New Accounting Software Features

Continuing our theme of user customisation, we’ve introduced the ability to add, remove, resize and reorder the widgets on the business overview dashboard. Available now on both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant.

To ensure you’re ready to manage your clients’ tax requirements for the new tax year, the team at LodgeiT have been busy adding new functionality to QuickBooks Tax. This includes all the new 2023 tax forms, setting up teams to manage tax work, new advanced reporting functionality and more.

To help you manage your source and working paper documents, we’ve made some nice inclusions to the Documents tab in Prep for Taxes within QuickBooks Online. From creating new sub folders to marking documents you’d like to carry forward into a new financial year, managing your client and internal documents just got a little easier.

The LodgeiT team has been busy adding more functionality to QuickBooks Tax. This month’s updates include ATO SmartDocs integration, the release of the 2023 Fringe Benefits Tax return and more.

We’ve made it even easier for Small Business and Advisor users to access QuickBooks Online product support.

Love using QuickBooks? You’re not alone! QuickBooks Online is known for having some of the most satisfied accounting software customers in Australia. For a limited time, if you tell a friend and they subscribe, you could both be eligible for a $50 Amazon gift voucher.

Here’s a quick update regarding QuickBooks’ payroll partner. 

In 2021, Webscale Pty Ltd, the makers of KeyPay, the software that powers QuickBooks Payroll, was acquired by Employment Hero Pty Ltd. Following this acquisition, QuickBooks Payroll branding has been updated from “powered by KeyPay” to “powered by Employment Hero” across the platform. There are no changes to functionality—everything our customers know and love about QuickBooks Payroll remains the same.

We’re glad to announce that Payroll users can now access Gross to Net reports within an unfinalised pay run.

To enable STP reporting for new clients, QuickBooks Payroll users should now search for "Employment Hero Payroll" as the software provider, not "KeyPay" as previously required.

We’ve implemented multiple quality of life improvements to the GST Centre in QuickBooks Online, including; incorrect wording, misaligned components, less than ideal spacing, frustrating user flows and missing error messages.

You may notice that the QuickBooks Mobile app for iOS now loads faster than before, so you can do more on the go, in less time. Nice!

To streamline the set up of your Year End Tasks list in Prep for Taxes, you can now copy the Year End Tasks list from another client.

New functionality has been added to QuickBooks Online which will enable those small business clients who already have Primary Admin rights for their subscription with an option to take responsibility for paying their QuickBooks subscription.

We’ve spiced up the Today tab of the dashboard with an addition to improve your experience. Users on iOS will now see an AI-powered “Recommended for you” card, making your most used actions even faster to complete.

Businesses using QuickBooks Payroll can now allow employees to go into a negative leave balance. This allows employees to apply for leave in excess of their current available balance.

We are making important security enhancements to alert the end user of potential malicious breaches to their account. These security enhancements will require users to verify changes to their account email addresses.

A raft of updates have been released for QuickBooks Tax to further streamline your tax and BAS workflows.

We’ve added two great enhancements to Books Review to make BAS prep even faster and more efficient: the new Duplicate Transactions table and an update to the Transactions without GST table.

We’ve added multi-vehicle mileage tracking support to QuickBooks Self Employed, extending functionality that was previously exclusive to QuickBooks Online.

We’ve made it easier to import a COA into QuickBooks and have added the option to purge your COA and start over. 

The team at LodgeiT have added a raft of enhancements to QuickBooks Tax, with updates to the client details area, tax return preparation and special purpose financial reports.

We’ve made it easier to extend your QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant sessions, giving you more flexibility whilst keeping your books secure.

Prep for Taxes is a key tool for every Advisors’ accounts and tax preparation workflow. In a recent update, we’ve made it easier to see how your accounts preparation is progressing—a tooltip now shows who prepared and who reviewed each account.

We’ve launched the Getting Started Hub to help new users get a flying start with QuickBooks Online. Here you will find simplified tutorials for core QuickBooks tasks, like account setup and management, as well as step-by-step guides covering income, expenses and payroll.

On the back of overwhelmingly positive feedback, the New All Sales tab - which was made available in Beta in July - has now reached General Availability, making it live for all QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant users.

The new All Sales tab makes the task of managing your quotes, invoices and sales receipts faster and more intuitive. The update addresses common customer UI feedback whilst also delivering performance improvements.

Our new and improved All Sales tab is now available for beta access—making the task of managing your quotes, invoices or sales receipts faster and more intuitive. The update addresses customer UI feedback whilst also delivering performance improvements. You can access the update by clicking the “Switch to beta experience” link in All Sales. Check it out and let us know what you think!

We’ve made it easier to arrange your Management Reports with drag-and-drop reordering. Now if your reports are in the wrong order, you can simply drag them up or down to change the hierarchy - easy!

To help you get access to the support you need, we’ve deployed new technology to remove the admin and get you talking to an expert quickly.

We’ve reimagined the integration between Square and QuickBooks Online to provide a more streamlined workflow, greater visibility and improved insights.

Fringe benefits tax (FBT) return for 2022 is now available to prepare. You will be able to lodge it from 1st April 2022.

See the ATO website for FBT rates and instructions.

You can now create quarterly and monthly financial reports within QuickBooks Tax powered by LodgeiT.

In order to improve our processes and workflows for Payroll, we have been working closely with our long running payroll partner Employment Hero to improve the experience of adding employees to your payroll system. 

We’re rolling out improvements to the Business view navigation menu in QuickBooks Online. These changes will simplify the user experience, make finding the important things quicker and provide a platform for future enhancements like new product features and increased menu customisation. 

The updated experience will launch first for new users that start a QuickBooks Online subscription after 29 March, 2022. We plan to update existing users in the months following,  stay tuned for more!

The QuickBooks mobile app for iOS now gives you more ways to share invoices with your customers. Building on the existing WhatsApp share functionality, now you can share your invoices through any messaging app on your phone—so you can reach your customers no matter where they are.

The Cash Flow tab has been extended to the QuickBooks Mobile app for Android. In addition, we’ve added a brand new feature designed to show you how much money in (and out) you can expect for the current month, and track progress towards it. This “MiMo” feature is only the beginning— stay tuned for more updates that give you new looks into your money, allowing you to identify trends and make better business decisions.

We’ve improved the BAS preparation workflow to save time for our Advisors. The new “Wrap-up” tab in Books Review brings key activities together in one place, allowing you to send report packs to clients, close the books for the period, create custom shortcuts and more.

We've built a new Management Report, BAS Workpapers, which helps BAS Agents maintain records of compliance work they’ve lodged on behalf of their clients. You can find the BAS Workpapers report in the Books Review Wrap-Up Tab, the GST Centre, or the Management Reports window.

Following on from recent performance improvements to the load times of the General Ledger Summary report, we have made further enhancements making it even faster to produce. 

Our goal is to have the General Ledger Summary report display in less than 10 seconds so will continue to monitor the results and make enhancements as required.

The QuickBooks Mobile team has launched visual enhancements to the QuickBooks Online iOS app home screen. This included converting the Activity tab to a link and displaying frequently used items like Invoicing, Customer and Snap receipt for example at the top of the screen.

Work has been completed to reduce the size of the QuickBooks mobile app to limit data required to download the app or store the app on a mobile device.

By leveraging Apple’s Bitcode capability, we’ve cut the app download size by 20% and app install size by 50% making it more efficient to download and install.

Advisors spend a lot of time customising reports so to increase efficiencies in this area, we’re currently assessing demand with advisors to share customised reports not only across their firm but with other firms around the country. 

To validate the demand for this feature, we are currently surfacing a link to a survey in the reporting area in QuickBooks Online. From the results, we will determine next steps.

To further streamline the BAS preparation process, we have added the ability to bulk reclassify transactions without GST assigned in the Books Review area. This will make the process of reviewing and fixing transactions without GST even faster.

To help you lodge and track refund requests more efficiently, we have developed a self-serve facility. This tool enables you to request a refund anywhere, anytime without the need to contact the Customer Success team, and your request is processed in 5-7 business days by a centralised team.

To help new small businesses get up and running with payroll, we’re providing access to a free 1:1 onboarding service where they are walked through the process by our expert Service Delivery team.

To gauge interest and uptake, we’re offering this service in 2 locations within QuickBooks Online Payroll to see which works best.

We will monitor uptake as well as feedback on the service over the coming months.

When preparing the BAS for clients, our Advisors tell us they need to review various reports and cross-check data. This involves going to the Reports Tab, opening various reports and editing each report to reflect the correct date range for the quarter they're working on.

To streamline the BAS preparation process, we’ve added functionality to the Shortcuts are in Books Review to enable you to create links to the reports you like to produce as part of your review process. The best part is the date range you select in the Books Review area is reflected in the reports you produce from the Shortcuts area, saving you valuable time.

To support small businesses to forecast their BAS commitment in advance, we’re outlining the BAS prediction at key locations like the Homepage, Expenses area and GST centre in QuickBooks Online.

We’ve updated the QuickBooks Online Mobile app on iOS for a faster, easier to use experience. 

The home screen has been refreshed, with two of our most used sections - “Quick actions” and “To do” - promoted to the top of the screen, along with a cleaner design. We’ve also decreased the app download and install size to save you bandwidth and storage space. Stay tuned for the Android update.

Technical improvements have been made to the GST page in QuickBooks Online that enable the page to load faster. These changes also deliver speed improvements to the Cashflow Planner page.

The Notes feature in QuickBooks Online Accountant has been enhanced to include more functionality such as rich text formatting and threaded notes.

QuickBooks and Visa have extended their preferential pricing offer to September 2022. This offer entitles participants to 50% off for 6 months across QuickBooks Simple Start, Essentials and Plus.

As part of the BAS preparation process in the GST area, advisors can now access a new option to “close the books” to prevent any changes being made before the BAS is lodged. We’re currently tracking how many advisors select this option to guide whether we build it.

A new tab has been added to the Books Review area that links it to the GST Centre.

New functionality has been added to the Prep for Taxes area so Advisors can add notes/comments, highlight content or draw on documents and reports.

Improvements to the Intelligent Voice Assistant (IVA) now collects the 16-digit customer ID before connecting Advisors to a Customer Success team member, saving several minutes per call.

New functionality has been added to allow credit card remittances to be sent in bulk.

Improved messaging has been included to inform Advisors the 'Make Inactive' option only hides the client file and doesn’t cancel the client’s subscription.

Improvement to the invoice creation process has been included to help manage invoices that are automatically updated as Paid.

New video tours have been added to the Banking page under See Tips and Tricks

All 2021 tax forms have been made available, with all relevant data fields being automatically rolled forward from 2020.

Outcome of Assessment values are now automatically loaded from the ATO so they can be cross-checked with estimates and emailed directly to the client with a secure link.

See the ATO lodgement status of lodged returns directly on the work and forms dashboards.

Compare 2021 and 2020 FY returns with prior year values, with different values and new tax year fields highlighted on the form.

New integration functionality to manage client data between QuickBooks Online Accountant and QuickBooks Tax.

New functionality to comply with the Tax Practitioner Board guidance relating to use and disclosure of TFN information.

Month End Review was renamed to Books Review and the ability to review data by quarter was added.

Local phone support is now available for QuickBooks Time customers in Australia.

Cost of Goods Sold accounts can now be selected when coding supplier expenses.

We’ve updated the dashboard - including separate tabs for “Get things done” and “Business overview” - making QuickBooks faster and easier to use.

Customer Problem

New interface improvements have been added to better support BAS agent terminology and form type completion.

GST data now directly imports into the activity statement in QuickBooks Tax.

Efficiently remove any non-related, non-relevant or non-required accounts from the chart of accounts using the bulk actions tool.

Columns in the Banking area now retain their adjusted widths when modified. This feature is currently only available in ‘Accountant View’.

Advisors can now see an improved breakdown of their invoice as a result of changes to payroll billing.

The uncoded transaction report can now be scheduled to be automatically emailed to clients for completion.

The QuickBooks Tax training course for ProAdvisors has been added to QuickBooks Online Accountant > ProAdvisor > Training.

Receipts are now automatically attached to matching transactions, keeping your books accurate and saving you time.

New ‘background lodge’ functionality to complete and lodge ITR, CTR, TRT, PTR, SMSF, AR and FBT forms from 2018 onwards when the ATO services are offline.

The new worksheet to help calculate livestock sales and costs for 2020 tax returns.

Separate business income and expenses by adding an individual worksheet for each business on the income tax return.

Easily include depreciation schedules into PDF version of a tax form or SPFR.

Cash Flow Planner is now available for QuickBooks users on iOS.

Download and share your Cash Flow Planner insights with new PDF export functionality.

The new QuickBooks Learn and Support page helps you get the answers you need fast, wherever or whenever you need them.

New basic templates for SPFR by entity type. Including refreshed notes, statements and updated look and feel.

Store, modify and view all client documentation in support of generating compliant financial statements for your clients.

Email or export charts from the Performance Centre via PDF.

Re-order pages within Management Reports, providing desired customisation without leaving QuickBooks.

You now have the ability to add depreciation schedules to tax returns in LodgeiT, with support for SPFRs. Plus, send client e-sign emails directly from your mailbox.

Customise your staff's payslips including the message, information included and more.

Payroll tax tables were updated and compliant with ATO tax rate updates on 13 Oct 2020.

You can now track your KMs on more than one vehicle.

You now have the option of customising each of your invoice payment reminder messages with different content.

 Advisors can now create customised performance charts and reports on key business KPIs for their clients.

We've partnered with MMC Convert to offer a free data conversion service when you switch from MYOB, Xero or Reckon and sign up to QuickBooks Essentials or Plus.

If an employee is paid by awards or pay condition rule sets, you can now see in the pay run further information on exactly how and why specific shifts have calculated a certain way.

Schedule employee earnings to take effect at a future date

Updated STP reporting to report on JobKeeper 2.0 requirements.

Business View is an alternative view designed specifically for non-accounting professionals. It makes accounting language easier to understand and reduces complexity in workflows.

Schedule gentle reminders to customers for upcoming or overdue invoices. Chasing money can be awkward, but you can personalise the message to feel like something you’d say.

Create a roundtrip from an existing trip on QuickBooks Online.

Enjoy a range of more flexible reporting options including custom date ranges for P&L, re-order columns in summary reports and save collapsed or expanded reports.

Import clients' opening balances (for balance sheet accounts) with the Chart of Accounts import.

Easily import hundreds of lines of journal entries from an existing spreadsheet.

Download your clients’ mileage reports to avoid the back and forth at tax time.

Enhanced Special Purpose Reports in QuickBooks Tax with the ability to edit pages and see when a client has signed off through e-signature.

You'll now be prompted when it looks like you'd benefit from creating a bank rule, to save you from manually categorising every transaction.