Fall is here, bringing cool breezes, bright colors, and fresh energy to tackle the challenges of this most unusual year. We’re here to help with new features and upgrades that are designed to give you more power and flexibility in your business.
Introducing QuickBooks Cash
In a nutshell: Imagine a bank account designed to meet your needs as a small business. That’s what you’ll get with QuickBooks Cash, scheduled to launch in mid-September. QuickBooks Cash is a no-fee business bank account that offers fast payments, high-yield savings, custom forecasting tools, and more – plus, it syncs automatically to QuickBooks for seamless accounting.
Some features include:
- 1% APY interest** helps you grow your money at 25 times the national average rate.1
- Instant Deposit with no extra cost means you can see your money within 30 minutes – nights, weekends, and even holidays – with no added fee (if eligible).**
- Virtual envelopes allow small businesses to set aside funds into savings buckets from their QuickBooks Cash account for business goals and expenses.**
- Cash Flow Planner enables small businesses to forecast their money in and money out, up to 90 days, to plan ahead and stay ahead.**
- Entry-free bookkeeping automatically syncs your payments and spending, so that your books stay up-to-date, without extra work.
It’s free to open a QuickBooks Cash business bank account, and there are no monthly fees or account minimums.** Look for QuickBooks Cash to be available by mid-month – then discover how nice it is to have a bank account that works as hard as you do.
QuickBooks Online: Amazon Business Purchases app
In a nutshell: The new Amazon Business Purchases app is a smart and simple way to bring Amazon Business purchases into QuickBooks Online. If you’re an Amazon Business customer, you now have the ability to seamlessly sync expenses with QuickBooks to review or categorize transactions, and then add them to your books. The new app helps to:
- Reduce manual data entry.
- See details, such as product descriptions, item costs, and fee breakdowns, for each transaction.
- Categorize each item separately, and match them with bank transactions.
QuickBooks Online Advanced: Track new industry benchmarks in the Performance Center
In a nutshell: Wondering how you stack up against the competition? Find out quickly by looking at two industry benchmarks we’ve added to the Performance Center: Net Profit Margin (NPM) and Gross Profit Margin (GPM). These new charts can also be added from the Quick Add menu.
The new NPM and GPM charts show company data and peer data for the past year. Peer data is calculated based on industry, revenue range, and location, starting with the closest match and extending to at least 30 companies. If your industry and location are not already set, or if you want to change them, you can do so from the newly added Settings area on the Performance Center.
By keeping tabs of peer data and industry benchmarks, you can see how you measure up and identify opportunities to improve business processes, become more cost-efficient, and increase productivity.
Coming soon: QuickBooks Payments Instant Deposit – Automation
In a nutshell: Getting money into your bank account instantly has never been easier, thanks to the improvements we’ve made to the Instant Deposit feature in QuickBooks Payments. Now, you can pre-select the days of the week you want to make automatic, instant deposits, which can occur up to 3 times daily – at 9:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m. PT.
How it works:
- If you’ve already set up Instant Deposit, you can set your schedule by navigating to Account and Settings → Payments → Deposit Speed → Set a schedule for instant deposits. Select the days you want instant deposits for, and when you’re done, select Save schedule.
- If you haven’t set up Instant Deposit yet, you can do so by following these instructions.
Announcing a new 401(k) plan from Guideline connected to your QuickBooks
In a nutshell: As a small business owner, you will soon be able to offer your employees a convenient and secure place to save for their retirement with the Guideline 401(k) plan, now directly connected to QuickBooks data.1 The plan is an easy and affordable retirement platform, and starting October 1, Guideline 401(k) will be available through the Benefits tab in all QuickBooks Online Payroll products.
You can sign up for the plan directly from their QuickBooks account. Plans start at $39 per month, plus $8 per employee. The platform securely syncs QuickBooks Payroll and Guideline 401(k) data, so any updates or changes will be reflected automatically. With the two-way communication, 401(k) plan management becomes fast and easy:
- Eligibility is automatically checked and employees are notified.
- Deductions are automatically taken out of employee paychecks.
- Employee contribution data is automatically tracked.
For employees, Guideline 401(k) delivers professionally managed portfolios with no investment fees, a user-friendly dashboard, and client support via phone or email. For employers, like you, the plan delivers administrative services at an affordable cost, including record keeping, fiduciary responsibility, and employee onboarding and more – all conveniently available through QuickBooks.
- 401(k) offerings are provided and administered by Guideline, an independent third-party and not provided by Intuit®. Intuit is not a 401(k) plan administrator, fiduciary, or other provider.
New 1099 forms available soon
In a nutshell: For January 2021, IRS has updated 1099 forms by revising the 1099-MISC form and adding a new form for 1099-NEC. By Nov. 7, 2020, both forms will be available to prepare for filing through QuickBooks. To learn more about changes to 1099 forms this year, check out our resource article.
Backdate checks in QuickBooks Online Payroll
In a nutshell: QuickBooks Online Payroll (Core, Premium, and Elite) now offers the ability to backdate paychecks. Previously, paychecks could only be created for the current day or a future date. Now, if a paycheck needs to be added retroactively—and it doesn’t affect tax payments, forms, or cause penalties—you can enter it easily to keep records in order.
Introducing QuickBooks Commerce, a new way for small businesses to grow
In a nutshell: QuickBooks® Commerce is a business management platform designed to help small businesses attract and sell to new customers across multiple e-commerce channels, including online storefronts, marketplaces, and POS systems. It gives QuickBooks customers one integrated platform to centrally run and manage their small business, and allows them to access the same cloud platform capabilities that bigger companies use to manage omnichannel sales.
How it works: Because everything is tied together, your listings, products, inventory, and orders – from Amazon, ShopKeep, Squarespace, and more – will all be in sync. You will be able to see data on profitability insights, ROI on marketing spend, and new opportunities to expand your product line, all in one central location.
QuickBooks Commerce will be deployed in a phased rollout; new U.S.-based customers who purchase QuickBooks Essentials, Plus, or Advanced will have access first, available now.
