For the last two years, I’ve been using QuickBooks® Online without a browser by accessing it through the QuickBooks for Mac app on my desktop. Last fall, the Windows app was also released, and now everyone has the ability to work more productively in QuickBooks Online.
The QuickBooks Online App for Windows is “thin-client” for QuickBooks Online that gives you the ability to use QuickBooks Online as if it was a natively installed program. Similar to apps such as Spotify or Outlook for Office 365, it is a desktop application that accesses online data. The app was specifically designed for power users like accountants. Using the desktop app means that we save time doing routine tasks, and have access to desktop application standard features.
Download the all new QuickBooks Mac and Windows App powered by QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks apps expand the capabilities of QuickBooks Online, each working together to improve your business. All QuickBooks apps are free to try! Open the Quickbooks website. Type quickbooks.intuit.com/apps into your browser's address bar, and hit ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return on your keyboard. 2 Click the orange Free Download button. The app is a one-way integration that imports your sales transactions from Square into QuickBooks (but not from QuickBooks into Square) each night. Once activated, the app monitors your Square account for all transactions, including sales, refunds, taxes, tips, and discounts.
App integration with QuickBooks POS 12.0 or 18.0. Transfer data from Quicken 2016-2020, QuickBooks Mac 2016-2021 and Microsoft Excel 2013-2019, or Microsoft 365 (32 or 64 bit) Browser Requirement: Internet Explorer 11 (32-bit).
Saves Me Time
I love that I can start working in QuickBooks Online in seconds, with one click of the App icon on my taskbar or Dock, just like any other Windows or Mac application.
Not only do you stay permanently logged into your account, but the app also opens right to the last company you accessed, letting you get back to work within seconds. Contrast this to the browser experience of having to log in, perhaps choose your identity, then the company you want to access from your client list and then opening up the windows you were last working in. And, unlike the browser, you can stay logged in for days, not the maximum of four hours that the browser allows.
Pages load up to 150% faster in the app than they do in the browser because the QuickBooks app uses local caching of data. This is most noticeable when you access long lists of data, such as a bank register or a chart of accounts. The caching also means that when you open a screen the second time, it loads even more quickly. Data entry is quicker than browser, since you don’t have to wait as long for Save and the form to refresh. The local caching also means that you are not as vulnerable to slowdowns in network speed or temporary QuickBooks Online outages. And, for those concerned about online data security, this is a more secure way to access client data than in a browser.
Not only can you open multiple windows and even use them on separate monitors, but the data in those windows also always stays in sync. Unlike using separate tabs in a browser, you don’t have to refresh or reload a tab to see the changes you made on one page reflected on another page.
Works Like a Desktop Program
When working in the QuickBooks for Windows or Mac app, you feel like you are in a desktop program – familiar menus on the top give you quick access to most used windows and forms, pop out windows let you use multiple monitors, and standard keyboard shortcuts speed data entry. Also, printing uses local print dialog boxes, rather than Adobe or browser print dialogs, meaning that reports and forms, such as checks, are formatted more reliably and consistently. For my accounting colleagues who say that they don’t like working in QuickBooks Online, this app removes many of the major objections.
QuickBooks Online for Accountants Tools
Everything you can do with QBOA in the browser is available in the app as well.
You can use the “accountants only” tools:
Access clients from the client list and send requests to clients:
Switch between clients using the Accountant Tools list or the drop down menu at the top, or even a menu item on the file menu.
It’s so easy to switch companies that you may find yourself popping into a client account for a few minutes to answer a question, or switch to your own firm’s books to send a quick invoice.
![App App](/uploads/1/1/9/4/119493021/919515352.png)
Tips for Working with the App
Here are some tips for working with the App:
- Take advantage of the ability to add Favorites in order to quickly access any forms or reports you use regularly that might not be one of the standard keyboard shortcuts or menu selections. You can access and manage the Favorites from the star at the upper right or from the Favorites menu.
Note that just like the desktop version, these favorites are per person, per company.
- Review the keyboard shortcuts and learn how to use them. You can access a PDF with a complete list of the App shortcuts from the Help menu.
- Check the box to Stay signed in, and you will really enjoy the one click startup every morning.
Download and Install
The App can be downloaded from this website, or from Intuit Apps.com. Search for the Mac or Windows App. It takes just minutes to download install and sign in, and you’ll be on your way to saving a significant amount of time working with your QuickBooks Online clients.
Intuit has just announced the release of QuickBooks Mac Desktop 2021. This year the product will only be available in e-tail and direct channels. QuickBooks Mac Desktop 2021 will not be available in traditional retail brick-and-mortar stores.
QuickBooks ProAdvisors with an Enterprise Software Bundle will be among the first recipients to be able to download the 2021 version of QuickBooks Mac Desktop on (or shortly after) September 8, 2020. Check your ProAdvisor Products tab for download availability.
Insightful Accountant has communicated with Intuit personnel, including product managers and developers, concerning the new features so we can give you a glimpse into the new version. This article provides a synopsis of those features. This is the second year in which I have posted the QuickBooks Mac Desktop summary separate from our QuickBooks 2021 Desktop 'Core' (for Windows) Summary because I realize that most of our readers who “love QuickBooks Mac” have little interest regarding the Windows versions.
Insightful Accountant will be including QuickBooks Mac Desktop in our SeptemberQB Talks webinar scheduled for 2 PM Eastern on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, when we discuss all of the QuickBooks 2021 versions. You can find out more about and register for that webinar here.
QuickBooks Mac Desktop 2021
For 2021 QuickBooks Mac Desktop has been enhanced to make receiving payments easier so you can boost your cash flow. A variety of features are aimed at streamlining the process whereby you can enhance your money-in. Optional QuickBooks Payments services and an internet connection may be required for several of these new features. Additional fees may apply. Subsequent to original publication Intuit posted a series of YouTube videos on these features, we have added the links to our summary for each feature.
Automated payment reminders
Easily set reminders for customers when their invoices are due. This feature is designed to save you from the manual task of following up on overdue invoices by automating the process of sending payment due reminder emails for you. You will easily schedule payment reminders along with configuring how you want the reminder emails to read. 'Video'
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This feature requires QuickBooks Payments service which is sold separately.
Statement e-Payments
Send statements with payment links that encourage customers to immediately settle their balances via an online payment portal. 'Video'
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Combine Invoice Emails
Receive quicker payments by enabling customers to receive multiple invoices in just one easy to process email. With this new feature, you can transmit all of a customer’s invoices to them attached to a single Email without having to manually combine them outside of QuickBooks Mac. 'Video'
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Just think of how much time this one feature will save you, and how your customers will over the fact that they no longer must open one email after another just to receive each of their invoices.
Sales Tax Codes
Record transactions using specific sales tax codes for out of state orders, multiple districts, and non-profit organizations. Quickly and easily identify all of your sales tax liabilities by specific sales tax codes on your Sales Tax Revenue Summary. 'Video'
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e-File 1099s
Electronically file 1099 forms, without needing special forms or extra time for processing and mailing them. Easily determine if e-filing is right for you, and print copies of 1099s even if you do e-file. If your state participates in the combined federal/state e-filing program, e-filing your federal 1099s can simplify your state filing too.
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There are additional fees associated with this feature. An internet connection is required.
Email Templates
Create and reuse different templates for email communications with customers. 'Video'
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Credit/Debit Card Refunds
Refund Merchant Service charges, with just 1-click, from within the Credit Memo in QuickBooks. No more having to visit an online Merchant Service portal. 'Video'
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Company File Search
Easily find and open company files with the addition of a file search option. Believe it or not, Intuit has found that even QuickBooks Mac users sometimes can’t locate their Company files, so this new feature will make it much easier for any user to find and open their Company files even if they don’t know where they are located.
Restore Backup Workflow
Restore QuickBooks files quickly with a simple to use backup file restore wizard. I have always thought that the process of restoring a QuickBooks Mac Backup was in many ways easier than restoring a QuickBooks (for Windows) Backup, because of the way that ‘Mac’ creates backup files (as a disk image). But apparently, some QuickBooks Mac users have indicated that they felt the process was too cumbersome, so for 2021, there is a new Restore Backup Wizard intended to streamline the process. 'Video'
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If you are interested in our summary articles on QuickBooks Desktop 2021, or QuickBooks Enterprise v21 (2021), you can access those features using the Related Links at the bottom of this article.
Print Report Row Color Shading
QuickBooks Mac 2021 now offers color shading by rows when printing reports. While the shading is very subtle it is intended to offset report rows from one another to make them more easily identified and set them apart from one another.
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Quickbooks For Mac Download
An example of such a color row shaded report can be seen below. 'Video'
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Editor's Acknowledgements
Special thanks go out to Intuit's Mindy King in providing information and graphics, as well as responding to my questions specific to QuickBooks Mac 2021 Desktop. Without her, this article would not have been possible.
Thanks also to my good friend Laura Madeira who allowed me to cross-check my articles for QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Enterprise with advance copies of her features to make certain that we were consistent in providing accurate information regarding the 2021 release. Laura, and her co-author Karen Siewert, have written three separate articles this year covering different aspects of the QuickBooks 2021 release, please be certain to check them out at Intuit's Firm of the Future blog:
Quickbooks 2012 For Mac Download
I also want to thank the following Intuit personnel for their dedication in providing information, numerous briefings, and responding to my questions, as well as in guiding the actual product developments within QuickBooks Desktop and this release: Rachna Arya, Nipun Bhatia, Aditya Dixit, Sowmya Murthy, Madhumita Tayade, Muthuraj Thangavel, Tulasi Vijay Kumar Thulluru, and Raman Verma. I also want to say thanks to Michelle Berg, Mindy King, and Shawn Sturgeon from Intuit for additional product briefings and information along with the various members of Intuit's Alpha & Beta Product Testing Teams for QuickBooks 2021.
Of course, there are entire teams, composed of hundreds of Intuit personnel behind all of these people that make the magic happen and we so often forget to say, thank you, to them, so to all involved, “Thank You for Another Great Product'!
![Quickbooks App For Mac Download Quickbooks App For Mac Download](https://www.teamviewer.com/images/press/20130711/ios-screen-start.png)
Note: All images used in this feature are displayed directly as provided by Intuit.