Hands-on steps work best on a laptop or tablet. Reading and answering steps work fine here.

B2.1 Dashboard, menus, search and Create
B2.2 QuickBooks Online plans: what to check before choosing
B2.3 Chart of accounts basics
B2.4 Customers and vendors
B2.5 Products and services
B2.6 Set up a new company from scratch
B2 Skill check: Getting around QuickBooks Online

Step 1 of 9

New words in this lesson

Company file

One business's complete set of books inside the software. A bookkeeper with several clients works in several company files.

Fiscal year

The 12-month period a business uses for its accounts and taxes. For most small US businesses it is January to December.

Accrual basis

A way of keeping books where income counts when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred, whether or not money has moved yet. This course uses accrual basis. Example: An invoice counts as a sale on the day it's sent, before the customer pays.

Cash basis

A way of keeping books where income counts when money arrives and expenses count when money leaves. Simple, and common for very small businesses.

EIN

The business's US federal tax ID number, used on tax forms and payroll.

Look up any other word in the glossary

A new business, a new set of books

Dana's friend Leo Marsh is starting Brew Bus, a coffee cart that serves office parks and events. He's created a new and asked you to set it up. It's open on the right, with nothing in it yet.

Setting up goes in this order:

Step	Where in QuickBooks Online	What you need from the owner
1. Company details	Settings (gear) → Account and settings → Company	Business name, legal name and
2. Accounting settings	Account and settings → Advanced	The , the accounting method, and the tax form the business files
3. Chart of accounts	The chart of accounts	The kinds of income and costs the business has
4. Bank and card accounts	Banking: the owner connects them	Which accounts and cards the business uses
5. Customers, vendors, products	The lists from lessons B2.4 and B2.5	Regular customers, suppliers and prices
6. Opening balances	Covered in Level 2	What the business had and owed on its first day

Official pages

Business at a glance

Open invoices

$0.000 unpaid

Overdue

$0.00Nothing past due

Payments to deposit

$0.00Not yet in the bank

Checking

$0.00Book balance

Income this month

$0.00Since 10/01/2026

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