The New QBO Accounting Agent

In this edition of our QuickBooks Monday Minute, we continue our exploration of the 'New' QuickBooks Online by looking at Intuit redefining of the term "app", as well as examining the Agentic AI Accounting Agent driving the bookkeeping experience in QuickBooks.

Getting Used to the Redesign of the New QBO

We've told you in our series on the 'New' QBO that Intuit has focused the product on becoming even more of a 'platform' than before. One transition is to diminish the emphasis on the software as a hub of products, and instead view it more as a "connected platform of Apps using AI to drive that platform."

So, while the traditional (Intuit calls it 'Classic') QBO used the dark left-hand navigation bar to display access to products or functions, the 'New QBO' provides a much broader approach to accessing the features you use. The new landing page (shown below) is highly customizable from the shortcuts (1) it displays right up front, to your familiar Bookmarks(2), and the new My apps(3).

Intuit's new use of the term 'Apps' will take some getting used to, especially by users who were already using a lot of 'integrated' apps. To get a grasp of this change, simply open the 'My Apps' (3) on the left navigation. There you will find most of the standard 'functions' which QuickBooks has performed listed (as Apps) with drop-down access to the right of each function (oops, I mean 'app'). Then, if we click on an app, let's say 'Accounting', the more familiar Accounting menu opens, featuring options such as Bank Transactions, Receipts, and the Chart of Accounts (as shown on the right side of the illustration below).

So while it may take a little "getting used to", it really isn't that big of a deal. For now, it's Intuit-based apps you will see here, ultimately, Intuit wants to see that any or all Apps you work with, including third-party apps, will fit neatly into this structure.

AI at the Core of the New QBO

We've also previously mentioned in our series that 'Agentic AI' is the core of the New QBO. There are AI Agents for Accounting, Customers, Finance, Payments, Projects, and more, depending on the version (SKU) of the product you are using.

When you think of features like banking and bookkeeping, you are referring to the "work of the Accounting Agent" within the New QBO. This agent automates bookkeeping and transaction categorization to assist you with bank feeds, reconciliation, and ensure more accurate books generally. I tend to think of it as "our bookkeeping fact checker."

In this installment of our look at the New QBO, we will delve more deeply into how the Accounting Agent can assist with enhanced Bank Feeds, uploading Bank Statements, Anomaly Detection, and clarifying Accountant-Client Issues.

Bank Feed AI Enhancements

Within the New QBO, it's easy to find the newly AI-enhanced Bank Feeds by simply clicking on the Accounting Agent (as shown below).

The new, AI-powered Bank Feed is learning as it's used. Previous versions of the Bank Feeds used machine learning to suggest transaction categorization and matching options. In this latest release, Intuit has refined and tested tens of millions of transactions with the new AI-based feature, consistently demonstrating higher accuracy compared to the prior machine learning model. 

You can hover over the Bank Description field to see the full bank description. This new version allows you to enter Vendors directly within the From/To field without having to leave Bank Feeds.

As in the past, you can add or remove columns from the Bank Feed display, and data within all of the columns you add can be edited directly within Bank Feeds. You still have access to all the prior Bank Feeds actions, such as Split, Create Rule, Exclude, and Categorization history. 

As part of this new process, the AI agent explains why (as shown below) it suggests a particular category, match, or payee. Simply click, More info to be shown the history upon which the suggestion is made.

These suggestions are based on the historical choices with greater accuracy than ever before. In fact, Intuit has expanded the history used for past categorizations from 12 to 24 months, as ProAdvisors requested.

If a match is found, the Bank Feed toggle will be preset to Match; otherwise, it will be preset to Categorize.

So, even with the increased accuracy, QuickBooks users still maintain control over transactions before they are posted.

And, as before, you can also group transactions by column information to take action on similar transactions using Bulk action.

New Way to Upload Bank Statements

Active Bank Feeds are not the only source of banking information. The new QuickBooks Accounting Agent offers a reliable alternative, enabling you to upload bank or credit card statements in PDF, JPG, or PNG format, not just CSV as in the past.

The Accounting Agent then extracts the transactions and presents them to you for confirmation before adding them to your account.

The uploaded statement and extracted transactions are displayed side by side to facilitate easier verification before importing them.

When the Accounting Agent cannot extract transactions correctly, Intuit employs human reviewers to review and correct any errors in the extraction process.

Be aware, your version(s) of the new QBO experience at the time of final release may appear different from some pre-release version (Beta) screenshots depicted herein, including differences based on the QuickBooks SKU you are subscribed to.

Not all QuickBooks SKUs contain all of the new features outlined in our feature/series.

Nevertheless, there is more about the Accounting Agent in the New QBO, and I will tell you about it in this coming Wednesday's "What's New in QBO". So, tune in then.

Footnotes and Disclosures:

Feature content, including graphics, was adapted from Intuit media source content and other QuickBooks resources. Some content is based on pre-release QuickBooks (Online) Advanced Beta version of the New QBO experience, along with pre-release notes, and other Intuit source materials.

Content adapted by Insightful Accountant from Intuit sources is furnished for educational purposes only. 

As used herein, QuickBooks® and QuickBooks Online (and related subscription/SKU versions) refer to one or more registered trademarks of Intuit® Inc., a publicly-traded corporation headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Any other trade names or references used herein may refer to registered, trademarked, or copyrighted materials held by their respective owners; they are included in the content for informational and educational purposes only.

This is an editorial feature, not sponsored content. No vendor associated with this article has paid Insightful Accountant or the author any form of remuneration to be included within this feature. The article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes.

Note: Registered Trademark ® and other registration symbols (such as those used for copyrighted materials) have been eliminated from the articles within this publication for brevity due to the frequency or abundance with which they would otherwise appear or be repeated. Every attempt is made to credit such trademarks or copyrights within our respective article footnotes and disclosures.