The holiday rush can sneak up fast, especially if you sell products. One minute, your shelves are full, and the next, your bestsellers are gone. That’s why this time of year, your QuickBooks Desktop inventory reports are your best friend.
Start with the “Sales by Item Summary” Report
Go to Reports > Sales > Sales by Item Summary. This report gives you a quick look at which products are selling the fastest. Pay attention to any items showing strong recent sales, as that’s your cue to reorder before demand peaks.
Keep an Eye on Inventory Valuation
Next, open the Inventory Valuation Summary report. Reports > Inventory > Inventory Valuation Summary. This helps you see what’s still in stock and how much value is sitting on your shelves. Items with low quantities but high sales? Reorder now. Items that have been sitting for months? Consider marking them down or bundling them for the holidays.
Run These Reports Weekly
During the busy season, a quick weekly check of these two reports can help you avoid stockouts and lost sales. Even better, save your customized reports so you can pull them up instantly each week.
Staying organized with your QuickBooks Desktop reports means fewer surprises, smoother sales, and more time to focus on what really matters. Serving your customers.
If you ever find yourself covering costs for a client project—like picking up materials, hiring a subcontractor, or traveling for a job—those are expenses you’ll want to get reimbursed for. QuickBooks Online (QBO) has a handy feature that makes this simple: Billable Expenses.
Let’s walk through how it works and why it can help you stay on top of your client billing and project profitability.
What Are Billable Expenses?
Billable expenses are costs you incur on behalf of a client that you plan to charge back to them. Instead of trying to remember to add these costs later, QuickBooks lets you connect them directly to the client or job. When you’re ready to invoice, the system reminds you what you haven’t billed yet.
Examples include:
Supplies or materials for a client job
Payments to subcontractors
Mileage or travel costs related to a project
Tracking these properly ensures you get reimbursed and protects your bottom line.
How to Turn On Billable Expenses in QuickBooks Online
To enable this feature:
Click the Gear icon in the upper right
Choose Account and Settings
Select the Expenses tab
Under Bills and expenses, turn on Make expenses and items billable
(Optional) Set a default markup percentage
Click Save, then Done
Once it’s turned on, you’re ready to record and bill those expenses.
How to Record a Billable Expense
When you enter an expense:
Click + New, then choose Expense, Bill, or Check
Enter the vendor and details
Check the Billable box
Choose the customer or project
(Optional) Apply a markup
QuickBooks tracks it so you can invoice the client later.
Invoicing the Client for Billable Expenses
When you create an invoice for that customer, QBO will show you any billable expenses.
You can:
Add them with one click
Adjust the amounts or remove if needed
Include a note or description
This helps ensure you don’t miss a reimbursement.
Stay on Top of Unbilled Expenses
To track what hasn’t been invoiced:
Use the Unbilled Charges report
Run the Time Activities by Customer report (you can filter this report by billable – Y/N)
Both reports help monitor what’s outstanding and keep your records accurate.
A Few Tips to Consider
Link the client or job to the expense at the time of entry—don’t wait
Communicate clearly with clients about what you’ll bill for
Review reports monthly to catch anything you might have missed
Consider using classes or locations for extra tracking if needed
Final Thought
Billable Expenses in QuickBooks Online may seem like a small detail, but it can make a big difference in how accurately you invoice clients and how clearly you see your project profitability. With just a few steps, you can create a cleaner workflow, capture every reimbursable dollar, and run your business with greater confidence and clarity.
Your QuickBooks Online (QBO) dashboard is the first thing you see when you log in, so why not make it work for you? A well-organized dashboard helps you track key financial metrics, streamline workflows, and get quick insights into your business’s financial health. Whether you’re a small business owner, bookkeeper, or accountant, customizing your QBO dashboard can save time and reduce frustration. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best ways to personalize your dashboard so you can access essential data quickly and improve efficiency.
Rearranging Dashboard Widgets
The widgets on your QBO dashboard provide an overview of your business’s financial status. You can adjust these to focus on what matters most to you.
How to move widgets:
Click on the Customize layout button
Hover over a widget, then click and drag it to your preferred position.
Drop it in place and repeat for other widgets as needed.
Click Save
Adding or Removing Widgets
Not all widgets are helpful for every business. You can customize which ones appear based on your workflow.
How to remove a widget:
Click the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the widget. (Sometimes you find them in the bottom corner as well)
Select Hide this widget if you don’t need it on your dashboard.
How to add a widget:
Click on the Customize layout button
Click the Add or remove widgets button
Select the widgets you want to add and click Save.
Adjusting Your Layout for Maximum Efficiency
Benefits of a Customized Dashboard
Small Business Owners: Instantly see outstanding invoices and cash flow so you always know where your business stands.
Bookkeepers: Quickly access transaction details and bank feeds for more efficient reconciliation.
Accountants: Keep tax deadlines, client reports, and financial health indicators front and center.
By customizing your dashboard to your needs, you eliminate clutter and focus on what matters most to you.
Tips for an Effective QBO Dashboard
Prioritize key metrics: Avoid information overload by keeping only essential widgets.
Regularly update your layout: Revisit your dashboard setup as your business needs change.
Utilize favorites: Pin the most frequently used reports to avoid extra clicks.
Final Thoughts
A well-customized QuickBooks Online dashboard puts the most critical financial data at your fingertips, making day-to-day financial management faster and easier. Take a few minutes today to adjust your dashboard and experience the benefits of a streamlined workflow.
Let’s be honest—QuickBooks Desktop is packed with reports. If you’ve ever scrolled through the Reports Center wondering which one to open, you’re not alone. But here’s the thing: sometimes, the standard reports don’t give you exactly what you’re looking for. That’s where custom reports come in.
They’re your chance to slice and dice your data in a way that means something to you and your business.
Why Custom Reports Are Worth It
Custom reports let you focus on the parts of your business that matter most—whether that’s tracking income by job, checking expenses by vendor, or comparing sales across departments.
Generic reports feel like one-size-fits-all. With custom reports, you get to shape the data to fit your business—kind of like choosing exactly what songs to play instead of listening to whatever’s on the radio. It’s your information, your way.
A Quick Example
Let’s say you want to keep a closer eye on how much you spend with each vendor over time. You can start with a prebuilt report like the Expenses by Vendor Summary, then tweak it:
Add a date range that aligns with your budget review period
Filter by a specific account (maybe just job materials)
Sort by Total to see where most of your money’s going
Tip: You can also customize the report’s name by selecting the Header/Footer tab in the Customize Report window.
Once you like the way it looks, memorize it.
Name it something clear (like “Monthly Vendor Spend—Job Materials”), and it’ll be right there for next time. There’s no need to start from scratch.
Prefer to Create a Report from Scratch?
In QuickBooks Desktop, go to:
Reports in the top menu
Choose Custom Reports
Select Transaction Detail or Summary to begin
You can filter, sort, group, and format from there to your heart’s content.
One Last Tip
Once you’ve built a custom report that works, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with your team or your bookkeeper so everyone’s on the same page. You can also export it to Excel if you like working with spreadsheets outside of QuickBooks.
Final Thought
Custom reports are one of the most underrated tools in QuickBooks Desktop. They help you stop guessing and start seeing the whole picture.
Do you have a favorite report you always customize? Let me know—I’d love to hear what’s working for you.
Creating a budget that works can be challenging. Income can be unpredictable, and expenses can be hard to estimate. However, a well-crafted budget is essential for running a successful business. By using QuickBooks Online’s budgeting tools and following the steps below, you’ll gain a clear picture of your finances and be able to make informed decisions throughout the year.
Creating Your Budget
Click the gear icon in the upper right corner, then select Budgeting under Tools. Click Create budget. For Budget type, select Profit and Loss. This is most typical. It allows you to plan your budget around income and expenses over a specific time period.
***Note: you can also setup a budget for a Balance Sheet which can help you track your company’s assets, liabilities, and equity and plan for short- and long-term goals.
You’ll have to make other decisions about your new budget, such as:
Time period. We’re going to create our budget for the upcoming fiscal year that starts in Jan of 2025. So, we’ll select FY 2025 (Jan 2025 – Dec 2025).
What Budget format do you want to use? We’ll select Consolidated, since we want an organization-wide plan. A Subdivided budget would allow you to create individual budgets based on location, class, department, or customer.
Do you want QuickBooks Online to pre-fill data? If so, select the year of actual data you’d like to use from the drop-down menu.
Prefer to start from scratch? Select Custom budgets to manually enter your own data. This is especially helpful for new businesses with limited historical data or for companies revamping their finances.
Already have a budget outside QuickBooks?Use the Import budget option to bring in your budget from Excel or Google Sheets.
For this article, we will set up a budget from scratch.
QuickBooks helps you prepare the budget you want.
Click Next when you’re done. Your budget table will open.
Filling In Your Budget
Before you start filling in your budget, make sure the information at the top of the page is accurate. Is the fiscal-year correct? The button in front of Compare reference data should be turned off, since we’re starting from scratch. If you have past budget data or a year’s worth of income and expenses that you want to bring in, make sure this option is turned on. QuickBooks Online will then ask you whether you want to transfer your Actuals (real money you received or spent) or your budget, and for what year.
Make sure the time span is set correctly for your initial work (Yearly, Quarterly, or Monthly), though you can switch back and forth among them without losing data. Click the gear icon in the upper right to see your options there. You can Autosave budget (recommended), Hide empty rows (you won’t want to do this until you have your budget set up), and make the Display density compact.
To create your budget, you simply enter numbers in the small boxes supplied. Columns are divided by months or quarters, depending on what you specified, and rows are labeled with budget items (Design Income, Fees Billed, Advertising, Legal & Professional Fees, etc.). You simply enter numbers in the boxes that apply. You can either:
Enter an annual total in the Budget totals box and let QuickBooks Online divide it into 12 monthly numbers (click the small “split” icon), or,
Put the monthly amount in the first month’s (or quarter’s) column, and QuickBooks Online will multiply it by 12 and enter the annual number (click the small arrow).
You can also enter different numbers in each box to reflect changing budget needs.
You can enter numbers manually in individual boxes or enter annual or monthly numbers. QuickBooks Online will divide or total them.
When you’re done working with your budget, save it. You can come back anytime and make adjustments as needed.
Budgeting Tips
Remember seasonal upswings and downswings.
Make your goals as realistic as possible and distinguish between essential and non-essential expenses. Enter your budget items for the bills and other expenses that must be covered before you add optional categories.
Keep it simple. Don’t budget down to the last paper clip. You risk budget burnout.
Build in some backup funding. Just as you’re supposed to have an emergency fund in your personal life, try to create one for your business.
Plan for Periodic Expenses like annual insurance premiums, property taxes, or holiday gifts can catch you off guard. Estimate these costs and set aside money each month so you’re prepared.
Overestimate your expenses, at least a little. This can help prevent “borrowing” from one budget category to make up for a shortfall in another.
Make your employees part of the process. You shouldn’t be secretive about the expense element of your budget. Try to get input from staff in areas where they have knowledge.
Revisit your budget frequently. You should evaluate your progress at least once a month. You’ll learn a lot about your spending and sales patterns that you can use for future periods. The Budget Overview report displays all of the data in your budget(s). Budget vs. Actuals shows you how you’re adhering to your budget.
If you’re feeling unsure, working with an accounting professional can provide clarity. They can help you fine-tune your budget, offer insights into tax strategies, and suggest ways to make your money work more efficiently.
Staying motivated can be tough so make sure you reward yourself and celebrate small victories along the way, like paying off a credit card or hitting a milestone in your savings. These positive reinforcements make it easier to maintain good habits.
By creating a detailed budget in QuickBooks Online and following these simple tips, you can gain a clear view of your finances and plan strategically for the future. Remember that a budget isn’t set in stone; it should grow and adapt alongside your business. Regularly review your budget, adjust as needed, and celebrate your progress. With a well-organized plan and the right tools in place, you’ll be better positioned to reach your financial goals and keep your business on track.
