101
A practical guide for small business owners
QuickBooks for
Small Business Owners
Creating invoices, tracking sales, recording expenses, and getting ready for tax season — all inside QuickBooks.
Today's agenda.
The key QuickBooks tasks every small business owner needs to stay organized and tax-ready throughout the year.
Sales Tax Setup
Configure your filing frequency, reporting method, and local tax rate.
Creating Invoices
Build professional invoices and send them to customers by email or text.
Recording Sales
Log receipts for cash, Zelle, and check payments so every dollar is tracked.
Expenses & Bills
Connect your bank account and track recurring bills to keep books clean.
How to find your sales tax settings.
QuickBooks keeps tax settings in a specific place. Here's the exact path:
Left Navigation Bar
From your QuickBooks home screen, look at the left-hand sidebar and click All Apps.
Find Sales Tax
Scroll down the expanded menu until you see Sales Tax. Click it.
Go to Overview
Select Overview inside Sales Tax to see your filing status and any alerts.
Heads up: if you see a red banner that says "Filing frequency needed," click it right away. This must be completed before QuickBooks can calculate your taxes correctly.
Configure your filing settings.
In Sales Tax Settings, click Edit next to your tax agency (e.g., Washington State Department of Revenue) and fill in three fields:
Filing Frequency
Choose Quarterly if you file every three months. The most common schedule for small businesses with moderate sales volume.
Tax Period Start Date
Enter the first day of your current tax year — for example, 01/01/2026. This tells QuickBooks when to begin tracking.
Reporting Method
Select Cash if you receive payment at the time of sale (most small businesses). Use Accrual only if you bill and collect later.
When all three fields are filled in, click Save. QuickBooks will now calculate and track your sales tax automatically.
Your local sales tax rate.
Sales tax rates vary by city and county. Apply the correct rate to every invoice and sales receipt — using the wrong rate creates problems at tax time.
In QuickBooks, save a custom tax rate by going to Sales Tax Settings → Add Rate Manually — for example, "Woodinville Tax" at 10.3%. The rate will then be a drop-down on every invoice and sales receipt.
How to create a new invoice.
Navigate to All Apps → Sales & Get Paid → Invoices. Click New Invoice. Fill in each section carefully:
- 01Customer Name & Email — full name and email where the invoice is delivered. Double-check spelling to avoid delivery failures.
- 02Invoice Number & Terms — assign a sequential number (1001, 1002...). Set Terms to Due on Receipt so payment is expected immediately.
- 03Services & Amounts — line item per product/service with a clear description (e.g., "Catering – Birthday Event, 50 guests") and price.
- 04Sales Tax — toggle Tax next to each line, then select your saved Woodinville Tax (10.3%) rate. QuickBooks calculates the tax for you.
Sending the invoice to your customer.
Two convenient delivery options. Either way, your customer gets a clickable link straight to a secure payment page — no back-and-forth.
Send by Email
A professional-looking email with a Pay Now link. Customer can pay with credit card or bank transfer directly through the link. Great for clients who prefer digital records.
Send by Text
QuickBooks texts a payment link from your business name to the customer's mobile. Ideal for customers who respond faster to texts. Always get permission before texting.
Before sending, click Review and Send to preview exactly what your customer will see. Confirm total, tax, and business name all appear correctly.
Sales receipt vs. invoice — when to use which.
Choosing the right document type keeps your books clean and tax records accurate.
Customer pays immediately.
- Cash, Zelle, or check at the time of sale
- Records the sale and the payment together
- Found under Sales Transactions
Customer will pay later.
- Tracks what is owed
- Send by email or text with a payment link
- Found under Invoices
For most catering businesses: invoices for pre-planned events, sales receipts for walk-in or same-day transactions.
How to record a payment on a sales receipt.
Navigate to All Apps → Sales & Get Paid → Sales Transactions and open the receipt. Scroll to the top and find the payment section:
"Received via check, cash, or other"
Record the amount. Be sure to apply the Woodinville 10.3% tax rate before saving.
"Processed with credit card or bank transfer"
Since Zelle deposits go directly to your Bank of America account, make sure that account is connected to QuickBooks.
Important: Delete any sample or test transactions before filing your taxes. You don't want to pay tax on sales that never happened.
Catching up on past sales.
Haven't been logging sales in QuickBooks yet? Don't panic — you can enter them retroactively. Three steps to get caught up before your next quarterly filing:
- 01Review your Zelle transaction history. Log into Bank of America (app or online) and export or screenshot all business payments received. These are your source of truth for past sales.
- 02Create a sales receipt for each transaction. Enter each past sale with the correct date, amount, service description, and the Woodinville 10.3% tax rate where applicable.
- 03Verify your sales tax total. Go to Sales Tax → Overview to see the total tax owed for the quarter. That's what you'll remit to the WA Department of Revenue.
Connecting your bank account.
When you link your business checking to QuickBooks, all purchases flow in automatically. No manual entry, no missed deductions.
Link Your Business Account
Go to Accounting → Expenses & Bills. If your bank (e.g., BECU, Bank of America) is connected, transactions appear here automatically for categorization.
Categorize Expenses
Assign each transaction to a category like Supplies, Food & Ingredients, or Insurance. Accurate categorization turns raw transactions into meaningful tax deductions.
Keep Personal & Business Separate
Only connect your business bank account — never a personal account. Mixing creates confusion and can trigger audit issues.
Entering recurring bills.
For predictable monthly expenses — kitchen rental, utilities, insurance — log bills in advance so nothing falls through the cracks. Three steps:
Add Bill
Open the bill entry screen and create a new entry with the vendor and amount.
Upload Bill
Attach the PDF or scanned copy so you have proof on file alongside the entry.
Match & Pay
When the bank transaction comes through, QuickBooks matches it to your bill and clears it.
Using this system for recurring expenses (like your kitchen rental) means you'll always know exactly what you owe — and your books reflect it accurately at tax time.
Uploading bills using a document scan.
QuickBooks makes it easy to upload physical bills — no manual typing required. Two approaches:
CamScanner App
Download the free CamScanner app. Photograph any bill or receipt and the app converts it to a clean PDF. Save to your phone, then upload into QuickBooks by attaching the file to your bill entry.
Drag & Drop
Save the bill file to your computer (from email or scanner). In QuickBooks, open the bill entry screen, find the "Drag and Drop Documents" area on the left, and drag your file in. QuickBooks auto-fills the bill details.
Key takeaways & next steps.
You now have the tools to run QuickBooks like a pro. Quick recap — and what to do before your next quarterly filing:
✓ Configured
Filing frequency set to Quarterly, reporting method Cash, and Woodinville rate saved at 10.3%.
✓ Ready to send
Create under Sales Transactions → Invoices. Deliver by email or text — customers pay online with one click.
✓ Recorded
Use Sales Receipts for cash, Zelle, and check. Catch up your Zelle history. Delete test transactions.
✓ Tracked
Bank account connected — expenses flow in automatically. Recurring bills (kitchen rental etc.) added so books reflect true costs.
Questions or want to walk through anything again? Schedule a follow-up — we're here to help you stay on track all year long.