Search and Rescue

If you’ve ever felt “lost” in QuickBooks Online (QBO) or frustrated while trying to locate a specific transaction, then this article is for you. QuickBooks Online offers a variety of powerful search features that save time and reduce frustration.

Magnifying Glass

In the top right corner of QuickBooks Online you’ll find a magnifying glass. This is your ultimate “FIND” feature. If you’re a recent migrant to QBO from QuickBooks Desktop, you know the power behind the “Ctrl+F” function you used to use.

Whether you are searching for a transaction totalling a certain amount, or a specific line amount within a transaction, you’ll likely find it quickly and easily by using the magnifying glass.

Search Lists

The three primary LISTS in QuickBooks Online are your Chart of Accounts List, your Vendor List, and your Customer LIst.

At the top of each list, you will see a SEARCH box that can help you get to the specified account/name on the list without having to scroll through pages of names.

Turn Back the Hands of Time

This has to be one of my favorite features in QuickBooks Online. In the top left corner of nearly every transaction page, you will see an icon that looks like a clock with a backwards arrow. Click on the icon, and you will see the 10 most recent transactions (of that specific type of transaction) that you have either entered and/or edited.

If you’re like me, this feature comes in handy - particularly in January. You’ve spent the last 365 days entering the prior year in the date field. You begin adding new transactions and just about the time you hit “Save & Close” you realize that you are still using last year in the date. No problem, click on the clock icon and the transaction that you just saved will be at the top of the list (along with 9 others that you may have misdated).

Audit Log

I recently worked with a client who was confident that she had reconciled her bank account for last month and had made no changes to any reconciled transactions; yet, she was receiving an error message that her opening bank balance had changed due to several deleted entries.

Audit Log to the rescue! You’ll find your entire audit log under the BIG GEAR (top right corner of QBO), under the TOOLS column. You can customize your search by User, Change Date, and Events (such Deleted/Voided Transactions).

Not only were we able to find the transactions and the progression of changes to each transaction, we were also able to see the name of the person who was making the changes. This created a perfect training opportunity for my client with her new employee.

Need help knowing what to do after you’ve searched and rescued your transactions?

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