QuickBooks Online Tools to Make Your Life Easier in 2025

QuickBooks Online Tools to Make Your Life Easier in 2025

If you’re a business owner or manage finances for a company, QuickBooks Online (QBO) is packed with tools to help you wrap up the year, get organized, and make tax season stress-free. Let’s explore some of the best features QBO offers to help you tackle year-end tasks like a pro.

1. Save Time with Auto-Categorization for Expenses

QuickBooks Online’s auto-categorization tool can automatically sort your transactions, making it easy to stay organized. It’s like having a personal assistant for your books!

How to Use It:

• Go to Banking > Rules and set up rules to automatically sort transactions by vendor or keyword.

• Review categorized transactions under Banking > Categorize to ensure everything is in the right place before you finalize.

This feature saves hours during reconciliation and ensures your expenses are sorted correctly for tax season.

2. Match Transactions Easily with Reconciliation Updates

Reconciliation is the process of making sure your bank and credit card statements match what’s in QuickBooks. Recent updates to this feature make it even easier to catch errors and stay on top of your accounts.

How to Reconcile:

• Go to Accounting > Reconcile and select the account you want to check.

• Enter the ending balance from your bank statement.

• Use filters to find old or missing transactions and fix any discrepancies.

A clean reconciliation ensures your books are accurate and ready for tax filing.

3. Get Insights with Customizable Reports

QuickBooks’ reports give you a clear picture of your finances. Whether you want to check your profits, review your expenses, or make sure everything balances, these tools make it simple.

Must-Run Reports:

• Profit and Loss Report: Go to Reports > Profit & Loss to review your income and expenses.

• Balance Sheet Report: Found under Reports > Balance Sheet, this shows your assets, liabilities, and net worth.

• Trial Balance Report: Under Reports > Accountant Reports, this helps ensure everything is balanced.

Customizing these reports allows you to focus on what matters most to your business, saving you time and effort.

4. Prepare 1099s for Contractors

If you’ve paid contractors this year, you’ll need to send them 1099 forms. QBO can track payments and generate these forms for you.

How to Set Up 1099 Tracking:

• Go to Expenses > Vendors and check the box for Track payments for 1099 for each contractor.

• In January, visit Expenses > Vendors > Prepare 1099s to review and file these forms.

This feature ensures your 1099s are accurate and ready to send out on time.

5. Wrap Up Accounts Receivable

Make sure your invoices are up to date and unpaid amounts are accurate. QuickBooks’ tools make it simple to review and manage your accounts receivable.

Steps to Review A/R:

• Go to Sales > Invoices and run the Open Invoices Report to see what’s still owed.

• Use the batch invoicing tool to apply payments or close multiple invoices at once.

• Check the Accounts Receivable Aging Report to find overdue payments and decide if any should be written off.

Taking care of receivables now prevents headaches later.

6. Plan for 2025 with Cash Flow Projections

Want to start the new year with confidence? QuickBooks’ cash flow projection tool helps you see what’s coming and plan ahead.

How to Use It:

• Go to Dashboard > Business Overview > Cash Flow and set up projections based on your average monthly income and expenses.

• Add any big changes you expect, like new expenses or seasonal sales.

• Review the cash flow summary to see how much cash you’ll have available in the first quarter of 2025.

These projections give you a clear picture of your financial health and help you make smart decisions for the new year.

Need Help?

Don’t worry—you don’t have to do this alone! Whether you need help setting up QuickBooks or reviewing your accounts, we’re here to make year-end prep simple and stress-free. Let’s get your books in perfect shape for 2025!

Schedule a consultation today!

By using these QuickBooks tools, you’ll feel confident heading into the new year with clean, organized finances. Ready to get started? Let’s make 2025 your best year yet! 🎉