Zoho Books has been selected by businesses around the world as the preferred end-to-end accounting software for its versatility and ease-of-use. Books allows your business to handle everything from sales, receivables and inventory to payments received, taxes, and more. The sheer amount of useful features found in Zoho Books means that many things go unappreciated by new users – one of the absolute best features found in Books is the ability to use Bulk Updates to keep your books up-to-date and ready for upcoming audits.
Why you want to use Bulk Updates
Whether internal or external, audits are always going to happen. In order to get ahead of potential audits, you need to keep your books up-to-date at all times. Worry not, it’s easier than it sounds thanks to the Bulk Updates feature found in Zoho Books. Using Bulk Updates, you can automatically update transactions found in Books without having to manually update transactions one-by-one, saving you time and money in the process.
Bulk Updates lets you filter transactions based on custom criteria from account and contact to date range and total amount of transactions, allowing you to update the desired transactions all at once. This can come in handy for ensuring that all transactions have been filed under the correct category, ensuring that your accounts are accurate and up-to-date in the event of an upcoming audit. It’s highly recommended that you use the Bulk Update feature at least once a year in order to keep your books up-to-date, to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks, and to guarantee that you’ll always be ready for an audit.
How to use Bulk Updates in Zoho Books
Using the Bulk Updates feature is fairly straightforward, though we highly recommend that you leave this task to an accountant familiar with Zoho Books in order to ensure that it’s done correctly. Bulk Updates can’t be undone, and using the feature means making significant changes to your business’s financial data. Only somebody familiar with accounting principles and the Zoho ecosystem as a whole will be equipped to bulk update your books reliably and accurately – if this process is done incorrectly, it can cost you a great deal of time and effort to repair.
The first thing you’ll want to do is search for the transactions you’re looking to update. You can do this by selecting the Filter Transactions feature, where you’ll plug in the criteria you’re looking for. When you’re ready, select Search. You’ll be presented with a list of transactions that meet the criteria you’ve established, and be one step closer to bulk updating your transactions.
Once you’ve identified the transactions that require an update, select them and choose Update. From there, you’ll be required to select the New Account you want them filed under – after this is done, simply click Replace and voila, your accounts have been updated. Keep in mind that there are some accounts that will not be filtered in your search, including Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, unearned revenue, bank accounts, fixed accounts, and inventory tracked.
To find a history of the Bulk Updates conducted within your Zoho Books accounts, select Accountant and then Bulk Update. You’ll then be able to view a description of the bulk update, when it was performed, and whether or not it was successfully completed.
Remember that while the Bulk Updates feature can be a saving grace for keeping your books straight in the lead up to an upcoming audit, it’s critical that you enlist the services of an accountant familiar with Zoho Books and the Zoho ecosystem as a whole. Using a qualified accountant means that your books will stay accurate and up-to-date, saving you time, money, and more than a few headaches along the way.
ion8 is a Zoho Advanced Partner with a team of experienced Zoho consultants, developers, and accountants ready to help your business keep its book up-to-date and audit-ready. To find out more about how ion8 can transform the way you do business by implementing and integrating intelligent accounting solutions like Zoho Books, contact us today.