Bookkeeping Basics 4: QuickBooks Online • All new for 2026!

It’s usually best to start at the beginning, and that’s what we’re going to do here.

To understand how to use QuickBooks™ Online, we first need to understand what the program is and how it developed over the years. This lesson will explain all of that, along with clearing up how the cloud-based version works.

“Why doesn’t my QBO look like what I’m seeing in your video?”

We work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen, but sometimes it does. Let’s take a few minutes to understand why and how to handle it.

Here, we’ll explore some of QBO’s key features, automation tools, and how apps can extend what the platform can do.

Understanding these options early helps you recognize what’s built in and where add-ons might make your work even easier.

This lesson covers QBO subscription options and how those choices affect the features you’ll have access to.

Picking the right subscription keeps you from paying for tools you don’t need (or missing ones you do!)

We’ll walk through the built-in help options and where to find reliable guidance when you hit a snag.

Knowing how to find answers quickly saves time and helps you keep moving forward.

Yes, QBO does process payroll, but…

That’s a pretty big beast that we’re not going to tackle in this course. Let’s look at how we’ll handle payroll in this learning environment.

To be able to learn, you need to be able to get access.  And believe it or not, it's FREE (sort of.)

This lesson explains the what and how to accessing QB Online at no charge for students and professional Bookkeepers and Accountants.

Here’s where we create a company in QBO, including key company info and settings.

Getting this right from the start makes managing your books a whole lot easier down the road.

We’ll tour QBO’s layout and learn where to find the most commonly used tools.

Knowing your way around helps you work faster and make fewer mistakes.

We’ll continue exploring QBO’s menus, features, and dashboards.

A deeper look at navigation keeps you from getting lost as we cover more advanced tasks.

This lesson focuses on company-wide settings and how they shape your QBO experience.

These settings control everything from accounting methods to security—so they’re worth getting right.

We’ll look at how recording a transaction in QBO works and what you don't need to worry about doing.

Understanding transaction basics lays the foundation for all the workflows we’ll cover later.

We’ll look at setting up new users and adjusting their permissions to match their role in the business.

Managing access keeps your data secure and your workflows organized.

We’ll look at the different lists in QBO and how they help organize your business data.

Mastering lists makes everyday tasks like invoicing, paying bills, and reporting much smoother.

This lesson explains the Chart of Accounts and how to add new items to any list.

A well-built chart keeps your financials accurate and easy to read. Knowing how to add items to any list makes the entire process smoother.

We’ll learn how to add, edit, delete, and merge list items in QBO.

Keeping lists clean and current saves time and reduces errors later.

This lesson covers setting up and managing sales tax in QBO.

Accurate tax setup ensures compliance and clean financial reports.

We’ll look at using classes and locations to track income and expenses in more detail.

These tools give you a clearer picture of how different parts of your business are performing.

This lesson walks through the basic flow of buying and selling in QBO.

Understanding the workflow helps you keep transactions accurate from start to finish.

We’ll cover how to set up products and services in QBO.

A good setup here makes selling and tracking inventory much easier.

We’ll build on what we learned in Part 1 with more detail on the entire system.

It may have been too long for one lesson, but the wrap up will put all the pieces together.

We’ll explore the Vendor Center and the workflow for managing vendor relationships.

A solid vendor setup keeps your purchasing process smooth.

This lesson covers setting up contractors and preparing for 1099 reporting.

Understanding how to do this can save a lot of headaches at tax time.

Not every company uses Purchase Orders, but understanding the process helps understand how purchases work in QBO.  Purchase orders help you track spending before it happens.

We’ll record expenses and see how QBO can track them by customer.

Accurate expense tracking gives you better control over your bottom line.

This lesson shows how to write and record checks in QBO.  Recording checks properly keeps your bank balances accurate.

We’ll enter bills into QBO and understand their effect on your accounts.

Proper bill entry ensures you pay vendors on time and track liabilities.

We’ll pay bills in QBO and see how payments connect to prior entries.

Linking payments to bills keeps your vendor records accurate.

Returned something you purchased earlier? We’ll record vendor credits and apply them to bills.

This process helps you make the most of vendor returns or adjustments.

We’ll continue working with vendor credits and billable expenses.

Learning and practicing here makes sure you can handle these situations in the real world.

We’ll look at the Customer Center and walk through the steps of managing customers in QBO.

A well-organized customer list makes invoicing and payment tracking much simpler.

We’ll see how QBO uses the Undeposited Funds account before money hits your bank.

This step keeps deposits in QBO matching your real bank deposits.

We’ll create sales receipts for immediate payments and learn when they’re best to use.

Choosing the right form for the right sale helps you avoid accounting errors.

We’ll send invoices to customers and record their payments when they arrive.

This process is key to keeping Accounts Receivable up to date.

We’ll record bank deposits and handle multiple sales in one batch.

Grouping deposits the right way keeps your books matching your bank.

We’ll issue credit memos and refund receipts in QBO.

These transactions help maintain accurate customer balances.

We’ll create and customize estimates for customers.

Estimates help you communicate project costs before work begins.

We’ll set up and manage projects and sub-customers for more detailed tracking.

This gives you better insight into specific jobs or clients.

We’ll learn how business users connect QBO to their bank and credit card accounts.

Direct connections save time and reduce manual entry.

We’ll adjust bank feed settings to make sure information transfers correctly.

Automation here helps you process transactions faster and more consistently.

We’ll look at pulling in bank transactions and categorizing them correctly.

Accurate categorizing keeps reports reliable and saves time.

We’ll look at how to match bank feed transactions to existing records in QBO.

Matching prevents duplicate entries and keeps account balances correct.

We’ll look at how to create and manage bank rules for automatic categorization.

Well-built rules cut down on repetitive work and errors.

This may not be your favorite part of bookkeeping, but it is VITAL to business operations.

Luckily, QuickBooks™ Online makes the process really of reconciling accounts (checking, credit card, assets, etc.) simple and straight-forward. This lesson begins your learning of how to work through this important business function.

Now what happens to wrap up the reconciling process?

This lesson teaches you what to do when the reconciliation balances and when it doesn’t.

No matter how hard you try, there will be times when you just HAVE to use a Journal Entry form in QBO.

So let’s take some time to dig into what the form looks like, how it works, and the very few things that are REQUIRED, if you do use it.

Void… Delete… Which one means what?

Changes, mistakes, and accidents happen. Sometimes you want the info completely gone. Sometimes you want a reminder that something happened, but it shouldn’t affect your numbers. Let’s look at the difference between the two.

After looking at reports in general, it’s time to dig into one of the two most important financial statements, the Balance Sheet in more depth.

What is the reason, logic, and appearance of the Balance Sheet (and a couple of more tricks with reports in general.

After looking at reports in general, it’s time to dig into one of the two most important financial statements, the Balance Sheet in more depth.

What is the reason, logic, and appearance of the Balance Sheet (and a couple of more tricks with reports in general.

Now it’s time to dig into the second important financial statement.

Profit and Loss? Income Statement? Which is it and what does it show? Dig into how the data is compiled and how this particular report can be tweaked and customized.

A major part of a business’ bookkeeping is keeping track of what money is owed, to/from who, and for how long.

This lesson explains how QuickBooks™ Online formats its Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable reports, along with different ways the information can be displayed, researched, and formatted.

We’ll run reports related to sales tax in QBO and dig into how the process works when it’s time to pay.

And we’ll also look at how to record those payments. This all helps ensure you file accurate tax returns.

Who bought what? And how many of them? And are you making money selling them?

This lesson starts digging deeper into specific reports and focuses on some of the many ones available relating to customers and sales of your product and services along with how to make adjustments to inventory counts.

Oops… Mistakes happen. Or perhaps someone made a change they weren’t supposed to…

The Audit Log helps you track what changes were entered into the QBO company file along with when and who made them. It can be a life saver sometimes. Or evidence, if you need it.

In this project of the course, we’ll explore special tools available for accountants in QBO.  These tools make cleanup and review tasks more efficient.

We’ll look at setting up recurring entries which save time and keep your records consistent.

It’s not what you think of in manual bookkeeping, but it’s important.

Let customers pay their bills online with just a click or two from their invoice.

If the business chooses to sign up for QBO Payments, your customers will be able to do just that. Using added links, they can pay from the invoices they receive through email and the money gets deposited directly into your bank account (minus some fees.)

We’ll customize fields to match your business needs.

Personalizing your forms to include fields that are unique to your business makes tracking your important information easier.

And we'll wrap up by looking at how to customize forms to give them a more personalized feel (and better information).

You've put in the time and the hard work...  Let's make sure you get your certificate to prove it.

What?  There's a discount for being a student?  Of course there is.  Check out this final lesson to learn about a whole BUNCH of stuff including bsnsHistory and bsnsBloopers podcasts, bsnsDictionary short videos...  Oh, and the discounts!