When you consider ways to make your business safer during the coronavirus pandemic, making changes using your business accounting software might not be the first path that comes to mind. 

Don’t let a humble software solution fool you! If you’re using QuickBooks Online, you can tap into great features that can make your employees and customers feel safer while the risk of virus transmission is high.

We’re all familiar with the ways COVID-19 has changed consumers’ behaviors, buying habits and retail expectations. There’s an aversion to cash payments and handling credit cards. There are mandatory cleaning requirements for pay stations. There’s more e-commerce and online shopping. And employees may be spending less time on-site. If these changes have become pain points for your business, QuickBooks Online may help you navigate to safe, convenient solutions.

1. Contactless payments with the GoPayment reader

With a traditional point of sale (POS) system, customers tap buttons and the display screen, key in information, and grasp the sides of the POS machine as they complete their transactions. It’s led to stores implementing wipedown protocols and adding grubby plastic covers to the machines. They’re inelegant solutions to the germy reality of POS systems.

The ideal route is to encourage customers to pay with contactless payment types: tap-to-pay credit card transactions and digital wallets on mobile phones, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

When you have QuickBooks Online, you can integrate contactless payments through the GoPayment POS app and a one-time purchase of a QuickBooks Card Reader. It’s slim and unobtrusive, fitting in the palm of your hand. The customer never needs to touch the card reader – even if they insert a credit card for chip pay, instead of using the tap-to-pay option. That’s protection for you and your staff from germs that customers may be carrying on their hands, credit cards and mobile devices. And it gives you a convenient alternative to accepting cash payments, which have fallen out of vogue since the pandemic set in.

2. Contactless payments with the GoPayment mobile app

If you’re not sure you need a card reader to accept credit card and digital wallet payments, you still have options for contactless payments. 

When you create a new sale or customer payment in the GoPayment POS app on your mobile phone, select the option to “Key in” a credit card. Ask the customer to lay their credit card on a flat surface or hold it up for you. On the next screen, tap the camera icon to scan your customer’s credit card. Et voila! You got paid.

3. Contactless and remote payment links and QR codes

Send all the information customers need to pay you directly to their mobile devices via email, texting and QR codes. This third option for contactless payments is especially useful if you use a tablet for your POS system – the bigger screen may make it easier to complete the process.

Within QuickBooks Online Payments, you’ll click on “Payment Links.” The video below walks you through the simple steps to create the payment link within QuickBooks. Once it’s live, you can immediately text the link to the customer. You can also pull up the QR code on your tablet, so that the customer can scan it and finish the transaction on their own device. An added benefit: You can set the payment link to accept direct bank transfers, avoiding credit card fees.

Creating a payment link is also a great option for sending one-time payment requests to customers remotely. They can click the link to pay directly from their own inbox – no in-person interactions or device sharing required.

4. Keep your remote team on the same page with SaaS

QuickBooks Online differs from QuickBooks Desktop in one especially big way: It’s software as a service (SaaS). That means it’s web-based software that you can access from anywhere you have the internet. 

Whether you or an employee are on the move, using the QuickBooks mobile app, or your team is dispersed or working remotely from different locations, QuickBooks Online gives everyone access to the same up-to-date information about sales, payments and customers. Issuing invoices and creating payment links can be done from any location. 

QuickBooks Online enables a mobile workforce to do its best work during a time when in-person, on-site work isn’t always safe or possible. It’s one more way you can keep your team connected.

Want help moving to QuickBooks Online? We can help

We’re pros at navigating the ins and outs of QuickBooks Online. In fact, we’ve recently been certified as an Executive QuickBooks Solutions Provider, which means you can trust us to help you navigate to the best software solution for your budget, your growth stage and your industry.

If you’d like to learn more about QuickBooks Online and how it can help your business take safety precautions during the coronavirus pandemic, set up time to chat with the Certum team. We’d be happy to walk you through a demo and answer any questions.

For a limited time, Certum Solutions is offering a $50 Visa gift card when you sign up for QuickBooks Online Advanced at our discounted rate – 50% off for 12 months – and try it out for at least 90 days.* To score this deal, sign up on our partner page, then email lswain@certumsolutions.com with the subject line “certumisawesome50.”

*Offer and rates expire at any time, so make sure to sign up as soon as you are confident that QuickBooks Online Advanced is the fit for you. Visa gift card offer does not apply to QuickBooks Online Simple Start, Essentials or Plus.