Business owners are increasingly leveraging single-source platforms like QuickBooks for various financial and business processes, including basic accounting, time tracking, payroll, and more.
QuickBooks offers a variety of ways to receive payments, from simple payments (direct billing) to complex payments (such as manual entries and physical cards). For those looking to nest their payment processing workflow into their broader accounting landscape, QuickBooks likely has what you need, and if not, third-party integrations serve to fill in the gaps and customize your experience.
What payment features does QuickBooks offer?
QuickBooks offers two main ways to receive payments:
- Invoice management in Quickbooks online
- Additional add-on tool called QuickBooks Payments.
We will discuss both in this blog and how to take the experience to the next level.
For those not interested in managing payments through QuickBooks, don't worry: QuickBooks offers third-party integrations to sync external payment data from Square. Stripeand similar payment processors to keep your books aligned and accurate.
Get paid in QuickBooks Online (no QuickBooks payment)
QuickBooks Payment tends to be the most popular option for those interested in a complete and robust point of sale system. However, smaller businesses, sole proprietorships, and freelancers often stick with the basic QuickBooks bill payment system.
Receiving payment via billing method is easy.
- First, navigate to the Sales page in QuickBooks Online. You'll see your existing invoices (if you have any), but for now we'll create a new one by clicking Create invoice.
- You will then fill in the customer details and click Review and submit.
- You will then access a review window to validate the information and view the invoice from the customer's perspective.
- You will also see the range of payment options has your client, including credit cards, ACH transfer, PayPal and Venmo.
And that is! Using the invoicing feature to receive payments in QuickBooks is simple and suitable for basic needs. QuickBooks Payments fills the gap for those who need more backend support or complex payment requirements.
Users should note that the reconciliation and processing of their books, in this case, is not automatic; only QuickBooks Payments offers automatic accounting. To record the payment, you will need to mark the invoice as paid upon receipt (in whole or in part).
Manual payment entry in QuickBooks
You can use manual recording if you don't have QuickBooks Payments and customers prefer cash, check, or other offline payments. The process is simple, as always:
- First, navigate to Receive payments and select the corresponding manual payment method:
- On the screen above, you will also fill in the relevant customer data in the fields and link them to the existing ones. billsIf any.
- You will then save and close, but remember that you will need to manage the books manually from this point on as the process is not automated.
Streamline payments with QuickBooks Payments
For those who need a little more robustness in their QuickBooks payments receiving experience, QuickBooks Payments offers a range of features to suit larger businesses facing an onslaught of billings or payments.
QuickBooks Payments is an all-in-one payment processing platform that offers:
- Physical credit card swipes or chip reads
- Standard online billing
- Manual credit card entry
- Recurring payments and credit card charges
QuickBooks Payments also automates the payment reconciliation process, automatically matching customer payments to existing invoices and dramatically reducing manual management. It also offers greater flexibility to allow customers to “Pay Now” online via digital billing (shown above) or direct card payments, ultimately increasing your ability to keep cash coming in.
Receive payments through QuickBooks Payments
To receive payments through QuickBooks Payments, you will first need to apply and register for the service:
- From the main registration window, you'll fill out basic business information (all businesses are now eligible for QuickBooks payments), owner information, and which account you prefer funds to be deposited into.
- At this point, you will have the option to use QuickBooks Checking or choose a pre-existing external account. Uses of QuickBooks API Integration to confirm ownership of the bank account, so it is relatively quick.
Once you've signed up, you'll validate that QuickBooks Payments is linked to the correct parent product; It will be the one you used to register. If you use multiple products, be sure to navigate from the one you want to link to QuickBooks Payments (for example, don't sign up for QuickBooks Self-Employed if you use the product but want to link Payments to a QuickBooks Online company).
Now you are ready to receive payments! Customers can pay with credit cards, ACH transfers and more using the digital billing system detailed above and direct credit card swipe or manual card entry.
On the Deposits tab in Sales, you can view all Quickbooks Payments deposits.
From there, QuickBooks Payments shines: it automates matching across your chart of accounts to save time, especially if you process dozens of transactions daily (or more!).
Using nanonets to manage payments in QuickBooks
To bridge the gap between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Payment, or for those looking for a little more customization, Nanonets offers a third party integration to automate accounts payable processing and bank reconciliation using advanced ai. At the same time, Nanonets nests with Wise, Stripe, and more payment processors without “stepping up” to QuickBooks Payments if you'd prefer not to.
Nanonets also help users smooth out the rough edges during manual payment receipt through advanced usage optical character recognition (OCR) to process manual payment documentation, while ai-powered processes automate matching and other accounting requirements that arise from manual payments.
Conclusion
The method you use to accept payments in QuickBooks (standard, QuickBooks Payments, or manual) depends on your specific business needs. While smaller businesses and individual operations tend to do well with direct invoicing through QuickBooks Online, power users or larger businesses tend to enjoy the automation that comes with QuickBooks Payments to save time and energy and minimize errors.
No matter which one you choose or combine from the many available options you create, QuickBooks' ability to keep your payments ecosystem nested within your financial environment and accounting sphere It is unmatched and serves to keep your mind focused on what matters: making money and expanding your business.
And of course, Nanonets acts as a complete third party integration to bridge the gap between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Payments for those who need a little more power behind payment processing but may not be ready for (or can't afford) QuickBooks Payments.