What is Quickbooks and how do you use it as an accounting major?

Your basic guide to what Quickbooks is and accounting majors use it.

What is Quickbooks?

Quickbooks is an accounting software designed to help business with a multitude of tasks. Those tasks are:

• manage finances

• automate invoices

• automate payments

• track income

• track expenses

• track profits

These are just the main tasks Quickbooks was made to help with it. There are other features that it has like payroll, tax preparation, and reporting.

Quickbooks in the Academic Space

While Quickbooks is a software used in real life, we also use it in the academic space to expose it to students in accounting. Now you are probably thinking, why do accounting students need to know this if they are not going to run their own business? The students need an understanding of the software because they will encounter it in the future. Most students will encounter the program due to working on a client who uses Quickbooks as their accounting software.

If they encounter the program while working on a client, it is useful to know how to operate it in the event that the owner needs help pulling a report that we need for the audit or their taxes.

A potential scenario is if a client hires you for a consult on their business and you suggest they automate their accounting process by using Quickbooks or switching to the software. You need to have an understanding of what it is and how it works to best inform and help your clients transition if that's what they choose.

Having knowledge of Quickbooks can help troubleshoot some problems while working on a client. If there is a situation in which the client is having issues with the program, and you know it, then you can help them troubleshoot it.

Another scenario a student may encounter in their future is being hired as an accountant for a company that uses Quickbooks. In order to perform essential job functions, the student needs to know how to operate the software. Part of their job could be to perform billing tasks and that can be done in Quickbooks, so they need to know how to carry out those tasks.

Quickbooks can Make you More Marketable

As a student, having Quickbooks on your resume can help strengthen it and potentially give you an opportunity. Having an intimate knowledge or experience using this software can strengthen you as a candidate for internship or job interviews.

In my experience, having Quickbooks on my resume has sparked at least one question during an interview or the interviewer makes a comment about it being on my resume.

I had one interviewer say, "I see you have Quickbooks experience that makes you look even better." Other interviewers have asked me to provide an example or asked how I use the software for the company that the skill was listed under.

Quickbooks on your resume can show your versatility. If you know how to operate this software it can make you more versatile to any size company and or different industries. This can double your opportunities making you more marketable than someone who doesn't have it on their resume.

Finally, it gives you industry credibility if you have knowledge of this software. This software, as mentioned earlier, helps automate financial tasks, which means you must have, at the very least, basic accounting knowledge to operate the program. This can boost your marketability when looking for an internship because it shows you have enough knowledge to operate the program and also some level of adaptability. Quickbooks can function at the basic level and then at a complex level. If you have an understanding of the complexity of it, then you are adaptable because the program can be challenging in its processes.

Quick Recap of Quickbooks and it's Benefits

Quickbooks is a accounting software that automates accounting processes and increases efficiency. Students learn this program to help them in their future and their employability. Overall, this is a beneficial program to learn as a student not only for your education but for your future.