Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase .

My honest opinion on what to use for bookkeeping and tax prep if your a small to mid size blogger.

Straight out the gate let me start by saying, as a professional accountant I just adore Sage 50 (Simply Accounting) but that’s because I know what I’m doing.

Everyday I alternate between Simply Accounting, Quickbooks Desktop and Quickbooks Online depending upon what my client uses for their bookkeeping for their business.  Also let me just say I dislike Quickbooks desktop – a most unwieldy beast!

Somewhere in the middle is QBO or Quickbooks online.

Designed for mere mortals to link their business bank accounts in a few easy steps.  Press the update button each day and all of your transactions are downloaded and dumped into the accounting program leaving you to review the amounts and confirm if Quickbooks put them in the correct categories.

Each transaction requires “matching”, if you entered an invoice you have received or issued and this is the payment leaving or entering the bank OR “adding” if it shows up in the bank account and you missed entering it or it is a monthly charge, like bank interest or credit card fees.  (Oh yes, you can also link your business credit cards and they dump into the software too).

 

QBO has the ability to allow you to create an invoice and email it directly to the customer from the accounting software.  Payroll is made Stoopid simple (but is a $20 / month add on) but it includes all the latest updates to legislation and the year end filings made easy.

The main reason I’m posting this today is that there is a LIMITED TIME 50% off offer taking place so, if you were thinking about it, now’s the time.

For my company to run QBO monthly with two users it is averaging out around $30 CAD so this could now be purchased for $15 or so per month (subject to add ons and currency fluctuations:  Correct at time of print).  Here’s a quick look at two of the pricing plans.

 

 

Since its inception, QuickBooks Online has grown to 2.2 million users and the software has seen some significant changes and advancements, with one of the most recent being a long-awaited project management feature and a new pricing plan for larger businesses.

As cloud-based software, QuickBooks Online operates with nearly all internet browsers so long as you have internet access. QuickBooks Online also has desktop apps for Windows and Macs, which are said to run faster. Linux is not supported by QuickBooks Online at this time.

In order to read forms and use the print checks feature in QuickBooks Online, you will need Adobe Reader 7.0+ or the Firefox PDF plugin.

QuickBooks Online also has mobile apps for Apple products (iOS 9.3+) and Android products (4.1+).

QuickBooks Online is ideal for small businesses in need of strong accounting, ample features, and mobility. The addition of QuickBooks Advanced has opened the software up as an option for mid- to large-sized businesses as well. Businesses can have 5 – 25 users depending on their plan (Intuit does not count time tracking-only and reports-only users toward your user limit). You can set user permissions to control user access, and there’s a complete audit log of all activity.

Tax Prep integration

Once QBO is operating (almost) automatically you can then download Turbotax  and integrate the two.  Why?  They are both made by Intuit software and they go together like Peas and Carrots (Forrest Gump).

Using TurboTax to prepare your taxes DOES require the importation of your QuickBooks data into the application. Just click on ‘Business info’ as shown on the TurboTax toolbar after which you click on QuickBooks. Locate the QuickBooks data file by following the provided guidelines after which you select ‘Import’ to transport the data into TurboTax. Your version of QuickBooks online must be actively registered with a code to prove it especially if you are using TurboTax to prepare your business tax.  NOT as difficult as it sounds, trust me!

Again, as of the time of writing (Tax Season) Turbotax are offering awesome discounts and even free returns and filings for those who qualify!

I just did my daughters tax return using Turbotax online and her refund is just over $350.  Great for a kid who has been working part time for a couple of months and filing was free.

It’s simple to use (just follow the prompts and answer the questions).  If at anytime there’s a question you don’t quite understand you simply click the handy dandy question mark and up pops a box that explains what they’re trying to get at.

Turbotax also makes some pretty BIG guarantees.

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Once NETFILE has been officially opened by the CRA (February 18th for 2019) then you can automatically upload your T1 taxes directly to the CRA and click to receive any refunds automatically deposited into your nominated bank account.

Blogging schedules and running your business.

I’m a professional accountant working part time as a bookkeeper and part time as a Financial Controller for a Company I own shares in.  I have one kid at home still in High School and I spend every other waking minute, blogging, researching, building graphics, pinning to Pinterest, Social Media outreach, SEO keyword logging…. I don’t need to go on do I?

If I say these two products will save your time and your sanity then IT IS SO.  You can take that to the bank!

As always – do your research and see if they fit with you and your unique situation and let me know if i can help you out with anything else!

XO

Anna