
Services of your choosing, the quantity, description and rate for each.
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Add more lines, if needed. Complete any other desired fields, such as the Discount or add a
message to be displayed on the quote.
If necessary, attach a document or any file by clicking on Attachments in the bottom left
corner of the form. This can be used to store related documents for future references. Files
sizes can go up to 25MB each.
Select Save and Send to email your customer their quote, click Save and Close to simply
save the quote and return to the homepage or select Save and New to save the quote and
create a new one.
Once the customer agrees to your quote use the copy to invoice feature to convert the
quote into an invoice. See highlighted cell in the above image.
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Complete the on-screen invoice, including selecting a customer, with the desired date,
invoice number, whether amounts are tax inclusive/exclusive/out of scope of GST, Products
and Services of your choosing, the quantity, description and rate of each, and the GST code.
Add more lines, if needed. Complete any other desired fields, such as the Discount or
add a message to be displayed on the invoice.
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MANAGING INVOICES
Open invoices can be found using the Search and Recent Transactions functions, as well
as by running reports, but most often will be found in the Customer Centre by selecting
Customers from the left-hand navigation bar.
In the Customer Centre, choose Open Invoices from the Money bar to locate the
customer you wish to record the payment for. QuickBooks Online will always offer the next
logical step for this type of transaction. In this case, it is suggesting for you to receive
payment for that customer. Choose Receive payment.
Alternatively, the original invoice can be opened by clicking on the hyperlink in the listing, and
then Receive payment can be selected at the top of the invoice.
Invoices, whether open or paid, can also be found by selecting Transactions Sales from the
left-hand navigation bar.
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CUSTOMISING INVOICES
You can customise your invoices to look how you want them including adding a logo, editing the
font and more. This can be done by going to the Company Gears Icon Company Settings
Sales Customise Customise Look and Feel.
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You can choose a template and accent colour, upload your logo, and specify columns, header,
footer and more. This same customization window can be accessed at the bottom of an invoice
by selecting Customise at the bottom of the invoice form.
Tip: To copy invoices or creating recurring invoices use the functions at the bottom of an
existing invoice.
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RECEIVING PAYMENT
To receive a payment:
Go to the
Quick Create at the top of the QuickBooks Online screen or via the lefthand navigation panel.
In the Quick Create window, select Receive Payment.
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The video link under About provides a great overview of the app setup process and
capabilities.
NOTE: 1) Only one PayPal account can be connected up to one QuickBooks Online file at a time.
2) If bank feeds are reconnected to PayPal, then the app sync process will stop as a
precaution against duplications.
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3. If there are multiple files connected to the QBO login, the business to which the app is to
be installed in needs to be selected. A business with only the one file will be automatically
transferred through to Step 4.
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4. Click Authorize to allow the Accept Payments with PayPal App to integrate with the
selected QuickBooks Online company file.
5. Log into your PayPal account in order to give permission to the Accept Payments with
PayPal App to integrate with your PayPal account.
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1. Enable Customer Payments - Select Yes to allow customers to pay the invoice by Visa,
MasterCard, American Express or their own PayPal account.
2. Import Customer Details - Select Yes to import in customer details from PayPal.
Select No to not import in any Customer details.
3. PayPal Bank setup in QuickBooks - PayPal will create a default Bank type account in the
Chart of Accounts called PayPal Bank. This account can be used or if there is an existing
PayPal account already in the Chart of Accounts, this can be selected from the drop down list.
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PayPal Fees PayPal fees are extracted out of the income received and are entered in
QuickBooks Online as an expense. By default they will associate with the PayPal fees account
and be processed as GST-free.
GST coding on Sales The GST code selected as default will determine the GST coding on
Sales receipt entries.
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To create a Payments enabled invoice, open an existing invoice or create a new invoice.
The invoice now displays with an additional field for Online Payment.
In order to send an invoice with the Pay now feature, the PayPal checkbox must be selected.
Invoices can be sent without the Pay now option, simply by unselecting the checkbox.
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Clicking on View Invoice will open the invoice in a web browser. The invoice can also be
opened on any mobile device. Once opened, a Pay now button is available.
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A list of payments made using online invoicing, can be reviewed under Transactions > Sales list.
Click the settings cog and enable the Source Column. Payments made through online
invoicing will have a source of EInvoice, and a Payment Method of PayPal.
The payment and the PayPal fee will both show in the PayPal Bank account as separate line
entries.
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In the Expense window itself, select the account the expense was paid from such as
petty cash, a bank account or credit card account.
Complete the detail of the expense transaction including the payee, the reference
number, the date, whether the amounts are tax inclusive/exclusive/out of the scope of
GST, etc.
Define the expense by allocating it to the relevant account (if using general ledger
accounts) and/or item details (if using products and services, which are in turn linked to
general ledger accounts).
Any additional fields such as a Memo can be completed, and you can also choose to add
an Attachment (copy of the expense) for this expense. Click Save and Close or Save
and New.
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The Expense transaction can also be accessed from the Transactions menu in the left-hand
navigation bar, by selecting the Expense submenu and then selecting Create New Expense
in the top right corner.
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BILLS
Bills, available in QuickBooks Online Essentials and Plus, can be accessed in the Quick Create
menu, under Suppliers. This is the quickest route to accessing bills, but they can also be
accessed via the left-hand navigation bar from the Suppliers tab or the Transactions tab in
the Expense submenu.
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MANAGING BILLS
Open bills can be found by using the Search and Recent Transactions functions, as well
as by running reports, but most often will be found in the Supplier Centre by selecting
Suppliers from the left-hand navigation bar.
In the Supplier Centre, select the unpaid section of the Money bar and then Make
payment for that supplier.
Or, the original bill can be opened by clicking on the hyperlink in the listing, and then
Make payment can be selected at the top of the bill.
Bills, whether open or paid, can also be found by selecting Transactions Expenses from the
left-hand navigation bar.
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RUNNING REPORTS
To access Reports, click on Reports in the left-hand navigation bar.
Scroll your mouse over each reports listing to view a sample preview of the layout.
You can run the report immediately by clicking on it or you can customise it first before the
report initially appears by clicking on the customise link.
You can also search for a particular report by typing any part of the report name in the Search
field.
AUTOMATED REPORTS
Using QuickBooks Online, you can have reports automatically sent by email to yourself and
others at regular times (e.g. 1st of the month).
Any customised reports can be saved as part of a Report Group.
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A Report Group can contain one or more reports. Highlighting the Report Group in My
Custom Reports and selecting Edit will open the Report Group Settings window for this group,
where the email settings are created.
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Here, the recipient(s) are specified, along with the subject line and the text of the email. The
report(s) can be set to be attached as Excel files, and the schedule of the email of the reports
can be set as well. The recipients do not have to be QuickBooks Online users and QuickBooks
Online does not even have to be running for these reports to be sent on schedule.
CUSTOMISING REPORTS
You can customise a report, even when it is already on the screen, by selecting Customise in
the top left corner of the report.
Depending on the specific report, a number of areas are available to customise. These are
grouped into key areas including: general, rows/columns, lists/numbers, and header/footer.
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After customising a specific report, select Run Report to display it with your changes.
Your reports can be displayed on screen, printed, emailed and even exported to Excel.
Selecting Email will send the report to the recipient(s) you specify, with a subject line and a
note. The report will appear both as an attachment and in the body of the email.
Exporting reports to Excel lets you make further modifications if desired. Reports exported to
Excel are provided with the relevant formulas.
You can save your customised report by selecting Save Customisations at the top of the
report. Your report will be saved in the My Custom Reports section of the Report Centre,
making it easy to access in the future.
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AUDIT LOG
The audit log feature allows you to keep a track of all activity transactions, logons, changes to
settings, anything that is done within QBO.
1. Click on the company settings tab and select Audit Log under the Tools section
2. The audit log captures the date of activity, user, event, name of customer/supplier, date of
the transaction like a payment, amount and a full history of what occurred giving you full
visibility of your account
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To setup payroll
1. In the Navigation pane on the left hand side click Employees.
2. Towards the top right of the screen click on Turn on Payroll
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4. Also choose whether to allow my employees to edit their details through the
self-service portal.
Setup Employees
Once you have setup Payroll the next step is to setup the employees. There are two options you
can setup the employees individually or do a bulk upload via a CSV files.
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3. In the
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Click Next
4. When on Tax File Declaration screen select the Employment Type as Full Time.
Click Next
N.B. From the information provided in the Tax File Declaration QBO Payroll will determine the
tax scale. Whilst QBO Payroll does not automatically lodge the payroll declaration for you; you
can download a Tax File Declaration report and then upload it to the ATO ECI interface. For the
report to be successful you must leave the Date Reported To ATO field empty.
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6. The next screen Locations allows you to setup cost centers to track hours against
different parts of the business. N.B. There is no correlation between Locations in
Quickbooks Online and Locations in QBO Payroll at the moment.
7. Journal entries that are transferred between QBO Payroll and Quickbooks Online do
identify QBO Payroll locations allowing allocation to the correct Location or Class in
Quickbooks Online.
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8. The Bank Accounts screen allows you to enter the employees bank account details.
You can also split the amount between multiple bank accounts based upon
percentage or fixed amounts.
9. Choose the superannuation fund the employee wishes to pay their superannuation
into, and enter their member fund. Superannuation Fund details can be searched for
by ABN, SPIN or SMSF. You can choose to pay between multiple superannuation
funds based on percentage or fixed amount.
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10. If you wish to allow the employee to use the self-service portal click on the Enable Self
Service, enter the employee email address. An account will be created for the employee
and an email sent to them with the details of setting up the password and how to access
the Self Service Portal.
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2. On the Pay Run screen select the Pay Schedule, enter the date for the Pay Period
Ending and the Date pay run will be paid. Click Create.
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3. The next screen will then show you a summary of the pay run including, all employees in
that run, their earnings, tax, and superannuation figures.
4. By clicking on the individual employee line you can expand the details. Here you can see
Leave Accrued and add Notes For This PayRun. In addition by clicking on the Actions
button you can make numerous adjustments, such as Add Earnings, Take Leave, Adjust
PAYG, Adjust Leave and Exclude from pay run.
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5. Once you have completed any adjustments you can hide the full details of the employee
by clicking on the summary line at the top. Before you complete the pay run look for any
warnings. To see the details of the warning click on it.
6. In this scenario there is a warning regarding ABA files. QBO Payroll will not automatically
pay your employees, but it can create an ABA that you can upload to your bank to pay
multiple employees at the same time. To setup ABA file click on the warning about ABA
details have not been provided for this business, then click on Fix This. On the ABA Details
screen click on Add.
7. Fill out the required details and click Save. Check for any other warnings and deal with
them appropriately. QBO Payroll will automatically inform you of situations such as when
an employee has requested more leave than they are entitled to.
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8. To finish this pay run click on Finalise Pay Run and select Date Paid, click Finalise.
9. One the pay run has been finalised, it is locked. You can Unlock it and make changes but
this should be done before any payments are made. Also once the pay run is finalised you
can run any reports you need, Download ABA file so it can be uploaded to the bank and
Send Pay Slips
N.B. Once the pay run is completed journals are automatically posted to QBO and the relevant
accounts.
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GETTING SUPPORT
There is lots of support available for QuickBooks Online when you need it.
To access online help, select the question mark icon in the top right corner of the
QuickBooks Online screen.
You can also ask fellow users a question by clicking on Ask Community.
If you prefer to chat to our Care team, click on Chat. This will launch a live chat session so
you can chat with one of our care team members.
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PROVIDING FEEDBACK
We love hearing your feedback on using QuickBooks Online both good and bad. To provide us
with your feedback, click on Feedback in the Your Company section of the Company menu.
Here you can provide product feedback and suggestions. This link allows for a screenshot of the
page in question.
We hope you found this Getting Started Guide useful. If you are an accounting professional,
refer to the Getting Started Guide for QuickBooks Online Accountant for accountant specific
information. For additional information, please visit: www.intuit.com.au
NOTE: If you require additional support, your QuickBooks Online subscription gives you
access to technical experts Monday to Friday 8:30 to 18:30 AEST.
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