Many businesses operate multiple QuickBooks accounts. If you’re managing an international company operating in various locations or have numerous accounts for different branches, this applies to you, too.
Regardless of your industry or the reason for having several accounts, managing multiple sets of books adds complexity to reporting.
Finance leaders often struggle to get a unified view of performance throughout the organization. The process of reconciling data and compiling financial statements can be tedious and labor-intensive. This leads to the need to merge QuickBooks Online accounts effectively.
Fortunately, there are a variety of methods available to help you consolidate your financial reports for added convenience.
In this article, we will explore these methods in detail and introduce you to a ready-made solution that can simplify the process.
Step 1 - Extracting Data from QuickBooks
Before you can create the consolidated reports, you must extract the data from QuickBooks Online. One of the most straightforward methods is to do this manually. However, this process can be quite laborious as you will need to perform manual data extraction for every QuickBooks Online account you manage.
For this reason, it is wise to consider automating the data extraction process.
There are various tools available online that can automate data extraction from QuickBooks. However, many of these tools only allow you to extract data from one company account at a time.
If you need a tool to extract data from multiple QuickBooks accounts simultaneously, you might want to review the QuickBooks Online Connector by Versich.
Once you utilize this connector, you will be able to retrieve multiple key tables from QuickBooks Online. These include the Cash Flow table, Balance Sheet table, Profit and Loss table, and more. Each of these tables will contain a “client_id” column, which indicates the name of the specific QuickBooks account you have. By utilizing this column, you can easily break down all the data from a QuickBooks entity. This greatly simplifies the management of multiple accounts.
Many other tools out there provide multiple smaller tables, like those for bills and invoices. Attempting to reconstruct the financial statements from many different tables can be time-consuming. For this reason, the QuickBooks Online Connector by Versich stands out as the most efficient option for extracting data from various QuickBooks Online entities.
This connector will not only extract data but also store it in an Azure SQL database. You can then link this database to any reporting tool you prefer, such as Power BI or Excel.
Step 2 - Publishing Management Reports with Consolidated Data
Once you have extracted the data, you can proceed to develop the consolidated management reports. There is no need to start building reports from scratch. Rather, you can utilize a reporting pack to simplify the task.
This pack provides a range of pre-designed reports, such as:
Actual vs Budget report
Visualized Accounts Receivable statement
Visualized Cash Flow statement (including tabular view)
Visualized Balance Sheet statement (including tabular view)
Visualized Profit and Loss Statement (including tabular view)
The reports you generate from the reporting pack possess a variety of impressive features. Some notable features include:
The ability to filter by class
The capability to view transactions contributing to values in all accounts
The ability to switch from cash to an accrual basis
The ability to merge multiple QuickBooks Online accounts and apply filters based on the account
You also have the option to customize the reports according to your specific requirements. However, if you prefer not to use such a pack, you can always create your own reports from the ground up.
How to Install the QuickBooks Connector Offered by Versich
To install the QuickBooks connector provided by Versich, follow these steps:
Access the QuickBooks connector through Versich.
The Versich team will arrange a virtual call to assist you with the authentication process.
During the call, you will receive an Azure database, including the server’s name, database name, and login credentials. You can connect this database to any reporting tool you utilize to consolidate QuickBooks Online.
Case Study - Consolidating Over 100 QuickBooks Online Accounts
A commercial real estate firm recently employed a QuickBooks Online connector to pool financial data across over 100 entities, one for each property. Manually generating consolidated reports for such a large number of accounts was nearly unfeasible, so consolidating the data into a single database enabled fully automated financial reporting for leadership.
The management report could filter by specific properties, and removing filters provided a comprehensive view of all properties combined.
Case Study - Consolidating Over 5 Branches of a Retail Brand
In another instance, the connector assisted a retail brand with five locations, each maintaining its own QuickBooks account. By consolidating the accounts into a central database, the team saved five working hours each month that were previously spent on manual reporting. The new automated reports offered real-time visibility instead of just monthly snapshots.
Conclusion
You now have a clearer understanding of how to consolidate QuickBooks Online accounts for easier reporting. Merging multiple QuickBooks Online accounts into a single database unveils several significant benefits:
Real-time management reports that unify financials across the business
Consolidated financial reporting across all entities
Integration of QuickBooks data with other relevant data sources for a singular source of truth
Overall, automation alleviates the burden of manual reporting while delivering dynamic visibility through centralized access to various QuickBooks entities.
