CPA_Practice_Advisor_April_2020 - 13

SPONSORED CONTENT
HELP CLIENTS UNDERSTAND THEIR CASH POSITION AND MANAGE THEIR
ENTIRE FINANCIAL FOOTPRINT IN ONE PLACE WITH QUICKBOOKS CASH FLOW
QUICKBOOKS® EMPOWERS ACCOUNTING professionals to provide their small business clients with the tools and resources they need to make smarter, more informed
decisions, especially when it comes to their financial health. One of the most recent
advances in helping clients be more liquid is QuickBooks Cash Flow, a new offering
that allows businesses to see their money-in/money-out accounts in one place,
delivering insights and forecasts into their current and future cash position.
Cash flow has always been a common pain
point for small business owners and is top of
mind now more than ever. For the first time,
QuickBooks Cash Flow provides a platform where
business owners and accountants can see and
manage their clients' entire financial footprint
in one place to be ready for the next pay run or
prepare for times of uncertainty.
"The mismatch of working capital leads to
challenges for small businesses, so QuickBooks
Cash Flow is a tool that can centralize all cash
management processes in one place," explained
Rob Daniel, head of product for QuickBooks Cash
Flow. "With this, accountants can now have more
strategic conversations with their clients to help
them plan for the future, and educating clients
on cash flow is yet another way accounting
professionals can serve as strategic advisors
and scale their impact."
Machine learning powers QuickBooks Cash
Flow and allows it to deliver customized insights,
such as whether the client has enough money for
payroll and working capital. With these insights,
accounting professionals will be able to help
steer their clients away from making mistakes
in how they handle their cash.
QuickBooks is rolling out this feature on
QuickBooks Mobile and QuickBooks Online
throughout the spring.

WHAT THE FINANCIAL FOOTPRINT
LOOKS LIKE
QuickBooks Cash Flow is made up of four parts:
QuickBooks Cash1. QuickBooks Cash is an
FDIC-insured business bank account that lives
within QuickBooks Online. There are no monthly
fees (ATM withdrawals and foreign transactions
may include a fee2); instead, the client gets quick
access to cash as soon as the money hits the
account, and insights are delivered in the same
place funds are accessible. QuickBooks Cash is

the default location for where funds will arrive
when a small business receives sales revenue
through QuickBooks Payments, and users can
easily move the funds directly to an external
bank account if they so choose.
Envelopes. Envelopes represent a way for
clients to partition funds and separate money
to save towards different goals. Money stays
within the QuickBooks Cash account; however,
when funds are moved into an Envelope, they
are no longer spendable via the QuickBooks
Debit Card (more on the card below) to protect
against an accidental spend. And if a client
decides that they no longer want to "hold"
funds in an Envelope, the funds can easily and
instantly be moved back into their QuickBooks
Cash account. A business owner can add a name
to the Envelope and then set goals, such as the
amount and date for any purpose. For example,
a client can create a "Payroll" Envelope that can
only be used for payroll.
"With the Envelope feature, we've created a
way for small businesses to be very conscious
as to how they are spending their money," said
Daniel. "You can move money around in real
time, but the feature is designed to provide
discipline in how the business is spending their
money. One customer even called an Envelope
'You Never Know' to cover unexpected spending.
Even though the issue was a surprise expenditure, the customer was covered with the money
set aside in the designated Envelope."
QuickBooks Debit Card1. This is a free, physical debit card that enables a small business to
access funds as soon as the money hits their
QuickBooks Cash account. The card includes free
ATM withdrawals (up to 4x/statement cycle) at
55,000 locations nationwide.
Cash Flow Planner. The Cash Flow Planner
gives business owners a full view of their current
and future cash positions so they can make the

best decisions. Businesses can predict their cash
flow up to 90 days out with accurate cash flow
forecasts.
"The Planner feature projects out a business's
future cash flow position to provide a holistic
picture for the small business that no other
provider can offer," said Daniel. "Through the
use of machine learning to predict outcomes and
decades of expertise in small business accounting, the Cash Flow Planner proactively alerts
businesses to potential cash flow challenges
and can provide suggestions on how to address
them, helping business owners make the best
decisions possible."
Cash Flow Planner will give small businesses
access to these insights by analyzing all financial inputs to predict the business's cash flow
over the next 90 days. Then, the Planner will
proactively alert business owners when cash
flow might become a concern. As the Planner
continues to evolve, it will also be able to provide
recommendations around how to navigate the
situation. For example, the tool could predict and
make an instant recommendation, such as, "You
look like you will be short on your upcoming
payroll; click here to get access to more capital."

LOOKING AHEAD - WHAT TO
EXPECT IN THE NEAR FUTURE
As with all its offerings, Intuit will work to continually improve QuickBooks Cash Flow, bringing
new features to the table. In the near future,
small businesses can expect to see their money
sooner with instant deposits/ACH funding, earn
more benefits and rewards, and apply for a line of
credit through the integration with QuickBooks
Capital. ■
Subscription to QuickBooks Online is required. Banking services
provided by and QuickBooks Visa® Debit Card is issued by Green Dot
Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Visa
is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association.
Green Dot is a registered trademark of Green Dot Corporation. QuickBooks products and services are not provided by Green Dot Bank.
1

2 Four free in-network ATM withdrawals per each monthly billing cycle, $3 ATM withdrawal for out-of-network or after 4th free
withdrawal of the month; 3% fee per foreign transaction.

APRIL 2020 ■

The ProAdvisor Spotlight is sponsored by

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