There have been a lot of changes coming to QuickBooks Online recently. I know that this only affects a limited number of people directly, but some of the issues it raises reach further than QBO users. So I promise I won’t get too in-depth on just the QBO stuff in this space, for no one wants to read THAT much about bookkeeping software.

To give it some attention, though, QBO is based on a tier plan, essentially meaning you pay more the bigger your business is, which is pretty reasonable since you’ll be taking up more online space. The price has gone up, though, and you can also be forced into a higher advanced tier if your company uses more than 250 chart of accounts listings and/or 40 locations and classes.

250 listings on a chart of accounts could sound like a lot of things to track, but it is certainly not a ridiculous number, and some types of businesses don’t even have to get THAT large to get there. A lot of times, though, this is a place where we see businesses having some extra stuff that is just pushing that number up, cluttering up a profit and loss statement, and really serving little purpose.

Remember that one debit from three years ago that you weren’t sure how to classify and you started a new category for it? Of course not, but your chart of accounts does and that category thus still exists.

So if you are worried about the rising cost of a QuickBooks Online subscription and want a little personal guidance on how you fall within the programs rules, let us know and let’s set up an appointment.

This type of checkup, though, to see if your bookkeeping and reporting is really tracking and reporting what is most important to you can be a good idea no matter what platform you are using to track it. The issues that can keep you from working at an optimal level can be many:

Did you have a professional set up our bookkeeping when your business started?

Has your business grown since you started?

Are you offering different products and services than when you started?

Are you tracking similar expenses in separate accounts?

Do you know what each line on your P&L means?

Do you understand what transactions are going onto each of those lines?

Having good answers to these questions will let you know what level of a program like QuickBooks Online is necessary for your business. Having good answers to these questions will also help you understand how your business is working and help you make better decisions.

No matter what software you are using for bookkeeping (even if it’s an Excel spreadsheet or receipts in an envelope), having a hold on tracking it all correctly is necessary for optimal performance. And no matter how you are doing it, you may have questions on how to do it better. So you, too, let us know and let’s set up an appointment to discuss those things.