Managing finances is a crucial part of any business. Therefore, the selection of the right accounting software is an important decision. Accounting software can help you avoid errors that often occur in paper-based ledgers and human calculations.
It can also provide insights into your business that you just can’t get in the case of paper-based accounting. The question then is – which software is right for your business?
Some small businesses with a small accounting process might be able to get away with using free accounting software. However, organizations that need to go above and beyond basic accounting tasks need enterprise accounting software. For that, the most recommended software in the market is QuickBooks Enterprise.
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What is Enterprise Accounting Software?
Enterprise accounting software helps businesses do normal accounting processes, such as recording transactions. However, it goes further to include:
- Billing and invoicing
- Payroll
- Accounts receivable and accounts payable
- Fixed asset management
- Inventory management
- Budgeting and forecasting
With enterprise accounting software, you have a greater ability to automate certain accounting functions and gain greater visibility into the organization’s finances. It also improves collaboration across departments.
Why Choose QuickBooks Enterprise?
There are several options for businesses to choose from when selecting enterprise accounting software. Here are the reasons we recommend buying QuickBooks Enterprise.
Versatile, Scalable Solution
More than 29 million businesses use some version of QuickBooks – from the bare-bones QuickBooks Self Employed to QuickBooks Enterprise. Many companies that start out on one version of the software eventually migrate to QuickBooks Enterprise as their needs become more complex.
If you’ve ever used a QuickBooks product, you’ll instantly feel at home in QuickBooks Enterprise. Each iteration of their products has a familiar user-interface and easy-to-navigate menus that make it easy to perform tasks and find the information you need.
Even if you decide to go with QuickBooks Enterprise, there are three tiers to choose from:
1) Silver – Includes Advanced Reporting with improved search functions, auto-filled templates to save time, and a robust help portal with answers to common reporting questions.
2) Platinum -All of the features included in the Silver tier, plus:
- Advanced Inventory – Manage inventory within QuickBooks Enterprise by tracking items in a warehouse, creating and scanning barcodes, managing products by serial or lot number, and more. It also allows you to manage pick, pack, and ship sales order fulfillment from a central dashboard.
- Advanced Pricing – Allow users to control, customize, and automate their pricing from within QuickBooks.
- Enhanced Payroll – Users can save time and money by creating an unlimited number of paychecks. Take advantage of free direct deposit. File payroll taxes and manage payroll for an unlimited number of employees, at no additional cost.
3) Diamond – All of the features included in the Platinum tier. However, Enhanced Payroll is not included. Instead, users can add on the following features for an additional cost. It supports up to 40 users.
- Assisted Payroll – Allow QuickBooks to handle payroll taxes for you, including quarterly and year-end filings, guaranteed accurate and on-time.
- QuickBooks Time Elite – Improve profitability with the powerful QuickBooks Time Elite time-tracking tool. Employees can track time from anywhere. Users can assign jobs to individual workers and track hours while projects are in progress so you can make adjustments and improve profitability.
- CRM Connector. This feature integrates QuickBooks and Salesforce CRM to reduce duplicate data entry. You’ll enjoy having one source of data between sales and support, as it will allow you to serve your existing customers better and provide more visibility into the entire sales pipeline.
QuickBooks Enterprise also comes in several industry-specific solutions, including:
- Contractors
- Manufacturing and Wholesale
- Retail
- Nonprofit
- Professional Services
- Accountants
These industry-specific versions offer features and reports designed to fit the unique needs of these types of businesses. Of course, there’s also a standard edition for companies that don’t fit into one of these pre-defined categories.
Custom Reporting
Every version of QuickBooks Enterprise comes with Advanced Reporting (QBAR). QBAR allows you to easily customize reports, giving you insights that can help with business decisions.
With Advanced Reporting, you don’t need to know how to develop complex macros in Excel or invest in an external business intelligence application. Besides the usual reports available through QuickBooks Enterprise, Advanced Reporting includes over 140 starter reports and dashboards catering to diverse industries. Some examples include:
- Sales by city, job type, or customer
- Sales profitability by customer
- Sales by item, year over year
- Backorder report
- Inventory valuation summary
- Inventory stock by item
- Gross margin by inventory item
- Open purchase orders by item
- Paid invoices by sales rep
You can customize any of these starter reports to fit your business or build your own. Either way, you can get a more in-depth insight into how your business runs without sacrificing speed and performance for other users of your company file.
Excellent Customer Service
Each QuickBooks Enterprise plan comes with QuickBooks Priority Circle support. This gives you access to priority customer service from well-informed representatives and a dedicated account manager who can assist with everything from product setup to selecting workflows. You’ll also benefit from unlimited online, self-paced QuickBooks training courses, and webinars for your accounting team.
Users can reach a customer support representative by phone, chat, or an in-software help button. Phone and chat help from a premium care specialist is available 24/7. You can also request that a support rep call you back when needed or share your screen to get personalized assistance.
Priority Circle membership is available with any active, paid subscription to QuickBooks Enterprise.
Extensive List of Features
Every version of QuickBooks Enterprise comes with an incredibly extensive list of features. Each industry-specific edition has functions unique to the needs of that industry, but here are a few that come with the standard edition:
- Invoicing – QuickBooks Enterprise features 10 customizable invoice templates that can be customized to fit the fonts and colors of your company’s brand. It also gives you a lot of options for customizing the information shown in your invoices. You can send invoices by email (as a link or PDF) or print them to send via mail.
- Lead Management – Just about every accounting software program allows users to manage contacts and vendors. QuickBooks Enterprise also gives you the option of managing leads. Besides contact information, you can classify potential leads as “cold,” “warm,” or “hot,” and create task lists to help your sales team turn those leads into customers.
- Fixed Asset Manager – QuickBooks Enterprise’s Fixed Asset Manager allows users to track assets and calculate depreciation based on straight-line depreciation or the MACRS method used for tax purposes. Other accounting software solutions (including QuickBooks Pro and Premier editions) require a separate subscription for managing fixed assets.
- Project Management – Keep tabs on project timelines and At any point in time, you can view all jobs in progress and evaluate where your company is with respect to the project’s budget. The software can also help you estimate the time and cost necessary to complete the project.
- Inventory – One of the main advantages of QuickBooks Enterprise is its robust inventory features. Whether you are a manufacturer with a warehouse full of raw materials or a retailer stocking product, inventory management can be a challenge. That’s why businesses need comprehensive, real-time information about inventory to make business decisions. With QuickBooks Enterprise’s inventory features, you can track products by bin, serial number or lot number and even perform inventory counts without disrupting operations.
- Templates – Within QuickBooks Enterprise, you can create email and letter templates to automate business processes, thus, saving your time. The software comes with several templates you can customize, with the option to create your own.
- Business Plan Creation – If you don’t have a business plan yet, or just need to update the one you already have, QuickBooks Enterprise includes a tool to help you create a full business plan and five-year financial projection based on your existing financial data. The Business Planner tool will walk you through each step of the process.
- To-Do List and Calendar – Juggling deadlines for payables, loan payments, payroll, bank covenants, tax reporting, and more can be a nightmare for the most organized accounting and finance team. QuickBooks Enterprise helps solve this issue by integrating a to-do list and calendar, allowing users to create tasks with due dates and priority levels.
- Tax Forms – Your QuickBooks Enterprise company file already has information on payroll and payments to independent contractors. It only makes sense that you can electronically file W-2s, 1099s, 940s, and 941s right from the software.
- Track Mileage – Paper mileage logs in the glove compartment of company vehicles and personal vehicles driven for business are a thing of the past. QuickBooks Enterprise allows users to track mileage for multiple vehicles. You can even assign mileage to specific jobs and mark them as billable if the cost needs to be passed on to a customer.
Final Note
QuickBooks Enterprise allows any business to expand business operations, customize reporting, and take advantage of unique features that help users analyze data and make better business decisions. It’s a tried and true product, yet one that Intuit is continuously upgrading and expanding to fulfill more needs of its business users.
The latest version of QuickBooks Enterprise – QuickBooks Enterprise 20.0 has introduced some new and advanced features.
The right version of QuickBooks Enterprise for you will depend on your business and accounting needs. No matter which version you choose, you can rest assured that you’re investing in a solid and powerful solution that can help you organize and optimize your company’s accounting.
To buy QuickBooks Enterprise or know more, get in touch with one of our Solutions Consultants at 855-635-6515.
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