Branded documents and forms often serve as the face of your company for clients and customers, projecting a professional, polished appearance. Beyond aesthetics, tailored, streamlined forms also signal your investment in improving the experience for employees and clients alike.
Utilizing custom form styles in QuickBooks Online offers these benefits and many more. Here’s how to use them to reinforce your brand, enhance your image, and improve your company’s processes.
Understanding Custom Form Styles in QuickBooks Online
In QuickBooks Online, form styles are the customizable templates that can be used for different types of financial documents, such as:
- Credit memos
- Estimates
- Invoices
- Purchase orders
- Sales receipts
- Statements
Custom form styles allow businesses to adjust the appearance of these documents by customizing different aesthetic and functional elements. By leveraging custom form styles in QuickBooks Online, businesses can tailor financial documents for cohesive branding, consistency, and adherence to regulatory requirements.
The Benefits of Tailoring Form Styles to Your Company’s Needs
Customized forms are advantageous for your business to bolster your image and optimize your operations to drive overall success.
Ease and Efficiency
Custom forms make it easier for your team to complete essential forms accurately and efficiently. Tailored layouts and data entry fields can be designed to match your specific needs for a smoother, more intuitive user experience.
Enhanced Productivity
When completing essential tasks and paperwork, custom forms in QuickBooks Online can help your team move through tasks more swiftly—minimizing the time and effort it takes to input and process information.
Branding and Professionalism
With custom form styles, you can incorporate your company logo and other branded elements into your financial documents, reinforcing your brand identity to build trust with customers and vendors.
Accessing and Navigating Form Styles
To access the Custom Form Styles menu in QuickBooks Online:
- Log into your account.
- Click the Gear icon in the top-right corner.
- Select “Custom Form Styles” from the dropdown.
This will open the Form Styles page, where you can view and manage custom form templates.
QuickBooks Online offers default form styles that come pre-designed with basic layouts and formatting. These provide a great starting point for customization, giving you an idea of the different options you can use to tailor forms.
Customization Options for Form Styles
The myriad customization options available can help you build custom form styles in your QuickBooks Online account that add professionalism to every touchpoint.
Layout and Design Customizations
Users can tailor the layout and design of their custom forms by:
- Adding or removing fields to include only required information.
- Adjusting font sizes, styles, and colors to match forms to your branding.
- Uploading company logos and branding elements to enhance brand recognition.
Content Customizations
Users can make changes to the way content is displayed on forms by:
- Modifying header and footer information to include company names, contact information, or disclaimers.
- Editing default messages and notes to add a personal element to customer communications.
- Including custom fields and data to tailor forms with spaces to capture information specific to your business processes.
Advanced Customization Features
QuickBooks Online offers customization features that allow greater flexibility and control by:
- Applying themes and color schemes that affect the entirety of the form for a cohesive visual look.
- Creating multiple form styles for different purposes, allowing your business to cater to different financial processes or customer preferences.
- Utilizing CSS and HTML for further customization of their form styles with additions and options not available through the built-in QuickBooks Form Styles editor.
Step-by-Step Guide to Customizing Form Styles
From layouts to content adjustments, learn how to use the tools in QuickBooks Online to create your own custom forms:
- Log in and access the Custom Form Styles page.
- Click on “New Style” and select the form type (Invoice, Estimate, or Sales Receipt).
- Name your custom style.
- Utilize the different tabs to customize the layout, design, content, and messaging.
- After you preview your style, select “Done” to save your changes.
To use your custom form style, you can simply create an Invoice, Estimate, or Receipt and use your custom form.
Best Practices for Custom Form Styles in QuickBooks Online
Consider these best practices to create functional, well-designed forms:
- Maintain consistency with branding and design elements across form types.
- Test your custom forms across multiple devices and platforms before finalizing styles.
- Gather feedback from users and clients to gauge their impressions and experiences.
- Update your custom form styles regularly to keep them current.
- Design your custom forms to make them accessible to all users.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
When customizing form styles in QuickBooks Online, you may face some unexpected challenges. Here are some common issues and how to troubleshoot them:
Problem: Formatting errors or inconsistencies
Solution: Carefully review your selections—including font styles, sizes, and alignment—and make sure they’re applied consistently throughout the form.
If you still experience problems: Revert to earlier settings and reimplement formatting; this can help to identify which settings may be the cause of the issue.
Problem: Compatibility issues with third-party integrations
Solution: Check that all integrations are properly configured and up-to-date. Ensure there are no known compatibility issues between QuickBooks Online and the application.
If you still experience problems: Reach out to support teams for further assistance. They may be able to offer guidance or suggest updates to resolve the problem.
Problem: Sudden changes or loss of customizations
Solution: Check for any recent updates or system changes. To prevent this issue, regularly back up your custom forms and document your settings for easy reference in case you need to recreate them.
If you still experience problems: You may need to revert to a previous version of the form style or contact support for help restoring customizations if possible.
Empower Your Business with Custom Form Styles in QuickBooks Online
Customizing form styles in QuickBooks Online creates a more seamless experience for your clients and employees. With many options to explore, a wide range of possibilities for customization makes it possible to elevate your brand image and create professional, functional forms that enhance your operations.
The process may seem challenging at first, but rest assured you’re not alone. Should you have any questions or concerns, or need support when implementing custom form styles, our team can help.
Customized bookkeeping is what we at Fourlane do best. Connect with our team of consultants for personalized assistance as you navigate the customization process.
