Lesson: Client Onboarding
A completed New Client Checklist will provide you
Onboarding workflow
The story so far
A key part of being a ProAdvisor is to onboard
clients into QuickBooks Online in a way that’s right
for them and their business.
Because QuickBooks Online is so flexible, it’s a
good idea to have a defined workflow for
onboarding clients, from the initial meeting all the
way through to finalizing their sales form setup. 
Onboarding tasks will be different based on the type
of business and specific workflows of the client, but
there are some common tasks that you’ll need to
carry out for most clients.
How can QuickBooks Online help?
The great news is that QuickBooks Online
Accountant has built-in tools to help you organize
and track client onboarding tasks, adjust the steps to
the needs of your client and even allocate different
tasks in the workflow to other team members.
In this lesson, we’ll look at the key stages of the
onboarding process and how you and your firm can
benefit from a well-planned onboarding workflow.
We’ll also look at how to add value all the way
through the process with some hints and tips.
Onboarding tasks
Head to the Work section in QuickBooks Online
Accountant and you’ll find a QuickStart template
with a default list of tasks to help you onboard new
clients.
Watch the video to find out more about harnessing
the power of QuickBooks Online Accountant.
Adding value
Onboarding is a time when you can show just what
a valuable asset you are as a ProAdvisor.  There are lots of benefits of having your client’s
The steps in the QuickBooks Online Accountant
QuickStart template for onboarding aren’t just a set
of tasks to check off, but a list of opportunities to
add value and develop a great working relationship.
Select the headings to see some of the
opportunities to go that extra mile.
Meeting the client and gathering information
As we’ve seen, by using the New Client Checklist
and asking the right questions, you can more
accurately scope the client engagement, set
expectations, and build a stronger collaborative
relationship for the upcoming onboarding process.  products in the QuickBooks ecosystem, visit this
Once the contract is signed, providing a detailed
onboarding plan and introduction to the onboarding
team, and agreeing on payment arrangements are
key ingredients for success.
Getting this right gives the client the reassurance
they may need that they’re getting expert advice.
Recommending the best QuickBooks Online solution
with the information you need to recommend the
best QuickBooks Online solution for your client.
The completed Client Profile section will provide
the information you need to complete the client’s
account settings for them. You can even request a
copy of your client’s logo to surprise your client
with a customized homepage and sales template!
Customization
Whether you’re advising on a custom payroll setup,
adding logos, or improving sales form templates,
you can demonstrate your value to clients by
helping them to build the best workflows for their
unique business.
When setting up lists for businesses new to
QuickBooks Online, review their current
customer/vendor lists to determine if you can utilize
the current data to import into QuickBooks Online
or if you can tailor it to their needs with some
adjustments to their lists and categorization options.
Training and mentoring
It’s a great idea to help clients help you as their
accountant/bookkeeper by training them in best
practice methods.
Training and mentoring also allows you as a
ProAdvisor to highlight your value as a subject-
matter expert, not just in accounting best practice
and requirements, but also in how they should work
in QuickBooks Online to get the best results.
It’s a great time to remind them to download the
QuickBooks Online app so that they can keep track
of their finances on the go.
The sooner they’re confident in recording their day-
to-day transactions, the sooner they’ll see the value
and time-saving benefits of QuickBooks Online and
their trusted advisor—you!
QuickBooks Online status
updates
financial information in the cloud. But what happens if
there’s a problem? As part of your client onboarding
process, it’s a good idea to make them aware of how to
deal with outages.
Select the question to find out more. 
How do I know if there’s an outage?
In the U.S., we continuously monitor QuickBooks
Online for outages and slowdowns. We provide
status updates on any service outages or
interruptions here.
If you or your client have any problems accessing
site to see if there’s a service interruption.
This site also provides information for scheduled
maintenance to products and services, and provide
information on recent prior outages.
How can I get notified when it’s fixed?
If any of the products experience an outage or
interruption, the banner will let you know what’s
happening.  1. To begin, select Accounting to see a list of
By selecting the Subscribe button, you’ll be
automatically notified when the service issue is
addressed and resolved.
Chart of Accounts and
Products and Services
The story so far
The Chart of Accounts is at the heart of your end-
to-end accounting lifecycle, the process in which
you manage accounting tasks, prepare financial
reports, and prep your client’s books for taxes.
How can QuickBooks Online help?
Once the Chart of Accounts and Products and
Services have been set up for your client,
QuickBooks Online will do the heavy lifting of
assigning business transactions to the correct
accounts. This prepares your client’s books and
allows you to create financial statements with ease.
What is the Chart of
Accounts?
The purpose of bookkeeping is to create a record of
financial transactions that are organized in a way
that allows you and your client to analyze the
business financial data, run financial reports, and
prepare for taxes.
These transactions are organized in the Chart of
Accounts, which forms the backbone of the
accounting system.
ProAdvisor tip
QuickBooks Online automatically creates your
Chart of Accounts based on the industry and type of
company you choose when creating your company
file. There are also default accounts that
QuickBooks Online creates for all companies.
How to add a Chart of
Accounts
Now that you understand the importance of the
Chart of Accounts, let’s see what it looks like in
QuickBooks Online.
Craig needs to create a subaccount to capture the
professional fees his business incurs. Once set up,
this will help him track money he pays to
professionals to help you run his business.
When you create a new account, you can assign it a
name which will appear in the Type column. The
type is broken down into Assets, Liabilities, Equity,
Income, and Expenses.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
Craig’s existing accounts
2. Select the green New button
3. Using the drop-down list, set Account
Type as Expenses. When you select the
account type, you are given a description of
what this type is used for. It’s important to
choose the right one so that it flows through
to the correct financial statement
4. Set the Detail Type as Bank Charges
5. Name the account Merchant processing
fees. Custom names will help you and your
client to quickly identify the account
6. When you are happy with your account
details, select Save and Close
You can now see your new account in the Chart of
Accounts.
It’s worth noting that we could also add
subaccounts of Merchant processing fees, for
example PayPal processing fees, the expense will be
associated with that account. 
Products and Services
Once Craig’s Chart of Accounts is correctly set up,
you can also set up the list of Products and Services
he provides.
This list contains the products and services that
appear on his purchase and sales transactions and
they map to an account in the Chart of Accounts.
Each time a product or service is used in a
transaction, QuickBooks Online makes the
appropriate entry behind the scenes.
Browse yung pic sa module
How to add a service
One of the services Craig’s Landscaping offers is
annual irrigation. This needs to be added to his list
of services so that he can invoice his customers for
this with ease in the future and see it appear in his
accounting.
He does purchase additional products that he uses as
part of his business, such as fertilizer. You can add
these as products.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
1. Select Sales from the Left Navigation Bar
and enter the Products and Services tab
2. Select the green New button
3. Choose Service from the list
4. Name the service Annual Irrigation
System Maintenance
5. Select Landscaping from
the Category drop-down
6. Enter Annual Irrigation System
Maintenance under Description
7. The Sales price/rate is $500
 8. Select Services from the Income
account drop-down
9. Select Save and close
10. To add the product Craig purchases for
company use, select New
11. From the list, choose Non-inventory
12. In the Name box, type Fertilizer
Because this is something Craig buys, rather
than sells, we need to:
- Uncheck I sell this product/service to my
customers
- Check I purchase this product/service
from a vendor
- Add a description of Fertilizer
- The price will vary, so we’ll leave that
empty
13. From the Expense account drop-down,
select Job Materials
14. Select Save and close
Chart of Accounts
The story so far
It’s time to do some more onboarding work with
your new client Chris Grier, master electrician.  
His New Client Checklist has led you to think that
some changes may need to be made to his default
Chart of Accounts (COA) setup.
The Chart of Accounts is at the heart of any
QuickBooks Online file. Setting up the COA
correctly during onboarding will save the client a lot
of time later.  ProAdvisor tip
It’s very easy for a Chart of Accounts to get out of
control as clients add unnecessary accounts or get
confused by a default account that they don’t need.
Before this happens, it’s a great idea to make sure
their COA is efficient and effective for their needs
with some appropriate edits.
How can QuickBooks Online help?
When you first sign up for a new QuickBooks
Online account, your answers to the startup
interview questions will help QuickBooks choose a
default Chart of Accounts. 
You can add value to your client by customizing
their COA to match their specific business needs.
Some clients will benefit from a simplified account
list, while others will need a more complex list
(perhaps with subaccounts). The important thing is
to make sure each client’s Chart of Accounts
reflects the proper reporting for their business.
There are several ways to edit a COA in
QuickBooks Online. You can change account
names, add numbering, add and merge accounts,
and make accounts inactive.
Let’s look at why you might need to customize
accounts before taking on the job of getting Chris’s
COA just right.
Why clients might need a
customized Chart of
Accounts
Setting up a client COA in QuickBooks Online
correctly means paying attention to the business’s
needs and business profiles.
For instance, the accounts for real-estate
development, construction, retail, and fix-and-flip
property developers have different accounting and
reporting needs. They also have unique accounting
workflows: they record transactions differently or
use specific transactions altogether.
This needs to be reflected in the way their COA is
set up. The aim is to make sure that transactions and
other data are posted to the appropriate accounts so
that:
 Essential data is accurate and complete,
providing insight into balances such as taxes
and cash flow
 Useful and informative reports can be run
for important decision-making (such as
which jobs are most profitable and which
employees are most productive) 
As well as adding accounts, edits to a default COA
can include:
Editing the names of default accounts 
 Adding account numbers
 Merging duplicate accounts
 Making unused or redundant accounts
inactive (you can’t actually delete an
account)
You can also view examples and import sample
Charts of Accounts using an industry-specific Excel
template. Find out how to do it here.
Examples
Let’s look at two different business types and their
COAs, and how the setup reflects the accounting
profile of each business.
Select the tabs in turn.
Chris Grier, sole proprietor
Chris Grier is a sole proprietor, with no employees
and no corporate tax. His main focus when it comes
to data and reporting is customer profitability.
Like most businesses, Chris needs many of the
default income and expense accounts automatically
created by QuickBooks Online when a new
company is added. 
These accounts tell Chris how much he is spending
on different types of products and services in his
business. But Chris may not need or want accounts
that are not applicable to his business, or he may
need to add new accounts that are specific to his
industry or unique to his business.
Because Chris will be dealing with job-related
expenses in his business, he will need accounts set
up to separate these direct expenses from the
expenses he incurs to simply run his business. 
For example, notice he has two materials accounts
on his COAs: Job Materials Purchases (which is
used to categorize reimbursable expenses used on
billable jobs), and Materials and Supplies -
Overhead (which is used to categorize items
purchased that are used in the regular course of
business and not for any specific client). 
The way these accounts are set up on the Chart of
Accounts affects the format of his Profit and Loss
report, and ensures transactions are recorded
appropriately for his type of business.
The reports he’s most interested in are:
 Profit and Loss by Customer
 Uninvoiced Charges
 Balance Sheet
 Accounts Receivable Aging  individual steps are below for you to follow.
Ravela NestEgg Properties
For a real-estate investments company like Ravela
NestEgg Properties, the COA will also reflect the
type of workflows the business will use, and their
reporting needs and wants for this specific business
profile.
Key requirements of a customized Chart of
Accounts are that it accurately represents the nature
of the business profile and lists the necessary
accounts involved in the company’s day-to-day
operations and workflows.  numbers only affects the user who is signed
For company owner Mylene Ravela, the layout
reflects the mortgages she has, as well as an account
to record rental income for the different properties.
She could potentially split the rental incomes into
separate accounts, one for each property she rents
out. Doing this would give visibility on the P&L
into how much has been received for each property,
but for now, she’s keeping income tracking simple.
Although she uses one account for combined
property income, Mylene has expense subaccounts
for each property, so she can run reports that will
reveal rental profit and loss when she breaks rental
income down by each property.
She even has an account to record the escrow costs
related to the costs of purchase so she can keep
track when she sells a property!
Customizing Chris
Grier’s COA
Based on the New Client Checklist we completed
for Chris, we’re going to make the following edits
to the service industry business Chart of Accounts
that QuickBooks Online generated by default.
We’ll do this by applying accounting best practices
and adding appropriate numbering to his COA.
Most accounting firms use standardized COAs to
help with data entry and mapping to other
applications, and for consistency across all clients.
Often, the same numbering and account hierarchies
are used with all clients.
However, some numbering or layouts are defined
by the industry or business associations, or even by
government accounting standards.
 
After fixing his numbering, we’ll change an account
name. Then we can look at some other edits that
will help to keep Chris’s COA manageable and
efficient.
Adding account numbers
Garcia Consulting follows accounting best practices
in using standardized systems of account numbering
for their clients.
Let’s enable numbering for Chris’s file and then add
some numbers.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
To enable account numbers
1. Select the Gear icon on the Toolbar
2. Under Your Company, select Account and
Settings
3. Select Advanced from the menu
4. In the Chart of Accounts section, select
the edit (Pencil) icon
5. Check Enable account numbers and Show
account numbers 
Note: Enabling account numbers affects all
users in your company. Showing account
in.
6. Select Save and then Done
Now we can check and assign the account numbers
in the Chart of Accounts. 
QuickBooks Online may automatically assign
account numbers when you first turn on the account
number option. These default numbers can be
changed as needed to align with each firm’s
numbering convention.
1. Select the Gear icon on the Toolbar
2. Under Your Company, select Chart of
Accounts
3. Select the Pencil icon above
the Action column
4. In the Number column, enter the account
numbers, these can be up to seven digits
long.
We can then go on and add appropriate numbering
for all of Chris’s accounts.
1. Select Save and we're done
Editing account names
Sometimes it’s a good idea to make things a little
easier for clients by making account names more
appropriate and easily identifiable. This helps them
avoid errors and posting to the wrong accounts
when recording transactions.
In Chris’s COA, we’re going to make his petty cash
account more identifiable by changing its name
from the default Cash on Hand account to Petty
Cash.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
To edit the name of the account:
 1. From the Left Navigation Bar,
select Accounting and choose Chart of
Accounts
2. Then find the Cash on Hand account in the
list
3. From the Action column drop-down menu,
select Edit
4. In the Account dialog, update the Name to
Petty Cash
5. Select Save and Close
Merging accounts and
making accounts inactive
Now we’re going to make some further edits to
Chris’s COA, just to tidy things up. We’ll be
merging two existing accounts and making an
account inactive. These tasks aren’t always
necessary when onboarding, but unnecessary
accounts can confuse clients so it’s a good idea to
keep things neat and tidy.
Merging and deactivating accounts may be more
appropriate or more necessary when onboarding
clients who have already started using QuickBooks
Online. QuickBooks Online users that haven’t had
ProAdvisor guidance, tend to add lots of additional
accounts when recording transactions.
Make the COA setup part of your best practices and
it could save you a lot of work tidying up their
COAs at year end.
Merging accounts
Merging accounts is a good idea if two accounts are
being used for the same thing. This is a more
common practice when a client has started using a
file and has added accounts that they did not need
for their recording and reporting purposes.
However, a default COA setup can still be
optimized by merging accounts.
In Chris’s case, the accounts haven’t been used yet,
so they have no transactions linked to them. If they
did, the transactions for the merged accounts would
also be merged to appear under one entry in any
reports we run.
Note that the merging process is permanent and
cannot be reversed.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
1. Select Accounting in the Left Navigation
Bar, then choose Chart of Accounts
2. Locate the account to be merged in the list.
In this case, we’re looking for his Bank Fees
account which we’re going to merge with
his Bank Service Charges account (because
he doesn’t need both)
3. In the Bank Service Charges row, select
the downward arrow under the action
column and select Edit
4. Highlight, right-click and copy the name of
the account Bank Service Charges  them for any other purpose than those defined by
5. Select X to close the Account editing
window
6. In the Bank Fees row, select the downward
arrow under the action column and
select Edit
7. In the editable Account name text box,
change the name of the Bank Fees account
to Bank Service Charges 
8. Select Save and Close
9. When prompted whether you want to merge
the accounts, select Yes
Making accounts inactive
When setting up a client file, it’s a good idea to
make any default accounts inactive if they aren’t
going to be used. 
 
This keeps the COA tidy and efficient and prevents
the client from posting transactions to the wrong or
a redundant account in error.
One of Chris’s accounts isn’t appropriate for his
needs. Let’s make it inactive, so it no longer appears
in his Chart of Accounts and in other places where
accounts can be selected (such as account lists on
invoice screens). 
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
1. Select Accounting in the Left Navigation
Bar, then choose Chart of Accounts
2. Find Corporate Taxes in the Chart of
Accounts list
3. Select the drop-down in the Action column,
then choose Make Inactive
4. Select Yes to confirm
If we need to make an account active again,
the steps are: 
5. Above the Action column, select the
small Gear icon, then check Include
inactive
6. Find the account you want to make active
again
7. Select Make active
By default, inactive accounts are not visible from
the Chart of Accounts. If the account contains
transactions, they remain as part of the company
data. Inactive accounts are still visible on reports if
transactions were posted to the account when it was
active. The accounts are listed as deleted on reports.
Account editing
limitations
It’s worth noting that not all accounts can be edited
in the ways we’ve looked at so far.
Because QuickBooks Online requires some
accounts to carry out essential functions, you cannot
delete or merge the following accounts (or even use
QuickBooks Online):
  Undeposited Funds: You cannot delete this
account because it is required to properly
record payments before they are deposited.
 Opening Balance Equity: This account is
the default account for adjustments. You can
only edit the name of this account, if
necessary.
 Retained Earnings: This account is the
default account for reporting retained
earnings on the Balance Sheet report. You
can change the name of the Retained
Earnings account if, for example, you are a
nonprofit that prefers to use another name
for retained earnings, but in all other cases,
the name should not be changed.
 Inventory/Stock Assets and Cost of Goods
Sold/Cost of Sales: If you try to edit or
delete these accounts, any edits to
Products/Services will recreate them
 Reconcile/Reconciliation Discrepancies:
This account is used to report when
transactions in QuickBooks Online don’t
match the transactions reported on your
bank statement, and this account cannot be
deleted.
 Unapplied Cash Payment Income: This
account is used to report cash-basis income
from customer payments that were received

but not applied to a sales form.
(Sales tax agency name, such as
GST/VAT) Payable: This account is
created when you set up sales tax and
reports the sales tax for every transaction.
You cannot delete this account.
There are also accounts that can be edited by
changing the account name, but not deleted or
merged:
 Services: The Services income account is
the default income account in QuickBooks
Online. It operates the same as any other
income account, but neither it nor the
corresponding Product/Service item can be
deleted. However, you can edit the names of
both to reflect a main income type.
 Uncategorized Expense and
Uncategorized Income: These accounts are
created automatically when entering an
opening balance for a vendor or customer,
and recording any expense or income
transactions that can’t be matched to an
account. You cannot delete these accounts.
 Uncategorized Asset: This account records
any asset that cannot be matched to an
account and cannot be deleted.
 Owner’s Equity: This account represents
the cash or assets invested in the company,
and cannot be deleted.
Products and Services
The story so far
After setting up Chris’s Chart of Accounts, you’re
now ready to set up his lists of products and
services in QuickBooks Online.
We’ve looked at how to add products and services
individually earlier in the module, but now let’s turn
our attention to Chris and look at the Products and
Services list in more detail.
Chris provides electrical services, so he’ll mainly be
tracking the different types of services he provides.
But he wants  to track products too. In fact, he sells
a variety of items as part of installation work for his
customers, such as wiring and electrical items.
How can QuickBooks Online help?
The Products and Services list in QuickBooks
Online is another excellent feature to help get things
organized at a granular level.
Setting up the Products and Services list with details
of prices, descriptions (if it’s taxable), and
purchasing information may take a few minutes up
front, but will save loads of time when it comes to
entering transactions, and it’ll provide precise sales
data to help make business decisions.
If you can get your clients into good habits early on,
it’ll be easier for everyone in the long run—
including you!
The four types of
products and services
The Products and Services list contains the items
that will appear on your client’s purchase and sales
transactions. Each item must be mapped to an
account in the Chart of Accounts.
Each time an item is used in a transaction, the
appropriate entry is made behind the scenes.
In QuickBooks Online, you’ll have four item types
to choose from: 
Inventory (Plus and Advanced only)
These are products (such as a generator, electrical
panel, or air filter) that are bought and sold, and
where it’s necessary to track quantities on hand.
You must subscribe to QuickBooks Online Plus or
Advanced to use this feature.
Noninventory
These are products bought and sold where it isn’t
necessary to track quantities on hand, such as the
wire or nuts and bolts used in a generator
installation.
Service
This includes services that are provided to
customers, such as an emergency service call visit
or other labor.
Bundle
This is a collection of products and services that are
sold together, such as the installation of a generator
that includes both labor and materials.
Product and Services
settings
You learned during your client discovery that Chris
Grier will be selling both products and services to
his customers, and it is important for both the
customer and Chris to be able to see the breakdown
of different types of labor and materials on his
estimates and invoices. The Sales tab in the Account
and Settings menu, found in the Gear icon, will
allow Chris to enable the fields and columns on his
sales forms that make the most sense for his type of
business.  change your spreadsheet to correspond with
Select each hotspot below to find out more.
Show Product/Service Column on sales forms must be
selected to use Product/Service items on sales forms.
Deselecting this setting will limit users to adding only
descriptions to each line item of a sales form and will use
the default Product/Service item created by QuickBooks
behind the scenes. Chris needs to keep track of the different
products and services he provides to his customers, so he’ll
keep this box selected.
Show SKU column will add a column to track SKU
numbers to sales and purchase forms. Chris doesn’t track
SKU numbers in his business (they’re most commonly used
in retail and other product-based businesses).
Turn on price rules enables the Price Rule feature in
QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced subscription levels.
This feature allows you to create special pricing for
different types of customers and products/services.
Track quantity and price/rate adds the quantity and rate
columns to sales and purchase forms. Chris wants his
customers to know how many hours he is spending on the
work he does for them and how much material is used in
each job, so he’ll turn this feature on.
Track inventory quantity on hand turns on the inventory-
tracking feature in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced
subscription levels. Chris won’t be tracking inventory in his
business so he can leave this feature turned off.
ProAdvisor tip
You can change the sales settings at any time by
selecting the Gear icon at the top right of any sales
or purchase form in QuickBooks Online. This is a
quick way to make changes on the fly!
Importing products and
services
There is a quicker way to input products and
services into QuickBooks Online. If, like Chris, you
have a bunch of products and services in a
spreadsheet, you can do a quick import to bring
them all in at once.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
Open your client’s QuickBooks Online company.
When importing the Products and Services list, it’s
important that the list is created in the correct
format in Excel. To ensure this, use the template
supplied by QuickBooks Online.
1. Go to the Gear icon and select Import data
2. Then select Products and Services
3. Select Download a sample file to get a pre-
formatted Excel template to create Chris’s
Products and Services list
It’s a good idea to download the sample file
to see the naming conventions, how the
columns are ordered, and the fields that can
be imported. You can give this list to your
client and ask them to populate the columns
with their data. Check that your list matches
the sample file. Alternatively, you could
the sample spreadsheet, making sure the
columns are in the correct order.
If using the template, delete the sample data
first and then add the data we have from
Chris about his products and services
Note that we don’t have to have all of the
data in the spreadsheet because we can add
it later (including income accounts).
4. Go to the Sales Center and select
the Products and Services tab
5. Select the drop-down arrow next to New
6. Select Import
7. Select Browse and find the file we
populated with Chris’s data, then
select Open
8. Select Next
9. We can now check the data-mapping fields
and confirm you mapped correctly. Notice
the areas in the Income account column—
this means we need to map these items to the
correct income accounts in the COA we
created for Chris in the previous lesson
10. Select the drop-down for each listing and
select the correct income account
11. Once this is done, select Import
Note that we can remap any product or
service to another income account at any
time by selecting Edit and choosing another
account. We can also make any other edits,
such as changes to the product or service
name here
too.
Adding a preferred
vendor
Like most businesses, there are a number of things
Chris needs to buy from vendors to help him run his
business.
Just like with the products and services he sells, he
can add these items to his Products and Services
list. To speed things up when he creates purchase
orders and bills, he can assign these purchase items
to a preferred vendor.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
Chris has just agreed a preferred vendor rate with a
company that sells specialty wire he uses in
installations, so let’s set that up for him. 
 1. Select the Gear icon. Select Products and
Services in the List column
2. Select New
3. Select Non-inventory
4. In the Name box, type Specialty Wire - Bus
Cable, 22 AWG, 2 Conductor, Bare
Copper
Because this is something Chris buys, rather
than sells, we need to:
5. Uncheck I sell this product/service to my
customers
6. Check I purchase this product/service
from a vendor
7. Add a description of Bus Cable, 22 AWG,
2 Conductor, Bare Copper
8. The price will vary, so we’ll leave that
empty
9. From the Expense account drop-down,
select Job Materials Purchased
Wires Direct is Chris’s new preferred
vendor for this specialty wire, but he hasn’t
set this company up in his vendor list yet.
That’s no problem—we can add it here.
10. In the Preferred vendors box, type the
vendor’s name, Wires Direct and select Add
Wires Direct to add them as a vendor in the
Vendors list
11. Select Save. We can go back later and add
their details
12. Then select Save and Close
Well done! This will now show in the Products and
Services table and we can even check to see the
Expense account we mapped it to.
ProAdvisor tip
You might want to enter all your products and
services in one go or as you go along, but either
way, did you know that you can export a Products
and Services list from the Reports tab to an Excel
sheet? You might want to do this if you need to
update pricing.
Adding customers
The story so far
Although he’s been in business for less than a year,
Chris Grier is doing a great job building up his
customer base.  contract or a customer resale certificate. Browse
Now that you’ve set up his QuickBooks Online
account, you need to add his existing customers to
track sales and start invoicing them.
How can QuickBooks Online help?
QuickBooks Online gives you and your clients a
great set of tools for managing their customer
details. You can start with the basics, by adding
customers individually, or really speed up the
process by importing them as a list.
In fact, that’s just what we’re going to do in this
lesson.
Customer details
When you set up a new customer, you can decide
how much information you want to record about
them. 
Start by entering the basic customer information,
such as name and contact details. 
When you set up a new customer, it’s a good idea to
enter as much information as possible. This helps
you fully utilize the power of the QuickBooks
Online database when creating reports and working
with your list data.
It may save time upfront to skip fields, but you may
regret it later when you realize that your lists are not
complete.
In the Customer Information screen, six tabs allow
you to add additional details. These include tracking
a customer’s taxable status, recording preferred
payment methods, and attaching a contract. 
Use the Additional info tab for notes about your
customer. These can be about whatever you want—
your customer won’t see them.
Select the headings to find out more about the five
most important areas. 
Address
The Address tab allows you to have different billing
and shipping addresses. Browse yung pic sa
module
Notes
The Notes tab is where you can enter notes about
your customer, such as products, specifications, or
shipping account info. Browse yung pic sa module
Tax info
This is where you indicate whether the customer
should be charged sales tax, and select a default tax
code. You could also store the customer’s resale
number in the Exemption details field. Browse
yung pic sa module
Payment and billing
The Payment and billing tab is where you set
preferences for payment method, preferred invoice
delivery method, and terms. Browse yung pic sa
module
Attachments
The Attachments tab is where you can associate a
document with the customer. This could be a
yung pic sa module
Adding a new customer
Chris has sent details for a new nonprofit customer;
he has just signed up. 
The Wee Foundation
31 Bradford Ave Selden, NY 11784
Let’s add them to Chris’s client file.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
 1. Go to the Sales Center and select
the Customer tab
Hint: If this is the first customer you have
added to Chris’s company, you are taken
straight to an easy entry screen. If you've
been here before, just select New
customer in the top right.
2. Enter the customer details from the business
card
3. Select the Save button
4. You now want to edit this customer’s details
to add some additional information
5. Select the Edit button in the right
6. As a nonprofit, his customer is not taxable,
but you need to enter their reseller number.
Select the Tax info tab and enter their
reseller number (92-12345) in Exemption
details
7. Select Payment and Billing and set the
preferred payment method to Credit Card.
8. Select Save
Importing a customer list
OK, so you’ve looked at how to add an individual
customer and all the information you can hold about
them. Let’s face it, doing this one by one for all
Chris’s customers is going to take a long time!  You can start simple, by adding vendors
If you use the import tool, it makes short work of
adding customers. Let’s see how it works.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
To make it easy to import customer lists into
QuickBooks Online, we recommend downloading
the Customer List sample file as a template.
Just like we saw with the Products and Services list,
simply download this sample file then copy and
paste the data you have received from your client
(or from another system) into each of the columns.
Once you’ve correctly formatted your Excel data,
you’re ready to go.
1. First, we need to download Chris’s customer
list to our local computer (See Chris Grier’s
Customer List in Tools for the file we are
using)
2. Go to the Sales Center and select
the Customer tab
3. From the drop-down next to New Customer,
select Import Customers
4. Select Browse and find Chris’s customer list
downloaded in step 1
5. Select Next
6. Check that each QuickBooks online field is
mapped correctly to the field on Chris’s
spreadsheet
Hint: Chris may not have provided
customer information for every field. Don’t
enter anything in the Opening Balance field
because this will make adjustments to the
General Ledger for each customer upon
import.
7. When the mapping is correct, select Next
8. The Import screen displays the data before
we actually import it into QuickBooks
Online
Hint: You can make changes to the data
here if you need to. We’re happy with what
Chris has sent us so that we can move on to
the import.
9. Select Import. QuickBooks Online will tell
us if the data was imported successfully
In the Customers tab of the Sales screen we can see
all of Chris’s imported customers.
Adding vendors
The story so far
Every business has bills to pay and vendors who
send them.
Chris’s business is no exception and he’d like your
help setting up his list of vendors so that when bills
come in, he can easily match up his expenses.
How can QuickBooks Online help?
QuickBooks Online gives you and your clients a
great set of tools for managing their vendor details.
individually, or speed the process up by importing
them as a list.
Adding vendors
So, what is a vendor?
Vendors are businesses Chris uses to buys things.
Payments to vendors are money-out transactions.
Setting up vendors means clients can do two things.
Firstly, they can quickly enter vendor bills and
include information such as the remit-to address and
the due date. This will then pre-populate this
information on the purchase forms. 
Secondly, Chris can keep track of expenses by
vendor and run reports that will provide insight into
which vendors he is spending the most money with,
and what items or services are purchased. 
Let’s have a look at the fields that you’ll be
populating for Chris.
Select each hotspot in turn to see further
information. 
Vendor info:
Company
You’ll start by entering the company name. This is
the information that will appear on all bills and
purchase orders that Chris creates. The Display
Name field will automatically be populated based
on the information that you entered in the Company
field. Note that if the vendor is an individual, or you
want the contact person to be listed, you should fill
in the first and last name at the top of the screen. 
Print on check as
This field should be automatically populated, based
on what you entered in the Company field. If for
some reason the payee is different from the
company name, you can remove the check mark and
enter the company name that checks should be
made payable to.
Address
Here, you enter the address where Chris will mail
his payments. This is also known as the remit-to
address.
Email, phone, mobile, fax, website
Enter these contact and website details.
Cost rate, Billing rate, Terms
If Chris ever needs to change the default payment
terms for any vendor, he can do so in this Vendor
profile screen. The cost rate only appears if the
client is using Projects and the vendor is not being
paid via expenses or bills but as, say, a contractor
on a daily rate billable to the client.
Opening balance
Use this field when setting up a new vendor to
record the beginning balance for a new vendor. In
almost all cases, it should be empty. When an
amount is entered here, QuickBooks will
automatically create a journal entry to increase
accounts payable and decrease the Opening Balance
Equity account.
 
Entering amounts into this field is typically not
recommended because you will not capture any
details about the bills that make up the balance
(such as the category or product/service items).
Account number
Enter the vendor’s account number. This is helpful
for a utility payment, for example. The account
number will show up on the memo on the check.
Business ID no.
The Business ID is where you can store the tax ID
number (Employer Identification Number or Social
Security number) of a vendor. This number is used
when creating Forms 1099-MISC in QuickBooks.
Track payments for 1099
Track payments for 1099 selects the vendor to be
used in the 1099 wizard when creating Forms 1099-
MISC in QuickBooks.
Adding a vendor
Now let’s manually add a vendor to Chris’s
QuickBooks Online account.
When adding a new vendor, add as much
information as you can about them in the Vendor
Information screen.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
1. Select Expenses from the Left Navigation
Bar
2. Select Vendors
Hint: If this is the first vendor you have added to
Chris’s file, you are taken straight to an easy entry
screen. If you’ve been here before, just select New
vendor 
1. Enter Lang and Sons Electrical Supply to
the Company field
2. In the Address field, add 8839 East Smoky
Hollow Court, Rochester, NY, 14606
3. In the Email field, add Angela@email.com
4. Phone: 555-5570
5. Mobile: 555-556-9019
6. Leave the Opening balance as zero
7. In the Terms drop-down, select Net 30
8. Enter the date
9. Select Save 
This entry will now show in the Vendor list in the
Expenses Center.
Importing a vendor list
Importing a list is something you probably saw
covered in the Products and Services lesson. If you
need to refresh your memory, take a look at the
animation that shows how to do it here: Adding
Products and Services
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.
Chris has forwarded us the list of his vendors, so
let’s help him by adding it into QuickBooks Online:
1. First, we select the Chris’s vendors file and
download it to the Desktop of your PC or Mac
so you can find it quickly
2. From the dashboard, select Expenses from the
Left Navigation Bar
3. In the Expenses screen, select the Vendors tab 
4. Select the drop-down arrow next to the
green New vendor button and select Import
vendors
5. Now browse for the Chris’s vendors file you
downloaded
6. Select Next
Because the fields have been set up to match
QuickBooks Online format, they will have
imported correctly. It’s a good idea to have a
look at the sample file for future reference, then
you can advise your client on how to prepare the
lists for import. 
7. Select Next
8. Make any necessary edits
9. Select Import
All the vendors and their details should now be in
the vendor list, in the Expenses screen under the
Vendors tab, ready to use.
Setting up bank feeds
The story so far
As a small business owner, Chris is always busy,
and he sometimes struggles to find time to keep
track of his expenses.  Clients who are customers of certain banks can
In the past, he usually just stashed his receipts in a
shoebox to deal with later. It’s then a real headache
for him to find time to record them and make sure
they reconcile with his bank and credit card
accounts.
How can QuickBooks Online help?
The great news is that this no longer needs to be
such a chore. By having his bank data in
QuickBooks Online, Chris can benefit from time-
saving workflows that will keep everything up to
date and aligned.
The bank feeds functionality in QuickBooks Online
is one of its most dynamic features. It links to online
banking and credit card accounts and feeds the bank
data transactions directly into the Banking Center,
ready to review and match up to transactions
recorded in QuickBooks Online.
In this lesson, we’ll look at what Chris needs to do
to get connected and, in the meantime, manually
upload his last month’s worth of transactions.
Connecting bank feeds
Let’s start with a short video. This shows Chris how
to connect his bank and credit card account to
QuickBooks Online.  customers.
As you can see, it’s pretty easy. Here’s a quick
recap of the steps Chris will need to take:
 Go to the Banking Center in the Left
Navigation Bar
 If it’s the first time here, select Connect,
otherwise select Add account
 Select the bank
 Use the regular username and password to
sign in (as for banking online). (You might
want to do this with your client so they sign
in to their bank and you don’t have their
banking password)
It might take a couple of minutes for the bank’s
database to talk to QuickBooks Online.
 Choose the bank account for the business
and the account in QuickBooks Online 
 If you don’t see a QuickBooks Online
account in a list that matches the bank
account, don’t panic. Just select Add New
 Choose the account type, either bank or
credit card, and choose a detail type
 Give the account a name, then select Save
It’s that simple!
QuickBooks Online connects to the account
and by default downloads all the
transactions for the last 90 days. 
New connection options
benefit from a streamlined bank connection via
QuickBooks Online.
QuickBooks Online connects to these banks using
OAuth for easier access to financial accounts.
Select each question to find out more. 
What is OAuth?
OAuth stands for open authentication. It means that
your client no longer has to provide their bank
username and password after initial setup.
Instead, your client gives permission at their
financial institution (FI) for QuickBooks Online to
access their account. Their bank sends QuickBooks
Online a token that is used to access their account.
After that, QuickBooks Online can still securely
access the account even if your client changes their
password, giving them a more reliable connection.
Which banks are moving to this new connection?
QuickBooks Online is working with individual banks to
change the way it connects to them. This is why your
client will only see some banks offering this new
connection, at least for now.
 
So far, Capital One, Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of
America, PNC, USAA, US Bank and Citi have agreed to
move toward a better connection for QuickBooks Online
 
You can find more exact dates and timelines for each
bank here. Over time, more FIs will make the move, so
stay tuned!
Can anybody who has access to the bank website set up
the new OAuth connection?
Some banks or financial institutions have
restrictions on who can establish this new OAuth
connection. 
 
The primary user for the bank’s website can always
set up the connection, but sometimes delegate or
secondary users can’t establish the connection. For
more information, take a look here. However, this is
not something you can do on your client’s behalf
because it requires the sign-in credentials for their
bank or financial institution.
Is there a deadline for my client to update their existing
connection?
 It depends on which bank they’re updating. Each
bank gives a window of time to migrate
customers over to the new connection. Usually,
this window lasts 31 days to give your clients
 enough time and warning to update their
connections
 Make sure your clients update their connections
before the deadlines, or their accounts won’t be
able to keep syncing in QuickBooks Online

Browse the pic in module

How much historical data does the new connection

bring in?
In the past, the default was always 90 days of
historical transactions. With this new connection
type, it will vary by financial institution. The range
will be between 30 days and two years. If your
client needs more than what’s available for your
financial institution, you can learn how to upload
additional transactions.

Manually importing
transactions
While Chris is connecting his bank and credit card
account to QuickBooks Online, he’s given you an
export of the last month of transactions for you to
manually import.
Let’s look at manually importing the transactions.
Watch the video to see how it’s done. The
individual steps are below for you to follow.

1. First, we need to have Chris’s banking CSV

file ready to upload, so make sure you’ve
saved it somewhere on your computer
2. Next, on Chris’s dashboard,
select Banking from the Left Navigation
Bar. 

Note this is the first time we’ve been here,

so we get some help in choosing what to do
3. Select Upload transactions
4. Select Browse and upload Chris’s bank info
from your computer
5. Under QuickBooks Account, from the drop-
down window, select Checking
6. Select Next
7. We can now check the mapping of the
different areas of the imported file, and
make sure they’re allocated to the right areas
in the banking section of Chris’s
QuickBooks file. Select Next
8. Here, we can select which transactions to
import. We need all of them so there’s no
need to change anything. Select Next
9. We’re asked to confirm the import.
Select Yes 

Our Banking Center is now populated with the

transactions from Chris’s bank file.
If we select Let’s go, we’ll see the imported data on
the Banking screen.
If you need to import a bank file next month or into
an established QuickBooks Online file, just select
the File upload button in the top right of the screen.