Using QuickBooks for Independent Pharmacies

By: Mikayla Zucker

QuickBooks is an easy, low-cost way for independent pharmacies to manage their finances. It is one of the most popular accounting solutions for small businesses. The software offers a wide range of versatile tools and reports that can keep you organized, keep you compliant, and keep you informed about your organization. Not convinced yet? Read on to learn more about why QuickBooks is our recommendation for independent pharmacies.

QuickBooks Tools for Independent Pharmacies

Check out some of the helpful tools that QuickBooks has to offer your pharmacy:

Cash Flow Control – QuickBooks users benefit from greater control over their cash flow. This requires some work—you need to regularly enter in your transactions and make sure to review reconciliations. But it is worth the effort. A complete QuickBooks record gives you a real-time snapshot of how your actual cash looks. This helps you pay bills and ensure that you have enough money on hand when you need it. It also makes it possible for you to make plans for the future—and know that you have the cash to cover their cost.

Management of Multiple Locations – With QuickBooks, all of your records for multiple locations are kept and tracked in one place. You can split up by location or view everything all together. QuickBooks lets you tag various items in order to label them by the pharmacy location they pertain to. It also allows you to view income and purchases by location, which can help you identify stores with issues in these areas.

Financial Reporting – Both the online and desktop versions of QuickBooks offer extensive financial reporting tools. You can create and analyze reports that are tailored to your pharmacy’s needs. You can even create what are called “memorized reports,” which are report templates that you can run over and over with different data (e.g., you can create a memorized report that you run each month and to compare your pharmacy’s data over time).

Information Flow – QuickBooks can integrate with your bank and other tools you use, such as Bill.com. This easy flow of information makes your accounts more accurate and saves you a ton of time.

Year-End Planning – Within QuickBooks, you can set up all of your 1099 vendors. This is hugely helpful at the end of the year. You can quickly sort payments by contractors, and the software allows you to send a 1099 directly from the software.

Choosing Between Desktop and Online

Assuming we’ve convinced you that using QuickBooks is a great choice for your independent pharmacy, you have one more decision to make: will you choose to use QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online? While Desktop is the longstanding traditional route, we would argue that with digital disruption moving everyone inexorably towards the cloud, Online is the way to go. It is a secure option for storing your data and will continue to be supported long after the Desktop version becomes obsolete.

Did you know that Blackman & Sloop offers QuickBooks setup and support? In fact, we encourage you not to try to do it on your own. A thorough and accurate setup of your system will help you avoid many headaches down the line—so let the experts do it! Reach out today to talk with a qualified expert who can help you start your QuickBooks journey.