Is QuickBooks Easy to Learn? A Comprehensive Guide

QuickBooks is a widely used accounting software package from Intuit, first released in 1983. It is designed to simplify financial management for businesses of all sizes. Small and medium-sized businesses can easily manage their accounting and financial tasks with its intuitive features. Many small and medium-sized businesses use QuickBooks for its record-keeping capabilities as it was originally designed for businesses without a dedicated accounting department. QuickBooks allows someone to track and categorize many things such as expenses, sales, transactions, and customer, vendor, and inventory lists.

Like many aspiring Accountants, Bookkeepers or Financial Managers, you might want to learn QuickBooks, but worry that it will take too much time. QuickBooks is not too difficult to learn, and some basic use of the software can be learned in a matter of hours. However, most agree that it will take beginner QuickBooks learners about two to four weeks to become proficient at using QuickBooks.

What is QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is a popular accounting software that is used by businesses of all sizes. If you’re not an accountant, keeping up with your company’s accounting can seem overwhelming. QuickBooks is simple for anyone to use and reduces the chances you’ll make costly errors. Even if math wasn’t your favorite subject, by learning how to use QuickBooks, you can handle your business finances like a pro.

Primarily used by small and medium businesses, QuickBooks helps businesses track and manage everything to do with their finances. Using QuickBooks, businesses can monitor their cash flow and profits and losses by tracking sales, expenses, customers, and payments. QuickBooks is also frequently used to create and send invoices, manage the business's inventory, and manage employee payroll. It also has budgeting, time tracking, and daily task features to keep businesses running efficiently.

QuickBooks helps businesses ensure the accuracy of their records by directly connecting sales channels to QuickBooks and reconciling bank transactions with the information one inputs. The software also has features to help with tax preparation and can also be used to collaborate and share documents with an Accountant. QuickBooks is a subscription-based service with various payment tiers that provide access to different features.

What Can You Do with QuickBooks?

QuickBooks software has many different applications and uses across a wide variety of industries. QuickBooks allows someone to track and categorize many things such as expenses, sales, transactions, and customer, vendor, and inventory lists. This makes QuickBooks a great option for those needing to keep all of their business records in one place.

Additionally, many people use QuickBooks to create and send invoices, manage employee payroll, help prepare their taxes, maintain a budget, and automate tasks. QuickBooks includes features to automate accounts payable and receivable. Many use QuickBooks to automate sending customer invoices, payment reminders, or even keeping employees updated on crucial tasks and sending deadline reminders. These features of QuickBooks allow you to increase productivity and maintain efficient workflows so that you do not constantly need to task employees with work that can be done by the QuickBooks software itself.

Not only do businesses use QuickBooks, but QuickBooks is often used by self-employed people like freelancers and independent contractors. QuickBooks offers a specific version of the software called QuickBooks Self-Employed (formerly QuickBooks Solopreneur). Many people find that once they link their accounts, it is easy to import their transactions and the QuickBooks software will automatically work to tag one’s income. Self-employed users will likely need to do a bit of extra work to categorize their transactions more effectively for their own needs, but QuickBooks can handle much of the bookkeeping work automatically, making tracking finances easier for individuals.

QuickBooks Options

You can choose from QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or QuickBooks Self-Employed.

QuickBooks Self-Employed

If you’re a freelancer or solopreneur, QuickBooks Self-Employed may be enough for you. You can track income and expenses, capture receipts, calculate estimated taxes, and create simple invoices. However, if you need more features, such as generating a profit and loss statement, or you have employees, its pared-down functions will leave you wanting more.

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QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop

QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop offer many of the same features, and both are now subscription based. QuickBooks Online is cloud based, so you have the flexibility to access it from anywhere. QuickBooks Desktop is installed locally, so it’s limited to the computer it's installed on. QuickBooks Desktop does have more advanced inventory-tracking and job-costing features that aren’t available on QuickBooks online. If you’re a manufacturer, reseller, or need to closely track inventory, QuickBooks Desktop may be your best option. Otherwise, the flexibility of QuickBooks Online makes it the best choice.

QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based system that lets you access your data from anywhere through its online functionality and mobile app availability. It has a few subscription plans with different pay scales depending on the level of resources and support your business needs. QuickBooks Enterprise is designed for companies with more employees. It includes advanced features like intercompany transactions and inventory management.

Average Time It Takes to Learn QuickBooks

While it can take a few hours just to get comfortable with the QuickBooks software interface, most beginning QuickBooks learners can become proficient at using the software to track and manage their finances in under a month. The average time it takes QuickBooks users to become comfortable using the software is two to four weeks. How long it will take depends upon one’s educational background as well as how much time and effort one devotes to learning QuickBooks. It will take longer to master the more advanced or customizable aspects of QuickBooks.

Beginning QuickBooks learners can take a few weeks to become proficient in using some of the basic features of QuickBooks like creating and sending invoices, recording expenses, paying bills, receiving payments, and performing bank reconciliations. It takes time to set up one’s account and with 10-20 hours of training and practice, one should have a good handle on the fundamental aspects of using QuickBooks. For those with no accounting or bookkeeping experience, it can take additional time to understand how to use QuickBooks for financial record-keeping and management.

The more intermediate or advanced features of QuickBooks can take additional weeks or even months to learn and master. This will include learning how to do payroll and inventory management as well as using the financial reporting features of QuickBooks. One should expect that a beginning QuickBooks learner should take an additional few months to become proficient in these features, though it will depend upon how much experience users have with these processes outside of QuickBooks. If a user wants to customize QuickBooks for their business or the industry they operate in, it can take additional months of training and practice to be able to do this both efficiently and effectively.

Ultimately, how long it takes to learn QuickBooks depends upon other factors of one’s educational background and the rate at which one learns new concepts. You can speed up the process of learning QuickBooks by enrolling in a bootcamp, which is an accelerated class designed to get you using QuickBooks quickly. Overall, the more time one devotes to learning QuickBooks initially, the faster QuickBooks skills can be mastered.

Other Factors Influencing Learning Time

How long it takes to learn QuickBooks depends on a variety of factors, including the skills and knowledge you already have as well as the rate at which you learn new skills. These factors can determine not only how long it will take you to learn QuickBooks, but they can also let you know whether QuickBooks will be easy or difficult for you to learn.

Computer Literacy

The main prerequisite for learning QuickBooks is basic computer skills. In other words, someone needs to be familiar with how to download and install software and how to navigate an interactive interface. QuickBooks' interface itself should not be difficult to learn. As long as someone can open QuickBooks, navigate the dashboard, and input information and data, they should be able to use QuickBooks for basic financial tracking and management.

Knowledge of Accounting

Most people agree that it is much easier to use QuickBooks when you already know some accounting terms and principles. For anyone wanting to learn QuickBooks, it is useful to know terms like income, expenses, cash flow, assets, and liability. Additionally, it is generally expected that someone has knowledge about accounts payable and accounts receivable and knows what the difference is between cash and accrual accounting. Common accounting knowledge can also include how to read and understand statements and reports like income statements and balance sheets.

What you need to know to learn how to use QuickBooks is also essential knowledge for a small business owner. It will be harder to operate a functioning business with no financial literacy. However, if one does not know these terms and accounting principles, one can still get started learning QuickBooks, though one should expect it to take longer. For those interested in learning more about accounting, Noble Desktop’s comprehensive guide to accounting is a useful resource that can help point you in the right direction to learn enough about accounting to use QuickBooks easily.

Experience with Data Entry, Organization, & Visualization

Being able to enter data and understand how it is organized and visualized will make using QuickBooks easier. One will need to be able to enter one’s business data to set up QuickBooks and keep it running efficiently. QuickBooks software will organize and visualize one’s financial data in a variety of ways, from simplistic cash flow charts to balance sheet reports that show your company’s assets, liabilities, and equity. Without the ability to read and understand how financial data is organized and visualized, one will need to spend longer acquiring this ability along with learning QuickBooks.

Your Own Speed of Learning

One of the most important factors in how long it will take someone to learn QuickBooks is their own learning speed. Faster is not always better and it will sometimes naturally take someone longer to learn how QuickBooks works and put that knowledge into practice. This can be a function of one’s personal learning style, as some people want to see many examples of something before trying it themselves while others play around with QuickBooks software while watching their very first video tutorial. Speed of learning can also depend on how long one spends with QuickBooks training materials. Those who can devote a lot of time to their training may end up learning faster than those who can only devote one or two hours a week to learning QuickBooks, for instance.

Additionally, finances and accounting are not easy-to-learn topics for all people. While Intuit would like to think their QuickBooks software is intuitive, the reality is that this kind of record-keeping does not come naturally to everyone, and some aspects will be trickier to learn and require repeated practice and studying multiple examples before they make sense. By contrast, there are some people who will pick up on how to use the software quickly and with little formal QuickBooks training. If you are feeling frustrated about learning QuickBooks too slowly, consider taking an in-person or live online class as these options will allow you to receive guidance from an expert instructor and get individual feedback to help you improve your skills.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost

QuickBooks is not considered overly challenging to learn, though beginners can face difficulties mastering its range of features. QuickBooks is comprehensive accounting software, and many features have both basic and advanced, customizable uses. For instance, while beginning learners can quickly figure out basic bank reconciliation, it can be harder to reconcile accounts when one is dealing with complex transactions and multiple bank accounts. Using QuickBooks also requires financial literacy, and those without knowledge of common accounting terms and principles may find it difficult. Most QuickBooks learners can become proficient in QuickBooks in two to four weeks, though it will take longer to master the more complex or industry-specific features of QuickBooks.

There are no formal prerequisites to learning QuickBooks. To use the software, you will need basic computer skills like knowing how to install software, navigate an interactive application interface, and input data. Knowing common accounting terms and principles is also recommended, which includes understanding terms such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash versus accrual accounting, income, assets, liabilities, and deductibles. It will also be useful to know how to interpret financial data and reports to make full use of QuickBooks. Before using QuickBooks, you should also know which version to use and which features will be necessary for your business.

Small businesses will most likely use a version of QuickBooks Online, which has tiered pricing for different features and ranges in cost from $30-200 a month. The lowest-cost option for QuickBooks Online is Simple Start, which includes one user, one linked sales channel, and most features except for things like bill pay, inventory tracking, employee management, and support services. QuickBooks Online Plus is the next tier up and includes up to five users, all sales channels, and adds things like multi-currency transactions, bill pay, and inventory tracking that the Simple Start excludes. QuickBooks Online Advanced is the most expensive plan and has all features, including payroll, employee management services, support services, and more customization and automation options. Accounting professionals can use QuickBooks Online Accountant for free, and this version also provides access to free training materials.

Learning QuickBooks: A Step-by-Step Approach

It won’t take long to learn the basics. Setting up a structured study plan will help you learn the rest incrementally.

Starting with the Basics

If you're just beginning with QuickBooks, start with the basics - incoming and going money. Here’s how you create invoices and record expenses.

Create invoices

The specific details will vary depending on which version of QuickBooks you’re using, but the process is similar for all:

Access the invoicing feature.
Enter customer information, such as name, address, and contact information.
Add products or services that you're billing for.

Record expenses

The process of adding expenses in QuickBooks is designed to be intuitive and aligned with common business practices. Here’s a general overview of the process:

Locate the expenses section in the main navigation area.

Common QuickBooks Errors and How to Avoid Them

Here are some of the most common QuickBooks errors beginners make and how to avoid them:

Not reconciling accounts: Unreconciled accounts can show inaccurate balances, leading to incorrect financial statements and potential compliance issues. Avoid this by scheduling regular reconciliations and using QuickBooks reconciliation tools.
Data entry errors: Mistyped data can cause account discrepancies, making tracking revenue and expenses difficult. Double-check entries, use automation, and properly train anyone working on your financial records to avoid errors.
Using incorrect tax settings: The wrong tax configurations can result in miscalculations, penalties, or incorrect tax filings. Thoroughly research tax obligations and ensure proper setup within QuickBooks.
Lack of user permissions control: Without restrictions, unauthorized users might access or alter sensitive data, risking data integrity and security.

Resources to Learn QuickBooks

There are various effective and accessible methods to learn how to use QuickBooks.

Free QuickBooks Online Resources

For those not yet ready to take a full course on QuickBooks, one can start learning QuickBooks and related skills for free online. Noble Desktop’s comprehensive guide to accounting is one such free resource that covers introductory information about accounting and how to learn the skills necessary to become an Accountant. It is common for those interested in QuickBooks or accounting, either for use with their own business or for other clients, to start by learning about the software and familiarizing themselves with what it can do and what skills will allow them to optimize their use of it. Using free resources can help someone not only receive a basic overview of QuickBooks but also figure out what skills to learn, what courses to take, and what knowledge they still need to acquire before getting started with QuickBooks.

One can also find free introductory courses from different education providers online. Most of these courses will be on-demand, self-paced courses that will provide learners with access to video lectures or tutorials and allow for limited practice and skills testing. These courses range from providing beginners with tips and tricks for getting started with QuickBooks to more focused classes with modules on how to create invoices, use payroll, set up different kinds of accounts, or even customize the QuickBooks interface.

Official QuickBooks Resources

QuickBooks Training: Intuit offers QuickBooks training for both beginners and advanced users of the software, covering the online and desktop versions. The training also includes accounting and payroll basics. Users can opt for either self-paced online video training or classroom lessons.
QuickBooks Tutorials: Intuit's QuickBooks Tutorials offer free and brief tutorial videos on various tasks. These tutorials cover a broad range of QuickBooks functions, including invoicing, sales, taxes, inventory, and accounting.
QuickBooks Learning Center: Accessible through the Help menu in the program, the QuickBooks Learning Center provides PDF guides, quick learning modules, and enables you to connect with other users through the learning portal.

Third-Party Platforms

Udemy: Udemy, an online learning platform, provides QuickBooks training for users of all levels, from beginners to experts. They offer specialized courses like "QuickBooks Payroll - QuickBooks Online 2019" and "QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop." The prices for most QuickBooks courses on Udemy start at $10.99.
Noble Desktop: Noble Desktop’s classes all include expert, hands-on guidance, small class sizes, and free retake options. Many classes offer both part-time and full-time options so that one can find the QuickBooks or finance class that works best for their schedule. For fast and comprehensive training in QuickBooks, consider enrolling in Noble Desktop’s QuickBooks Bootcamp, which teaches students everything they need to know about how to use QuickBooks to track and manage a business’s finances. This bootcamp uses hands-on training to teach students the basics of QuickBooks like configuring a company profile, working with customer, vendor, and inventory lists, and invoicing and processing payments as well as the more advanced management and customization features. Noble Desktop offers this bootcamp live online from any location, and it can be taken in-person at Noble Desktop’s training facility in New York City. Noble Desktop also has accounting classes and bootcamps, which are a great option for anyone interested in developing their skills or learning more about finance and accounting.

Additional Tips for Learning

You can find multiple options with a quick internet search, but make sure your source is trustworthy. The advantage of taking a class is that you’ll learn about all the features using practical exercises. When you’re learning piecemeal, you may miss out on some tools because you don’t know they’re there.
You can learn from peers and professionals who have overcome the same issues you’re facing. Collaborating with others can make the learning process less frustrating.
Consistent practice breeds familiarity, making you more comfortable with the software and its many features.
You can get support from how-to videos, webinars, training videos, community support, a resource center, or call customer support to speak with a live expert.
By scheduling regular practice and taking one step at a time, you'll quickly master QuickBooks.

Integrating QuickBooks with Other Tools

Using solutions like Novo’s online business banking - a feature-rich financial platform - that integrate with QuickBooks can make your bookkeeping even easier. With Method, you can extend the power of QuickBooks by customizing workflows, managing customer relationships, and eliminating repetitive tasks - all in one place. Any update you make on one platform is instantly synced with the other, so you get a full view of every lead and customer without compromising your secure financial data. For example, Method integrates seamlessly with your QuickBooks account to give you an instant, two-way sync with your customer data.

Maximizing QuickBooks Online with LiveFlow

If you want to get the most out of your QuickBooks Online experience, consider using LiveFlow. LiveFlow is a powerful tool that can help you turn real-time financial data from QuickBooks Online into dynamic Google Sheets reports. With LiveFlow, you can easily create customized financial dashboards that are automatically updated with live data. This can help you save time and eliminate the need for manual data entry.

Is QuickBooks Right for You?

When you’re running your own business, your to-do list is never ending. However, it’s worth investing the time to learn how to keep accurate financial records because the payoff will be better financial health for your business.

Benefits of QuickBooks

QuickBooks greatly simplifies accounting concepts and makes short work of manual bookkeeping tasks. That means you’ll have more time to spend on other value-added tasks.
Because of its user-friendly report generation, QuickBooks helps you comprehend your company’s finances.
You also get access to pre-designed templates for invoicing and receipts that help your team send professional financial statements to customers.
One of the biggest benefits of using QuickBooks is its huge user base whose members frequently post in community forums and user discussions.

Continuous Learning

QuickBooks consistently introduces regular software updates with new features to improve your user experience. While beneficial, these constant updates do require you to learn continuously.

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