5 five-second QuickBooks Online tips

Now that 1099 and W-2 season is wrapping up, I’m worn-out, so instead of the normal QBO Monday Minute, I’m giving you five (five) 5-second tips and tricks, in other words, not a ‘minute,’ only 25-seconds worth in this edition.

Tip 1 – You can split screen your QBO

I just love this effortless tip! While working in QBO if you want to split your screen just press the Windows key and the right arrow for the screen you want right and the Windows key and left arrow for the screen you want left. To reverse the split screen press the Windows key and up arrow.

You might just look like a ‘bad azz’ in front of your clients when they see you do this, (OK, forgive my ‘french’) because they will hardly believe their eyes when the see the result:

Bonus Tip: When using Windows, hit the QBO Hamburger to get more landscape by collapsing the navigation bar. That will make the side-by-side even more phenomenal.

Tip-2: Duplicate screen tabs

There are several ways to duplicate your screen in Chrome but here’s one that you don’t even need to use your mouse for. Alt+D (grabs the address), then Alt+Enter opens a new tab with the URL. The trick is you don’t have to move your thumb off the Alt key – just push down Alt then hit D and Enter in quick succession to duplicate the current tab. 

Right before your eyes, the duplicate window appears, your client will love you for this one.

Tip 3 – Go bold and send customer invoice reminders

Asking for payment can be uncomfortable but… we gotta get paid to keep the doors open.

QBO has a ‘default’ reminder message that’s pretty good, so when you see overdue Invoices it’s easy to hit the Remind button and off goes the email to our clients reminding them to pay us. To send reminders:

QBO Navigation Bar > Select Overdue Invoices to view > Send Reminders

The good news is this is just a message so the invoice is unchanged and the activities on the bottom of the invoice will continue to be tracked.

This means, you can see how many times they opened and viewed it or if they have never viewed it all then maybe it’s time to confirm the email address.

Tip 4 – Trust me baby, it’s safe

This might just be my favorite tip at the moment… Transfer secure docs in attachments. Like why not, right?

Say for instance you have Bob Company asking us to reconcile his 2016 bank accounts but he feels uncomfortable emailing bank statements… use QBO attachments ! It’s totally secure and easy to use because there are no additional portals or passwords.

Next thing you know you will be doing it with Tax Returns, W-2s and 1099s. Your client can Export, Download and Delete the file after saving a copy.

Or… In most cases there are only a few hands in the QBO data so some users may want to keep these files here forever as a safe parking spot for this type of shared data.

Step 1 – Upload Attachments:  QBO Gear Icon > Select Attachments > Import

Step 2 – Export Zip Attachments: Check-mark the desired file and Export Zip

Step 3 – Download Attachments: In the desired file row, select Download

Tip 5 – Use short-cuts and Company ID keys

QuickBooks Online is full of short-cut keys to help you take action faster than a super hero. To access the list of short-cuts alongside your Company ID just press CTRL plus Alt plus ?

The dialog box that opens is a wealth of time saving tips you can thrill your clients with.

Editor’s note:  This article was written by Liz Scott and reprinted with permission by Insightful Accountant.