QuickBooks
The dominant small business accounting software — required for bookkeeping, accounting, and finance roles at small and mid-size companies.
QuickBooks is the standard accounting platform for small and mid-size businesses, handling accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and financial reporting. It's required for bookkeeper, staff accountant, and controller roles at SMBs and is the tool most small business owners use to manage their own finances before hiring dedicated accounting staff.
Typical time to job-readiness: ~3 weeks.
Learning QuickBooks
Beginner
Connect a bank account, categorize transactions, and generate basic P&L and balance sheet reports. Understand chart of accounts structure.
Intermediate
Manage accounts payable and receivable, perform bank reconciliations, track job costing, and configure sales tax settings.
Advanced
Multi-entity reporting, payroll integration, preparing books for audit or tax filing, and migrating data between accounting systems.
Key concepts
- Chart of accounts — master list of all financial accounts (assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses)
- Accounts receivable vs accounts payable — money owed to you vs money you owe
- Bank reconciliation — matching QuickBooks transactions to actual bank statements
- Journal entries — manual adjustments to record transactions not captured automatically
- P&L (Profit & Loss) and Balance Sheet — the two primary financial statements
- Accrual vs cash basis accounting — when revenue/expenses are recognized
Common interview topics
- What is the difference between accounts receivable and accounts payable
- How do you perform a bank reconciliation
- Explain the difference between a P&L and a balance sheet
- What is the difference between cash basis and accrual accounting
- How would you record a customer payment received in QuickBooks