QuickBooks Online is here to help
The pandemic has taken a toll on many people, especially small businesses. Between shutdowns, and employees being sick it is hard to stay on track. A way to help with the pressures of recovering after the pandemic is by staying up to date with your vendor records.
The operations of your business rely on having a steady supply chain. If your supply chain is not running smoothly, then you may run into problems with creating and shipping orders. Supply chain issues can even create negative repercussions for your internal business needs. QuickBooks Online can help you create, maintain and track vendor records so that you can always be on top of your supply chain reducing the number of problems for your company. This will save you both time and money.
How to Create Vendor Records
QuickBooks Online was built with the user in mind. It has “centers” for all the different aspects of your business. These “centers” make it so you can easily access the information you need.
One “center” that QuickBooks Online offers is the expense center. You can navigate here using the navigation menu on the left side of your screen and single clicking on Expenses. Within expenses, there is a tab for Vendors. This is where you will want to go to be able to set up your vendor records.
Step-by-step:
- Once in the Vendors window, pick a vendor or create a new one if vendor is not in your list.
- If you are creating a new vendor you will fill in the necessary information. These include:
- Cost rate/hour and Billing rate/hour (ignore if you are paying via bills or expenses)
- Terms (when is it due)
- Account Number and Business ID number
- Track payments for 1099
- Then click save
Take Action
Now that you have created your vendor in your QuickBooks Online account, it is time for you to experience the benefits of using QBO as your accounting software. With the QuickBooks Online vendor page, you have easy access to your vendors’ email, phone number and can see any open balances that you have. Finding the information you need will be quick and easy once your vendor records have been created.
Additionally, actions become a breeze when you have vendor records. Simply go to your vendors window and click on action to the right of the vendor you want to complete a transaction for. This is a drop-down menu that provides options to create a bill or make a payment. If there is a zero balance for the vendor that you will also be given the choices to create an expense, write a check, create purchase order and make inactive. QuickBooks Online is truly a one stop shop. Vendor records will give you the convenience of being able to locate information and complete actions from one screen, resulting in saving you time.
Using Vendor Records to Collect Billables
Sometimes you might run into the situation where you incur an expense on behalf of a customer. You want to make sure that you will be reimbursed for this and QuickBooks Online makes it easy for you to do so.
First, you will need to make sure that your QBO account is setup to allow you to bill a customer for an expense. To do this, locate the Gear icon in the upper right hand corner then under Your Company click Account Settings and then navigate to the section for expenses. Make sure that the boxes next to “Track expenses and items by customer” and “Make expenses and items billable” are checked.
Now that your account is set up for this feature, you will be able to bill your customers for the expenses incurred on their behalf. You can do this by going to your vendor records. Then select create expense in the action drop-down menu next to the vendor you are doing business with. Fill out the information for the expense and then make sure to select the billable box. Once that box is selected, a box for customer will appear. Fill in the box with the customer that you wish to receive a reimbursement from and then hit save.
Reports worth Using
The best way to maintain positive relationships with your vendors is by staying on top of what you owe them and paying it in a timely manner. And, the way to do this is by maintain good vendor records. By creating vendor records you will be able to then run several different reports in QuickBooks Online, so you will stay on top of what you owe and when you owe it.
Some of the reports that QuickBooks Online offers are:
- Bill Payment List – this report shows you what bills you have already paid
- Unpaid Bills List – this report shows you what bills you still need to pay
- Vendor Balance Detail – this report shows you your unpaid bills and the total amount you owe for each vendor
- Vendor Balance Summary – this report shows you the total amount you owe each vendor
Using these reports will help you get a clear picture of what you are spending and when it is due.
Need Help? Contact Us!
Using and learning a new software can be tricky, but that is why we are here. If you have any questions regarding creating, using and maintaining vendor records in QuickBooks Online, feel free to reach out to us. We are passionate about educating mompreneurs on the benefits of using QuickBooks Online.