Changes to QuickBooks Online Accountant

Charlie Russel for The Sleeter Group writes: If you’re an accounting professional and you’re working with QuickBooks Online, you should be using QuickBooks Online Accountant. If you are, there are some recent changes in the product worth looking at. I’m actually going to split this into two articles. In this one, I’m talking about how to transition from the old, or “classic,” version to the new, or “Harmony,” version of QuickBooks Online Accountant as well as describing some new features. In an upcoming article, I’m going to talk about some options on discounts that are available if you add new clients.

What Is QuickBooks Online Accountant?

I often get caught up in terminology and the names of things. Intuit has internal code names for products that sometimes get exposed to the outside world, and they also have terms for concepts. For example, do you know what “Ruby” and “Emerald” are in the Intuit world? I try to avoid those kinds of code names as they don’t have a lot of meaning. I did get caught up with one code name in recent years – “Harmony” – which refers to multiple products, in a way, and how the user interface is changing to a more unified, “harmonized” style. Last year we started hearing “Homebase” and “Virtual Office,” which aren’t really products specifically, they’re probably concepts or descriptors. Sometimes the folks at Intuit will ask that I try to avoid some terms.

So, what is QuickBooks Online Accountant? Certainly that’s a product, but I get confused sometimes. I log in to my QuickBooks Online Accountant account and see a client list (and maybe more). Is that QuickBooks Online Accountant as a product? If I’m still using the old (classic) version QuickBooks Online (which I originally talked about in 2011), and I access a client’s file, I see the QuickBooks Online features, but with the title “QuickBooks Online Accountant” at the top. I get confused, what exactly are we talking about when we say “QuickBooks Online Accountant?”

This has been evolving. QuickBooks Online Accountant is a collection of features and services for accountants, not just a product. At this time, it includes:

• The client list, which is what you see when you log in with QuickBooks Online Accountant. There are other features here as well, as I’ll describe below.
• The Accountant Tools you see when you log in to a client’s version of QuickBooks Online. (See my article on the updates to QuickBooks Online Accountant for details on where you’ll find these tools.)
• The Wholesale feature, which is a way for you (the accountant) to get a discount on new QuickBooks Online accounts for clients (I’ll describe this in detail in an upcoming article).
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- SNIP- THE ARTICLE CONTINUES @ SLEETER GROUP.  Click Here to Continue the Article.  The author is the founder of CCRSoftware.

Investors Turn to Online Services to Complete Income Tax Returns / Some investors still do their own income taxes with paper and pen.

Kent McDill for MillionaireCorner.com writes: It is said that paying taxes is inevitable, but the process is made easier by doing them online, possibly even while wearing pajamas at home.

And that’s what many investors do (although not necessarily in their pajamas).

A Spectrem’s Millionaire Corner survey of investors shows that 41 percent of investors use an online tax preparation service similar to TurboTax to compute and file their annual tax return. That is more than the 37 percent who use a personal accountant to complete the process.

The popularity of online tax preparation services is growing. In 2012, 21 percent of Americans used online tax software to prepare their returns. Last year, more than 90 percent of all taxpayers filed their returns electronically, either through an online service or through the services of an accountant.

The online tax preparation services are most popular with those at the lower end of the net worth spectrum. Among investors with a net worth between $100,000 and $500,000, 52 percent used an online service and only 30 percent used an accountant.

At the other end, among investors with a net worth over $5 million, 22 percent used the online service and 67 percent used an accountant. Those investors are likely to have more complicated returns.

Age is also a factor. Among investors under the age of 40, 51 percent use the online service and 22 percent use a personal accountant. Among investors over the age of 60, 38 percent use the online service and 38 percent use a personal accountant.

Investors in the survey were given two other choices – doing the taxes themselves without the benefit of a computer, or using a tax preparation company such as H&R Block. Overall, nine percent said they did their taxes with paper and pen themselves, and 8 percent took their receipts and W2s into a tax preparation service.

Those tax preparation services were most popular with the under 40 crowd, with 16 percent saying they use them. Also, investors with a net worth under $500,000 were more likely to use the tax preparation service (14 percent) or do taxes themselves (16 percent).

You can visit MillionaireCorner by Clicking Here

PC World: XERO Top Choice: Our favorite online-based business accounting apps (Xero, Quickbooks, Freshbooks, Kashoo)

Jeffery Battersby for PC World writes: With online accounting applications, there is one truism you can hold on to: No one app is perfect, no not one. All offer essentially the same tools for keeping your business finances on track, but none offer what can be considered a complete set of tools. And none can perfectly satisfy every business’ needs. The reality is that none of these apps are exceptional, but all are serviceable, which, perhaps, is all you need in any business accounting application.

All of these apps do a fine job of the basics: Invoicing, reporting, and automatic import of banking data and reconciliation of accounts. All also offer apps for invoicing and accessing your data with mobile devices and each also offer varying degrees of customization for your invoices and statements.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a QuickBooks Online user for a little over a year. Of the four online apps I’ve looked at here, none offer anything that make switching from QuickBooks Online compelling. The differences between the apps are not significant. My personal favorite is FreshBooks, based solely on a single feature. I’d likely choose FreshBooks today if I was starting from scratch, but the best app by a hair is Xero.

Top choice: Xero

Xero is an excellent online accounting app that allows for an unlimited number of users and access to your data online or using your mobile devices.

Xero (3.5 out of 5 rating; $9 to 180 per month depending on plan selected) and QuickBooks Online, are nearly interchangeable accounting apps with Xero leading the pack by a smidgen by virtue of the fact that, unlike any of the other apps I looked at, it allows you to add as many users as you want without any additional fees. All of the other online accounting apps start charging more money once you begin adding users to the system.

You can use Xero to connect to your bank and credit card accounts, automatically downloading transactions nearly as they occur. When reconciling accounts, Xero looks at downloaded transactions and compares those with any invoices or items you’ve entered in the app’s ledgers. Reconciliation takes place in a window with two columns, one containing the downloaded transaction and the other with the matching transaction you’ve entered into Xero. If the transactions don’t match you can easily make changes or select another transaction from a list that Xero provides. Once you’re satisfied, clicking an OK button links the two transactions in your ledger.

Xero’s Dashboard provides a single glance overview of your business and your current financial status. At the left of the Dashboard is a list of your bank and credit accounts and ther current balances. To the right is a list of your expected income for current invoices and information on any bills you’ve added.

If you’re a QuickBooks user, Xero offers a free conversion service that is pretty fantastic, although it will require a little bit of legwork on your part. I provided my QuickBooks Online data to Xero and in just a few hours they’d converted, verified, and imported it into Xero. All without a hiccup.

Xero offers forms customization for your invoices, statements, and other documents you might send to your clients. This tends to be the feature I like least in nearly every accounting application I use, and I dislike it as much in Xero as I do in any other app. Don’t get me wrong, your invoices won’t look bad, you just don’t have great customization options.

If you’re trying to keep a detailed finger on your business’ financial status, Xero provides you with 26 reports, including everything from balance and aging reports to budget variance reports, all which can be customized to better suit your needs.

Xero’s iOS app is pretty awesome, although it lacks what I feel is a killer feature: Options for tracking time billing information in the field. Sure, I love that I can create bills as soon as a job is done, check to see how much a client’s last invoice was without having to open a browser, and even snap pictures of receipts for purchases I’ve made in the field. But for many—myself included—time billing is the killer app. I shouldn’t have to use a third-party app to collect data that’s a part of my day-to-day business.  -SNIP- THE ARTICLE CONTINUES @ PC WORLD.

Visit PC World to read the rest of the article / click here.

Itemizing vs. Standard Deduction: Six Tips to Help You Choose

When you file your tax return, you usually have a choice whether to itemize deductions or take the standard deduction. Before you choose, it’s a good idea to figure your deductions using both methods. Then choose the one that allows you to pay the lower amount of tax. The one that results in the higher deduction amount often gives you the most benefit.

The IRS offers these six tips to help you choose.

1. Figure your itemized deductions.  Add up deductible expenses you paid during the year. These may include expenses such as:

• Home mortgage interest
• State and local income taxes or sales taxes (but not both)
• Real estate and personal property taxes
• Gifts to charities
• Casualty or theft losses
• Unreimbursed medical expenses
• Unreimbursed employee business expenses

Special rules and limits apply. Visit IRS.gov and refer to Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax for more details.

2. Know your standard deduction.  If you don’t itemize, your basic standard deduction for 2013 depends on your filing status:

• Single $6,100
• Married Filing Jointly $12,200
• Head of Household $8,950
• Married Filing Separately $6,100
• Qualifying Widow(er) $12,200

Your standard deduction is higher if you’re 65 or older or blind. If someone can claim you as a dependent, that can limit the amount of your deduction.

3. Check the exceptions.  Some people don’t qualify for the standard deduction and therefore should itemize. This includes married couples who file separate returns and one spouse itemizes.

4. Use the IRS’s ITA tool.  Visit IRS.gov and use the Interactive Tax Assistant tool to help determine your standard deduction.

5. File the right forms.  To itemize your deductions, use Form 1040 andSchedule A, Itemized Deductions. You can take the standard deduction on Forms 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ.

6. File Electronically.  You may be eligible for free, brand-name software to prepare and e-file your tax return. IRS Free File will do the work for you. Free File software will help you determine if you should itemize and file the right tax forms. It will do the math and e-file your return – all for free. Otherwise, you may file electronically with commercial software, or through a paid preparer.

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Prelude to a Price War – Intuit’s $5/Month Campaign / Xero CEO Rod Drury & Intuit VP & MD Brad Paterson Comment

[The Xero, Quickbooks, MYOB, Reckon "Accounting War" of Australia is always entertaining and the best writer covering the battle Down Under is Sholto MacPherson.    Today he managed to get the big shots @ Xero & Intuit to add their 2 cents / Rod Drury CEO of Xero & Brad Paterson, Vice President and Managing Director of Intuit Asia Pacific comment; SEE BELOW]  Sholto MacPherson for BoxFreeIT writes: On Friday Intuit raised eyebrows at the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers’ Sydney conference by promoting its top-of-the-range cloud accounting program for just $5 per month.

QuickBooks Plus usually costs $35 per month which already undercuts its main rival Xero by at least $15. But the new marketing campaign signals a new stage of the cloud accounting war – Intuit is trying to hobble Xero before it can establish itself in Intuit’s home market, the US.

It’s important to note that there are qualifications with Intuit’s marketing campaign. The offer only lasts until the end of June (although businesses subscribing that date would enjoy the $5 per month price for the life of their subscription). The special price is available only to bookkeepers and accountants who signed up to Intuit’s ProAdvisor partner program, and they can add their own margin up to the retail price ($35 per month).

Although a licence for 10 staff was included in the promotion, the extra cost of payroll in QuickBooks Online Plus (supplied by third-party app KeyPay) will be paid for by Intuit only until 31 July 2015.

But despite these, the price drop will force accountants and bookkeepers to justify to themselves and their clients why QuickBooks Online would not be a better-value alternative. Particularly with the inclusion of inventory, quotes and unlimited users.

Industry observers have been unsure about some tactics employed by cloud accounting companies in hoovering up new customers. Offering commissions or discounts is standard practice to sweeten the deal for the recommending accountant or bookkeeper.

Intuit and Xero have offered free practice management software to accountants who sold their programs.

And then there are rumours of one accounting software company giving away licences to a large franchise to beat out rivals in a major deal. Or bulk pricing for big accounting firms moving clients en masse to one program. Growth is everything, more important than profit.

With customer acquisition or retention the primary goal of the largest players, it has become increasingly difficult to understand what is a fair price for cloud accounting software. Do innovations such as online invoices and online payments, automated bank feeds, employee portals and mobile interfaces justify a $50 per month pricetag?

Or should the core aspects of accounting cost $5 a month, as CCH’s Mike Chisholm has already claimed?

Intuit’s move was no doubt foreseen by its rivals as it is the only player who can drop its prices to unsustainable levels, at least in the Australian market.

Xero’s $180 million kitty is largely reserved to fund its assault on the US and it is already losing $13 million a quarter. MYOB must maintain revenue to meet debt covenants on a $540 million loan. Reckon still has plenty of software development to pay for before Reckon One reaches feature parity with other programs.

Thanks to US$4 billion in annual revenue, Intuit could maintain this price for a long time, long enough for Xero and others to be forced to respond if not match. There will be attempts to justify higher prices with greater innovation or supporting Australasian providers.

But the tech gap is narrowing and in the SMB market, price is often the first consideration.

1. Rich says:

   March 10, 2014 at 11:23 am

   Interesting Sholto but I think you should name the company who is involved in this !!

   You wrote – “And then there are rumours of one accounting software company giving away licences to a large franchise to beat out rivals in a major deal. Or bulk pricing for big accounting firms moving clients en masse to one program. Growth is everything, more important than profit.”

   Why not get a quote from the company concerned and print it so we all know what you are talking about.

   The biggest issue with this tactic is that it actually destroys their own market and I am sure their supporter would be pretty shocked – whoever it may be….

   Reply
2. twitter_roddrury says:

   March 10, 2014 at 1:49 pm

   I have to say these articles are getting tedious.

   It’s great there is competition in the online accounting space. It’s spurring fantastic innovation which is great for the industry.

   We don’t see pressure on pricing as all companies provide excellent value. Accounting software is very reasonably priced considering the time saved, the massive investment being made and lack of infrastructure required for small businesses. We have seen low price points in the market and none of them have gained significant traction as accounting software is more than features. It’s support, the ecosystem, the community and trust.

   We know we have a lot more to do, as do all the vendors. What might be more useful this time is a state of the nation. If others want to play the game then let’s hear where are all the vendors at? That would give the industry the ability to really judge how fast the change to the cloud is and where to invest. We’re at 100,000 online paying businesses using our software in AU. It’s all puffery until we see the numbers.

   Much more exciting are topics like …

   1) how the small business and accountant side software is connecting seamlessly. That is disruptive.
   2) how banks are now investing in connectivity to small business
   3) how mobility is making small business better

   All of the vendors area making huge investments. This is a super exciting time to be in our industry. Together we are changing the game.

   My 2 cents,

   Rod – Xero

   Reply
3. Brad Paterson says:

   March 10, 2014 at 8:14 pm

   These are exciting times and it’s our objective at Intuit to make sure that all Bookkeepers and Accountants partners realise just how exciting they are and the important role that they play.

   Currently, over 561,000 QuickBooks Online customers worldwide are being delighted by the unimaginable benefits being provided by our ecosystem of financial management solution. Just look at the seamless integration with KeyPay as an example.

   It’s our objective to expose these benefits to the rest of the world – those Accountants, Bookkeepers, Developers and Small Businesses that are either using substandard solutions or none at all.

   We are simply removing price as a barrier to access and now look forward to delighting even more new customers.

   Customers and innovation are at the heart of all we do.

   Brad Paterson, Intuit QuickBooks

   Reply

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The author Sholto Macpherson is a business technology journalist specialising in cloud software. He lives and works in Sydney, Australia. You can follow the author on Twitter Here.

You can read BoxFreeIT here.