2013 Review of QuickBooks Online Accountant Edition

Intuit, Inc. – QuickBooks Online Accountant
800-267-8379
http://accountants.intuit.com/accounting/quickbooks/online-accountant/

Best Fit: Professionals seeking a web-based professional write-up solution that integrates directly with their clients’ versions of QuickBooks Online.

Strengths

• Multiple client management in single online program
• Accountant Center with tools for books review and clean up
• Simple connection to clients’ QuickBooks Online
• Reporting options include PDF, Excel output
• Client invoicing and e-payment functions
• Customizable work screens and widgets

Potential Limitations

• Although online system allows access to all client data, no portals for sharing other files
• Does not integrate with desktop version of QuickBooks

From the February 2013 review of Client Write-Up systems.

With more and more businesses moving to cloud/web-based bookkeeping solutions, and the most popular being QuickBooks Online, it was a natural move for Intuit to develop a professional version of the system. QuickBooks Online Accountant was commercially released in October 2012, and is designed for professionals serving multiple business clients, with multiple tools for write-up functions such as account reconciliation, ledger and journals management, and payroll compliance via integration with Intuit’s payroll services.

The system can directly integrate with client versions of QuickBooks Online.

Basic System Functions: 4.75 Stars
Initial setup functions are simple and guided, after which clients initiate interaction with the firm by inviting the accountant to join their online system as an accountant user. Once the invitation is accepted, clients’ QuickBooks Online companies appear in the professional version’s client selection screen, and all of their data, including charts of accounts, journals and ledgers, are immediately available to the accounting firm user.

Accountants and clients access and work on the same set of data. Users can then manage all clients without having to have multiple passwords, just their own for their own system, and users can easily switch between clients. Also, since the professional and client-side programs are web-based, they are always up-to-date and the same “version,” so no longer will there be issues with files being saved wrong or with QuickBooks file transfer and management.

The client selection screen is the initial home screen, and users can filter or edit contact information or add new clients (with invitation accepted). Pull-down menus for settings and help are available at the top of the screen.

After selecting a client to work in, the system opens the Accountant Center, which provides the most common accounting and management functions, such as accounting periods, reports and tools that allow users to find and fix errors in batch, and offers customization of the location of modules with simple drag-and-drop action. Online banking and reconciliation functions are simplified and directly connect with a client’s financial institutions.

The system shows how many transactions have to be processed, and allows manual updating of the account information. Among the features offered in QuickBooks Online Accountant is the ability to undo bank reconciliations, reclassify transactions, write-off invoices, integration with GoPayment and expanded client listings.

QuickBooks Online Accountant is a one user application and QuickBooks Online Plus offers five users and has settings for limiting users from accessing certain clients, features, data or reports.

Core Write-Up Features: 4.5 Stars
The program includes full GL, AR, AP, journal and ledger management tools, and invoicing functions, and has an activity log. As noted previously, the online banking tools, with direct integration with client financial institutions, provides streamlined reconciliation, and users can create a reconciliation discrepancies report that is automatically generated each month or period, alerting users to transactions that are mismatched. The program’s reconciliation history feature also allows undoing previous reconciliations.