Stop Guessing, Start Tagging: How to Make QuickBooks® Online Work Smarter for You
If you’ve ever wanted to slice and dice your financial data in QuickBooks® Online without changing your chart of accounts or creating new classes or locations, you’re in luck. The Tags feature in QuickBooks® Online offers an intuitive, flexible way to track transactions across any category you choose—clients, events, sales channels, campaigns, or even employee projects. And in 2025, Tags are more powerful (and user-friendly) than ever.
What Are Tags in QuickBooks® Online?
Tags are customizable labels that you can apply to transactions, like invoices, expenses, bills, or bank transfers, to help you track the information that’s most important to your business. Unlike Classes or Locations, Tags don’t affect how your books are categorized for tax purposes. Instead, they provide a custom reporting layer that’s entirely your own.
Think of them as digital sticky notes you can sort, filter, and analyze. Want to know how much you spent on your summer marketing campaign? Tag every related transaction with "Summer 2025" and pull a report in seconds.
Why Use Tags?
QuickBooks® Online's Tags are particularly helpful for small business owners, consultants, creatives, and firms that don’t want to overcomplicate their general ledger but still need meaningful insights. Here are just a few benefits:
Custom tracking without cluttering your chart of accounts
You don’t need to create dozens of new accounts to track temporary campaigns or event-based expenses.No limits on creativity
You can tag by project, client, department, job title, marketing funnel—whatever’s relevant to your business.Detailed insights with Tag Group reports
Group similar tags together and run summary reports to see how much you're spending or earning across those categories.Greater visibility into business drivers
Identify trends, compare performance across tags, and use that data to make smarter decisions.
What’s New in 2025?
As of this year, QuickBooks® has improved the user interface for Tags, making it easier to apply them in bulk and filter them in real-time reports. You can now add tags directly from the Banking tab during transaction review, and Tag Group reports have become more detailed, offering filter options and exportable views that can easily be shared with your team or accountant.
How to Set Up and Use Tags
Go to the Banking or Transactions menu in your QuickBooks® Online dashboard.
Select the Tags tab.
Click New Tag Group to create a group (e.g., “Events” or “Clients”).
Within the group, add individual tags like “Tradeshow 2025” or “Client X.”
When entering a new transaction (expense, invoice, etc.), simply apply the relevant tag or tag group.
You can use multiple tags across transactions, but each transaction can only have one tag per group.
Real-Life Examples of Tagging in Action
A boutique marketing firm uses tag groups like “Campaigns” and “Clients” to track profitability across different projects without creating sub-customers or additional income accounts.
A small construction company tags expenses by job site, helping them identify which builds are the most cost-efficient.
A solo entrepreneur who sells on Etsy, Shopify, and in-person at markets uses tags to track sales by channel for better planning and pricing.
Tags offer an elegant way to track what's important to you, without reengineering your books. They give you added control and insight without complicating your accounting process.
If you're not using Tags in QuickBooks® Online yet, now’s the time to start. With just a little setup, you’ll gain visibility into the metrics that matter and make more informed decisions for your business.
Want tax & accounting tips and insights?
Sign up for our newsletter.
Comprehensive Business Accounting Services
For business in Chicago and the surrounding areas, we provide an integrated set of services that work together to help you grow your business.
-
Bookkeeping and Financial Reporting
-
Reliable, organized books are the backbone of good decision-making. We maintain accurate records, prepare meaningful financial statements, and help you read the story your numbers are telling.
-
Business Tax Preparation & Tax Planning
-
As a CPA for small businesses, we prepare tax returns for sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations, and C corporations with accuracy. We also help you develop a tax strategy to keep more of what you earn.
-
Payroll
-
We help you pay your team accurately and on time while staying current with federal, Illinois, and local payroll tax obligations, filings, and deadlines, so payroll is one less thing to worry about.
-
Business Consulting
-
Good accounting shows where your business stands; a good consultant helps you decide where to take it next. From entity selection to expansion planning, we're a steady financial sounding board for the decisions that shape your company's future.
Why Chicago Businesses Choose Serenity
Because we operate as an integrated tax and wealth practice, our business accounting services align with the broader financial decisions that matter to you and your company. When your business tax strategy connects to your personal financial landscape, you will be able to make decisions with fewer blind spots.
Clients near Chicago and across the country turn to Serenity Tax & Accounting for support that is comprehensive, coordinated, and proactive. We believe accounting should bring you clarity. We pride ourselves on calm communication, plain-language explanations, and responsive service throughout the year, not just during tax season.
When you work with our firm, you're building a relationship with a team that understands your business, anticipates what's coming, and helps you move forward with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Software is a tool, not a substitute for judgment. A CPA reviews your books, catches errors, prepares accurate statements, and finds tax savings the software won't flag. We work alongside the system you already use.
-
Ideally, well before tax season. The biggest savings come from year-round planning, not filing-time scrambling. We work with you throughout the year, so there are no surprises in the spring.
-
As an integrated division of Serenity Wealth Management, your accounting, tax strategy, and broader financial goals work together, keeping your business and personal decisions aligned with fewer blind spots.
-
We support Chicago-area sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, S corporations, and C corporations, tailoring our bookkeeping, payroll, and tax services to the size and complexity of your business.