Customize your Quickbooks Online

Subscribing to Quickbooks or any other accounting software is only the very first step. Before bringing in all your transactions to put them into the right buckets, there’s a massively important step that I often see people forget to implement, or they simply don’t know how, or that they could. I’m talking about customizing the software settings and categories. This is by far one of the most valuable changes you’ll ever make in your bookkeeping process. 

For example, when you think about your business and the services that bring you money, do you normally think of ONE “Fee for service” bucket, or do you break it down into 2 or more offers? For example, consultants and coaches often have memberships, speaking, and consulting as their revenue sources. Therapists usually have Private Pay and Insurance companies as their services. 

Where does this show up in your books? 

Renaming or grouping your big picture income sources will show up in your Income Statement (aka P&L). The revenue is the first section in your report so these categories will be on the very top. By doing this, you will clearly and easily see how much money each of those services are bringing in. 

What can you do with that information? 

Only you can answer those questions for yourself. But here’s the gist of it. By understanding the results of those offerings, you can make a decision about your fees, if you want to boost the marketing of one of them, or cancel another one, or if you should bring someone else to help you deliver them so you can increase your client load. 

Similarly, renaming, adding, or grouping your expense categories can give you a ton of insight about the way you’re spending your money. In my time as a bookkeeper for therapists and consultants, I’ve never met one who spends lavishly. In fact, the people I work with tend to be very conservative when it comes to spending. Looking at their reports gives them the opportunity to analyze their spending habits and areas in which they should probably spend more if they want to bring in more clients. Usually, advertising and marketing is one of those areas. 

Renaming your expenses

The default settings in the chart of accounts for expenses is to list them alphabetically. So advertising and marketing is at the top, and utilities is at the bottom, with everything in between. 

What if you could group your overhead expenses instead of having them all spread out? You could easily see how much you need to keep the lights on. Or, what if you could see how much you’re spending on payroll, including continuing education and contractors? What if you could see how much you’re spending on clinical supplies separate from the office supplies? And what if Office Expenses will finally mean something rather than being a catch-all category (like that messy kitchen drawer). All those changes would need to be manually made. 

The list of categories is your General Ledger and the way they’re setup is the Chart of Accounts. If you wanna play around with it, I recommend you do this BEFORE you connect your bank accounts and before you categorize anything. But ideally, you’ll have your accountant or bookkeeper do this for you. Have a conversation with them, ask them to help you and give you recommendations, and be sure to voice your preferences and what you wish you could see. In most cases, those requests are possible. 

For help with customizing yours, visit my Services page to find about my services or go HERE to reach out.