5 QuickBooks Online Features You're Probably Not Using
QuickBooks Online has a lot more under the hood than most small business owners ever use. Some of that is by design (QBO is built for everyone from a one-person consultancy to a hundred-person operation, so plenty of features don't apply to you), and some of it is just that nobody told you the features exist.
Here are five that regularly help my small business clients, plus honest notes on when each one is worth the effort and which QBO plans they're on.
1. Custom fields
Custom fields let you add your own data fields to transactions, things your Chart of Accounts doesn't track. You can then filter and report on those fields to slice your data in ways QBO's default reports don't support.
Examples: a yoga teacher might add a custom field for "class type" to track revenue by studio classes versus workshops, without adding separate income accounts for each. A massage therapist might add a field for "referral source" to see which marketing channels produce paying clients. A coach might add a field for "engagement type" to separate 1:1 clients from group programs from speaking fees.
To set them up: Settings gear > Custom fields (under Lists, depending on your QBO version). Create the field, choose which transaction types it should appear on, and start filling it in as you go.
Availability and capabilities vary by plan, with more options on Plus and Advanced than on Simple Start. If you'd heard about QBO Tags in the past, Custom Fields is the feature that replaced them for new users.
2. Class and location tracking
Class and location tracking break your income and expenses down by dimensions that aren't in your Chart of Accounts. The classic use case: a yoga studio with three locations wants to see each location's profit and loss separately, without building three parallel sets of income and expense accounts. Location tracking handles that.
Classes work similarly, but for whatever dimension you want: type of service, project, department, revenue stream. A salon might use classes to split income between services and retail. A coach might use classes to split income between 1:1 coaching, group programs, and speaking fees.
Class and location tracking are only available on QBO Plus or Advanced (not Simple Start or Essentials). They also require discipline. If you don't consistently assign classes or locations to every relevant transaction, your reports will be incomplete and misleading. For most solo operators, custom fields handle similar use cases without the Plus-plan cost. Class and location tracking earn their keep when you've got multiple locations or a team, or when the reporting granularity is actually going to drive decisions.
3. Recurring transactions
If you pay the same amount for the same thing on the same schedule (studio rent, a software subscription, a professional membership), recurring transactions let you automate the entry. QBO will create the transaction for you on the schedule you set, either fully automatic or with a reminder so you can review first.
To set one up: open the transaction you want to recur, scroll to the bottom, and click Make recurring. Set the name, schedule, and automation level.
What this is good for: taking invisible little monthly tasks off your plate and making sure regular expenses actually get recorded. What it's not good for: amounts that vary, like utility bills or contractor invoices. For those, you want a reminder-only recurrence or nothing at all.
Recurring transactions are available on Essentials and above (not Simple Start).
4. Bank rules
Bank rules automatically categorize transactions that match criteria you set. If you want every deposit from Square to post to your "Sales Income" account, every transaction at your local office supply store to post to "Office Supplies," and every Zoom charge to post to "Software Subscriptions," bank rules handle it without you clicking through each one.
To set one up: go to Transactions > Bank transactions and look for a transaction you want to make a rule for. Click its row, then Create rule. Define the conditions (contains this text, from this account, in this amount range) and the action (categorize as, add to this account, assign this payee).
Bank rules are powerful and also the most common place I see DIY bookkeeping go sideways. Overly broad rules miscategorize things silently, so start with narrow, specific rules and loosen them only if you're sure the rule can't accidentally sweep up exceptions. (Click here for a more detailed tutorial on how to use bank rules.)
5. Saved custom reports
Every QBO report can be customized (date range, columns, filters, grouping) and then saved so you don't have to reconfigure it every time. The saved version lives in Reports > Custom reports, and you can also schedule it to email itself to you on a regular cadence.
What this is good for: the three or four reports you actually look at every month. Maybe it's your P&L organized by month, your A/R aging with only accounts over 30 days overdue, or an expense report grouped by vendor. Once you've built the view that actually answers your questions, save it. You'll run it twelve times a year instead of rebuilding it twelve times a year.
Where to start
If you're new to QBO and feeling like the list above is a lot, my honest recommendation is: start with a saved custom report or two. That change is free, works on every plan, and will probably shift the way you use QBO more than anything else on this list. Everything else can wait until you have a reason to use it.
If any of this sounds like something you'd rather hand off to someone who does this all day, book a free call and we can talk about what ongoing bookkeeping support looks like!