For many finance teams, QuickBooks Online serves as the operational hub for bookkeeping, cash management, reporting, and month-end close. While most users become comfortable with the fundamentals, relatively few take advantage of the features that can significantly reduce manual effort and improve day-to-day efficiency.
During a recent Controllers Council webinar sponsored by Avalara, QuickBooks educator Hector Garcia demonstrated several practical techniques that can help finance professionals spend less time navigating software and more time analyzing the business. Avalara also shared how its QuickBooks integration helps organizations simplify sales tax management while allowing finance teams to remain focused on higher-value work.
Below are eight techniques every Controller and accounting manager should consider incorporating into their daily workflow.
1. Customize Your Workspace Instead of Working Around It
Many QuickBooks users work with the default interface for years without realizing that it can be extensively customized.
For accounting professionals using the Accountant version of QuickBooks Online, the My Menu feature allows users to organize frequently used tools, transaction types, and bookmarked pages into a personalized workspace. Rather than navigating through multiple menus dozens of times each day, commonly used functions can be placed exactly where they are needed.
Controllers who regularly review reports, create journal entries, reconcile accounts, or work within specialized areas of QuickBooks can substantially reduce navigation time simply by organizing the application around their own workflow instead of accepting the default layout.
2. Replace Mouse Clicks with Keyboard Shortcuts
Small time savings accumulate quickly over hundreds of transactions.
One of the most useful demonstrations showed QuickBooks’ built-in date shortcuts. Rather than opening the calendar picker repeatedly, users can jump directly to today’s date, the first or last day of the month, week, or year using simple keyboard commands. Dates can also be entered numerically without typing separators or four-digit years in many situations.
These shortcuts may save only a few seconds per transaction, but across an entire accounting department they eliminate thousands of unnecessary mouse clicks every month.
3. Use Excel Without Re-entering Data
Nearly every finance organization continues to rely on Excel for at least part of its accounting workflow.
Instead of manually recreating information already organized in spreadsheets, QuickBooks Online now allows users to export transaction grids, modify them in Excel, and paste the updated information directly back into new transactions using the built-in paste function.
This approach works particularly well when creating bills that contain numerous line items, customer allocations, classes, projects, or account distributions. Rather than rebuilding complex transactions from scratch, accounting teams can leverage existing spreadsheet data while maintaining consistency across transactions.
4. Configure the Bank Feed Around Your Process
The bank feed is one of the most frequently used areas of QuickBooks Online, yet many organizations continue using the default layout.
Recent enhancements allow users to determine exactly which columns appear, rearrange their order, resize fields, and display only the information that supports their review process.
For example, some finance teams prefer seeing the original bank description first, followed by vendor information and account coding. Others may prioritize customer jobs, locations, or classes. Users can also display the complete bank description while preserving that information within transaction memos for future reference.
These small adjustments reduce visual clutter and make transaction review substantially faster, particularly for organizations processing large transaction volumes each month.
5. Create Backdated Bills Directly from the Bank Feed
Accrual accounting frequently requires recording bills in one accounting period while payment occurs in another.
Historically, this meant leaving the bank feed, creating the bill separately, returning to the bank transaction, and then matching the payment.
QuickBooks Online now allows users to create a backdated bill directly from the bank feed. The system simultaneously creates the accrued bill in the correct accounting period while matching the payment transaction.
For Controllers managing month-end close, this enhancement removes several repetitive steps from a process performed countless times throughout the year.
6. Categorize Similar Transactions in Batches
Reviewing downloaded banking activity one transaction at a time is rarely the most efficient approach.
QuickBooks allows users to group transactions by common characteristics, such as vendor or bank description, making it possible to review and categorize similar items together.
For recurring vendors such as Amazon, office suppliers, utilities, or subscription providers, multiple transactions can be assigned vendors, expense categories, and other attributes simultaneously before posting them in a single action.
Batch processing not only saves time but also improves coding consistency across accounting periods.
7. Let Bank Rules Handle Routine Coding
One of the most valuable automation capabilities within QuickBooks Online is Bank Rules.
Instead of repeatedly assigning the same vendors and expense accounts, users can create rules that automatically recognize recurring transactions based on keywords, amounts, bank accounts, or combinations of conditions.
More advanced rules can prioritize one condition over another when transactions share similar descriptions. Controllers can also choose whether qualifying transactions should simply be categorized or automatically posted without manual intervention.
Thoughtfully designed rules reduce repetitive data entry while maintaining consistent accounting treatment across recurring transactions.
8. Recategorize Historical Expenses in Minutes
Even well-managed accounting systems occasionally require cleanup.
Whether correcting expense classifications after a chart of accounts redesign or standardizing vendor coding, QuickBooks includes tools that allow users to filter historical transactions and recategorize multiple expenses simultaneously.
Rather than opening each transaction individually, accounting teams can isolate a vendor or expense type, review the affected transactions together, and apply updated classifications in a single operation.
For organizations preparing for year-end reporting or audit, this capability can eliminate hours of manual corrections.
Bonus: Learn the Complete Keyboard Shortcut Library
Many users know a handful of QuickBooks shortcuts but never explore the complete collection.
QuickBooks includes a built-in reference that displays available keyboard shortcuts directly within the application. Spending a few minutes learning these commands can further reduce navigation time and improve productivity throughout the accounting team.
Small efficiencies rarely attract attention individually, but collectively they can produce meaningful improvements over the course of a month or fiscal year.
Watch the Full Demonstration
These highlights represent only part of the live demonstration presented during the Controllers Council webinar. Watching the complete session allows you to see each workflow performed inside QuickBooks Online while providing additional context, examples, and practical recommendations from Hector Garcia.
The webinar also examines an important question facing many growing organizations: when does QuickBooks’ built-in sales tax functionality become difficult to manage?
As businesses expand into additional jurisdictions, sell through multiple channels, or face increasingly complex compliance requirements, many finance leaders supplement QuickBooks with specialized automation from Avalara. Avalara’s QuickBooks integration helps automate sales tax calculations, return preparation, exemption certificate management, and ongoing compliance while remaining connected to QuickBooks Online.
To continue your evaluation, we encourage you to:
- Watch the full webinar
- Learn how Avalara integrates directly with QuickBooks Online
- Review Avalara’s guidance on when organizations outgrow native QuickBooks sales tax capabilities
- Explore implementation documentation for QuickBooks users considering automated sales tax compliance
Whether your objective is improving accounting efficiency, strengthening internal controls, or preparing your finance organization for future growth, these resources provide practical next steps for Controllers and CFOs seeking to get more from their QuickBooks investment.
