QuickBooks Online:

Glossary

QuickBooks Online

Glossary
 Glossary

A
Accountant Tools Accounts receivable (A/R)
This dropdown is only available to you as an accountant user when you A legally enforceable claim for payment held by a business against its
open a QuickBooks Online company from inside QuickBooks Online customers/clients for goods supplied and/or services rendered in execution
Accountant. Some tools are available elsewhere, and some can only be of the customer’s/client’s order. Accounts receivable (A/R) are generally in
found in Accountant Tools. For example, Voided and Deleted Transactions, the form of invoices raised by a business and delivered to the customer for
Reclassify Transactions, and Write Off Invoices are accountant-only tools. payment within an agreed time frame.

Accountant user Accrual-basis

A special type of user in QuickBooks Online that allows admin access to the With accrual-basis accounting, purchases are recorded as bills in the time
client and allows you to give other members of your firm access to the client period they were incurred and invoices are recorded when revenue is
account. You can become an accountant user by being invited by your client earned, regardless of when the payment was received or made. Accounts
and accepting the invitation or by setting up a client through QuickBooks receivable and accounts payable accounts are affected.
Online Accountant.
Accrual-basis reports
Accountant view Reports that display income at the time it was invoiced and expenses at the
QuickBooks Online offers two user views: Business view and Accountant time they were purchased, regardless of when payments are received or
view. Accountant view uses standard accounting language and gives you bills are paid.
control over features like your client’s chart of accounts and other features
aimed at the experts. You and your clients can switch between views at any Aging reports
time. These show the length of time an invoice (account receivable) or a bill
(account payable) has been outstanding.
Accounts payable (A/P)
The money owed by a business to its suppliers, shown as a liability on the App
company’s balance sheet. An application that can be added to your client’s QuickBooks Online
company to bring additional functionality, such as to reduce data entry,
streamline workflows, solve industry-specific tasks, expand business
insights, or provide restricted access to enable the separation of duties.
2
 Glossary

B
Bank feeds Books review center
This connects to your client’s online banking and credit card accounts In QuickBooks Online Accountant, this center provides the checklists and
and feeds the transactions directly into the Banking center in QuickBooks tools you need to complete the listed tasks for period-end reviews. The five
Online. tabs in the Books review center pull all the period-end tasks together into a
single place. It also lists any transactions with potential issues.
Banking center
Part of the Transactions center in QuickBooks Online, this gives your clients Business view
access to their connected bank and credit card accounts—allowing them to QuickBooks Online offers two user views: Business view and Accountant
review, match, and add transactions to their books. view. Business view is aimed at small business owners who don’t have the
support of an accountant or bookkeeper. It simplifies the workspace so
Bank rules day-to-day tasks, like sales and billing, are easier. It also uses nonaccountant
These automate the categorization of the transactions in the bank feed, terms. You and your clients can switch between views at any time.
including the assignment of the transaction type, category, payee, class, and
location.

Batch transaction
An accelerated data-entry feature in QuickBooks Online that makes it easy
for clients to enter, duplicate, or customize transactions in batches, saving a
lot of time in data entry.

Bill
A bill is received from a vendor when they are owed money that will be paid
at a later date.

3
 Glossary

C
Cash-basis Closing the books
Cash-basis accounting records income and expenses when payment is It enables you to protect transactions in previous periods from being
received and made. Cash accounts are affected. changed. You can set up a password to close the books and run closing
date exception reports that show if anything has been changed after the
Cash-basis reports books were closed.
These display income at the time it was received and expenses when they
were paid. They provide a quick overview of cash flow. Credit memo
A credit memo is a sales form that acknowledges that your client owes their
Categorization history feature customer money.
This feature in the For review tab of a bank feed, lists how previous
transactions involving the same vendor/customer have been categorized CSV
over the last 12 months. You can sort these transactions by either the A comma-separated values (CSV) file that clients can use to import or export
category that’s been used most or the one that was last used. data to and from QuickBooks Online.

Category details grid Custom fields

An area in an expense or purchase transaction screen where clients record A way of categorizing data in reports. You can add custom fields to sales
the transaction details using accounts from the chart of accounts. forms in QuickBooks Online Essentials, and sales forms and purchase orders
in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. QuickBooks Online Advanced
Chart of accounts clients can get even more value from enhanced custom fields.
A list of the categories QuickBooks Online uses to summarize money
movement from a company’s financial statements. When you create a new Customers center
QuickBooks Online company, a default chart of accounts will be created. Allows clients to view, add, edit, and manage their customers. Clients can
You can customize it to suit your client’s needs. view recent transactions for a customer, specify their tax status, assign them
to a customer type, and perform actions such as issuing sales receipts and
invoices.

4
 Glossary

D E
Dashboards Estimate
QuickBooks Online has four dashboards that provide clients with An estimate is a sales form provided to a potential customer with a detailed
information on the health of their business in an easy-to-understand format. breakdown of what your client proposes to deliver, along with the costs. It
When you sign in to QuickBooks Online, it opens up at the Get Things Done essentially serves as a quote or a proposal for the products/services.
dashboard.
Exceptions to Closing Date report
Delayed charges This lists all the changes to transactions in a closed period that were made
Allow clients to record a fee to be invoiced in the future, typically on a after a closing date was set. The report allows you to track if any changes
monthly basis. Clients can use this if they don’t want to invoice now, but were made, regardless of whether the books were password-protected or
need to remember to invoice a charge in the future. not. You can access the report in the Reports center if a closing date has
been set.
Deposit transactions
Used to record money going into a client’s business bank account. They can Expense
include payments received related to business sales that were posted to An expense records a transaction when money is spent at the time a
Undeposited Funds, as well as other payments received (such as a refund purchase is made.
from a vendor).
Expenses center
Detail reports Allows clients to handle everything related to their business spending,
These list each transaction in a reporting period. They allow you to drill including adding and managing vendors, bills, and expenses
down into—and open—individual transactions so you can review and
possibly edit or delete them. Expense submitter role
A role that can be assigned to employees or vendors in QuickBooks Online
Direct discount Advanced to authorize them to submit their expenses without time-tracking
A billing option when you add a subscription through QuickBooks permissions.
Online Accountant, but you want your client to pay Intuit directly for
the subscription. The client will be required to enter their credit card
information when they sign in to the newly created subscription, but they
typically get a discount on the pricing for a finite period. 5
 Glossary

F G
For review tab General settings gear
This tab in the Banking center shows bank feed items that haven’t yet been Also called the Settings icon, this is at the top right of the screen and opens
accepted into QuickBooks Online and that need to be reviewed, edited if a sub-menu that gives clients access to many features, lists, and tools.
necessary, and matched to existing transactions or added as appropriate.

6
 Glossary

I J
Instant deposits Journal entries
Single-use links that allow clients to pay their bills, pay employees, and A way to post debits and credits to accounts in the general ledger. To be
keep the business moving. For a 1% fee, available funds can be instantly used with caution.
deposited into their bank account.

Intuit account
An account that users need to access data in QuickBooks Online. A client
can have more than one company associated with their Intuit account.

Inventory
Products that your clients purchase and sell and which they want to track
quantities on hand.

Invoice
An invoice is a sales form issued to a customer to request payment for
products or services provided. It’s a formal sales transaction record and
outlines the payment terms, including the amount due, payment due date,
and any applicable discounts or terms.

Invoice terms
The time period that clients give customers to pay an invoice.

Item details grid

An area in an expense or purchase transaction screen where clients record
the transaction details using product and service items.

7
 Glossary

L M
Left-hand menu My Accountant
The menu options available in QuickBooks Online on the left side of the Any client requests and documents you initiated from QuickBooks Online
screen. There are additional options in QuickBooks Online Advanced. Accountant appear here in your client’s QuickBooks Online company.
QuickBooks Online Accountant can track your requests by due date so
Lists that they won’t miss a thing, and you’ll get what you need on time. Your
These form the basis of a client’s QuickBooks Online company. Lists cover client can also respond and share documents from here, so their sensitive
items such as Customers, Vendors, Expenses, and Bills. information stays safe.

List settings gear

This icon can be accessed within the workspace of various centers in
QuickBooks Online and offers functions specific to each menu and the lists
within them.

8
 Glossary

N O
+New button Overview
Also called the Plus (+) button, this icon is at the top left of the screen. It The Overview tab is a quick and easy way to see a snapshot of your client’s
allows clients to create and add new transactions, such as invoices, bills, and QuickBooks Online company.
deposits.

Non-inventory items
Products bought and sold where it isn’t necessary to track quantities on
hand.

9
 Glossary

P Q
Pay Bills Quick add charts
The Pay Bills feature is used to record that your client has paid a bill. A feature of the Performance Center. They can be created quickly and easily
and added to the Performance Center dashboard.
Primary admin
The accountant user who has overall control over the company file. QuickBooks Online Advanced
The most robust QuickBooks Online accounting application, designed for
ProAdvisor Preferred Pricing fast-growing, complex, and mid-market clients.
This program enables ProAdvisors to offer clients exclusive discounts
on subscriptions to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Online Payroll, and QuickBooks Online company
QuickBooks Time. QuickBooks Online is more than a simple accounting program. It’s a
platform that offers an ecosystem of applications that you and your clients
Products and Services can use to build the perfect solution by adding apps that bring additional
This list contains the items that will appear on your client’s purchase and functionality.
sales transactions. Each item must be mapped to an account in the chart of
accounts. Every time an item is used in a transaction, the appropriate entry QuickReports
is made behind the scenes. QuickReports display all activity for an account or list name and a running
balance for the specified period. You can run a QuickReport from the
Purchase order relevant account in the chart of accounts or from the Products and Services
A purchase order is a form that documents a request for specific products or list. You can also run a QuickReport on names in certain lists.
services from a vendor with a promise to pay.

10
 Glossary

R
Receive payment Refund receipt
The Receive payment feature is used only to record when your client A refund receipt is a sales form that represents your client returning money
receives payment for an open invoice. to a customer.

Reclassify transactions tool Report customization

Allows you to reclassify large batches of transactions at the same time. You Customization options in the Reports center that allows clients to add and
can use the tool to reclassify transactions by account (as well as class and remove columns and group or filter data.
location if the client has the relevant tracking feature turned on).
Revenue share program
Reconciliation This program offers rewards and discounts for you and your clients. By
Reconciling your clients’ accounts means ensuring that what they have in enrolling in the program, you’ll receive a monthly financial reward for 12
QuickBooks Online reflects what’s really happened in terms of income, months for every client you sign up for a new QuickBooks Online and/or
expenses, and other movements and cash adjustments. Payroll subscription—and the client will receive a pricing discount.

Reconciliation Discrepancy report

This lists any transactions that have been changed since the last
reconciliation date and displays the types of any changes and their effect on
the beginning balance.

Recurring transaction
Allows clients to automatically record transactions that occur at regular
intervals and in fixed amounts. Clients can configure recurring transactions
to be processed on a scheduled or unscheduled basis, or as a reminder.

Refund from vendor

A vendor refund represents money being returned to your client.

11
 Glossary

S
Sales center Subscription level
This feature puts everything clients need to manage their sales (customers, The version of QuickBooks Online that the company is using. The four
products and services, and invoices) in one place. subscription levels/versions of QuickBooks Online are Simple Start,
Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. There’s also QuickBooks Self-Employed,
Sales receipt which is designed for Schedule C tax filers.
A sales receipt is a sales form used to record a sale when payment for a
product or service is made at the same time as the sale. Summary reports
These show the aggregate total of all transactions for various names on a
Sales Tax center particular list. They give you an overall view of financial information for a
This has everything needed to handle sales tax in QuickBooks. You or your reporting period.
client can create reports for your sales tax liabilities, record or edit sales tax
payments, and see the sales tax owed for different time periods.

Service
Something your clients provide to their customers, as opposed to products
or inventory they sell.

Shared Documents tab

An area in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant that
allows you, your clients, and other members of your team to upload and
share documents. Accountant users have access to more features and
functions in this tab than clients, including adding and managing folders
and moving files into them.

12
 Glossary

T U
Tags Undeposited Funds
Customizable labels that clients can assign to transactions of their choice. Funds that haven’t been deposited in the bank yet. By holding payments
Clients can then group tags and run reports to see how specific business received in Undeposited Funds, your clients can create a single bank
areas are performing. deposit for multiple payments, making it easy to match the bank register
with the bank statement.
Team user
In QuickBooks Online Accountant, these are staff members of the User permissions
accountancy firm who oversee client files and the QuickBooks Online Access restrictions in QuickBooks Online that limit the range of data visible
account. Alternatively, they could be bookkeepers or tax preparers who are to people.
not in the firm, but still need access to the client.
Users
Transaction targets The primary admin and other people who have access to the QuickBooks
Transaction targets provide detailed information (target accounts, target Online company file.
names, target memos, and target amounts) about how a transaction is
distributed in QuickBooks Online.

13
 Glossary

V W
Vendor Work center
In QuickBooks Online, a vendor supplies products or services to your In QuickBooks Online Accountant, this center provides a project
clients. management tool that can be used by your firm to manage work items
assigned to each client.
Vendor credit
A vendor credit is a transaction to record when your client receives a credit
from a vendor that can be applied to an existing unpaid bill or a future
purchase from that vendor.

14