Keyboard Shortcuts in QuickBooks Online & QuickBooks Desktop

Time, as we know, cannot be created.  As such, small businesses must complete daily tasks as efficiently as possible so that profit and productivity can be maximized.  This concept should also be applied to your bookkeeping practices.

Let’s check out some convenient shortcuts that Intuit has built into their QuickBooks Online and Desktop softwares.

Shortcuts for QuickBooks Online

Finding text on a page:

This shortcut works on any website and on just about any browser.  It’s a very powerful tool to have.  Simply press ctrl + F and type in the word or phrase you’re looking for.  Most browsers will automatically flick you to the first instance of that text on the page.  Then, to move from instance to instance, press enter.  This is especially useful when looking for a specific transaction or customer on a long list.

Calculate rates or totals:

Say goodbye to constantly switching between your calculator and your laptop.  QBO can automatically calculate amounts and rates from within a text field.  In any field marked Amount or Rate, simply type in the calculation you need, and hit tab.  QuickBooks will automatically calculate the equation and input it into the field.

Add a desktop shortcut for QBO:

You can add a shortcut on your desktop that enables your browser to open directly to QuickBooks.  To do this, reduce the window of your browser so that you can see your desktop in the background, go to https://quickbooks.intuit.com/login/, and click and drag the lock icon to the left of the URL and drop it into your desktop.  Note: sometimes the lock will appear as the QuickBooks logo in certain browsers.

Navigate a form without a mouse:

Navigating a form without a mouse is fairly straightforward.  To move forward one field, hit tab.  To move backward one field, hit shift + tab.  To select a checkbox, press the spacebar.  To open a dropdown list, use alt + down arrow once the list button is highlighted.  This saves a lot of time, since trying to move a mouse around a tightly-packed form is annoying and time consuming.  You may also find that your carpal tunnel gets a little better with this method as well.

Shortcuts for QuickBooks Desktop

QuickBooks Desktop comes out of the box with dozens of keyboard shortcuts.  Below is a quick reference list of the most important ones.

When navigating dates, QuickBooks has a very clever system for jumping about.  To find the first or last day of a given time period, such as a week, month, or year, simply press the first or last letter of that respective word.

Here’s a guide:

Jump to the first day of the week by pressing W.

Jump to the last day of the week by pressing K.

Jump to the first day of the month by pressing M.

Jump to the last day of the month by pressing H.

Jump to the first day of the year by pressing Y.

Jump to the last day of the year by pressing R.

Editing various lists and forms is also made easier with QuickBooks Desktop shortcuts:

Press ctrl + E to edit the selected transaction in the register.

Pressing ctrl + del will delete a line.

Ctrl + alt + Y will copy the selected line in an invoice, and ctrl + alt + V will paste said line.

Use + and – to move up or down by one.

Other general shortcuts:

Ctrl + A opens your Chart of Accounts.

Ctrl + W opens the Write Checks window.

In any list or form, use tab to move forward one field, and tab + shift to move back.

There are also a number of general bookkeeping shortcuts to be aware of, which you can use in both QBO and QBD.  Be sure you’re utilizing batch options: if you need to delete a large number of transactions, you can do so in one fell swoop by checking the box to the left of each transaction and then selecting “delete” from the batch options menu.

Another good practice for QuickBooks is to set reminders for various housekeeping items.  For example, setting a reconciliation reminder for the end of each month can help prevent you from getting behind with double checking your transactions.  This can save a lot of time later by reducing bottlenecks, and can save money by reducing overtime pay for your accountants or bookkeepers.

Finally, there are many tasks within the field of bookkeeping in general that can be automated.  If you use QuickBooks Online Advanced, you can use the Workflows feature to automate just about any calculation or notification that you normally utilize on QuickBooks.

QuickBooks has many shortcuts beyond what was discussed in this article.  Don’t be afraid to experiment and explore other shortcuts, and to mix and match them to find your optimized workflow.

Using QuickBooks is the industry standard in bookkeeping for a good reason.  The sheer amount of featurability and usability present in even the most basic versions of QuickBooks allows business owners to record and analyze their finances in the easiest, most accurate way possible.  And now, with shortcuts and other workflow tools, it’s faster than ever.

Booktied offers training on everything QuickBooks so you can improve your bookkeeping practices even further.  We also offer bookkeeping catch-up and full-scope outsourced accounting services for any business.  Contact us for a free consultation.

QuickBooks Online VS QuickBooks Desktop: Which one should I use?

QuickBooks has been a staple in the bookkeeping business for almost four decades.  Its predecessor, also made by Intuit, is called Quicken.

Quicken was launched in 1983.  That means businesses had been using Intuit’s accounting technology for a full 8 years before the Berlin Wall fell.  It’s no surprise, then, that Intuit is the biggest name in bookkeeping software, and has been for decades.

Quicken initially became popular by far exceeding its competitors in one main area: simplicity.  While every other accounting software that was on the market was extremely complicated, Quicken employed a simple checkbook-like interface that made it especially appealing for both personal finances and simple business accounting.  By enabling just about anyone to boot it up and start bookkeeping, Quicken changed the game.  As a result of that initial genius, Intuit is still the king of the bookkeeping software space 5 decades later!

Quicken is still around today, although it’s best for personal finance, rather than for corporations.  By the early ‘90s, Intuit realized that Quicken was missing the functionality necessary for accounting and bookkeeping for larger, more complicated businesses.  In order to fill this hole in the market, Intuit launched QuickBooks.  Initially, QuickBooks was only available as a desktop application that the user paid for one time and then used on one computer, as most software was back then.  QuickBooks Desktop is still available as one of the main forms of QuickBooks to this day.

By 2002, however, the internet was a huge industry and growing fast.  Intuit had another stroke of genius when it decided to pioneer the field of cloud-based accounting with QuickBooks Online.  QBO allows multiple users to access the same QuickBooks account from different computers, anywhere with an internet connection.  It’s paid on a monthly subscription, which can be scaled up or down according to the needs of the business.

Today, QuickBooks Online represents a significant portion of the use of QuickBooks.  But, perhaps surprisingly, it has not completely dominated the field.  QuickBooks Desktop still has its own loyal user base.  But which version of QuickBooks is right for your business?  What are the advantages and pitfalls of each?

Let’s walk through those questions and find out everything you need to know about QuickBooks for your business.

Comparing QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop

QuickBooks Online is the most popular version of QuickBooks.  In the modern era where everything is cloud-based, it makes a lot of sense to make your accounting software match.

QuickBooks Online is typically most popular with small to medium-sized businesses.  The versatility of being able to log in from anywhere makes it very attractive to small business owners who must be mobile or who multitask with both administrative and operational responsibilities of their business.

Another big advantage to using QuickBooks Online is the sheer amount of add-on applications that are available for it.  Since it’s internet-based, many apps, both third-party and Intuit-built, can link with QuickBooks Online and give it even more featurability.  QuickBooks Desktop does have add-on applications, but they’re limited in usefulness by comparison.  QuickBooks Desktop does allow the download of transaction information from your bank, however, which is one of the most important features for accounting software in general.

QuickBooks Online differs from QuickBooks Desktop in price, as well.  A basic QBO Essentials plan costs $40 per month.  Depending on your needs, however, you may opt for the cheaper QuickBooks Simple Start ($25/month) or the more expensive QuickBooks Advanced ($150/month).  There are, obviously, differing features on each level.  Intuit has outlayed a comparison of QBO plans on their website.  As of writing, your first 30 days with QBO is totally free.  After that, your first three paid months are 50% off.  Talk about value!

QuickBooks Desktop, by contrast, starts at a one-time fee of $300 for the Pro version.  The Premier version, which comes with additional features such as forecasting and industry-specific transactions, will run you $500.  The flagship version of QuickBooks is called Enterprise, and it’s the perfect choice for large businesses with more complex finances.

Within Enterprise, there are varying levels of power and customizability, each with a different price.  All of them are paid on a subscription basis, with discounts available for your first year.  The Silver edition is the base level, which is $850 for your first year (30% off).  The Gold level will run you $950 for the first year (40% off), and Platinum is $970 for the first year (50% off).  You can find a full comparison of QBD versions on the QuickBooks website as well.

This pricing structure allows business owners to get the exact functionality they need, without having to spend extra on features they don’t.  Depending on your exact needs, you will find that either QBO or QBD presents a strong financial advantage over its sister program.

Which version of QuickBooks is right for me?

Determining which version of QuickBooks you should use is fairly simple:  It boils down to pricing and which features you can’t do without.  If you need web-based CRM apps or time trackers, or if you need to access your books from anywhere, choose QuickBooks Online.  If you want to create back-ups and copies of your financial data for external audits, or if a one-time purchase is better suited for your financial situation, choose QuickBooks Desktop.  If you’re an inventory business or large company that needs powerful tax and payroll software, choose QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise.

QuickBooks is one of the most important inventions of the last 50 years.  By allowing any business, from sole proprietorship to multinational corporations, to electronically manage their finances for an accessible price, Intuit has single-handedly innovated the efficiency and accuracy with which the business world’s financial performance is analyzed.