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Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?

Accounting, QuickBooks, Small Business / By Eilis McCann

What warrants switching from QuickBooks Desktop to Online? Find out in this blog and learn how to make the best decision for your business.

Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online? Read More »

Today, you’ll get some clarity on a common question — should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?

In the next few paragraphs, you’ll get guidance on how to make this decision. That said, it’s important to preface things by saying that the answer really depends on how your business is set up and operates.

Keep reading to learn the:

Scenarios where you should stay on QuickBooks Desktop.
Top reasons businesses make the switch to QuickBooks Online.
New subscription option for QuickBooks Desktop.

Let’s get started!

Need an easier way to keep your QuickBooks data up-to-date?

Try Method’s two-way sync

What is QuickBooks Desktop?

screenshot of quickbooks desktop windows

Image credit: QuickBooks Desktop

Before answering the question, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?” let’s get to know QuickBooks Desktop a bit better.

QuickBooks Desktop is a popular accounting software that helps businesses manage their finances and perform tasks like:

Report generation.
Payroll handling.
Inventory tracking.
Tax management.

QuickBooks Desktop offers different versions to meet specific needs:

QuickBooks Desktop Pro: perfect for small businesses.
QuickBooks Enterprise: suited for larger enterprises with complex accounting demands.

QuickBooks Desktop stores all your data on your computer for a traditional, hands-on approach to financial management. Whether you use Mac or Windows, it offers a full suite of tools to handle your accounting processes and the needs of your customers.

Benefits of using QuickBooks Desktop

Using QuickBooks Desktop comes with many benefits:

All-in-one tool: From basic accounting workflows to managing your entire company file, QuickBooks Desktop makes sure you keep everything on track from a centralized space.
Feature-packed: QuickBooks Desktop is loaded with a range of features to address diverse business needs.
Easy reporting: The software gives you a clear snapshot of your business with customizable reports and crucial data like your profit and loss statements.
Safe and efficient: QuickBooks Desktop boosts productivity and keeps your data secure — all while letting you keep an eye on your products and services.

What is QuickBooks Online?

Image credit: QuickBooks

Let’s take a closer look at QuickBooks Online before answering, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?”

QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based accounting software that improves your business’ financial management. It’s designed to cut down the time you and your employees spend on tasks like:

Bookkeeping and invoice creation.
Customer and supplier management.
Expenses and budget handling.
Sales and cash flow tracking.

Best of all, QuickBooks Online is easy to access from anywhere, any time. However, keep in mind that it requires an internet connection unlike QuickBooks Desktop.

Benefits of using QuickBooks Online

As with QuickBooks Desktop, using QuickBooks Online comes with unique benefits:

Accessibility: Manage your finances from any corner of the world. This lets you keep your budget and supply chain on track — whether you’re in the office or on the go.
Automatic updates: No need for tricky installations or updates. Using QuickBooks Online means more time to focus on profit generation and less on tech issues.
Multi-user access: Collaborate in real time with your team, which makes it simpler to monitor cash flow and share important insights.
Automatic backups and security: Your financial data backs up automatically and securely to QuickBooks Online, so you don’t have to worry about losing crucial information.
Simplified invoicing: Online’s automated invoices make managing your finances easier and more accurate.

Get started with your free trial of QuickBooks Online here.

Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?

Now that we’ve explored both options, let’s tackle the big question: “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?”

Before making the decision on moving from QuickBooks Desktop to Online, it’s essential to weigh the pros and cons of each option and conduct a comparison of features and functionality. Plus, you need to consider the time and money it costs to make the switch.

While QuickBooks Desktop has robust capabilities, QuickBooks Online offers the advantage of accessibility. To determine the best fit for your business, analyze your specific needs and goals.

Let’s look even closer at the differences between these options so you make the most informed decision for your unique workflows.

QuickBooks Desktop vs. QuickBooks Online: What is the difference?

To answer the question, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?” let’s take a look at what sets them apart.

The main differences between QuickBooks Desktop and Online are:

Technical and operational aspects.
Growth and adaptability.
Financial factors.
Accessibility.

Let’s look into these areas closer.

Technical and operational aspects

To start, let’s explore the technical and operational differences between QuickBooks Desktop and Online:

Version updates: QuickBooks Online automatically updates more frequently than Desktop. In contrast, QuickBooks Desktop requires manual updates, and upgrades come out few and far between.
Data storage: QuickBooks Online stores your data in the cloud for online access, while Desktop stores it locally. Consider your preference between these two different approaches in terms of data security and privacy.
Automatic backups: QuickBooks Online provides automatic backups, unlike Desktop, where you’ll need to perform backups manually.
Remote access: QuickBooks Online allows for remote access, unlike Desktop, which requires additional remote software for on-the-go functionality.
Integration: While both software versions have designated app marketplaces, QuickBooks Online provides better integration options than Desktop. It offers broader compatibility with third-party apps and easier implementation.

Growth and adaptability

Next, let’s dive into the growth and adaptability differences between QuickBooks Desktop vs. Online:

Scalability: QuickBooks Desktop is more scalable than Online, especially for large-sized businesses. QuickBooks Enterprise in particular handles complex operations and seamlessly aligns with long-term business plans and scalability.
Industry-specific tools: When it comes to specific industry needs, both QuickBooks versions offer tools to meet the accounting method and requirements of multiple industries. These include tools for sectors that range from manufacturing to non-profit organizations.
Customization: When it comes to reporting and customization options, Desktop has more features than Online. These features are advanced and let you personalize the solution for better alignment with your operations.

Financial factors

Now, let’s explore how QuickBooks Desktop and Online vary when it comes to financial aspects.

In terms of subscription pricing vs. one-time purchase, they follow different approaches. For most, QuickBooks Online’s monthly subscription model is more cost-effective than Desktop’s one-time purchase approach, which also includes optional yearly upgrades.

Accessibility

Lastly, let’s discuss how QuickBooks Desktop and Online differ in terms of accessibility:

Remote access: QuickBooks Online offers better accessibility than Desktop, as you can use it on any device, provided there’s adequate internet reliability and speed. Online is also easier to use than Desktop due to its user-friendly interface and simplified screen navigation.
User access: QuickBooks Online supports more users simultaneously than QuickBooks Desktop. This means multiple users can access data without the need for additional licenses.
Support options: Support options vary between QuickBooks Online and Desktop. For example, Online users may depend on web tools for technical support and assistance, whereas Desktop users may rely more on phone and email support.

Product and security updates

QuickBooks Desktop usually rolls out updates once a year. These updates require manual installation and sometimes come with additional costs if you’re upgrading features.

Intuit also releases security patches periodically to ensure your system remains up to standards. Although existing QuickBooks Desktop users still receive continued support for products, it’s important to note that as of September 30th, 2024, certain versions are being discontinued from support and security updates.

In contrast, QuickBooks operates on a cloud-based model, which means you do not need manual updates for your software. Intuit automatically applies:

Product enhancements.
New features.
Security updates.

Cloud-based products like QuickBooks Online also include advanced encryption and continuous security monitoring to safeguard your data against threats.

These differences are what make tackling the question, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?” tough.

QuickBooks Desktop to Online: When it doesn’t make sense to switch

To help you answer the question, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?” let’s explore situations where a switch is not the best fit.

The first major checkpoint in this decision is to evaluate the current features you use against what’s available in the QuickBooks Online platform and app ecosystem.

While QuickBooks Desktop and Online share some features and functionality, they are not a like-for-like replacement.

Here are the features native to QuickBooks Desktop that are not available “out of the box” in the Online versions:

Inventory tracking and automated reordering points.
IIF import files.
Custom fields on invoices and bills.
Job progress invoicing.
Job costing.
Sales orders.

If any of these features are part of your workflow today, you may need to get creative and dig deeper into the nitty-gritty of the QuickBooks Online offering.

For example, let’s look at custom invoice fields in QuickBooks Online. While the capability exists, it does so in a more limited capacity than in QuickBooks Desktop.

As a result, you need to think about the level of customization your QuickBooks invoices need and include this in your decision to move from QuickBooks Desktop to Online.

In other cases, such as inventory tracking, you will need to invest in a third-party application from the QuickBooks Online app store to unlock the functionality.

Now, it’s important to note that installing third-party applications is not necessarily a bad thing. You should instead view this as an opportunity to extend the power of QuickBooks Online and get the exact functionality you need.

In some cases, the combination of QuickBooks Online and third-party applications results in a solution that goes well beyond the functionality of QuickBooks Desktop and provides you with a more powerful tool.

When looking at apps as part of your decision to move from QuickBooks Desktop to Online, you should consider the following questions:

Does the app meet (or exceed) the QuickBooks Desktop features you use today?
Does the incremental cost of the app justify the impact it will have on your business?
Can you import your historical data from QuickBooks Desktop into this new app?

If you answered, “Yes” to these questions, switching to QuickBooks Online might meet your specific needs around:

Legal compliance.
Payroll.
Time tracking.

Get everything you need to run your business in one place.

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Limitations of QuickBooks Desktop

Answering the question, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?” becomes easier when you understand the limits of QuickBooks Desktop.

Mobility

When it comes to mobility, QuickBooks Desktop restricts you a bit. For vendors and products on the move, the ability to migrate or convert data is essential.

That’s where Desktop falls short compared to Online, which enhances accessibility and mobility. Online is more mobile-friendly than Desktop in almost every way.

Multiple-user access

QuickBooks Desktop is limited in collaboration and multi-user access. It doesn’t easily allow for remote access. Plus, assessing finances as a team may require additional licenses.

Automatic updates

QuickBooks Desktop users may find themselves missing out on the latest features.

Unlike QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop lacks automatic updates and backup functionality. This means you’ll need to manually install updates to stay current.

Integration with online apps

QuickBooks Desktop is limited in its integration with third-party apps.

This can slow down your workflow and result in missed opportunities for productivity-enhancing features.

Backup

QuickBooks Desktop lacks automatic data backups, which makes data security and privacy a concern.

In contrast, QuickBooks Online provides automatic backup and recovery options to minimize risk.

User interface

QuickBooks Desktop has a different user interface than the more modern QuickBooks Online. This impacts the learning curve and training needed for users to adapt.

That’s why getting to know the transition and onboarding process is key when starting with QuickBooks Desktop.

Diving into feedback from current QuickBooks Desktop users, as well as user reviews and testimonials will guide your decision if you’re leaning towards Desktop.

Subscription model

Lastly, QuickBooks Desktop has a different pricing model than QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Online requires a subscription, while QuickBooks Desktop requires a one-time purchase.

Although a one-time purchase avoids recurring payments, it also involves a higher initial investment. This can be a strain for small businesses just starting out.

On a related note, it’s also wise to understand QuickBooks Desktop’s cancellation and refund policies, as they affect your software’s overall cost and flexibility.

When you might choose QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop

Now that we’ve covered the key factors when asking, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?” let’s review why businesses are making the switch.

1. Improved workflow and automation

Switching to QuickBooks Online enhances back office accounting with automation that is more efficient than Desktop.

The real game-changer here is that QuickBooks Online offers better accessibility than its desktop counterpart. This means you can tap into a range of automation opportunities more easily.

Right from the get-go, you’ll enjoy support for two common recurring workflows — invoicing and bank statement imports.

2. The robust app ecosystem

The beauty of QuickBooks Online’s cloud-based architecture lies in how it integrates better with third-party apps than QuickBooks Desktop. This means you can easily connect with a range of other solutions to enhance your business operations.

Plus, QuickBooks Online has more features than QuickBooks Desktop through its more extensive app store. Whether you need specific point solutions or full-fledged QuickBooks CRM integrations, these tools free up time by reducing manual, repetitive work.

3. Access from any location, on any device

As is the case with any cloud product, you no longer need to worry about hardware compatibility or having the latest and greatest technology to run your business applications with QuickBooks Online.

It’s cloud-based, unlike QuickBooks Desktop. So, all you need is a device with a browser, and you have access to your data!

This also means you do not need to manage any local installations or “helper” applications for third-party tools — which are often a point of friction for businesses getting set up or migrating to new hardware.

Because QuickBooks Online runs on Intuit’s servers and databases, Intuit also manages the hardware and its redundancy. This saves you from the worry of managing a local QuickBooks Desktop file. Not to mention, it’s more cost-effective than maintaining your own hardware.

Subscriptions for QuickBooks Desktop

QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier

As of the September 30 stop-sell, QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Premier versions are no longer available to purchase in the United States. This decision marks a significant change in Intuit’s strategy as they focus more on cloud-based solutions and subscription models.

This does not affect existing Desktop customers, who can continue to use their software and renew it after September 30th. It’s also important to note that Intuit is continuing support for these versions for current subscribers. This includes providing:

Security updates.
Product updates.
Technical support.

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise continues to be available and supported to all users. It isn’t impacted by the QuickBooks Desktop stop-sell decision. If you have a larger business with more complex needs like deeper inventory management and advanced functionality, upgrading to a QuickBooks Enterprise subscription may be worth considering.

Can you transfer data from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?

If you’re considering a switch to QuickBooks Online, the good news is that transferring data from QuickBooks Desktop to Online is possible. With specific tools and guidance, it’s a straightforward process.

Is migration right for you?

For existing QuickBooks Desktop users, the decision to migrate to Online is a tough one. It’s important to remember that the stop-sell affects only new sales of specific QuickBooks Desktop products in the U.S., including:

Pro Plus.
Premier Plus.
Mac Plus.
Enhanced Payroll.

If you’re an existing customer, you can continue to use it and renew it — and you’ll still receive updates and support from Intuit.

But consider your business’ specific needs. For example, if you require advanced inventory management, QuickBooks Enterprise might be a better option.

In the same way, the comprehensive features and cloud accessibility convenience of QuickBooks Online could offer a more useful accounting solution.

What converts and doesn’t from QuickBooks Desktop to Online

You can convert most of your essential financial data to QuickBooks Online, including your:

Company information.
Chart of accounts.
Customer and vendor details.
Transactions.

This ensures smoother operations and minimal disruption to your accounting processes.

Unfortunately, some data and features may not transfer directly due to differences between the platforms. This includes:

Certain custom financial reports.
Any transaction types.
Advanced inventory details.

How Method helps with your transition

If you have a Method account connected to your QuickBooks, Method is proactively offering guidance and support to ensure a seamless shift. This includes:

Personalized support: Method’s team is ready to assist with accounts remapping to retain functionality and data integrity.

Transition tools: Using migration tools and Method’s expertise, rest assured that your data transfer is complete and accurate.

Educational resources: Method provides additional resources, including webinars and help center articles, so you have all the information you need on migration process and best practices.

You can transfer your data from QuickBooks Desktop to Online. To do this:

Start by logging in as an admin to the company file you want to import.
Navigate to the Company menu and select “Export Company File to QuickBooks Online.” This jumpstarts the data conversion process.
Click on “Get started.”
Select the destination by clicking “Select destination.”
Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account, and you’re on your way to seamless data transfer.

So, there’s no need to worry about your desktop data when considering, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?”

Is it hard to switch from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online?

You may wonder whether switching is a challenging task when asking, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?”

The answer is no. It’s not hard to switch from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online. Intuit has simplified the process to make it as easy as possible. You can find detailed steps on the QuickBooks website for importing your information into QuickBooks Online.

Migration tools and support to get started

Intuit provides a QuickBooks Migration Tool that transfers data from Desktop to Online. This tool guides you through the process and automatically moves data like your:

Company file.
Accounts.
Transactions.
Customer and vendor details.

The tool simplifies the process to make it accessible even if you have limited technical expertise.

If you’re integrated with Method CRM, transitioning to QuickBooks Online requires a couple of additional steps to ensure that all linked data and custom workflows continue to operate smoothly. You’ll have access to personalized support and solutions to remap your account and ensure a smooth transition.

QuickBooks Desktop vs. Online: Key takeaways + some bonus reading

Deciding to switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online is not as straightforward of a choice as you may have thought.

The beauty of this decision, though, is that both platforms are very similar in terms of core functionality. This means that the factors you need to consider are more around the nuances of how you ultimately use QuickBooks on a day-to-day basis.

Start your free 30-day QuickBooks Online trial and get 30% off your subscription during your first year.

For some further reading, check out how Method:Partner Victoria Cameron evaluated the switch, as well as her top tips for making the transition!

Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online FAQs

Why are companies switching from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online?

More and more companies are making the switch from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, and here’s why:

Accessibility: QuickBooks Online offers the flexibility to access financial data from anywhere, any time. Also, it is more accessible on mobile devices than Desktop.
Automatic updates: QuickBooks Online is continuously updated, unlike Desktop. It automatically implements the latest features and security patches, sparing you the hassle of manual backups and updates.
Scalability: As businesses grow, their needs change. QuickBooks Online makes it easier to scale up, as it offers a number of plans that grow with your business.
Integration with other apps: QuickBooks Online integrates with a wide range of business applications to centralize your operations.
Improved collaboration: Cloud-based accessibility makes it simpler for teams to work together efficiently, regardless of their location.

In a nutshell, companies are switching to QuickBooks Online for its convenience, accessibility, and ability to adapt to growing business needs. That’s why more business owners are asking the question, “Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?”

Do accountants prefer QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online?

Accountants’ preferences vary, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Some prefer QuickBooks Desktop, while others prefer QuickBooks Online:

QuickBooks Desktop: Accountants who prefer QuickBooks Desktop appreciate its robust features, customizability, and ability to work offline. With more features than QuickBooks Online out of the box, it’s ideal for those who have complex accounting needs.
QuickBooks Online: Accountants like QuickBooks Online as it offers real-time collaboration, internet accessibility, and automatic updates. It’s ideal for users who value mobility and teamwork.

The choice really depends on your unique needs!

Can users still use QuickBooks credit card processing features with QuickBooks Online?

Yes, QuickBooks Online supports credit card processing directly within the platform. It’s easier to use than other systems, as it offers a simplified way to manage credit card payments for your business.

Should I move clients from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?

Moving clients from QuickBooks Desktop to Online depends on their specific needs. QuickBooks Online offers cloud-based software access and automatic updates, which makes it suitable for clients requiring flexibility and real-time collaboration. Consider your clients’ business size, industry needs, and the features they rely on before making a decision.

Does QuickBooks Online sync with QuickBooks Desktop?

QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop are separate products and do not sync directly with each other. Data migration tools are available to transfer information from Desktop to Online, but continuous, real-time syncing between the two platforms is not supported.

Strengthen your QuickBooks workflows today with a free trial of Method.

Image credit: Prostock-studio via Adobe Stock

Future CRM trends your small business needs to watch out for

CRM / By Rebecca DiCioccio

Discover the top 3 CRM trends for small businesses and learn how to action them in this post.

Future CRM trends your small business needs to watch out for Read More »

This blog is a guest contribution by Rebecca DiCioccio — the Marketing Manager at Paperform.

In the world of small business tech, things change fast and CRM solutions are no exception.

With new CRM providers popping up almost every week, this can be a tricky space for your small business to navigate.

To make this process easier, here are the top 3 future CRM trends you need to have on your radar.

But first, let’s start with some CRM 101 to get us all on the same page.

What is a CRM?

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is designed to help you manage interactions and relationships with customers.

So, in other words, it’s a goldmine of customer and lead details that includes everything from one’s purchase history to demographic data.

A CRM is useful across the board, as it lets teams from sales to customer service easily find the customer data they need to get the job done efficiently.

All in all, a CRM is a powerful solution that lets you do everything from storing customer contact interactions to managing your email campaigns.

Future CRM trends to have on your radar

AI

The first future CRM trend to watch out for is Artificial intelligence (AI).

AI is growing at a fast rate across all industries and CRM isn’t going to miss the boat.

CRM solutions are enhanced by the use of AI in multiple ways, with opportunities to save time and money, as well as gain incredible insights and data.

In fact, by the end of 2021, AI associated with CRM activities will give a $1.1 trillion boost to global business revenue.

So, everyone working in sales should pay attention to artificial intelligence and how it can be used together with human intelligence.

Workflow automation is one of the biggest and most important uses for AI in CRM. For example, using automation for your sales workflow can put hours back into your day each week as you don’t have to worry about manually entering lead data or following up with prospects.

Tools like marketing automation software or lead management software, are especially helpful here as they let you leave repetitive tasks to automation and allow you to focus on more impactful tasks.

Workflow automation is a must-have future CRM trend as it:

Saves you time
Increases your productivity
Reduces your workload
Lets smaller teams accomplish more

Conversational tools such as chatbots are another excellent way to make the most of AI for CRM.

Rather than completely take over from human customer service teams and salespeople, this CRM trend automates some of the most simple and common queries.

As AI gets more advanced, it will be able to handle more complex queries too — making this an important future CRM trend.

Getting the deepest view of your potential customer is a powerful and effective way to close more sales. And social media channels are no exception to the 360-degree customer view we’re all after.

That’s why social media channel software integrations are one of the top future CRM trends on this list.

This is particularly true when looking at the impact of COVID-19 on digital prospecting and online sales.

With everyone stuck at home, social media provided everything from friends to window shopping.

In fact, 60% of customer interactions with companies are projected to be online in 2021 and the rest in-person. In comparison, 2018 was practically the opposite with 42% of interactions were online and 58% in-person.

Online customer interactions are set to increase 43% post-pandemic.
– ROI Revolution, 2021.

Combining social media and CRM gets businesses closer to their customers online. It offers you a chance to get deeper insights into what your customers think and what they say about your brand online.

When you keep an eye on what’s happening on social media, you can collect customer feedback and use it to improve the customer experience as a whole.

A single line of customer communication

Taking an omnichannel approach to business has become popular over recent years, but it could soon be a thing of the past.

While the behaviour of leads and customers reaching out to you via multiple channels like phone, email, and social media is unlikely to change, how you manage these interactions should.

Especially when you consider that the current best practice results in full-time service reps switching screens up to 1,100 times a day on average.

A full-time customer service rep switches screens 1,100 times a day on average.
– American Telephone, 2020.

The alternative is to take a channel-less approach to communication requests and instead filter everything to your CRM.

This way your customer interaction can take place on any channel and one application will handle all incoming queries. This means your team members don’t have to continually check each platform and can stop jumping between over 1,000 screens daily.

With this CRM trend, communication is centralized so that customers can still choose their preferred method of communication but customer support teams have a much easier time trying to stay on top of everything. A true win-win scenario.

The final word: Future CRM trends to watch out for

The world of CRM is changing. New technologies and tools are making things easier, saving time and money for small businesses everywhere. Here’s a recap of the future CRM trends you need to be ready for:

Artificial intelligence is bringing automation and chatbots to the table
Social media is becoming more important to your sales process than ever before
It’s time to unify the line of communication you have with your potential and existing customers with a CRM

CRM trends, like just about everything in business, are always advancing. If you don’t keep an eye on these latest trends, you could get left behind. So, what better time than now for your small business to get on board with the way technology is heading.

Want a CRM that evolves with your business? Start your free trial of Method CRM today!

Image credit: Free Photos via Pixabay

Work order tracking: 4 keys to simplify your process

Field Services / By Eilis McCann

Discover how to build a work order tracking process that creates a great experience for both your customers and field crew.

Work order tracking: 4 keys to simplify your process Read More »

From a process perspective, work orders are the foundational element that keeps the field service industry running efficiently. They are the key to managing expectations and avoiding difficult conversations after a field assignment has been completed.

So, in other words, they’re important to get right.

Keep reading for four sure-fire ways to streamline your work order tracking process and deliver great experiences for both your customers and field teams.

Work order 101

Before we get into work order tracking best practices, let’s first align on the baseline elements of a work order.

If you boil the quote-to-cash process down to the essentials there are three stages — which conveniently map to three key documents:

Estimates — Outline proposed services and cost, for review by the customer
Work orders — Are generated from approved estimates and represent the work that is to be done, along with the aforementioned details about the job assignment
Invoices — Are the final step, outlining the actual work completed and final costs, to be paid for by the customer

Work orders aren’t complicated documents by nature as they include:

An outline of the work to be done
Pricing for the work or maintenance
The date, time, and location that the work assignment is to be performed
The name of the field service technician who will be performing the work or maintenance

With that baseline set, let’s dive deeper into the state of work order tracking today and review some opportunities to streamline your process.

The current state of work order tracking

Typically, field services businesses manage their work order process in one of three ways:

Through a combination of document/spreadsheet templates, paper forms, handwritten lists, and whiteboards.
Using workarounds via Delayed Charges or Sales Orders in QuickBooks.
Through 3rd-party field service management software that may (or may not) integrate with QuickBooks to provide specific functionality.

While #1 and #2 may sound appealing at surface value, they leave businesses exposed to the trap of saving hard costs. Hard costs that often pale in comparison to the opportunity cost of not investing in technology that provides users with processes and solutions that scale long-term.

The reality is that a well-designed work order tracking system is a good investment because:

The time spent creating, managing, and locating paperwork is not billable, nor is it perceived as “valuable” to your clients.
The efficiency of your work order tracking directly impacts your bottom line. A great process will maximize cash flow, which means you can invest more in people, tools, and technology to support your growth.
As a field service business, most of your processes touch your customer – and today, great customer experiences are one of the biggest influences on your customer retention rate. In a competitive space where the services offered and pricing are comparable, this is your best chance to secure and retain your customers!

With that last point in mind let’s look at the fundamentals of a great work order tracking process, with a special focus on customer touchpoints.

Step #1 – Create estimates on the go

While there are scenarios where estimates can be created over the phone, ideally they should be created on-site, in-person with the customer.

Not only is this a great chance to make a human connection but it’s also a key opportunity to ensure there’s clarity on the job(s) to be done (for both your customer and your field team).

Equipping your team with a mobile app that allows them to do this on the fly from a phone or tablet is the key to making this a reality.

Two Gardeners At Work Checking Plans For A Formal Garden

A second benefit to moving this process from the office into the field is that you can ask for the business as soon as the estimate is complete.

Better yet, you can offer your customer the ability to sign off electronically on the spot to increase your odds of getting the business.

Not to mention that getting signatures quickly from your customers eliminates the need for your team to spend hours on the phone and sending emails to follow-up on unsigned estimates.

More signed estimates and fewer follow-up calls are both great boosts to your profitability!

Step #2 – Take the “work” out of work order tracking

Creating work orders once involved copying and pasting information from your estimates but this is no longer the case. Today, the ideal work order process uses the information in your estimate to automatically create the majority of your work order.

A centralized system for this process, such as a field service solution, makes this possible as it automatically inputs this data for you so that all that’s left is for your Dispatcher to finalize the scheduling and assignment of the work before dispatching.

When it comes to scheduling and dispatching, coordinating resources, managing your trucks, tools, and assets will always take an element of manual work; but your job routing is best left to software solutions.

By leveraging field service management software that’s designed to automatically optimize the route your field teams take, you:

Reduce the chance of human error when it comes to route mapping
Minimize the amount of time your team spends driving
Maximize the number of work orders your crew can complete

Moving your work order assignment and scheduling process to a cloud-based platform also brings the benefit of working with real-time updates.

In the field service industry, you know last-minute changes are bound to happen and throw a wrench into the best-laid assignment plans and routes.

Where this historically would result in scribbles across your job assignment board and a flurry of phone calls, working in a centralized software solution allows your team to have visibility into these changes and the resulting updates to the scheduling.

So, what was once a headache for the field service industry is now just a minor course correction with the proper cloud solution.

Step #3 – Online invoices and payments

Sometimes the end of your work order tracking process marks the start of the hardest part of the process – getting paid!

To stick with the theme of streamlining processes and delivering great experiences, this is a good opportunity to move to a digital invoicing process.

The benefits of online invoices and payments

Since the ideal work order process moves job information into a centralized location, the creation of an invoice becomes really simple when moved online.

In fact, it only involves inputting existing estimate and work order details into an invoice template that’s plug and play. Ideally, this invoice also contains a link to an online portal where your customer can pay digitally.

By fuelling your invoicing process with the right tech, you:

Get paid faster
Improve your work order tracking process
Reduce manual, repetitive tasks

So, in other words, this is another win-win for your business!

Step #4 – Keep your systems in sync

At this point, it’s safe to say that QuickBooks, spreadsheets, forms, lists, and whiteboards are not the ideal drivers of great work order tracking.

With that in mind, it’s important to make sure that any new technologies you invest in, integrate well with your core software solutions — like QuickBooks for example.

In doing so, you’ll:

Keep your QuickBooks data clean by ending the need to house non-posting transactions there
Keep your field team efficient by eliminating the need for workarounds, hacked-together solutions, or reams of paper forms to sort through
Keep your data in perfect sync as the right tool makes sure that data moves between QuickBooks and other platforms, in real-time

Done correctly, your team will never need to rekey information into QuickBooks again!

Pro-tip — Perfect your work order tracking with Method:Field Services

As a software company dedicated to empowering those in the field service industry to succeed, the above work order tracking process is ingrained in the Method:Field Services solution.

The goal for this field service management tool is to equip you and your field teams with technology that:

Maximizes your productivity and work order completion
Is easy for users to navigate
Simplifies your job assignment, dispatching, and routing process
Gets you more repeat customers
Works on your mobile device
Keeps your software solutions in sync and up to date

If you’d like to experience these benefits, start your free trial of Method:Field Services!

Image credit: Kari Shea via Unsplash

Managing an efficient supply chain: 4 considerations from Method CRM & SOS Inventory

Manufacturing, Small Business, Wholesale & Distribution / By Eilis McCann

The modern supply chain is evolving — is yours keeping up? These 4 tips will help you set your business up for success in 2021 and beyond.

Managing an efficient supply chain: 4 considerations from Method CRM & SOS Inventory Read More »

Supply chain management has been a hot topic over the past year, so I wanted to share the highlights from our webinar with our friends at SOS Inventory. Our panelists had a great discussion on what a modern supply chain looks like in 2021. Here are the takeaways!

We’re not in Kansas anymore

Excuse my Wizard of Oz reference — but COVID-19 has reshaped the world of supply chains. Today, businesses need to employ a “back to basics” approach, which means:

Minimizing the number of intermediaries involved in your sourcing process
“Counting the cost” needs to consider both dollars and intangibles
The time between order and receipt needs to be managed closely

The struggles many countries faced while sourcing PPE over the past year highlighted the importance of these variables in a very relatable way. Where offshoring was a historical path of choice for the production of these types of goods, we’ve seen the concept of reshoring burst onto the scene in a very profound way as companies look to bring more predictability into their sourcing, despite the increased costs typically associated with domestic manufacturing.

The “human” factor is back, in a big way

There’s also been a major shift in how buyer-supplier relationships are perceived. Where these relationships were often very transactional, the importance of human connection has reemerged and buyers are realizing the importance of having partnerships at each step. Shortages have been harsh reminders that suppliers are an extension of your business — and when strong relationships are in place, resolutions come faster, confidence is higher, and problems have a way of getting sorted out in a much shorter period of time.

Going “digital” is a top priority

The pace of technology adoption in the transportation and supply chain industries has been slower than other industries, driven by the scope and scale of the industries themselves; however, the time for change has arrived. Forward-thinking leaders need to consider how technology can enable:

Greater visibility into their supply chain, through inventory management solutions
Streamlined order processing for their clients, through e-commerce
Enablement of distributed teams, through collaborative tools

Competitive pressures and tight margins often cause leaders to look more towards cost control versus investment — but the time has come to invest and lay strong foundations for future growth. Your end customer experience is becoming a core business differentiator, so it’s increasingly important to decrease friction at each step of their journey. It’s never been more important to make sure that you have complete visibility into your business so you can provide real-time insights to your stakeholders and keep your supply chain running efficiently.

The best plans account for the worst-case scenarios

The biggest lesson emerging from the pandemic is that the businesses that were agile are emerging stronger than they have ever been. Short supply chains and local sourcing were some of the keys — but there have been great success stories of companies that pivoted, retooled, and capitalized on new market needs and buying behaviors.

The takeaway here is that contingency planning is not an optional activity. If you haven’t done so already, your business would be well-served to identify:

Remote work contingencies for your team
Diversified options for raw material sourcing
Opportunities to pivot capacity and capabilities in the event of material shortages or new market demands

Wrapping up

In hindsight, 2020 shone a light on many areas of our day-to-day activities that were vulnerable to disruption. As the economic recovery continues, it’s time to focus on what was learned through this season and applying those learnings to ensure that your business is stronger as you prepare for the rest of 2021. Here at Method CRM and SOS Inventory, we’re big fans of small business — so we’re cheering you on!

Looking for more tips on managing an efficient supply chain? Check out the full recording from our webinar with SOS Inventory!

10 tips on how to grow a small business in a niche industry

Small Business / By Sarah Iranca

Are you struggling to grow a small business in a niche space? Use these tips to market your business better and grow your customer base fast.

10 tips on how to grow a small business in a niche industry Read More »

As a small business owner in a unique or highly specialized industry, you know the difficulties of learning how to grow a small business and increase your customer base.

Whether you offer doggy cleaning services, sell products specifically for left-handed folks, or create sword and fencing classes for kids, you know you’ve got a great product or service that improves people’s lives.

The challenging part for small business owners is facing a disconnect when it comes to marketing their products and services to new customers.

So, let’s take a look at ten ways outlining how to grow a small business and improve your bottom line.

How to grow a small business in a niche industry

To grow a small business in a niche industry, you must:

Understand your target market.
Figure out how to communicate with them better.
Go above and beyond to engage your business in the local community.
Increase customer retention.
Practice corporate social responsibility.
Form strategic partnerships.

But the question remains — how? So, here are ten strategies to help you grow:

Get to know your target audience.
Create a product/service that is focused on customer needs.
Highlight the value of your offer.
Use technology to its full potential.
Take a multichannel marketing approach.
Get involved in community efforts.
Focus on scalability.
Always have a backup plan.
Stay focused on your core strengths.
Focus on your branding.

One example that highlights how to grow a small business in a niche industry is Revelation Pets. Using their experience in pet care, they created a high-end doggy spa and even helped start a specialty dog grooming business.

The good news is that any small business can use Revelation Pets’ growth strategy — not just those in the pet industry. The key to their successful marketing plan is to stay flexible and adapt each growth strategy tip to your specific situation.

Let’s get into the “how” of how to grow a small business!

1. Understand your target audience

The first step to growing your small business is to know who you’re selling to. From there, you can figure out how to gain and retain your audience’s interest and support.

Focus on getting long-term customers that will stick with your product or service year after year. Repeat customers spend 67% more than new ones and contribute the highest percentage of your revenue.

Sticking with our previous example, let’s say you own and operate a doggy resort and daycare business called the Pampered Pooch Emporium, and you have the only pet swimming pool in town.

You know your target market consists of dog owners, but plenty of people own dogs and have never used a doggy resort service — let alone one with a whole swimming pool.

You need to figure out which members of your overall target audience will be interested in your services and how you can help them understand the value of your small business. To start, you should create customer profiles to define your target audience.

By creating profiles based on your current customers and the leads you’re hoping to reach, you’ll develop a strategy that adapts to market changes and figure out what matters most to your target customer.

A successful business diversifies its product or service offerings when needed. For example, you might notice that your customers don’t have time to bathe their pets after picking them up from your resort. In this case, it might be worth it for you to diversify your services to also handle in-house grooming, as the service would be convenient for your customers and profitable for you.

Here are some customer profiles your doggy resort might have:

Brenda is a 50-year-old lawyer with a demanding career. She’s often away on business throughout the week and needs a place for her two dogs to spend the day when she’s gone. She values your doggy resort for its convenient location and flexible packages that let her dogs spend up to a week or more in your care if needed.
Tom is a 25-year-old first-time pet owner with a younger dog. He has little dog-training experience, so he values the extra obedience services offered by your resort that give his pup structure. He also appreciates that you provide an outlet for his dog’s energy during swim time in the pool.
Jessica is a 30-year-old teacher with two kids and an older dog. Her dog has shown a few health problems, such as chronic arthritis. She values your business for its therapeutic swimming services to her family’s beloved, aging pet.

You want to create profiles that apply to your own business and account for your available products and services. This exercise helps you understand how to grow a small business by pinpointing your target market.

2. Highlight the value of your offer

Next, you must effectively communicate what your business offers to your target audience.

For some companies, customers can quickly figure out what they’re selling. For instance, if you run a store that sells only left-hand-oriented products, it’s clear your customer base is left-handed people.

However, it may not be so obvious for other niche businesses. For instance, sticking with the doggy resort example, many dog owners who use the services of pet resorts are unfamiliar with the benefits of a doggy swimming pool.

Along with analyzing your customer profiles, you can reach out to your current customer base for assistance. This helps you adjust your pricing strategy and develop sustainable practices to stay competitive.

One way you can do this is by sending out a survey to current customers asking questions such as:

How did you find our business?
What influenced your decision to choose our company over competitors?
What aspects of our business do you value the most (convenience, affordability, the fact that we’re the only provider in town, etc.)?
What platforms do you prefer to use to get updates from our business?

These questions help you identify what your customers appreciate most about your business. You can then incorporate this data into your marketing strategy and learn how to grow a small business in your industry by understanding the unique value of your offerings. Make sure to establish a comprehensive quality assurance process to prevent bad reviews.

To better market your business and illustrate your value to potential customers, you should also request testimonials from your current customers. Ask customers who’ve had a great experience with your company to send you a brief review with a few photos showing your business’ impact.

You can then share these reviews on your website and social media pages to show your business’ success to new prospects. A company that leverages social media effectively drives far more engagement.

3. Utilize technology to its full potential

Nowadays, knowing how to grow a small business is almost impossible without the assistance of technology. Without a simplified process for managing your business’ finances and databases, it’s easy to lose track of important files or documents.

This is why a dedicated software system is beneficial. Otherwise, you’re left having to upload data manually and waste valuable time that is better spent on growing your small business.

Some features to look out for when choosing a software solution are:

Integrations to keep your job and customer data at your fingertips in one place.
Accounting tools like QuickBooks or Xero to improve financial management.
Digital communication platforms to stay in touch with your team and your customers.
Strong marketing functionality that utilizes data analytics for informed decisions and helps you convert leads into new clients.
A customer relationship management (CRM) system to help manage leads and increase your customer retention rate.

Technology saves you plenty of time and hassle as integrated solutions increase sales productivity. Your business software should also be able to integrate with existing tools you know and love for a seamless data ecosystem.

4. Take a multichannel marketing approach

Chances are, your customers are already familiar with what your business is generally about. However, they need more information on your unique offerings and the aspects of your niche industry.

Understanding how to grow a small business through a multichannel marketing approach expands your reach and turns more leads into paying customers.

For example, if your small business offers field service solutions such as lawn care and landscaping services, you have to consider how to position yourself in the lawn care market.

On the other hand, if your niche is designing and planting tropical landscaping elements, you need to make it clear to your customers why palm trees or bird-of-paradise plants are best for their yards.

This is where knowing how to grow a small business through multichannel marketing comes in. Our research indicates that a multichannel marketing approach is most effective because you can increase the number of touchpoints you have with your audience and build awareness of your unique offerings.

As a niche business, you may have a wider range of customer demographics, as addressed in the doggy resort example above.

A multichannel approach helps you reach audiences and tailor your messaging to different groups. For example, younger members of your audience may be drawn to flashy social media videos, while older demographics might prefer simpler email communications.

To account for these varying preferences, market your services across digital platforms such as:

Your social media pages. Share product information, customer testimonials, user-generated content, and any promotions you have going on.
Your email newsletter. Since customers may not be as familiar with your niche industry, share information directly with them via your email newsletter.
Your website. Design your website with search engine optimization (SEO) tactics in mind to push your content to the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). Include keywords that align with your products or services in your web pages to boost your pages’ rankings in search results.

Take a balanced approach by coupling paid marketing efforts, such as paid social media ads and Google Ads, with free marketing avenues like organic social media posts and blog posts on your website.

This way, you combine your organic marketing efforts with more targeted paid advertisements for a well-rounded digital marketing approach.

5. Get involved in community efforts

Figuring out how to grow a small business in a specialized industry requires you to think outside of your business. An entrepreneur who stays updated with industry trends is one who:

Participates in trade shows and events.
Engages with the local community.
Collaborates with industry partners.

Hire a team that networks with other entrepreneurs and businesses well. Leadership that seeks mentorship and expert advice inspires their team and gathers more resources to scale their business. Some entrepreneurs offer business mentoring with valuable tips and insights.

Collaboration and partnerships get you involved in community events and programs that let you introduce your business to a wider audience and position yourself as a community supporter.

Two easy ways to get involved in your community are through annual events and corporate social responsibility programs. Promote your brand by sponsoring such events or partnering with the organizers to benefit a cause. You’ll be able to use that event’s attention to your advantage while painting a positive picture of your company that customers can relate to.

Annual events

By participating in annual community events such as holiday markets or regular events like Small Business Saturday, you can introduce your niche products and services to the community and get more people interested in what you offer. A business that explores new market segments and expands to new locations or markets generates more leads and opportunities.

Employ a business strategy that invests in marketing and promotion to drive profitability and stay top of mind. And a company that establishes a unique brand identity accomplishes this best. You want to make an impact on prospective customers and partners by having a brand that differentiates from competitors.

Additionally, learn how to grow a small business by creating or joining a corporate social responsibility program. This is a networking opportunity that helps you develop a stronger relationship with your community and marks your business as a community supporter.

Through these activities, you’ll do some good in the community while you gain access to new prospective customers.

Both of these ideas introduce a larger community to the specialized offerings of your niche business so you can foster stronger relationships and grow your customer base.

6. Focus on scalability

As you implement new expansion strategies and reach your goals on how to grow a small business, you want to continue to focus on scaling even when you think you’ve got enough customers to keep you busy. You should invest in:

Product/service diversification.
Employee training and development.
Innovation and adaptation.
Sustainable practices.

The best way to stay on track when it comes to scaling is to employ workflow automation, which streamlines operations for efficiency. Use a software solution to automate the majority of your manual admin tasks, including:

Scheduling and dispatching jobs.
Ordering materials, equipment, parts, etc.
Invoicing customers as well as invoice reminders.
Connecting your CRM to your accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero.
Having automated routes for onsite jobs to save gas, mileage, and time.

Manual tasks help you get by at the beginning of your journey. But once you start learning how to grow a small business and implementing effective strategies, ineffective processes become a roadblock very fast.

A company that optimizes its supply chain and automates its processes based on best industry practices develops a solid platform for growth.

Using business management software also gives you time back into your workweek to focus on things like:

Amping up your marketing and branding efforts.
Growing your digital presence.
Finding new ways to attract customers to your niche industry.

7. Always have a backup plan

When learning how to grow a small business, consider the risks. You want to avoid making mistakes at all costs, but they will unavoidably happen. This is especially true as your business sees rapid growth and becomes more complex.

That is why strategizing for emergencies, mistakes, and any other issues will help you avoid these unavoidable problems.

Some ways to prepare a backup plan include:

Having an emergency fund in case certain business decisions don’t go as planned.
Have email templates and social media post templates ready for any issues your business faces that your customers on your email list need to know.
If your business relies heavily on your employees, enact an onboarding plan that prioritizes employee training and development to invest in hiring the best talent. A happy and savvy team is a great safety net during uncertain times.
Don’t be afraid to evolve and innovate if your original plan is going differently than expected.

8. Stay focused on your core strengths

You’re attracting a very specific audience to your niche business. This means that it is crucial to stay focused on your core strengths and remember what will drive the majority of your profits.

It might be enticing to venture into new industries or launch new products or services quickly, but you need to make sure you have adequate funds for your core products and services to retain your customers long-term.

Once you’ve got a strong customer base and can give your customers the product or service they need reliably, you can begin to venture into how to grow a small business with additional funds.

9. Focus on your branding

While you may have a niche business, you might not be the only one with your business idea as times change. This is especially true when your business starts to scale quickly. That’s when others see your niche’s success and start their own business in those industries.

Learning how to grow a small business by focusing on your branding drives your success in gaining new customers and impressing your current ones.

This means that you want to become a memorable brand. When people think of your niche industry, you want them to think specifically of your brand.

Your customer experience is a great way for you to remind your customers why they should choose your business every time.

You can further push your brand out to your customers and potential clients by creating a customer loyalty program. This gives people a reason to come back to your business repeatedly.

For loyal customers, you should offer private discounts such as free delivery or exclusive products and services — maybe even the opportunity to win prizes.

Lastly, it’s always a great idea to remind your customers about your business expansion milestones. For example, you can post on social media about your business anniversaries and look back at how you’ve grown. This shows your evolution and gratitude for your customers.

10. Use the #1 lead-to-cash automation tool for QuickBooks and Xero users

With Method CRM, you can grow your small business by making the most of every opportunity. With its automation tools and seamless, two-way sync with your accounting software, you speed up your lead-to-cash process with Method. Try for free.

Bonus: Tips to keep in mind as you focus on business growth

Growth takes time, and while it won’t happen in a day, you can create a framework to learn how to grow a small business in your niche.

Some tips to keep in mind as you grow your idea into a profitable business are:

Focus on finding out what your audience is looking for. A successful business owner seeks feedback and continuously improves with customer interactions. Find out what your customers think of new products, changes in branding, and their overall customer experience.
Have a source of additional money to use in case of emergencies and when growth opportunities arise.
Consider working with other businesses and building partnerships. This might mean selling your products in other stores or working with another company to cross-sell your services or products.

Growth for small businesses vs. big businesses—What’s the difference?

The primary distinctions between the growth strategies of small businesses and big businesses lie in their:

Scale.
Resources.
Organizational structure.

Management structure and hierarchy

Small businesses

Flexible and agile: Small businesses often have a flat organizational structure, allowing for quick decision-making and adaptability to changes.
Direct communication: Communication lines are shorter, fostering direct interaction between team members and leadership.
Hands-on approach: Owners and managers are frequently involved in day-to-day operations, even if they outsource a service. They wear multiple hats to address various business needs.

Big businesses

Hierarchical structure: Large companies typically have a more complex organizational hierarchy with multiple layers of management.
Specialized roles: Roles are often highly specialized, and decision-making is generally a more extended process involving multiple departments.
Delegated responsibilities: Top-level executives focus on strategic planning and decision-making, while lower-level managers handle day-to-day operations.

Target audience

Small Businesses

Niche focus: Small businesses often serve a specific niche or local market, allowing for personalized services and strong community connections.
Customer relationships: Building personal relationships with customers is a key strategy, as customer loyalty plays a significant role in growth.
Adaptability: Small businesses can quickly pivot their offerings based on the specific needs and preferences of their target audience.

Big businesses

Mass appeal: Large corporations often target broad markets, aiming for a wide customer base.
Brand recognition: Building a strong brand and maintaining a consistent image across diverse markets is crucial for large businesses.
Market research: Extensive market research guides strategies, and bigger businesses have the resources to focus on and analyze trends and preferences across different demographics.

Finance sources

Small businesses

Bootstrapping: Because of limited funds, bootstrapping is when a small business manages finances wisely and reinvests profits to fund initial operations and growth.
Local financing: Local banks, credit unions, and small business loans are common sources of capital.
Investment from owners: Owners often contribute their personal funds to support business expansion.

Big businesses

Public funding: Large companies may access public financial markets through initial public offerings (IPOs) to raise substantial capital.
Corporate bonds: Issuing corporate bonds is a common method for big businesses to secure long-term financing.
Bank loans: Established relationships with major banks let large corporations secure hefty loans for various purposes.

How to measure business growth

Key metrics to measure business growth are:

Revenue growth: Both small and big businesses track revenue growth as a fundamental indicator of success.
Profit margins and sales volume: Evaluating profit margins and sales volume helps assess financial health and tells you whether you should focus on creating more efficient operations.
Customer retention: Building and retaining a loyal customer base is a shared priority for businesses of all sizes.
Market share: Big businesses often focus on conducting a competitive analysis to determine their market share, while small businesses may target a larger share within their specific niche.

Recap: How to grow a small business in a niche industry

It takes time and elbow grease to effectively learn how to grow a small business in a niche industry. Whether you’re in wholesale and distribution, manufacturing, retail, or any other type of business, you should identify the challenges that are unique to your niche.

But to recap, here are some areas to focus on when growing your small business:

Get to know your target audience and engage them on a more personal level.
Empower your team and workflows with technology that works the way you do.
Employ multiple marketing touchpoints across channels to win more customers.
Engage with your niche audience at community events and through charitable work.

How to grow a small business: Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

How can I grow my business with a low budget?

Growing your business on a tight budget is totally feasible! Start by diving into cost-effective ways to create and distribute your products or services, such as establishing partnerships with other small businesses.

Take advantage of networking opportunities within your community and group of friends, collaborate with fellow entrepreneurs, and attend local events to expand your connections.

Word of mouth is a game-changer, so make sure your team offers exceptional customer service and encourages satisfied customers to spread the good word through:

Online and offline communities.
Social media engagement.
Customer feedback.

Thriving on a budget is all about smart strategies and making every dollar count.

Can your small business do well on Instagram?

Absolutely! Instagram can be a game-changer for your small business. One key is visual storytelling — show off your products or services in a way that captivates your audience. Whether it’s through vibrant images or creative videos, make it visually appealing to grab attention. There are loads of resources available online to learn about design and social media.

Don’t just post and run. Make sure you:

Engage with your community.
Respond to comments.
Participate in conversations.
Build a sense of community around your brand.

Use strategic hashtags to amplify your reach and connect with users interested in what you offer.

Also, consider collaborations with influencers or businesses that complement yours to broaden your audience and promote credibility. And don’t forget about Instagram ads — they let you target specific demographics and reach a wider audience effectively.

What makes a startup successful?

When it comes to startup success, it’s all about standing out: a successful startup fosters a culture of innovation.

Clearly define your unique value proposition (UVP) — what makes your startup unique? Dive deep into market research to understand your target audience’s:

Needs.
Preferences.
Pain points.

Stay agile and open to feedback, as the ability to adapt based on market responses and customer insights is crucial. A strong leader who inspires and navigates through challenges is a key ingredient.

And, of course, strategic planning is your backbone. Strategize a comprehensive business plan that sets clear and achievable goals, along with flexible tactics to reach them.

How do you increase sales?

Boosting sales involves a mix of strategies. Start by identifying specific customer segments and tailor your marketing messages and offerings to meet their needs.

Invest in sales training to ensure your team effectively communicates the value of your products or services and addresses customer concerns. Explore upselling and cross-selling opportunities to encourage customers to upgrade or add complementary products to their purchases.

Implementing customer loyalty programs is a powerful way to retain customers: you can offer rewards and incentives to keep them coming back.

Finally, a business that builds a strong online presence with a user-friendly website and active social media profiles drives more sales. A strong online presence helps attract and convert potential customers to boost sales.

Looking for more info on how to grow a small business? Check out this ebook for additional strategies!

Image credit: Lightfield Studios via Adobe Stock

5 features that make Method:Field Services a must-have solution

Field Services, Method News / By Eilis McCann

Empower your field service business to grow with these top 5 Method:Field Services features.

5 features that make Method:Field Services a must-have solution Read More »

As the snow starts to melt and makes way for spring, you’ll be pleased to hear about the release of Method:Field Services – a robust field service solution for businesses that complete on-site tasks such as:

Maintenance and cleaning
Service requests
Repairs and installations

Growing businesses in this space often find themselves managing work in one of two ways:

Juggling whiteboards, spreadsheets, and print-outs
Working with field service management software that does not communicate effectively with QuickBooks — creating headaches like double-keyed orders and inaccurate data

During the creation of this new field service solution, we took both of these challenges head-on by creating a suite of tools for your office and field service teams. All of which are built on top of Method’s best-in-class QuickBooks sync engine.

The result: A streamlined process for managing estimates, work orders, scheduling, routing, and invoicing — all perfectly in sync with your QuickBooks data 24/7.

Now, here’s your rundown of the top 5 benefits you get with Method’s new field service solution!

Feature spotlight #1: Streamlined job creation, scheduling, and dispatching

An essential part of your field operations is maximizing the efficiency of your field service workers. As after all, the more work orders you complete — the better your bottom line gets.

Luckily, this is a challenge Method was built to solve. This field service solution has strong route optimization capabilities that ensure your field technicians don’t have to spend time driving from one end of town to the other and back again.

Method:Field Services lets you automatically plan the best route for your field employees to take and schedules your work orders in the most efficient way possible.

It’s smart to use this field service management software if you want to:

Easily assign and reassign work orders to your field technicians
Cut out the manual aspect of your field operations and logistics
Instantly create the best routes and schedules for your field employees

Feature spotlight #2: A cloud field service app for your mobile device

You know that the line between in-office and on-site work is becoming increasingly blurred. This is why Method:Field Services was designed to be accessed easily on both your desktop and mobile device via the cloud.

By moving your workflow out of QuickBooks and into the cloud, it becomes simpler to manage information and ensure that it’s up to date.

Plus, this approach lets you stay connected with your field team and keeps everybody in sync when it comes to schedule updates and changes.

With Method, your team hits the ground running from the start of the day until to the end.

Feature spotlight #3: Seamless estimate, work order, and invoice creation

Ever wonder the power a single click can have? With Method, it’s all that’s required to:

Convert an estimate into a work order
Turn a work order into an invoice
Send the invoice to your customer

This means your invoices and estimates are ready to go out to your customer for e-signature quicker than ever before.

If you’re a Gmail or Outlook user, you can even create work orders directly from your inbox to save yourself more time! Once created, you can then use the powerful report engine to control the look and feel of any document you send to your customers.

With these workflows streamlined, you:

Achieve significant time savings for your team
Reduce the risk of human errors like paperwork going missing or typos in documents

Better yet, Method’s field service management solution puts an end to rekeying details into templates or QuickBooks as data automatically updates across your tech stack thanks to our powerful sync engine.

Feature spotlight #4: Two-way real-time QuickBooks sync

Where Method’s field service solution really shines is in the power of its two-way QuickBooks sync.

As mentioned earlier, the estimate-work order-invoice workflow generates a significant amount of friction for customers and internal teams. Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be your reality anymore as with Method:Field Services:

Data is entered once
Carried through the workflow
Synced appropriately to your QuickBooks account

All while you’re in control of the entire process from the backend.

Field service management software like this is how you can empower your team to focus on growing your business and delivering great experiences instead of managing paperwork and processes!

Feature spotlight #5: Customer service made simple

There’s no doubt that your customers are the lifeblood of your field service business. But the way you manage them may be hurting your business. After all, using printouts and whiteboards leave you prone to details slipping through the cracks.

Method tackles this problem head-on by centralizing all of your customer data in one system — making it simple to create estimates, work orders, and invoices in a single tool.

With this field service solution, you get a 360-degree view of every customer at your fingertips — giving you the context and history needed to provide excellent customer service at every job.

Equipped with this information, you can improve the accuracy of your estimating process on recurring jobs and stop undercharging for jobs you’re called back to.

This means the time you used to spend searching for customer information can now be used to improve your service delivery so that you obtain the highest level of customer satisfaction!

Wrap up

As you can probably tell, the team here at Method is really excited about our new field service solution! We know this offering has the power to fundamentally change how your business operates and makes it easier to always put your customers first.

But seeing is truly believing — start your free trial of Method:Field Services today!

Your guide to custom reports in QuickBooks Online

Accounting, QuickBooks, Small Business / By Eilis McCann

Learn how you can maximize the power of custom reporting in QuickBooks Online to make data-driven decisions going forward.

Your guide to custom reports in QuickBooks Online Read More »

Let’s face it… reporting is the lifeblood of every business. From routine financial reporting to satisfying compliance requests – you’re constantly faced with the need to extract and review your key accounting data. While necessary, this is a task that can take up vast amounts of your time.

Custom reports, on the other hand, are a way to make sure you get the data you need as quickly as possible. Plus, based on our firsthand experience, they’ll directly aid you in setting up a proper vendor workflow in QuickBooks Online for fast insights and analysis.

The QuickBooks knowledge base is filled with lots of questions about QuickBooks’ customized reports, so here’s an overview of what’s possible (and not possible) for custom reports in QuickBooks Online (referred to as QBO, moving forward, for the sake of brevity).

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The different “flavors” of custom reports in QuickBooks Online

In the Reports section of your QuickBooks Online Dashboard, you’ll see that reporting is divided into three general categories:

Standard: The library of default reports available in QuickBooks Online, which are pre-populated with your data and ready to go! This is where you’ll find the typical financial reports you’ll need to run.
Custom Reports: A list of reports that you (or your team) have customized and saved.
Management Reports: Groups of reports that have a cover page, table of contents, and space for opening commentary and endnotes. There are 3 predefined management report templates in QBO. These are useful for any time that you need to dress up your reports for a specific audience.

Overall, our findings show that there are four basic types of reports available:

Transaction reports, which group transactional information in a variety of ways. This is the home of bread-and-butter reports like your P&L and Balance Sheet.
List reports, where you’ll find information on your Chart of Accounts, Products/Services list, Customer and Supplier lists. These are perfect if, for example, you’re looking for how to get a list of checks written in QuickBooks.
Summary and Detail reports which, as their name implies, provide different rollups of the information contained within each report type.

It’s important to understand the basics of how reports are assembled in QBO, as they are the building blocks for any custom reporting you’d like to do.

What’s possible with custom reports in QuickBooks Online

Custom reports in QuickBooks Online do offer users a level of control, but based on our observations, these custom reports are essentially tweaks on the standard reports included out of the box.

But as per our expertise, they certainly have their pros.

Many people will ask something like, “Which feature in QuickBooks Online reports allows customization of section headings on the profit and loss and balance sheet reports?” These individuals have clearly never heard of custom reports, because that’s exactly where they shine.

In QuickBooks Online, a custom report allows you to:

Personalize the report title and header information
Set a reporting period, and formatting of numbers
Add, remove, and re-order the columns associated with that report
Apply report-level filters

The key piece to note here is that, in every case, you need to start with a standard report as the foundation of your custom report.

Questions are often posted to the help center around what’s possible with a custom report, and how to share custom reports in QuickBooks Online.

I’ve distilled their feedback down to the following – a custom report in QuickBooks Online:

Cannot combine data from different report types
Must use the same look and feel of the report it’s built off of
Can only leverage data available in QBO

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So, if you were wondering which form cannot be customized in QuickBooks, it’s any form that requires you to do any of the above.

Drawing from our experience, custom reports can also sometimes have mishaps, such as QuickBooks custom fields not showing in reports for some users.

Here’s another example of how custom reports can be tricky – let’s imagine you’re in this scenario: Your client wants a customized report to track delinquent customer accounts. After customizing a report, you should do which of the following to save the customized report?

Collapse
Memorize
Save Settings
Save Customizations

The correct answer is D, but all these options seem viable, right? Reasons like this are why learning to use custom reports can be a bit of a learning curve.

In sum, our investigation demonstrated that custom reports in Quickbooks Online are a great starting point, but you’ll inevitably find yourself in a scenario where you wish they could do a bit more. With that in mind, here are a few alternative approaches to consider.

Alternative #1: Spreadsheets

If you’ve found that you’ve hit a wall with the custom reports in QuickBooks Online, it may be time to consider extracting the data and manipulating it in Google Sheets or Excel.

Our research indicates that as long as your exports include a unique identifier like a reference number or client ID, you’ll be able to combine data from different reports using the vlookup() formula.

Here’s an overview of the steps involved:

Export the data you want to compile into a report (make sure you have a column you can match the data together with!)
Import each data set as a unique worksheet in your spreadsheet.
Decide on the final format. You’ll need to a) add columns to one of the reports to handle the matched data, or b) create a new spreadsheet with the relevant columns you’d like to combine.
Use the vlookup() formula to extract data from one sheet and populate it into the final destination. Don’t forget to double-check your formulas…this is one of those formulas that can be a bit finicky when pasted across cells incorrectly! Here are some great videos outlining how to use vlookup in Excel and Google Sheets!

After putting it to the test, the beauty of this approach is that you can combine data however you want. Better yet, it gives you the ability to bring in external data sets and match them against your QBO data.

The downside is that this is quite manual and prone to human error due to the setup of the worksheets and formulas.

Alternative #2: The Method way

You might be thinking, “I can’t figure out QuickBooks is there another option for me?”

If so, you’re not alone – Method doesn’t just expand your possibilities with QuickBooks. It also strives to make your QuickBooks experience as digestible as possible.

Reporting is a big deal to our customers here at Method, and I love the functionality our teams have built around the Report Editor.

One of our guiding principles here is to enable businesses to do more with QuickBooks, so we built our CRM reporting capabilities specifically to address the limitations of custom reports within QuickBooks Online.

Using Method’s reporting tools, you’ll be able to:

Merge and combine all types of data into single reports (including both transaction and non-transaction data)
Create beautiful reports using our drag-and-drop interface
Leverage this powerful customization engine to tailor any document you can imagine, including QuickBooks invoices and estimates!

Because Method syncs all your QuickBooks data in real-time, you get live reporting without the limitations discussed above!

Wrap up: Custom reporting in QuickBooks Online

The built-in reporting capabilities in QuickBooks get any business off to a great start and do an amazing job of handling the “bread and butter” reports you’ll need regularly like your:

Profit and loss statement
Balance sheet

As you find yourself needing a bit more than the standard “custom” reporting capabilities provide, take a quick minute to celebrate – it’s a sign that your business is growing!

As discussed today, there are both short-term “stop-gap” solutions that can help and a great long-term solution that will help you take your growth to the next level (in reporting and beyond!).

Learn how else you can extend the power of QuickBooks Online with Method in this free ebook.

Small business technology trends that will fuel your growth

Small Business / By Eilis McCann

Learn the top 3 tech trends growth-minded small businesses need to have on their radar.

Small business technology trends that will fuel your growth Read More »

Small business technology can be daunting. From CRM to FSM, the acronyms can feel endless.

Luckily, realizing the benefits of small business technology is a lot easier than memorizing software acronyms.

Keep reading for the top 3 small business technology trends that will help you grow your business quicker.

3 small business technology trends to watch out for

1. The new norm: Online shopping

This trend isn’t completely new, but its magnitude is constantly increasing.

Particularly when you consider that over 230 million Americans (or 70% of the U.S. population) will shop online this year.

A graph showing a roughly 2% YOY increase in the number of online shoppers in the United States. — The number of online shoppers in the United States from 2016 to 2021(in millions).

These numbers make it clear that if your small business isn’t currently taking online orders, it’s time to make this happen.

How to action this small business technology trend

Ecommerce software

If your business is still brick and mortar, it’s time to get your ecommerce process off the ground. Some helpful solutions to do this are Shopify and WooCommerce.

What’s great is that these plug-and-play tools offer a freemium plan or trial period, so that you can get a feel for the software before committing to it.

Customer portals

Portals are another way to accept debit and credit card payments online. By using portals, your customers can complete secure transactions and gain access to information like:

Shipment status
Warranty details
Order history
Estimated delivery time

Here’s an example of a customer portal in action.

Personalized customer portal in Method CRM.

The benefits

By ramping up your ecommerce efforts, your market size will increase beyond customers in your local area. Better yet, the convenience and ease of online shopping can:

Help you sell more products
Eliminate friction from your buying process
Get you more repeat customers

2. Create an excellent digital customer experience

It’s clear that online shopping is here to stay.

As a result, many of your customers will only interact with your business online — making it more challenging to provide great customer service.

Unless, of course, you invest in technology that helps you deliver a positive customer experience online.

How to action this small business technology trend

Chatbots

The first step to providing a great digital customer experience is to think of all the positive touchpoints your customers have you with in-person.

Whether that’s an in-store greeting or asking if they need any help, these are sentiments you can convey digitally with a chatbot.

The point of chatbots is to create a line of communication between your website visitors and your team.

With a chatbot, potential customers can ask questions about your products or services in real time and get an immediate response from your team.

This interaction goes a long way when it comes to keeping your sales prospects engaged, as having a chatbot increases sales by 67% on average.

“Chatbots increase a business’ sales by 67% on average.”
Forbes, 2019.

Email marketing

Email marketing is another way to connect with your customers digitally.

With a little creativity, you can transform typically boring messages about order status into emails your customers look forward to receiving.

Here’s a great example of this from a company that sells baby food.

Good news your delivery is coming soon email template from baby food company.

By communicating with your customers in this manner, you’re sure to put a smile on their face and stay top of mind when it comes to making their next purchase.

Augmented reality (AR)

If you’re looking to take your digital customer experience to the next level, look into using augmented reality (AR) technology.

These applications allow your customers to virtually “try on” clothes or see what your furniture would look like in their living room.

Below is an example of how Ikea uses AR to provide customers with an unparalleled customer experience when purchasing furniture.

Ikea's augmented reality technology on an tablet showing a customer what one of their couches would look like in the customer's home.

As far as small business technology goes, AR is very new to the market and is sure to set you apart from your competitors.

The benefits

Get more referrals from your customer base
Improve your customer satisfaction
Increase your customer retention rate

3. Connect your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and accounting data

To leverage data-driven insights, you need to connect all the data points you have on your customers. This includes everything from the acquisition channel a customer came through to their buying habits.

By connecting your sales, customer, and accounting data, you gain a 360-degree view of each customer and can share this information with team members who will benefit from it. This can be anyone from marketers to your sales reps and office manager.

Equipped with this information, you and your employees are empowered to make fully informed business decisions that will accelerate your business’ growth.

How to action this small business technology trend

A CRM that integrates with your accounting tool

An easy way to connect your sales, customer, and financial data is with a CRM that integrates with your accounting software.

It’s even better if you can find a CRM with a real-time, two-way sync, as this will ensure information:

Flows between your CRM and accounting tool
Automatically updates as changes are made

Pro-tip: If you’re a QuickBooks user who wants to action this trend, check out Method CRM — the #1 rated QuickBooks CRM for small businesses.

Connect the dots with Zapier

If there’s no direct integration between your CRM and accounting software, Zapier is a great way to connect these tools.

A small business favorite, Zapier is known for its ability to flawlessly push and pull data between the software solutions you already use.

The benefits

Eliminate double data entry between these tools to save money and time
Gain a deeper understanding of your customer base
Leverage data-driven insights to drive your small business forward

Small business technology trends recap

With tech moving at lightning speed these days, keeping up with the latest trends isn’t always realistic for small business owners.

With a million things on your to-do list, here are the top 3 tech trends you need to action:

Ramp up your online sales with ecommerce software and customer portals
Perfect your digital customer service with chatbots, email marketing, and augmented reality technology
Connect your sales, customer, and accounting data with a native two-way integration or by using Zapier

Want more small business technology tips? Check out this session on the top tech trends for growth-minded small businesses.

Image credit: Steven Lelham via Unsplash

4 ways reporting just got easier in Method CRM

CRM, Method Customers, Method News / By Eilis McCann

One of the best parts about using Method CRM just got better — its reporting capabilities. Check out this blog post to learn how recent updates can help you grow your business faster.

4 ways reporting just got easier in Method CRM Read More »

One of the best parts about using Method CRM just got better — its CRM reporting capabilities. Throughout this blog post, you’ll learn how recent updates have made it easier for you to:

Build custom reports
Create reusable templates
Uncover data-driven insights

Let’s dive in!

4 new improvements to Method CRM’s reporting

1. Simple report duplication

Using the report system page, you can now duplicate any template in just a few clicks. This is handy because you no longer have to manually adjust the layout and design of each template you create.

Instead, your preferred format can be easily carried over from one template to another. You can click the ellipses and select “duplicate” on the report system page to make this happen.

The benefit of this update is that you:

Can create more reports and templates in less time
Keep your layout and branding consistent across templates
Have more time to focus on what matters — growing your business

2. Plug and play CRM reporting

Building off the consistency that template duplication allows for, you can now change the base table a template uses without having to restyle it. This means that you can incorporate data from different sources in your CRM without having to start from scratch each time.

For example, you can now reuse your estimate print template for invoices without having to manually reconfigure the layout of your template.

This new Method CRM reporting feature makes it easier to build new reports and ensures you don’t waste time on reformatting.

3. Deeper CRM reporting

In 2021, the more data you have — the better. In fact, research by McKinsey has found that businesses who leverage customer data are:

23 times more likely to acquire new customers
6 times more likely to retain these customers
19 times more likely to be profitable

To ensure Method customers like you are set up for success, you can now pull data from up to 5 different tables in a single report.

This means that each report you create, from sales pipeline to forecast reports, includes more data for your team to pull insights from.

4. CRM reporting across your Method accounts

This powerful feature is most useful for Method customizers and those with multiple Method accounts, as it allows you to copy templates from one Method account to another. As a result, this Method CRM reporting update:

Saves you time
Eliminates manual admin work
Reduces the risk of error during report recreation

With this update, you can rest easy knowing that you don’t need to recreate templates over and over again in each of your Method accounts.

How you can make the most of Method CRM’s reporting

Method CRM holds a goldmine of customer information that you can use to run your business better. To get the most out of this data, however, you need to leverage CRM reporting.

Here’s a recap of how recent product updates improve Method CRM’s reporting capabilities. Method CRM now provides you with:

The ability to duplicate reports and templates
Flexible templates that let you easily change the underlying data source
Data-rich reports that include information from up to 5 different tables
Templates you can easily share across your Method accounts

Not a Method CRM user?

Start your free trial to realize the benefits of strong CRM reporting.

Image credit: Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash

How to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online

Accounting, QuickBooks, Small Business / By Eilis McCann

Discover the top 3 ways to improve your QuickBooks custom invoices.

How to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online Read More »

QuickBooks customized invoices are a godsend for many small businesses. Customers appreciate an invoice that is branded with your company logo and is formatted to simplify the billing process.

Besides being practical, these elements also give your documents a more professional feel. A customized invoice is enhanced by:

Design elements.
Payment options.
A layout that is set to emphasize easy readability.

Knowing how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop will set you apart from your competitors and make your customers feel valued.

Do you have questions about how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online? Keep reading this post for the latest QuickBooks customized invoices best practices. Also, discover how Method CRM opens up additional customization opportunities for your business.

Grow your business without leaving QuickBooks Online.

Build on QuickBooks

What is QuickBooks Online?

QuickBooks Online is a web-based accounting tool developed by Intuit. As one of the most popular accounting software solutions, it keeps your finances organized and tracks your income and expenses for you.

With it, you have remote access to your information from any location with an internet connection. This flexibility gives you the convenience of handling your company’s finances while mobile, whether you’re away on a business trip or out for a coffee run.

Get started with your free trial of QuickBooks Online here.

3 Reasons why QuickBooks customized invoices matter

Customized invoices have become the standard for professional businesses. By using QuickBooks customized invoices, you ensure your customers get the best possible experience.

Here are three reasons why you should know how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop:

1. Make your brand known

By the time you create an invoice, you’ve won the sale and sealed the deal.

What’s not guaranteed, however, is that your customer remembers your business for future purchases. Luckily, this is an area where branded invoices help.

With QuickBooks customized invoices, your invoice is rearranged to highlight your:

Company logo.
Business’ name.
Contact details.
Return policy.

All of which increase brand recognition and buyer stickiness. In turn, this improves the chance of your business staying top of mind for future purchases and referrals.

With QuickBooks customized invoices, you’ll provide a consistent customer experience and build a brand people don’t forget!

2. Personalization is key

84% of buyers state that “being treated like a person, instead of a transaction, is crucial to winning their business.”

“84% of buyers state that being treated like a person, instead of a transaction, is crucial to winning their business.”
– Forbes, 2020.

And your invoices are no exception to this statistic.

To ensure your customers feel valued, you should tailor your QuickBooks custom invoices to include personalized elements that show they’re more than just a number.

Whether that’s a special note to them or an exclusive discount for their next purchase, including these details in your custom templates pays off.

You can easily add your customers’ names and other details directly onto an invoice in QuickBooks. This way, you’ll effectively demonstrate that your business cares about them as individuals.

3. Make your invoices informative

An opportunity that’s often missed with QuickBooks customized invoices is to add non-transactional data to your invoice form. Here’s why this is so important.

If you include details like warranty expiration dates or upcoming service appointments, you transform your invoice from a document customers dread receiving to a useful resource they can refer back to.

The benefits of this are that your customers:

Hold a positive memory of your business, even when paying.
Gain value from receiving your invoices.
Have all the post-purchase information they need upfront.

Plus, creating a custom invoice like this saves your team time as you communicate crucial information to your customers automatically.

Now let’s look at how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop.

How to customize an invoice in QuickBooks

If you’re looking for information on how to change your QuickBooks invoice template, you’ve come to the right place. Below is a tutorial on how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online.

Keep reading for written instructions on:

How to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop.
How to change QuickBooks invoice templates.
How to edit email templates in QuickBooks.

For QuickBooks Online users

If you’re a QuickBooks Online user looking for custom invoices, first add your business logo in the “Company” section in your “Account and Settings.”

Photo credit: Intuit QuickBooks

You may also add it directly to your invoices when customizing through the Design tab later.

To get there, select the gear Icon in the upper right-hand corner and click “Custom Form Styles” under “Your Company.”

Then, pick “New Style” followed by “Invoice“.

Photo credit: Intuit QuickBooks

Which 3 options for customizing invoices are available on QuickBooks Online, you may ask?

Through QBO, you can play around with the following:

Design — Edit or add a logo and customize by selecting fonts and colors.
Content — Update company info, change labels, and adjust width.
Emails — Draft or revise your invoicing email template.

For QuickBooks Desktop users

If you wish to change your invoice template in QuickBooks Desktop, open the “List” dropdown menu in the top bar. Then, select “Templates”

This should open a page with Intuit’s default template types. Right-click the invoice template you want to work from and select “Edit Template”

The customization modal will open, and you can add your company logo and select the color scheme and font.

If you click “Additional Customization,” you can fine-tune every field on the template and add or remove fields.

However, your modified template may not be compatible with QuickBooks’ preprinted forms. When in doubt, create a copy of the default template and work from there.

You now know how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop!

How to set up automatic invoices in QuickBooks

To set up recurring invoices in QuickBooks Online, select the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner and click “Recurrent Transactions,” followed by “New“.

Then, select the Transaction Type (Invoice) and click “OK.”

From there, change the Type to “Scheduled” and select “Automatically send emails.”

Once you complete the rest of the form and click “Save template,” you’ve set recurring invoicing for the chosen customer.

Photo credit: Intuit QuickBooks

QuickBooks Desktop users have to select “Quick Create” from their main screen, followed by “Invoice.” Then, you can either choose an existing customer or add a new one.

Populate the form fields and toggle the online payment option to “On” to get paid faster. Then, click “Save and send.”

Note that regardless of your QuickBooks version, you will have to repeat the above steps for each customer you’d like to create a recurring invoice for.

Knowing how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop saves you time (and money). It’s a tedious process, but luckily, there’s a better way! More on this shortly.

What to include in an invoice template

Whether you are learning how to customize invoices for QuickBooks Online or Desktop, make sure to include the following.

Your business name and address.
Customer’s name, address, and contact info.
Invoice due date.
Unique invoice number.
Total amount due (including taxes).
Description of services or products, including the quantity and prices.
Mode of payment accepted.
Terms and conditions (if any).

To download your free invoice template, click here.

Go beyond invoice templates in QuickBooks with Method CRM

With businesses around the world using invoice templates in QuickBooks, there’s more you can do to stand out and provide your customers with a great experience.

As a no-code platform, Method CRM empowers small businesses using QuickBooks with technology that does exactly what you need.

This is especially true when it comes to knowing how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop.

Simply drag and drop the elements you want to include in your invoice with Method’s web report designer. This could be anything, from a thank you message that automatically includes a customer’s first purchase date, to social media icons that link to your company’s accounts or videos.

Here’s an example of a customized invoice you can create with Method CRM

With Method CRM you:

Ensure your invoice is styled based on your company branding and that the appearance is adjusted for everything from sales forms to estimates.
Personalize every invoice to display information that is modified according to sales, customer, and accounting data.
Improve your customer’s experience with invoice information that is transformed to showcase a variety of information, like warranty expiration date or an upcoming appointment.
Can easily adapt when handling special invoice situations, such as mobile invoice customization.

Printing custom invoices works the same for you and your customers. And exporting custom invoices saves time when you need to apply the same format for different customers.

While you might now know how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop, you can really set your business apart from the competition with the powerful customization tools from Method.

Learn more about Method CRM’s capabilities with this video.

Benefits of using QuickBooks Online for creating invoices

Using QuickBooks Online for invoice creation offers several advantages for your financial management.

From template customization to real time payment tracking, QuickBooks Online simplifies the invoicing process and enhances your financial health. Better yet, it improves your:

Accuracy.
Time savings.
Customer experience.

Cloud accessibility

Cloud accessibility in QuickBooks Online helps you create, send, and manage invoices from any location with an internet connection. This flexibility is essential for business owners on the go. You can handle billing and invoicing tasks from anywhere, at any time.

Customizable templates

QuickBooks Online offers simple customization options for invoice templates. A customized template is designed to match the brand identity of your business, so your customers will remember you even after they’ve made their purchase.

The customization tools provided in QuickBooks are limited. Knowing how to customize your invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop using a third-party integration like Method gives you greater control.

Recurring invoicing

If you have a customer who places the same order at regular intervals, you can configure a recurring invoice. That way, you don’t spend time manually creating the same invoice every month.

QuickBooks Online’s recurring invoicing features send invoices automatically according to your schedule. If an invoice is revised to include new details or discounts, you’ll need to update it manually.

See the section above, under, “How to set up automatic invoices in QuickBooks,” for more details.

Online payments, automated leads, and customer management?

See how Method does it all

Integrated online payments

The platform integrates online banking payment options to make it easier for customers to pay their invoices. This integration:

Speeds up the payment process.
Improves cash flow.
Offers a convenient payment experience for your clients.

You can add e-signature capture to invoices when your QuickBooks account is integrated with Method.

Invoice tracking

Find a history of your invoices in QuickBooks Online. Your account is updated with invoice statuses to show what’s paid, pending, or overdue. Customers can also download a copy of their sales receipts to track their own expenses.

Automatic reminders

You can set up automatic reminders for customers about upcoming or overdue payments. That means you don’t need to keep tabs on payments while you maintain a steady cash flow.

This is a time-saving feature that is often used by business owners who’ve learned how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop, but are still experiencing delayed payments.

Multi-currency support

If you have international clients, QuickBooks Online supports multiple currencies. This feature simplifies the process of invoicing clients in different countries by giving them accurate, easy-to-read estimates and invoices.

Seamless integrations

QuickBooks Online seamlessly integrates with various business tools and applications. This connectivity allows for the easy import and export of data between QuickBooks and other systems used by your business.

Integration is one of the things that adds a lot of value to QuickBooks. Method will seamlessly integrate with your QuickBooks account to give you a powerful, two-way sync.

With Method, in addition to knowing how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online, you gain access to customer relationship management tools that give you insights into your business to drive growth in every way possible.

QuickBooks custom invoice FAQs

How do I change the invoice layout in QuickBooks Online?

To change the layout of an invoice or estimate in QuickBooks Online, follow these steps:

Accessing invoice customization is possible in the “Sales” menu, under “Invoices.”
Find the invoice you want to alter and navigate to the “Action” column. Click “View/Edit” from the dropdown menu.
Add and remove fields by clicking “Manage” beside the gear icon.
Each section is configured to display your customization options once you set them.
Click “Save” when you’re finished.

The changes you make will show up in the preview window.

After previewing and saving customizations how you like them, these are the setting defaults for future invoices with this customer. Emailing custom invoices to the customer is changed to reflect the update made.

Is rearranging and resizing fields on invoices possible in QuickBooks Online?

To rearrange fields on your QuickBooks invoices, select the square next to the numbers and drag the field where you want it to go. This feature is set up for easy customization that is aligned with your unique business needs.

To resize fields, click “Content” and then “Edit labels and widths” while editing your invoice. You can modify the minimum and maximum width amount in the text field.

At this time, QuickBooks invoice customization is limited. Choosing a template or integration with apps for advanced customization are two ways to gain additional options. Integrating with a platform like Method gives you more control over:

Adding custom fields.
Editing columns and rows.
Customizing header information or customizing footer information.
Applying styles and themes.

All this means each invoice is tailored to the specific needs of your customers.

How to edit invoice number in QuickBooks Online?

To edit invoice number in QuickBooks Online:

Select the gear icon and click “Account and Settings.”
Go to “Sales” and select “Invoice numbers.”
Change the settings, such as the next invoice number or prefix/suffix options, according to your preferences.

How to add a picture to a QuickBooks invoice?

QuickBooks does not provide an option to add a picture directly to an invoice. However, Method CRM’s web report designer is adapted to add pictures on your QuickBooks invoices.

An invoice that is personalized with branding elements such as adding a logo, social media icons, or an image of your choice is possible with Method CRM.

Having full control over how to customize your invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop is easy with a Method integration.

How to change the address on an invoice in QuickBooks Online?

To change the address on an invoice in QuickBooks:

Select the gear icon.
Click “Account and Settings.”
Go to “Company.”
Select “Addresses” and adjust the bill or shipping addresses as needed.

How to add a late fee in QuickBooks Desktop?

To charge interest or a late fee on overdue invoices in QuickBooks Desktop, you need to set up billing terms. To do this:

Go to the “Lists” menu.
Select “Bill Terms.”
Click on the “New Bill Term” button.
Enter all of the necessary information.
Apply it to any invoice that is past due by selecting the term from the drop-down menu on the top right corner of the invoice form.

Now that you know how to customize invoices in QuickBooks Online and Desktop, you can take them to the next level!

Ready to take your QuickBooks customized invoices to the next level? Then start your free trial of Method CRM.

Image credit: Austin Distel via Unsplash

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Receipts

Xero CRM

E-signatures

Reporting

Invoicing

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Mobile field crew app

Time tracking

Scheduling & dispatching

Payments

Work order management

Activities

Proposals

E-signatures

Customer portals

Estimates

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QuickBooks

Zapier

Payments

Xero

E-commerce

Email

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Need an easier way to keep your QuickBooks data up-to-date?

What is QuickBooks Desktop?

Benefits of using QuickBooks Desktop

What is QuickBooks Online?

Benefits of using QuickBooks Online

Should I switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?

QuickBooks Desktop vs. QuickBooks Online: What is the difference?

Technical and operational aspects

Growth and adaptability

Financial factors

Accessibility

Product and security updates

QuickBooks Desktop to Online: When it doesn’t make sense to switch

Get everything you need to run your business in one place.

Limitations of QuickBooks Desktop

Mobility