QuickBooks can put a wide range of accounting tools within reach of a small business owner. Knowing which tools to use – and how to use them confidently – can be another matter.
Matt Wieler, team lead at Steinbach’s Books in Balance Inc. and a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, compares opening accounting software to sitting in an airplane cockpit.
“There are lots of buttons and switches, and people are wondering, ‘What does this button do?’” he says.
During BDC Small Business Week, local business owners will have an opportunity to become better acquainted with those controls through a one-hour QuickBooks webinar featuring Joelle Sater of Intuit Canada’s professional services team.
Building confidence with QuickBooks Online
Wieler says the webinar is intended for a broad range of users, from experienced accountants accustomed to QuickBooks Desktop to business owners beginning to explore QuickBooks Online and its newer automation features.
As accounting moves increasingly toward cloud-based software, users have access to additional tools but may not always know how those tools fit into their workflow.
“There’s always what I call button anxiety,” he says.
The webinar will focus on QuickBooks Online fundamentals, along with automation and some of the ways artificial intelligence can assist with routine processes. Wieler says understanding the underlying functions remains important before handing tasks over to automation.
“This is supposed to simplify your world, not complicate your world,” he says.
The session is being kept accessible rather than concentrating on advanced features. Wieler also hopes there will be time for questions, giving participants an opportunity to ask Sater about issues ranging from basic functions to more complicated QuickBooks questions.
Resources for businesses of different sizes
Small businesses can have very different accounting needs. A sole proprietor may be focused on sending invoices and getting paid quickly, while a company with 50 employees may rely heavily on payroll services.
Wieler says QuickBooks can be configured around those different needs, and education can help owners make better use of the tools available to them.
He has also seen more business owners taking an active interest in their own bookkeeping over the past two years.
“They want to see what’s going on,” he says. “They want to influence what’s going on.”
That does not mean they need to handle everything by themselves.
Wieler sees bookkeepers and QuickBooks ProAdvisors as a link between business owners and their CPAs, helping keep records and processes organized throughout the year.
“It’s really rewarding when you get to year-end and you know that all that hard work you did for a year actually paid off,” he says.
The Small Business Week webinar gives Steinbach-area entrepreneurs access to expertise Wieler has encountered through his relationship with Intuit Canada.
“It was kind of fun to put Steinbach on the map just a little bit and say, ‘Yeah, we’re doing QuickBooks out here,’” he says.
Business owners interested in speaking to a ProAdvisor can call Wieler and Books in Balance at (204) 326-6947 to book a quick call, or visit www.bookbalance.ca for more information.
The free, one-hour webinar,AI-Powered QuickBooks – Work Smarter This Small Business Week, takes place Tuesday, Oct. 20, from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. The live session will explore how artificial intelligence can simplify bookkeeping in QuickBooks Online, including bank feed efficiencies, sales tax automation and Intuit Intelligence. Participants
will learn practical ways to reduce manual tasks, save time and make better use of AI-powered features. The webinar is open to small business owners, bookkeepers and accountants, including those new to QuickBooks Online.
