Three Ways To Access QuickBooks When You Are On-The-Go

Running a business doesn’t mean sitting in a chair 24/7. We know some days you’ll be cool, calm, and collected, while others you’ll be running around like a chicken with your head cut off. You’re up and moving, and you need your resources to be, as well. Accessing QuickBooks on-the-go is not something you need to worry about. We’ve got you covered with three recommendations on how to safely and accurately open and edit your books from anywhere, at any time.  

QuickBooks Online

At SBS, we love QBO. It’s literally the “online” version of QuickBooks Desktop, and you don’t even need to download the software to your computer. It’s all cloud-based. QBO is an incredibly powerful resource that continues to improve and grow with you as a business. They cater to a variety of industries, like project-based companies, those with many contractors, self-employed companies, and more. There are a variety of apps that sync with QBO and help you do not only your bookkeeping, but your job, better. QBO automatically back ups every time you use it, so you never need to worry about losing data. 

A downfall to QBO is you need one subscription per each company you own. If you are an entrepreneur who owns many businesses, QBO is not ideal for you. 

For QuickBooks Desktop:

Remote Access

Use Team Viewer (we use this!), Log Me In, or another reputable software to Remote Access your computer. “Remote access” means you can access a computer from some other place aside from in your office, so long as you have an internet connection. It will seem as if you’re sitting in front of that very computer with the ability to access any file from it. Set your QB to Multi-User so multiple people can use the account at the same time (for example: you can work on QB at home and your employee can work on QB from the office simultaneously). 

Unfortunately, for Remote Access to work, the computer you are trying to access needs to be on, logged into, and unused. Anyone who is nearby can see everything you are doing on the screen. Another downfall is printing will go to the computer you’re logged into, not the computer you’re working from. If you frequently print checks, this is not the best option for you. 

Cloud Hosted

We offer this option as a last resort, if nothing else works. There are several cloud-based services out there, many of which are expensive, and most do not offer the best security. We previously used a cloud service that allowed us to see every single QB data file on the cloud-hosted server, which made it very easy for someone who knows what they’re doing to hack into any of the files and obtain the data. If you choose to use a cloud hosted server, we recommend QBox. 

Some benefits to Cloud Hosted servers are your files are secure and saved only on the computer(s) using the data file. You can work on a live file from the computer you’re at, you can “roll back” the file if it’s become corrupted or errors were made. You can save up to 20 files, and deleted files are saved for 30 days. We recommend backing up these files regularly. 

A downfall to a Cloud Hosted server is no one can access the file if one person is already working on it. If you are a company that needs multiple people to be working in the same file, making changes simultaneously, then this option is not ideal for you. 

If you have more questions on any of these on-the-go solutions for your QuickBooks needs, contact us!