You get spoiled.   I am fortunate to work every day in QuickBooks Online Advanced because of the industry my business specializes in, which is working with law firms.  These growing firms tend to be a good fit for QuickBooks Online Advanced, and I am spoiled using all of the features. When I go to work in one of my QBO Plus files, I miss the features  — especially the automation part.  The time-saving features. The custom fields dropdown, the calendar, you get the point. 

In the video below,  you will see how to set up custom fields in QuickBooks Online Advanced.  I also outline some use cases I have used for attorney’s and law firms and also for real estate clients. 

Here are some of my favorite uses for Custom Fields:

Law Firms

• Original Trust
• Accident Date
• Incident Date
• Original Atty
• Original Matter
• Matter ID (PC Law ID number)

Real Estate

• Pet (i.e., cat, dog, etc.)
• Lease Date
• Lease Renewal
• Guarantor
• # Beds
• Included (i.e. heat, hot water, electric, etc.)
• Storage unit number
• Vehicle ID

These powerful metrics can be used to track customer/sales transactions.  You get to use three on a sales form itself.  We get ten fields to use in the program.  Some can be used at the transactional level on vendor transactions depending on your client and their industry.  You can get super-creative here with whatever client you are working with on what you want to track.   For example, say you have a client that is a decorator and needs to track a color on purchased items or a client or maybe you work with a client that builds homes and need to track the home model. Maybe you need to track the manager or job supervisor on a job or project.  The sky is the limit here.

There are individual reports that show the custom fields.  My friend and partner, Matthew Fulton,  wrote a detailed article on Custom Fields with an excellent chart that shows each report and the fields that will be accessible.  You can access that Firm of the Future article here.

Custom Fields is just one way to create an industry specific look and feel for the client and provide them with great reporting and tracking.  It is crucial as accountant/advisors that we stay on top of the changes to our accounting software.  Knowing what features are available  and in what product will set you apart from other accountants that don’t take the time to really dig deep into the platform.  Once we do,  we can educate our clients about the new features and possibly save the client money and give them better reporting. 

Try out QuickBooks Online Advanced.  Here is a link to the test drive.  Think about the clients you service now and how maybe the features would benefit you or your client with time savings or with better reporting. 

Curious about the program or have questions?  Feel free to reach out to me.  I’d love to help you and your firm unlock the power of QuickBooks Online Advanced.  Call me at 239-349-2004.